ICS, Author at ICS Research Blog

Process & Outcomes: Framing Strategic Objectives

February 22, 2016 ICSLeave a comment

Ambassador (retd.) Kishan S Rana, Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

In international relations, it is vital to distinguish between process actions that aim at getting to particular outcomes, and the outcomes, which are the end results that we seek to accomplish. Sometimes the boundary between the two may look blurred, but the basics are clear. Examples: if a business delegation, or a minister, visits China to promote trade or attract foreign direct investment (FDI), that is process. The actual trade that results, or FDI inflow, is outcome. If the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan hold discussions, that is also process, but if that meeting produces an agreement that removes barriers to trade, or improves visa facilities for citizens of both countries, that is outcome.

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Sino-North Korea Relations: Handle With Care

February 18, 2016 ICSLeave a comment

Sanjeevan Pradhan, Masters in International Relations, Qinghua University.

The Asia-Pacific region has become the hotspot for international politics; IR scholars focus on the rise of China and its implications for the current status-quo. Many view China’s rise with suspicion and fear that it will result in a new form of a Cold War between the US and China.

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Analyzing the Establishment of and Responses to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

February 15, 2016 ICS1 Comment

Madhura Balasubramaniam, Integrated Masters in Development Studies, IIT Madras.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral initiative announced by the Chinese President Xi Jinping to enable ‘economic integration in Asia’ and ‘cooperate with existing multilateral development banks’.[1] The startup capital of US$50 billion dollars was increased to US$100 billion. Beijing is the headquarters of the Bank and is headed by Jin Liqun, a former Vice President of the ADB.^[2] The formal opening ceremony of the Bank was held on 16 January 2016.

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China’s Foreign Exchange Reserves

February 10, 2016 ICSLeave a comment

Ambassador (retd.) Kishan S Rana, Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

China’s foreign exchange reserves used to be $5 trillion, some three years back. Now they are down to $3.22 trillion. This has been the result of financial challenges that it has faced, including efforts to protect the value of the Yuan. The reserves are still huge, say 9 times larger than India’s $350 billion. But some may wonder if this is proof of economic decline.

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Interpreting Ma Ying-jeou’s Visit to Taiping Island

February 9, 2016 ICSLeave a comment

Jabin T. Jacob, Assistant Director and Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s visit to Taiping/Itu Aba Island in the Spratly Islands on 28 January 2016 was justified among other things on the grounds that he visited men and women in uniform before every Lunar New Year and that he was seeking to clarify the legal status of the island.[1]

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North Korea’s Nuclear Test: Regional Reactions and the Chinese Responsibility

January 29, 2016 ICS1 Comment

Jabin T. Jacob, Assistant Director and Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

Following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test since 2006, [1] the world led by the UN Security Council has condemned Pyongyang’s action.[2] The DPRK for its part blamed South Korea’s propaganda broadcasts in the Demilitarised Zone – which includes K-pop songs, by the way – and deployment of military assets, saying these were pushing the two countries to the ‘brink of war’.[3]

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Brand Image and Soft Power of India and China

January 27, 2016 ICSLeave a comment

Ambassador (retd.) Kishan S Rana, Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

In the past 25 years new concepts have entered the lexicon of international affairs. In 1990, Joseph Nye gave us the notion of soft power (SP), the ability of a country to attract others, to attain its goals through inducement and gentle persuasion, rather than exertion of hard power.[1] We also learnt to think of countries as brands (CB), possessed of images akin to commercial brands; such attributes had earlier sometimes been seen as national stereotypes. The difference now was that we realized that like all brands, country images could be marketed, enhanced and manipulated. At the same time, public diplomacy (PD) emerged as a new activity, or rather as an old wine in a new bottle, describing effort by governments to reach out to publics, foreign and to an extent also one’s own people, to influence their perceptions on international issues. We realized that image and country marketing affected inflows of foreign tourists, and the way foreign businessmen viewed one’s country as a destination for business and investments. This gave salience to these new forms of public communication.

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Taiwan Elections: Rejuvenated DPP with ‘Third Forces’

January 16, 2016 ICSLeave a comment

Bhim Subba, ICS-HYI Doctoral Fellow.

More than 18 million registered voters among 23 million people, above the age of 20 will exercise their suffrage for Saturday, January 16 in Taiwan. As expected, the mood in the island is with the Pan-Green Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) coalition under Tsai Ing-wen. The Pan-Blue Kuomintang (KMT) under Eric Chu, who replaced Ms. Hung Tsui-Chu (Deputy House Speaker), breaking the convention, is most likely to face drubbing and James Soong, former KMT heavyweight, heading the People’s First Party (PFP) rallying at the last.

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Leadership in ‘Reforming China’

December 22, 2015 ICSLeave a comment

Bhim Subba, ICS-HYI Doctoral Fellow.

Since the reform (gaige kaifang), much writings on Chinese politics have dealt with leadership succession in China. Many scholars argue the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is reluctant in undertaking political reforms unlike the economy. People’s democracy, as many of one-party states proclaim, is criticised because of an absence of competitive electoral party system thereby resulting in appointment of ‘rulers’ without sanctioned by the ‘ruled’. Arguably at the macro level, one can see such trepidations and the influence of the party at all levels of government, but at the same time, one cannot deny that the party’s ruling ideology, organization and leadership selection norms have not undergone transformation.

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