ISDP Voices

Every ten years the Chinese government dispatches teams of census takers throughout the country to compile data on its population. Accurate information about the people who live in the country is vital for any state, but it is particularly important for the Chinese system with its party-state structure and five-year plan system. Knowing the country’s […]

In the late 1950s China experienced one of history’s most devastating famines when an estimated 35-45 million of its people perished. Since then, China’s population has more than doubled to 1.4 billion in 2020. Not only does the Chinese landmass need to feed twice the people it did in 1950, but rising living standards have […]

Ever since its inception in 1971, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has had numerous obstacles to overcome in developing and strengthening cooperation across the world’s largest ocean. These include the yawning physical distances between many Pacific nations, which traditionally posed unique communication challenges and the need to juggle the diplomatic interests of several outside actors, […]

Semiconductor chips have quickly become strategic resources for China and the U.S. to leverage in their race for digital dominance. This is in large part due to the close association between semiconductor chips and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Global shortages are coinciding with increasing demand and geopolitical turmoil, forcing states to redraw their supply chains and […]

On March 12, 2021, U.S. President Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Suga, Australian Prime Minister Morrison, and Indian Prime Minister Modi held a quadrilateral summit meeting (the Quad) to discuss pressing issues of the Indo-Pacific region. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Quad forms a multilateral strategic alignment vis-à-vis rising Chinese power. Shortly thereafter on […]

In line with the global trend of decline and delay of marriage, the number of millennials in China who are postponing or even rejecting marriage is growing. Between 2013 and 2019, the number of Chinese people getting married for their first time decreased by 41 percent. While the average age of marriage has risen in the […]

London increases its naval presence in the Pacific. Those who control the seas have always been able to influence the world and manage to protect their investments and interests abroad. The United Kingdom is unlikely to reach its former levels of naval superiority on the seas. However, the introduction of the aircraft carriers HMS Queen […]

On January 20, 2021, Joseph Biden is scheduled to assume the next U.S. President succeeding Donald Trump who had taken presidential leadership since January 20, 2017. It has been observed that foreign and security policy under the Biden administration vis-à-vis Japan may be more predictable unlike the case of President Trump who demanded Japan increase […]

Ever since China in 2015 set its goal of eradicating absolute poverty by the end of 2020, the Chinese state-run media have been reporting on the progress. In late November this year, it announced that China’s remaining impoverished counties had “shaken off poverty”. The news was later followed by an official announcement of China having […]

The Japanese government is slated to pass the fifth Basic Plan for Gender Equality, which will be put into operation from 2021. While new targets will be added, the core of the plan is likely to resemble the plan presented in 2015. Although empowering women was one of the key strategies of the former prime […]