Wang Fan analyzes the current geopolitical situation and describes its effects on global security.

What role do defense exports play in China’s diplomacy and foreign policy?

The US must demonstrate that cyber attacks and manipulation of social media will incur costs.

China and the US should work together to keep North Korea to its word and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

Despite Mattis’ harsh criticism of China at the Shangri-La Dialogue, he was careful enough to strike a balance. He said that the U.S. would continue to pursue a constructive results-oriented relationship with China and to cooperate wherever possible. He even recognized the “Indo-Pacific” order which, widely taken as a thinly-veiled strategy against China, has a role for China.

A denuclearized North Korea? Don’t hold your breath.

How will disarmament and peace on the Korean peninsula be facilitated?

The new missiles China has reportedly deployed to three islands in the Spratly chain could target nearly any ship and most aircraft in the southern half of the South China Sea. This radically changes the strategic environment. These missiles mean that China’s bases in the Spratlys are no longer theoretical military threats but real ones.

At the recent Shangri-La Dialogue, three competing narratives of the Indo-Pacific came to light. Which will become the governing paradigm of this increasingly important region?

The U.S. military has renamed its Pacific Command, introducing the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) to the world. But is this a simple name change or a more significant gesture that could signal changes in the Indian-Pacific alliance structure?