Indo-Pacific

In May 2025, China deepened its strategic footprint by reasserting territorial claims along the China-India border, backing Pakistan militarily during its clash with India, advancing trilateral talks with Pakistan and the Taliban, escalating tensions in the South China Sea, and expanding ties with ASEAN and the Gulf.

On June 3, Korean voters will head to the polls for a snap presidential election. The outcome will reverberate far beyond Korean domestic politics.

Democratic institutions eventually prevailed in impeaching and removing a president who employed an undemocratic tool.

Incumbent parties in Australia and Singapore scored unexpected landslide victories on Saturday. A major factor appeared to be voters' trust that they were best equipped to handle President Donald Trump and his trade policies. 

The United States is lagging far behind China when it comes to military supremacy in the Indo-Pacific, where Beijing has increased pressure on long-time U.S. allies and partners.

With the Constitutional Court upholding Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, South Korea heads for a presidential election scheduled for June 3.

Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law triggered a four-month-long constitutional crisis in South Korea that was finally resolved last week by the decision of the Constitutional Court to uphold the National Assembly’s impeachment.

Despite widespread dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s performance, the Labor Party is likely to win re-election in Australia due to political backlash against Donald Trump’s policies.

Otsuka Yumi, the Chief Sustainability Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation, shares her journey to corporate leadership.

China’s involvement across the Indo-Pacific in March 2025 ranged from warming ties with India and deepening cooperation with Bangladesh and Pakistan to increased presence in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean.

In February 2025, China expanded its influence in the Indo-Pacific through diplomatic outreach, infrastructure investment, and coordinated security efforts—hosting delegations, deepening economic ties with ASEAN and Middle Eastern states, conducting controversial military drills, and collaborating with Thailand and Myanmar to crack down on cross-border scam centers.

This month, a spy scandal in the Philippines and Myanmar’s civil war highlighted China’s controversial involvement in the Indo-Pacific. 

On Friday, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and President Donald Trump sat down for the first time to discuss the U.S.-Japan alliance.

South Korea continues to reel from President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration on December 3. Although the National Assembly overwhelmingly nullified the declaration in a few hours, political tensions remain unresolved.

CFR’s Sheila A. Smith spoke with Dr. Duyeon Kim with the Center for a New American Security, who is based in Seoul, to get her assessment of the fallout of President Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law.