Lecture posted May 1, 2013 by Honorable Ed Royce
The Enduring Legacy of America’s Commitment to Asia
EDWIN J. FEULNER: I’m Ed Feulner. For the next 13 days, I am the president of The Heritage Foundation. I’m delighted to have with us this morning my successor as the new president of The Heritage Foundation, Senator Jim DeMint. Senator, we are very happy that you are able to join us this morning for our 16th annual B.C. Lee Lecture.
It’s good to see so many friends here,…
Issue Brief posted August 2, 2012 by Dean Cheng
South China Sea Tensions Reflect Danger of Defense Budget Cuts
In recent months, tensions have risen in the South China Sea as the ongoing territorial disputes between various Southeast Asian states and the People’s Republic of China have begun to boil. An April speech by Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie stating that the South Sea Fleet would be the vanguard of major new missions makes recent developments even more ominous.…
White Paper posted July 17, 2012 by Walter Lohman, John Fleming, Robert Warshaw
Key Asian Indicators: A Book of Charts
America’s Enduring Leadership in Asia
America has been engaged in Asia since a few decades after securing its independence.
Its early interest is documented in the 1833 Treaty on Amity and Commerce between the U.S. and the Kingdom of Siam Thailand), and later in the market-opening 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan. The U.S. has, in fact, been a “resident…
Issue Brief posted July 9, 2012 by Walter Lohman
Not the Time for U.S.–China Conciliation in Southeast Asia
Indications are that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton goes to Southeast Asia this week in a conciliatory mood. Her Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, told a Washington audience recently that the American emphasis at the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Cambodia this week would be “engagement and…
Issue Brief posted May 14, 2012 by Walter Lohman
Scarborough Shoal and Safeguarding American Interests
For a month, the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been deadlocked in a sovereignty dispute off the Philippine main island of Luzon, around Scarborough Shoal. The situation, which began with a Philippine warship challenging private Chinese poachers in the waters around the shoal, has evolved into something on which no less than the credibility of…
Issue Brief posted April 12, 2012 by Walter Lohman
How the U.S. Can Support Free Trade in the Philippines
The Save Our Industries (SAVE) Act, introduced by Representative Jim McDermott (D–WA) and supported by 20 cosponsors in the House and by Senator Daniel Inouye (D–HI) and three cosponsors in the Senate, would grant duty-free treatment to apparel assembled in the Philippines from American-made fabrics. It is a win-win for the U.S.–Philippines Alliance.
Free…
Special Report posted April 6, 2012 by James M. Roberts
Reducing Corruption Will Increase Economic Freedom in The Philippines
Executive Summary
In 2010, President Benigno S. (“Noynoy”) Aquino III made a pledge to voters: If elected, he would reduce long-standing and endemic corruption in the Philippines. While such reform is indeed underway, as the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom makes clear, there is still much work to be done.
The Philippines is a diverse country. Its population…
Backgrounder posted August 8, 2011 by Renato Cruz De Castro, Walter Lohman
U.S.–Philippines Partnership in the Cause of Maritime Defense
Abstract: Events in the South China Sea this year illustrate once again the urgent need for the Philippines to shift its focus from internal security to maritime defense. The U.S.–Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, the Visiting Forces Agreement, deeply embedded consultation mechanisms, and a century of friendship, cooperation, and mutual sacrifice provide the framework…
Backgrounder posted July 11, 2011 by Dean Cheng
Sea Power and the Chinese State: China’s Maritime Ambitions
Abstract: The expansion of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is in many ways a logical and even forgone conclusion. China is the world’s second-largest economy; its heavy dependence on trade inevitably makes the seas of growing importance to national well-being. Yet as China’s maritime ambitions continue to expand, the U.S. is faced with a challenging task:…
WebMemo posted June 20, 2011 by Walter Lohman
Sorting American Priorities in the South China Sea
The security situation in the South China Sea is deteriorating in a way unseen since the mid-1990s. And given the growth in China’s military power and global influence since then, it is a much bigger problem for the United States. China’s challenge in the South China Sea—its expansive extralegal claims to maritime territory—demands a strong, clear, interest-based…
White Paper posted January 14, 2011 by Walter Lohman, John Fleming, Nicholas Hamisevicz
Key Asian Indicators: A Book of Charts
The global financial crisis has had a major impact on perceptions of American power and its relationships in Asia. Many of the perceptions are not founded on facts. Among the facts often overlooked:
American companies invest far more abroad than does all of Asia combined.
For every dollar the U.S. has invested in China it has invested two in Australia…
WebMemo posted September 22, 2010 by Walter Lohman
Not the Time to Go Wobbly: Press U.S. Advantage on South China Sea
A few days ago, the Associated Press quoted Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and White House Asia Adviser Jeffrey Bader telling ambassadors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that the Administration’s toughness regarding China’s claims in the South China Sea is having the desired effect, “clearly [moving…