East Asia

For more than seventy years, East Asia has been the nexus of US presence and engagement in Asia. Today, the region is becoming a hotbed for the return of great power competition, with long-term US allies and partners like Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan next door to competitors and challengers including China, Russia, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. While East Asia continues to navigate a number of longstanding traditional security issues, it must also address the rise of online disinformation, competition to pioneer emerging technologies, and more.

Explore
Vajdich in The National Interest: The Geopolitical Cost of Battling the Coronavirus Separately (China Will Win)

New Atlanticist Mar 31, 2025

Dispatch from Hong Kong: How the ‘geoeconomic city’ is weathering global headwinds

By Josh Lipsky, Ananya Kumar

From Chinese and US economic growth to stablecoin regulations, a recent visit to Hong Kong offered important insights for two Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center experts.
China Digital Currencies
Vajdich in The National Interest: The Geopolitical Cost of Battling the Coronavirus Separately (China Will Win)

New Atlanticist Mar 25, 2025

Reading between the lines of Taiwan’s new Quadrennial Defense Review

By Kitsch Liao

The recently released Quadrennial Defense Review offers a window into the Taiwanese military’s issues with prioritization, operational readiness, and manpower retention.
China East Asia
Vajdich in The National Interest: The Geopolitical Cost of Battling the Coronavirus Separately (China Will Win)

Report Mar 24, 2025

How Beijing uses inducements as a tool of economic statecraft

By William Piekos

As strategic competition between the United States and China intensifies, Washington and Beijing seek every possible advantage to gain an edge. In this environment, both countries are increasingly turning to economic statecraft—the use of economic coercion or inducement to pursue strategic goals—to advance their interests.
China Economy & Business

Programs

The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Indo-Pacific Security Initiative equips the transatlantic community to “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific and to position the Atlantic Council to serve as the essential link between high-level transatlantic and Asian leaders and thinkers

EXPLORE THE Initiative

Content

In the News

Apr 18, 2020

Vajdich in The National Interest: The Geopolitical Cost of Battling the Coronavirus Separately (China Will Win)

By Atlantic Council

Central Europe China

New Atlanticist

Apr 17, 2020

China’s COVID-19 statistics resemble horrific past

By Evanna Hu

The curious spikes in confirmed cases in China following changes in leadership or policy events evokes the terrible statistical manipulation and suffering of the Great Leap Forward.

China Coronavirus

New Atlanticist

Apr 17, 2020

Polls show concerning effect of Chinese coronavirus charm offensive in Italy

By Francesco Bechis

Italy has a geopolitical problem. An April 7 opinion poll showed for the first time that Italians look more to China than to the United States as a potential international partner. The SWG research institute captured an unprecedented situation in the long-term transatlantic friendship as when asked, "Who should Italy look more to develop their international alliances outside of Europe?" 36 percent of Italians indicated China, while only 30 percent chose their historic American ally.

China Coronavirus
Forward Defense

Report

Apr 17, 2020

Emerging technologies and the future of US-Japan defense collaboration

By Tate Nurkin and Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi

This report explores the drivers, tensions, and constraints shaping US-Japan collaboration on emerging defense technologies while providing concrete recommendations for the US-Japan alliance.

Defense Technologies East Asia

In the News

Apr 16, 2020

D’Sola featured on SupChina’s podcast Sinica: China’s Venezuelan vicissitudes

By Atlantic Council

On April 16, 2020, Parsifal D’Sola was featured on an episode of SupChina’s podcast Sinica, “China’s Venezuelan vicissitudes.” D’Sola, along with Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn, discussed “China’s strategy in the resource-rich but economically devastated Venezuela.”

China Venezuela

MENASource

Apr 16, 2020

China’s soft power during the coronavirus is winning over the Gulf states

By Jonathan Fulton

As COVID-19 continues to batter the world, China has managed an impressive transition. A recent article in the New York Times notes that, through the short life of the coronavirus crisis, China has been able to reposition itself not as “the authoritarian incubator of a pandemic but as a responsible global leader at a moment […]

China Coronavirus

In the News

Apr 14, 2020

Cimmino in Spectator USA: Curbing China’s rise should be America’s top priority

By Atlantic Council

Global Strategy Initiative program assistant Jeffrey Cimmino argues the United States needs to prioritize curbing China’s rise. China’s human rights abuses, expansionist impulses, and mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic in its early stages show clearly that its authoritarian values are fundamentally incompatible with the rules-based order led by the United States and its allies for […]

China Coronavirus

In the News

Apr 13, 2020

Linscott interviewed in the Observer Research Foundation: COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Implications for Global Free Trade

By Atlantic Council

China Coronavirus

In the News

Apr 10, 2020

Bechev in Ahval: Turkey joins soft power race during COVID-19 crisis

By Atlantic Council

China Coronavirus

In the News

Apr 8, 2020

Jamil in The National Interest: America Must Lead on Sanctions Relief for Coronavirus-Stricken North Korea

By Atlantic Council

Coronavirus East Asia
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Experts

Fellow

Roderick Kefferpütz

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

Central Europe China

Fellow

Brian Kerg

Nonresident Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Conflict East Asia

Staff

Emily E. Kim

Program Assistant

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Korea Security & Defense

Fellow

Inwook Kim

Nonresident Fellow

empowerME Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

English Geopolitics & Energy Security

Fellow

Jongsun Kim

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Industry Defense Policy

Fellow

Sarah Kirchberger

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Defense Industry
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Events

Public Event Mon, March 23, 2026 • 10:00 am ET

Kurt Campbell on what to expect from Trump’s Beijing visit
China Economy & Business Politics & Diplomacy Technology & Innovation