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Begin New Search Political Geography China Publishing Institution Project 2049 Institute

11. Regime Resilience and Civil Resistance in Post-Tiananmen China

Author:
Yang Jianli and Han Lianchao
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
In the 1980s, conflicting patterns of economic liberalization and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) dogmatic insistence on unchallenged social control led to a widespread protest movement across the People’s Republic of China (PRC, China). Tensions reached an apex on June 4, 1989 in what became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In memory of the 30 year anniversary of the Party’s brutal and lethal suppression of their own people, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the CCP’s post-Tiananmen survival strategy and the enduring tradition of civil resistance in the PRC. Though CCP methods of quelling civil dissent have strengthened in the decades following Tiananmen, the authors identify various indicators of growing discord in the PRC. In evaluating the perseverance of civil resistance in China, the authors conclude that the ongoing struggle against the authoritarian Party apparatus is far from over.
Topic:
Political Violence, History, Authoritarianism, State Violence, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Political Geography:
China and Asia

12. A Golden Opportunity for a U.S.-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement

Author:
Dan Blumenthal and Michael Mazza
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The United States and Taiwan can create a free trade agreement (FTA) that serves the interests of both sides. Taiwan should seek to set the gold standard in economic openness, as well as in the legal, regulatory, and standards frameworks that will govern emerging technologies and industries such as 5G, the internet of things (IOT), artificial intelligence (AI), and the future industries to be built upon them. In pursuit of the United States’ vision for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, it would be wise for the U.S. to enlist in its effort countries that are, themselves, already free and open. Taiwan should be considered a crucial partner in the Trump administration’s strategy. This monograph serves to provide a framework for a U.S.-Taiwan free trade agreement (FTA), outlining areas of concern for the United States, in addition to areas that provide opportunities for closer bilateral cooperation. Importantly, such cooperation could give greater impetus for free trade negotiations, advance the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, and bolster the United States’ National Security Strategy.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, Bilateral Relations, Free Trade, and Trade
Political Geography:
China, Taiwan, Asia, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific

13. China's Top Five War Plans

Author:
Ian Easton
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
This publication breaks down Beijing’s likely top five war plans to understand what may be driving China’s military reorganization and reform campaign. Easton analyzes available Chinese military sources and concludes that China’s primary strategic goal is to take Taiwan using one or more of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s five outlined combat operations, in the 21st century’s foremost flashpoint. He also explains how these five different joint operations could be used to isolate or occupy Taiwan, thwart American intervention in offensive operations against U.S. military units, and repel potential border threats from India in the event of aPLA invasion of Taiwan.
Topic:
International Relations and International Security
Political Geography:
China

14. The People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force: Leadership and Structure

Author:
Rachael Burton and Mark Stokes
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) is one of the most significant components of the People’s Republic of China’s (China, PRC) ongoing military reform and reorganization. Based on limited sources available, the PLASSF appears intended to integrate the launch, tracking, and control of satellites with the operational units that apply the services that the satellites provide, such as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. This paper aims to provide an overview of the Strategic Support Force’s role within the PLA, its leadership structure, and the biographies of its core decision makers. In addition, it examines how the PLASSF’s presumed ability to provide “cross-domain fusion” helps to augment synergies among PLA assets, which could enhance the PLA’s capacity to further project power in the Indo-Pacific region.
Topic:
Military Affairs, Leadership, and Army
Political Geography:
China and Asia

15. White Warships and Little Blue Men: The Looming “Short, Sharp War” in the East China Sea over the Senkakus

Author:
James E. Fanell and Kerry K. Gershaneck
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
China claims Japan’s Senkaku Islands and vows to seize them in a “short, sharp war,” if necessary. China’s successful seizure of the islands would shatter the Japan-America security alliance and severely undermine U.S. credibility. This study examines China’s attack campaign by tracing its territorial claims to the East China Sea and by addressing its Senkakus campaign doctrine, the military and paramilitary forces it will employ, how the campaign will unfold, the timing of the attack, how China might counter U.S. intervention, and steps the United States and Japan should take to deter it.
Topic:
Military Strategy, Territorial Disputes, Military Intervention, Alliance, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Japan, China, Asia, and United States of America

