Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 26, 2017

A Chinese TV grab with a headline "PLAAF various warplanes fly past Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait". Photo: CCTV

Todd Crowell, Asia Times: The year air power in Asia took off

The Chinese airforce is flying far beyond the First Island Chain, of which Taiwan is an important link, into the Western Pacific where they could threaten American bomber bases on Guam; Japanese jets scrambled a record number of times

It was mostly quiet on the maritime front in the East and South China Sea in 2017. Not so in the air, where parties to the region’s many conflicts sought to intimidate each other through displays of air power.

On December 17 the Chinese air force planes circled Taiwan by entering the Western Pacific through the Bashi Strait separating Taiwan from the Philippines. They flew along Taiwan’s east coast before returning to home base through the Miyako Channel.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 26, 2017

Washington-Moscow deal to end Mideast conflict? -- Shehab Al-Makahleh, Al Arabiya

For Mideast in 2018, threats and opportunities -- Dan Perry, AP

Will there be a war on the Korean Peninsula in 2018? -- James Stavridis, Nikkei Asian Review

How Kim Jong Un bested Donald Trump in the slugfest that was 2017 -- Alexander Smith, NBC

Analysis: No sign Rohingya will be allowed to return home -- Esther Htusan and Robin McDowell, AP

Chinese Construction in the South China Sea: Should ASEAN Be Concerned? -- The Diplomat

Is Saudi Arabia’s Post-Oil Future Realistic? -- Irina Slav, OilPrice.com

Catalonia Goes Back to Square One -- Bloomberg editorial

The Afghan war: Trump and Putin battle for Uzbek support -- M.K. Bhadrakumar, Asia Times

Moscow's divide and rule strategy -- Janusz Bugajski, CEPA

Top 6 Politicians Banned From Elections…Besides Navalny -- Sputnik

Mexico maelstrom: how the drug violence got so bad -- David Agren, The Guardian

Latin America will make big news in 2018, and not just because of six elections -- Andrés Oppenheimer, Miami Herald

Trump roils the globe in first year as commander in chief -- Rebecca Kheel, The Hill

This May Be Bitcoin's Moment of Truth -- Mohamed A. El-Erian, Bloomberg