Asia
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VINCENT CHEOK. Understanding China and the Chinese – An Australian Perspective – Part 2.
America First is not necessarily Australia First. That is, leaving aside the biological or human tendencies to be ‘tribal’ or sectarian etc, in my opinion, the Australian perspective, mindset and psyche as to how China and the Chinese are viewed must obviously be different from the Americans. It is and must in fact be based Continue reading »
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PATRICK LAWRENCE. What’s going to happen when Assad wins the war in Syria? (Asian Times, 17.07.18)
Given the unexpected pace of events in recent weeks, the end of Syria’s seven-year agony appears to be very near. It is now all but certain that Bashar al-Assad’s government will win its long war against Sunni jihadists and their foreign supporters. The focus in Syria is already turning from conflict, casualty counts, and displacement Continue reading »
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PEPE ESCOBAR. China’s silky charming of Arabia (Asian Times, 11.07.18)
President Xi Jinping has promised more than $23 billion in loans and aid to Arab states, as Beijing ramps up ties with the Middle East; this includes aid for Palestine; Beijing foresees importing a whopping $8 trillion from Arab states up to 2025. Continue reading »
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KARL WILSON with Steve FitzGerald – Opening-up: The view from down under (China Daily 12/07/18)
Stephen FitzGerald (right) and former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam meet Chairman Mao Zedong on Nov 2, 1973, in Beijing. Australia’s first ambassador to the People’s Republic of China reflects on decades of transformation Editor’s note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of China’s reform and opening-up policy. China Daily talks to Continue reading »
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HANKYOREH EDITORIAL. President Moon’s vision for peace and prosperity after denuclearization
In a “Singapore Lecture” during the final day of his state visit to Singapore on July 13, President Moon Jae-in outlined his vision for an inter-Korean economic community and peace on the Korean Peninsula. It could be seen as his second “vision for peace,” after the one he presented in the German capital of Berlin Continue reading »
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GAURAB SHUMSHER THAPA. China and Nepal reach across the Himalayan divide (Asia Times 6/7/2018)
Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to China last month was closely watched by both domestic and international observers. Continue reading »
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Get-tough rhetoric has denied us any sway with Beijing (AFR, 10/07/18)
As foreign minister I recall an irritating flare-up in our relations with one of the Pacific states. There had been a “misunderstanding” at Sydney airport that upset the island state’s prime minister. The anger ran strong and the state contemplated a big anti-Australian gesture: terminating an arrangement under which we trained their police. And, here’s the rub, inviting Continue reading »
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PETER DRYSALE AND SHIRO ARMONSTRONG. Getting Australia’s geopolitical and economic strategies aligned (Australian Financial Review, 08/07/18)
Australia, it has been said, is faced with hard choices in strategic policy because its principal security partner is the United States and its major trading partner, China. By defining Australia’s national interest comprehensively where both China and the United States matter – and where security and economics are integrated into strategic decision making from Continue reading »
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TOM HUSSAIN. In Pakistan’s currency crisis, China is the problem and the solution. (South China Morning Post 7/7/2018)
Having racked up unsustainable bills in supporting Beijing’s infrastructure master plan, Islamabad is bailed out by China to the tune of US$1 billion – leaving it more dependent than ever on its ‘all-weather ally’. Continue reading »
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BERTIL LINTNER. As Trump turns away, China gains in Myanmar (Asia Times 4/7/2018)
US leader has left predecessor Obama’s engagement policy to wilt on the vine, giving Beijing an opening to renew its trade and security agendas Does US President Donald Trump have a distinct policy towards Myanmar, and if so how does it differ from the engagement gambit championed by his predecessor Barack Obama? Continue reading »
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BHIM BHURTEL. India’s myopic ‘muscular’ neighborhood policy (Asia Times 2/7/2018)
Despite one “muscular diplomatic” debacle after another, India has been unrelenting in its bullying attitude toward its small and weak neighbors. India is imposing another economic blockade on a third South Asian country, Maldives. Continue reading »
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ANDREW SALMON. South Korea unveils plan for N Korean economic enrichment (Asia Times 3/7/2018)
Ideas for the North’s development and regional integration, while ripe with promise, face obstacles and remain dependent on the US and denuclearization South Korea presented its master plan for North Korean economic cooperation to the public last week, laying forth a roadmap not only for economic development north of the Demilitarized Zone, but also for Continue reading »
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RICHARD A. BITZINGER. US, China cash in on Asia’s growing appetite for arms.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just released its data on the global arms trade for 2017, and it is big news for Asia as a whole, and for China and the United States in particular. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Australia and the Quad (The Strategist)
On 18 January, admirals from Australia, India, Japan and the US sat together on stage at the high-profile Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi. Their presence reflected the shared strategic assessment that China has become a disruptive force in the Indo-Pacific. Taking time out to deliver a lecture at India’s National Defence College, Australian Defence Industry Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. Korea: what should Australia be doing?