16. U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a Sea of Change

Author:
Ian Easton, Richard L. Armitage, and Mark Stokes
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
Concerned about a potential drift in the relationship, The Project 2049 Institute conducted a series of working-level dialogues, resulting in the production of a study addressing the medium to long-term challenges that appear likely in Taiwan and across the Taiwan Strait. The objective of this report is to make detailed policy recommendations for Washington as it endeavors to strengthen relations with Taiwan, while at the same time mitigating tensions that are emerging in relations across the Strait.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
China, Taiwan, Asia, and United States of America

17. The People’s Republic of China and Burma: Not Only Pauk-Phaw

Author:
Bertil Lintner
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
Pauk-Phaw was a term coined in the 1950s to describe the supposedly friendly and close relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Burma. But despite such diplomatic niceties, relations between China and Burma have not always been especially cordial. China, a vast, mainly inland, empire, has always looked for outlets to the sea for its land-locked western and southwestern provinces. China will not easily give up its hard-won access to the Indian Ocean and Burma’s strategic importance to Beijing cannot be overestimated. As China sees it, it cannot simply “hand over” Burma to the West. The country is far too important strategically and economically to the PRC for that to happen.
Topic:
Diplomacy, History, Bilateral Relations, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Burma

18. The Limits of CCP Liaison Work: Sino-Vietnamese Relations

Author:
David Gitter and Elsa Kania
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The PRC has fully leveraged its relative receptiveness to communist liaison work, carried out through CCP Central Committee’s International Department (CCP/ID). With Sino-Vietnamese tensions in mind, party-to-party exchanges have provided a more subtle channel for rapprochement. This party-centric dimension of diplomacy between China and Vietnam has received relatively scarce analytical attention thus far but remains active and important elements of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) pursuit of its foreign policy interests. CCP diplomacy has focused on appealing to the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam’s (CPV) shared revolutionary heritage and socialist ideology, emphasizing the need to protect the overall special relationship that both countries supposedly enjoy.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Socialism, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Vietnam

19. The Logic of Historical Nihilism: Analyzing the PRC Orthodoxy on the Origins of the Korean War

Author:
Miles M. Yu
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) utilizes its own narrative of the Korean War to fulfill the Party’s strategic interests. Historical evidence, illustrated in this paper, proves that the Korean War began on June 25, 1950 as a result of a long and arduous preparation and agreement among the three protagonists—Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Kim Il-sung. Today, significant research and historical documents prove the CCP’s creation of a false record of the Korean War, which remains integral to Maoist historical nihilism and employed by the Party to ensure regime survival. Following the 67th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, it is necessary to examine the Korean War’s historical legacy and the role of the manipulation of historical narratives in communist China.
Topic:
War, History, Political Parties, and Narrative
Political Geography:
China, Asia, South Korea, and North Korea

20. Dangerous Truths: The Panchen Lama’s 1962 Report and China’s Broken Promise of Tibetan Autonomy

Author:
Matthew Akester
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sustained a strategy to manipulate history and subjugate Tibet in order to maintain Party rule. As outlined in this paper, the CCP’s tactics against Tibet can be evidenced through its denial of a report critical of the Party’s policies, authored by the 10th Panchen Lama in 1962. Through an analysis of the historical context surrounding the CCP’s repudiation of this report, and the Party’s resulting efforts to erase the grievances of the Tibetan people while imposing its own narrative, it is clear that the CCP views nationalist sentiment in Tibet as inimical to social stability. To counter that threat, the Party requires the active suppression and political compliance of the Tibetan people. Due to the CCP’s efforts, it is necessary to uncover the true historical record that proves the Party’s attempts to distort history and dominate Tibet for its own strategic ends.
Topic:
History, Territorial Disputes, Repression, and Autonomy
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Tibet