Asia under pressure

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Asia Survey 20014/2015 to be published on the 18th of June 2014

Authors : Jean-Luc Racine

Tags : South Asia - Northeast Asia - International security - Foreign Affairs - Economic policies - Conflicts

Whether emerging or not, Asian countries became very tense in 2013. In addition to the main centres of international conflict, Afghanistan-Pakistan and North Korea, the year saw an increase in Chinese activism in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, amplified by the arrival of a new generation of leaders following the 18th Communist Party Congress. At the same time, Shinzo Abe, returning to power in Japan, encouraged a revival of nationalism. Due to their future implications, the tensions in the China Seas are, without doubt, the strongest signal of China’s sense of superiority and disrupt the entire region. They are also a calculated challenge to American power, as the United States was unable to build on the advantages gained in 2012 with the announcement of its rebalance of power towards Asia. Meanwhile, managing economic problems has also raised many questions, in China as well as in India and Japan. How will French diplomacy be deployed across an Asian continent that is sending out mixed messages?