Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has begun to challenge America’s role as the key economic and political actor in Asia. Increasingly repressive at home, Xi has not shied away from asserting China’s regional authority, positioning Beijing as the power broker on everything from trade routes to the ongoing efforts to denuclearize North Korea. China’s ascendance is also evident in how much attention other global powers are paying to Beijing and its policies. U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war with China and frets publicly about its influence. And with its Belt and Road Initiative, China’s influence is spreading well beyond Asia, into much of Africa and even Europe.
But while China’s rise often makes headlines, it is not the only trend shaping events in Asia. Nationalism has become a force in democracies like India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode the wave of Hindu nationalism to a massive victory in the country’s parliamentary elections last year, and the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte’s electoral gains in midterm elections have left even fewer checks on his increasingly autocratic behavior. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s government continues its persecutions of Rohingya Muslims.
Though democracy has taken a hit across parts of the continent, South Korea and Japan continue to offer models of liberalism. Both face challenges, though, primarily of the economic variety. South Korea is attempting to tackle corruption while deepening its ties with other parts of the continent, and Japan’s government is hoping a new imperial era will mark a shift toward more economic opportunity. But uncertainty over the trade war between the United States and China, as well as fallout from the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, could dampen the region’s economic prospects.
Regional flashpoints also remain. Tensions between India and Pakistan have risen again after aerial skirmishes that took place in early 2019. Afghanistan is facing a political crisis over its disputed presidential election, even as the U.S. takes its first tentative steps to ending the nearly two-decade-long presence of U.S. troops in the country. And North Korea remains a wildcard.
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