Asia
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Fear God, not the pandemic in Indonesia.
July 20 will be a big day in Indonesia. It marks the end of more than two weeks of lockdown, and it’s Bloody Tuesday – Idul Adha, the feast of the sacrifice. This year participants may become victims. Continue reading »
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Hong Kong and Taiwan: seeking perspectives
My intention here is to provide some information on Hong Kong and Taiwan, having regard to media failure and the general drought of information in Australia. Policy and public sentiment is being driven by passions and our tendency to prefer conflictual in news and argument. Continue reading »
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Lockdown’s compulsory in Indonesia – if you like
Luhut Binsar Panjaitan doesn’t read Pearls & Irritations. That’s obvious because the former general and Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s Mr Fixit alleged he was blindsided by the latest tsunami of Covid 19. Continue reading »
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Grenville Cross-Rule of law in HongKong- Protecting criminal justice operatives from violence.
When the Hong Kong protest movement and its armed wing launched their insurrection in 2019, they realized that to make headway they had to target people involved in upholding criminal justice. From the outset, they systematically attacked the police, with petrol bombs, bricks and improvised weaponry, and then set about terrorizing their families. They doxxed Continue reading »
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Garuda-The spirit of Indonesia takes a dive
The financial deck warning lights had been flashing furiously when Indonesia’s Garuda airline welshed on its AUD 660 million sukuk repayments this month after a 14-day grace. Continue reading »
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Our failure in Asia as viewed nine years ago. The situation is now far worse.
Nine years ago, in the speech below, I was pessimistic about our understanding of Asia and our future. The situation has got markedly worse since then. Continue reading »
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India’s suspect ‘Quad’ credentials
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s carefully cultivated competence bubble has been punctured by his government’s ineffectiveness amid the second wave of the COVID-19 virus that has ravaged his country. Continue reading »
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Indonesia’s anti corruption commission goes missing in action.
If you needed a blood transfusion, would you accept a donor from a different religion? Do you believe in polygamy? Would you take part in a threesome? Continue reading »
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Never mind the width, feel the quality
They’re standouts in any language, often tall, blond, and looking as though they’ve just been hit by a runaway road train top-heavy with cultural and communication overburden. Continue reading »
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Australia Is Supporting the Oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka
The International Truth and Justice Project has documented many cases of torture committed by Sri Lankan police, often involving sexual violence. This draconian treatment is enshrined in laws such as the 1979 Prevention of Terrorism Act, which allows authorities to arrest suspects without a warrant and permits detention for up to eighteen months without pretrial. Continue reading »
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The Other Swindled Partner
What were you doing in 2004 as the Australian Government’s fleecing of the Timorese people took shape? Continue reading »
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Clear skies over Asia’s new foreign investment landscape
Compounding the fallout of the US–China trade war, the global pandemic and recession have caused considerable speculation on the future of foreign investment and global value chains (GVCs). But though there is likely to be some permanent change, it will probably not be as great as politicians expect. Continue reading »
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Hong Kong judge concerned with US intervention in Hong Kong affairs
A former Hong Kong legislator from the Civic Party, Jeremy Tam, recently applied for bail in the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Mr Tam has been charged with subversion under the new National Security Law (NSL) which has applied in the HKSAR since July 1, 2020. The NSL was drafted Continue reading »
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Easter in Indonesia: a time to be wary
Easter is different in Islam-dominated Indonesia. High on the facade of the Catholic cathedral and other churches in Malang, East Java stand statues of a welcoming Jesus. Beneath his outstretched arms parishioners got the extra protection of six-wheeled armoured personnel carriers, soldiers and police ready to intimidate potential bombers. Continue reading »
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To achieve its goals china needs to show more restraint in the region
The much-anticipated meeting between top US and China foreign policy officials has come and gone with only the great gaps between the two to show for it. Despite growing US angst and opposition, China is proceeding apace toward its goal of regional and eventual world dominance. Continue reading »
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How not to win friends and influence people
“No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia. If we fail to get this relationship right, and nurture and develop it, the whole web of our foreign relations is incomplete.” Paul Keating – 1994 Continue reading »
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Does Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention violate international law?
The International Court of Justice cannot deal with what the military is doing to the people of Myanmar today because Daw Suu and the NLD failed for five years to ratify or accede to the Rome Statute. They have no one to blame but themselves. Continue reading »
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On the death of PNG’s first PM, Sir Michael Somare
The death of Sir Michael Somare, first Prime Minister of PNG, has occasioned an outpouring of national grief and heartfelt obituaries for “the Father of the Nation”, “the Chief”. That he was, and remains, widely respected, even loved, across the country is beyond dispute. However, it is disturbing that the posthumous record presently being confected Continue reading »
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Reflections from the ’80s: the HIV epidemic in Myanmar
For the last three years off the fifteen I worked in the US my clinical life was consumed with setting up a unit at Yale University to study and treat patients with the mysterious Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the cause of which was eventually discovered to be a unique retro-virus called, logically enough, the Continue reading »
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Money talks: What Australia can do about Myanmar’s crazy generals
A month has passed since the Myanmar generals’ coup. People in Myanmar have responded with outrage. Many countries reacted strongly and quickly. Even the notoriously deadlocked UN Security Council managed to find consensus to issue a statement. Our response has been tepid. It’s time to get off the fence. Continue reading »
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US-India plot wrong course in Indian Ocean
The militarization of the Indian Ocean is in direct violation of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2832, which designated the Indian Ocean as a “zone of peace” and called on the great powers to halt any further escalation of military presence including bases, installations and logistic or supply facilities. Continue reading »
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Japanese Ambassador rapped over the knuckles by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
But did he get the message? Continue reading »
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Indonesia still waiting for legislation to penalise sexual violence
Five years ago a Bill was put before Indonesia’s lower house (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat) to penalise sexual violence. Activists stressed the need for urgency as the scourge was increasing. They’re still waiting. Continue reading »
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China does not like the coup in Myanmar
Since the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, there have been reports and allegations that China approves of or is able to spin the military takeover to its advantage. This is unlikely to be true. Continue reading »
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Asian language learning in Australia was a disgrace 40 years ago. It is now much worse.
An important issue we worked on in the Department (of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs) was foreign language learning. We set the pace in the early 1980s, with not many supporters. I felt quite lonely. Continue reading »
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NARA Treaty debacle
Today our intelligence agencies and bureaucrats tell us that China is the enemy. But less than 50 years ago the same agencies and bureaucrats (or their predecessors) were warning us that the enemy against which we had to prepare was Japan. Continue reading »
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The failure of Australian companies in Asia
Australian corporates are reluctant to enter into commercial relationships in foreign countries, particularly those in Asia, and this is at odds with our geographic location and our rhetoric. Continue reading »
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We pay lip service to our relationship with Indonesia
If a relationship just concentrates on STDs it’ll never mature. That goes for countries as well as couples. Continue reading »
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“To Catch Crabs on a Hill”: Hong Kong in Review 2020
“To catch crabs on a hill” is a Cantonese expression meaning something almost impossible. Hong Kong’s prospects are as bleak as that, but it would be a mistake to write the territory off completely. There is a dynamism in local culture, reflected in its pithy proverbs, that may yet save the day. Continue reading »
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What is meant by ‘democracy’ in Hong Kong.
Seeing the theatrics going on in the USA leads me to muse on “Democracy” and what it means in Hong Kong terms. Is there a template into which every model must fit, or is it a broad concept which encompasses not only its technical structure but also the values it seeks to uphold ? Continue reading »
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