While the pace of media reports about the Korean Peninsular has slowed a little since the Singapore Summit there has been much going on – in public and under wraps. Skepticism about the North’s commitment to the core issue of denuclearisation has grown but it is still clearly too early to form definite conclusions about Continue reading »
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DAVID KANG. Reasons to be optimistic about North Korea (East Asia Forum)
There has been a torrent of whining about the Trump–Kim summit. Critics are calling it little more than a photo opportunity for a dictator, and claim that nothing was agreed while North Korea’s horrific human rights abuses were overlooked. Sceptics claim that the agreement is the same as previous agreements between the United States and Continue reading »
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WILLIAM GRIMM. Japanese fans’ shocking behavior at World Cup games.
Fans cleaning the stadium after matches they attend is an example of how one must be conscious of the convenience of those around. Continue reading »
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Australian laws should avoid hurting China.(Global Times China)
Australia has benefitted greatly from its relations with China, but has since begun to censor almost all the factors that have contributed to the benefits, and has interpreted its relations with China in the most negative way. Such actions by Australia are beyond the Chinese public’s imagination of a country they once respected, and will Continue reading »
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MICHAEL SAINSBURY. Malaysia’s ‘new’ 92-year-old leader is an old man in a hurry.(UCANEWS on 30 June 2018)
In multi-ethnic, religiously diverse Penang most people couldn’t be happier, but the government has plenty of work to do. Continue reading »
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DENNIS ARGALL. Many steps on Korea between the principals.
While the US and DPRK are at very early stages in working forward from the Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore on 12 June 2018, a wide range of practical steps have taken place between the ROK and DPRK and China and Russia are involved too. While upheavals in American political perspectives are possible, there is orderliness Continue reading »
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DUNCAN GRAHAM. Our failing media again-ignoring an election next door.
‘The World’ is a nightly news show on Australia Plus, our overseas TV showcase transmitted to 44 countries in Asia and the Pacific. The one-hour programme pulls together the day’s global issues, often adding lengthy interviews dissecting international developments. Continue reading »
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MARGARET SCOTT. The Truth about the Killing Fields in Indonesia (NYRB 28/6/2018)
On a baking hot afternoon in 2010, Jess Melvin, a young scholar from Australia, walked out of a government archive in Banda Aceh carrying a cardboard box. It was brimming with three thousand photocopied documents from the Indonesian army, and Melvin could barely believe her luck. These documents prove what has always been officially denied: Continue reading »
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TIM BUCKLEY. India is bringing the coal era to an end.
On Tuesday last week, Tony Abbott, Australia’s ex-prime minister, was photographed in parliament clutching a document entitled, the “Coal era is not over.” Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. AUSTRALIA AND THE BRI: WHY SO RELUCTANT?
The Sydney Morning Herald has recently published a series of articles (18-23 June 2018) on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The articles come at a time when relations between China and Australia are getting distinctly cooler. Continue reading »
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ALAN BOYD. Asia’s millionaires leaving for safe havens, lower taxes.
Report says thousands of wealthy citizens are leaving Asia and the Middle East, mostly heading for new lives in Australasia, North America and Europe. Continue reading »
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PETER RODGERS: Postcard from Doha: blockaders, bovines and billions
A year on, the Saudi-led boycott of Qatar appears stymied by the latter’s capacity to buy its way out of trouble. Qatar’s extravagant spending on the 2022 FIFA World Cup would make many a national treasurer weep. Continue reading »
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DAVID P GOLDMAN. A tragedy in the making as the US confronts China (Asia Times)
The trade war is quickly moving to the next level of confrontation with suggestions that Trump has ‘betrayed China’ Continue reading »
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JOCELYN CHEY. Mad, bad and dangerous? Australia in Chinese eyes.
Once upon a time, Chinese people regarded Australia as a friendly, safe, stable country with a beautiful natural environment and reliable system of law and government. No longer. In 2018, Chinese parents prefer Britain or Canada when considering where to send their children for education. Chinese scholars note that Australia has been involved in every Continue reading »
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Vietnam: Investigate Police Response to Mass Protests.
Hundreds Detained in Sweeping Crackdown Continue reading »
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LEE JEON-HO. China adds to nuclear arsenal amid military modernisation drive
China now has 280 warheads, according to think tank, which calls nuclear states’ renewed focus on deterrence and capacity ‘a very worrying trend’ Continue reading »
