East Asian Policy

The Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy was issued in the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the most significant conflict in Europe since at least the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995, and perhaps, since 1945. The promulgation of the first-ever White House Indo-Pacific Strategy, even before the release of an overall national security strategy, is viewed as a message of US priorities extending beyond events elsewhere. And yet domestic US preoccupations as well as an incomplete economic strategy for the Indo-Pacific hover over the new Biden Indo-Pacific strategy.

Japan under the first and second Abe administration in 2006–07 and 2012–20, respectively, played a pivotal leading role in creating and institutionalising the Quad. While Japan has taken on a more supportive role in the post-Abe administrations, there are unique roles that Japan could still play in coordinating and shaping the strategic role of the Quad, such as configuring its institutional relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

From an Australian viewpoint, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) between Australia, the United States, Japan and India is an important development. The Quad secures a US long-term presence in the region to balance China’s influence, strengthens close security ties with Japan and enhances Australia’s strategic engagement with India. Notably, the non-traditional security emphasis in Quad 2.0 has the potential to generate support among Southeast Asian countries which are cautious about upsetting China.

India was initially a reluctant Quadrilateral (Quad) Security Dialogue partner. Today New Delhi is a willing partner and a strong supporter of the Quad. With continuing border tensions across the Himalayas and Beijing’s growing assertiveness in India’s neighbourhood, India has tied itself tightly to the United States and the Quad partner nations’ strategies. While still pursuing strategic autonomy and engagement with Russia and dialogue with China, both of which oppose the Quad, India has embraced the Quad unhesitatingly and has now accepted Quad partners as like-minded nations.

The brief political disruption in October 2021 that put Kishida Fumio as Japan’s prime minister may restore an ideological balance within the Liberal Democratic Party, a conservative party whose strength lies in its ability to be a broad church of views on issues related to foreign and security policies. This would be important to the Indo-Pacific region where events will be shaped largely by the contests between China and the United States.

With Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and the United States’ complete withdrawal of forces in August 2021, dramatic changes have happened in Afghanistan. China, as the largest neighbour of Afghanistan, is expected to play a bigger role. This article examines China’s intensified bilateral and multilateral diplomacy towards Afghanistan in a post-US retreat era. It attempts to interpret the objectives of China’s engagement with the Taliban regime and identify the limits of China’s policy.

After the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) decision in May 2021 to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, the Chinese government began to examine policy measures to secure its economic and security-related interests. Today, as the Taliban has captured political power in Afghanistan, the world has little clue about dealing with the Islamist group. This article attempts to provide an understanding of the Chinese engagement in Afghanistan since 2001. It analyses some of the policy measures that China undertakes to remain an important player in Afghanistan post-US and NATO forces exit.

With the US withdrawal and the return to power of the Afghan Taliban, the situation in Afghanistan has transformed significantly. China closely monitors the development in Afghanistan and highlights to the Afghan Taliban its redline over terrorism and extremism. It also develops ties with the Afghan Taliban to assist the Afghan people and the country in setting up a positive international image. However, given the complexities of the situation in Afghanistan and China’s inadequate knowledge of and influence in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs, China has faced tremendous challenges.