China

The People’s Republic of China has been afflicted by natural calamities right from its inception in 1949, including severe river flooding, excess snowfall, cyclones, tsunamis and earthquakes. The consequential human suffering is further aggravated by the heavy population density. The mammoth 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province and the resultant loss of life and property exposed the ill-preparedness of the Chinese government machinery like never before. Nevertheless, the Chinese State Council rose admirably to the occasion.

• Kamlesh K. Agnihotri
• January 2012
• Journal of Defence Studies

Geographic position, climatic features, and geological structures cause natural disasters in almost cyclical order in China. Man-made disasters such as the SARS epidemic add a new dimension to the over all woe of a nation which is home to 18.5 per cent of the world population. The paper explores the extent of the face lift achieved by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from once being known as the “Land of Famines” and the “Land of Death”, and, in particular, the positive contribution of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the whole gamut of disasters.

• Sheo Nandan Pandey
• January 2012
• Journal of Defence Studies

After assessing the weaknesses and gaps in Chinese capabilities and highlighting the positions of advantage that India enjoys, this essay proposes a strategy for a strong riposte against any Chinese adventurism.

• Lalit Kumar
• January 17, 2012
• Policy Brief

In order to meet its energy demands, China is constructing oil and gas pipelines in Myanmar, almost reaching to the seashores of Bay of Bengal.

• Shivananda H
• January 10, 2012
• IDSA Comments

While Indonesia’s ratification has given a boost to the CTBT, the positions of the other hold-out countries do not show any promise of forward movement.

• Ch. Viyyanna Sastry
• January 09, 2012
• IDSA Comments

The year 2011 will stand out in history as the year of the Arab Spring, when people in Northern Africa and West Asia rose up against tyranny and revolted for political emancipation.

• A. Vinod Kumar
• January 04, 2012
• Issue Brief

China is a thirsty country desperately in need of water—a lot of it. In order to meet its water and energy requirements in the densely populated and fertile northern plains, it is successively making interventions in the Tibetan rivers in the southern part through dams and diversions. While China is well within its riparian rights to do so, a set of externalities involving the principles of water-sharing and lower riparian needs—stretching from Afghanistan to Vietnam—raise concerns.

• Uttam Kumar Sinha
• January 2012
• Strategic Analysis

China is gradually increasing its economic and commercial presence in Eastern Europe by signing bilateral agreements with countries that are still in transition, some of which are members of the European Union (EU).

• Richard Rousseau
• January 2012
• Strategic Analysis

After ensuring that its people are only able to access ‘filtered’ news, the Chinese leadership has also decided to refurbish its image abroad through a major public relations effort.

• R. S. Kalha
• December 19, 2011
• IDSA Comments

The island hopping game being played out is an indication of China’s strategy for gaining access to the IOR by developing the capabilities of “reach”, “presence” and “sustainability”.

• Sarabjeet Singh Parmar
• December 15, 2011
• IDSA Comments