Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Gareth Evans, ANU
Hugh White’s views on the dangers of the United States moving to a ‘No First Use’ nuclear posture are not just inherently unpersuasive, for reasons crisply spelt out by Ramesh Thakur, for instance, in recent pieces in The Strategist and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Read more…
Author: Patrick Jory, UQ
The result of the Thailand’s recent referendum appeared to show an easy win to the ‘yes’ camp. 61 per cent of voters approved the draft constitution while 39 per cent voted ‘no’. 58 per cent also approved a second question, inserted at the last minute, on whether a non-elected prime minister could be appointed Read more…
Authors: Cai Fang and Wang Meiyan, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Guo Zhenwei, National Research Institute for Health and Family Planning of China
China’s unprecedented growth since reforms began in the late 1970s has been accompanied by an equally transformative process of urbanisation. China’s urbanisation rate increased from 17.9 to 54.8 per cent between 1978 and 2014, which represents the largest peacetime population movement in human history. Read more…
Author: Natasha Hamilton-Hart, University of Auckland
Malaysia’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal reached a crescendo in July 2016. The US Attorney General claimed that more than US$3.5 billion belonging to 1MDB was ‘allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates’ between 2009 and 2015. Read more…
Author: Rebecca Mendelsohn, ANU
Foreign investment is periodically controversial in Australia. The decision by Treasurer Scott Morrison to reject foreign bids for Australian electricity provider, AusGrid, on national security grounds is the latest matter to generate adverse comment. Read more…
Author: Editors, East Asia Forum
Among all the summit-babble about inclusive and sustainable growth and a myriad other agendas that have attached themselves to the G20, it’s still far from clear that when leaders gather in Hangzhou in China next weekend they will add strategic value to the world’s premier economic dialogue.
Author: Ye Yu, Shanghai Institute for International Studies
At the end of the twentieth century, China was an observer of global governance, on the sidelines of the G7 and not yet a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Encouraged by Western countries to embrace global governance, China has become much more proactive in pushing global cooperation since the G20 was founded. As president of the G20 for 2016, China has an unprecedented opportunity to provide impetus to global development.
Authors: Wang Wen, Renmin University of China
The G20 has become the key vehicle for implementing and promoting global economic governance. China is set to host this year’s G20 summit in Hangzhou on 4–5 September. Read more…
Author: Emirza Adi Syailendra, RSIS
Without networks within the military, and having no effective power over the political parties, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has been constrained in his political manoeuvres. To combat this, Jokowi has installed retired army generals to important civilian posts as coordinating ministers, defence minister and head of state intelligence. Read more…
Author: John Lee, Canberra
Analyses of state responses to the South China Sea arbitral award often frame the issue as a binary choice between a rules-based or power-based approach to international relations. But states are unlikely to view the matter this way, because international law is not autonomous from politics. Read more…
Author: Patrick Strefford, Kyoto Sangyo University
After over 20 years of sanctions and international pariah status, Myanmar has begun to come in from the cold. It has taken the 2010 elections, a new ‘civilian’ president and the by-elections of early 2012 to convince the international community that the transition to democracy is ‘real’. Read more…
Author: Adam Leong Kok Wey, National Defence University of Malaysia
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) judgement on the South China Sea ruled that there is no legal basis for Chinese ‘historical rights’ within its claimed nine-dash line. China did not accept the judgement Read more…
Author: Emirza Adi Syailendra, RSIS
Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) victory in the 2014 presidential election was celebrated as it represented a major step forward for democracy in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. Jokowi’s rise to power was unprecedented. It was largely the collective effort of volunteers and a strong social media presence Read more…
Authors: Can Wang and Xinzhu Zheng, Tsinghua University
Water and energy are indispensable inputs to modern economies. But in China these are both under threat. China’s per capita quantity of fresh water is only one-quarter of the global average and its sparse water resources are unevenly distributed across the country. Read more…
Author: Hugh White, ANU
Barack Obama began his presidency with a dramatic gesture which captured the world’s imagination and won him the Nobel Peace Prize. Speaking in Prague in 2009, he declared that the United States would work towards abolishing nuclear weapons. Since then, for over seven years, nothing has happened. Read more…
