China: not on any negotiation table soon - William Overholt

William Overholt

Tensions in the Asia-Pacific are flaring up, but China won't appear on any negotiation table for three months at least, tells Asia expert William Overholt of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in the Huffington Post. 

The Huffington Post:

South Korea is feuding with Japan, Japan with China, China with many of its Southeast Asian neighbors. With elections due soon in South Korea and Japan, and a once-in-a-decade change in the Communist Party leadership pending in China, lame-duck leaders facing nationalist pressures at home have little room for amicably resolving the disputes. 

"It's bad luck that it happens just before all these transitions. Everybody is looking around and saying, `these people won't be at the table in three months,'" said William Overholt, an Asia expert at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. "The omens are not auspicious," he said... 

"Japan is not in a position to move ahead. It's very difficult for the Japanese government to deal with this right now," said William Overholt, an expert on Asia at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. "I wish I could see light at the end of the tunnel but I don't," he said.

More in the Huffington Post.

William Overholt is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.