U.S.-CHINA RIVALRY SHAPES ASIA-PACIFIC

The most important Asia & Oceania story is the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry, which is driving the region’s geopolitics, trade policy, and security priorities. Analysts say the competition is being fought across maritime chokepoints, advanced technology controls, tariffs, and alliance-building, with Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the Korean Peninsula remaining the key flashpoints. Economic interdependence among China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan still stabilizes the region, but it also creates major vulnerability if conflict disrupts supply chains. The broader trend is a fragmented Asia-Pacific in which strategic competition increasingly overrides the post-globalization trade order.