Weekend Roundup: A Democratic Alliance to Contain China?
Category: WORLDPOST
This week, the unsettling of stability in Asia took yet another turn. Just as Chinese President Xi Jinping was due to arrive in South Korea -- which is angry at Japan over denials about World War II "comfort women" --  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a changed interpretation of the constitution that allows Japanese military forces to operate abroad. As Shannon Tiezzi  writes, China's approach is now aimed at exploiting differences within Japanese public opinion over Abe's new nationalism. From Australia, John Garnaut  writes that an old idea of Colin Powell's is being raised anew: an alliance of democratic states in Asia to counter China's new influence. (continued)
By Nathan Gardels, ContributorEditor-in-chief, The WorldPost, 2014-07-03