Publication

This brief takes stock of China’s January 2017 White Paper on Asia-Pacific security cooperation. More specifically, it looks at how the White Paper addresses important issues such as 1) regional peace; 2) maritime security; 3) terrorism and the instability of Afghanistan; 4) Beijing’s involvement in regional multilateral forums; and 5) relations with India. Ultimately the brief’s author concludes that the clearest messages from the Paper are that China is strongly opposed to the deployment of THAAD anti-ballistic missiles in South Korea and that it wants to shape the security rules of the road in the Asia-Pacific region on its own terms.