Letter From the Editors

Welcome to the February 2019 issue of The Diplomat Magazine.

In physics, it’s known as Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yet it could also be known as a law of international diplomacy: For every action Country A takes, Countries B, C, and D will respond. And Country A may not like the ultimate outcome.

A case in point is the cavalcade of negative publicity and counter-responses to China’s plan for technological dominance, undermining Beijing’s own stated goals. Another example is the way Chinese military advances (among other factors) have motivated Japan to return to aircraft carriers for the first time since World War II. That move in turn is likely to spark responses by Japan’s wary neighbors. In Pakistan, laborers are paying the price for development of the lucrative coal mining industry, sometimes with their very lives. And in Malaysia, a historic victory by pro-democracy forces in May 2018 is changing the way civil society defines itself, for better or for worse.

“Made in China 2025” has been making headlines around the world, attracting far more attention than most Chinese Communist Party economic planning catchphrases. That’s largely due not to the policy itself, but to the backlash from advanced economies around the world, most notably the United States. In our cover story, Elsa B. Kania, an adjunct fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), breaks down Made in China 2025: What it is, where it came from, and what it’s likely to mean for China and the rest of the world.

Next, Robert Farley, a senior lecturer at the University of Kentucky and a visiting professor at the U.S. Army War College, takes a comprehensive look at the broad implications of Japan’s newly announced plan to refit its two Izumo-class helicopter destroyers to be able to fly F-35Bs. In effect, the conversion of the Izumos will give Japan its first real aircraft carriers since World War II. While operationally the Izumos will fall far short of the capabilities of a U.S. Navy supercarrier, Farley notes, they could nevertheless become quite lethal and Japan’s neighbors are watching carefully.

Balochistan province, a key location along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, is eager to jumpstart its economy. But when greed outstrips safety considerations, tragedy lies ahead – and already workers in the lucrative coal mining industry are falling victim. Abdul Hadi, a freelance journalist based in Pakistan, visits some of the unregulated coal mines dotting Balochistan’s landscape to document the hidden costs of development in Pakistan’s poorest province.

Finally, Dr. Khoo Ying Hooi, senior lecturer at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, takes stock of Malaysian civil society nine months after its efforts helped bring down the only ruling party the country had ever known. While the new Pakatan Harapan government is more receptive to both civil society organizations specifically and democratic freedoms in general, there are real worries about co-optation and broken promises.

We hope you enjoy these stories, and the many more in the following pages.