Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Sam Geall, chinadialogue and Chatham House
With the United States in retreat and Europe divided, can China take the lead on climate change action?
Beijing’s action on climate change so far has been driven primarily by domestic concerns rather than international pressure or concerns about the global effects of climate change. It has shown a reluctance to shoulder leadership at the United Nations. Read more…
Author: Champa Patel, Chatham House
After winning a landslide victory in June 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte immediately fulfilled a campaign promise and instigated a so-called ‘war on drugs’. He publicly endorsed the arrest and killing of suspected drug users and sellers. He even went as far as to promise the police that there would be no repercussions for their actions. Read more…
Author: Aurelia George Mulgan, UNSW Canberra
If any country deserves accolades for bringing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to a successful conclusion, it is Japan. Japan was the primary force driving negotiations for the CPTPP (also known as the TPP-11) after the United States withdrew from the original Trans-Pacific Partnership a year earlier. Read more…
Author: Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard, Copenhagen Business School
Much has been written on the need for reform of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). They play an important role in the Chinese economy, as they dominate China’s strategic sectors and pillar industries. They are also key instruments for the implementation of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) policies and strategic initiatives. But in terms of return on assets they are widely regarded as less profitable than privately-owned companies. Read more…
Author: David Lewis, University of Exeter
As relations with the West soured during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s third term, Russia launched a ‘pivot to the East’, forging a far-reaching political alignment with China and promising development in Russia’s Far East regions. At the same time, Moscow turned south, rethinking ties with Pakistan and India, and developing a new role in Afghanistan. Russia’s new policies in Asia are carving out a growing role in what officials dub ‘Greater Eurasia’. Read more…
Author: Editorial Board, East Asia Forum
After the Second World War, the United States and its allies built a global, rules-based economic order. These days, there is much spruiking about the global rules based order and how it is at the core of the national security interests of liberal democracies. Less well understood is that the rules that matter most for global security are the economic rules of which America, seventy years ago, was the primary architect. This order, combined with comprehensive military power, was the American world order. Read more…
Author: Gordon de Brouwer, ANU
A lot has been said about the challenge that Australia and other countries in Asia and the Pacific face in balancing their security interests with the United States and economic interests with China. The need to deal systematically with this challenge is sharpening as Beijing and Washington shift their conventional approaches to international relations. Read more…
Author: Nicholas Lyall, ANU
China’s military cyber power capabilities are increasingly being augmented by a civilian dimension to increase their potency. However, in this relatively new domain for civil–military integration, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is taking action to consolidate state control over China’s cyber power projection. Read more…
Author: Adam Ni, ANU
China may be in the advanced stages of developing a superweapon that can devastate targets at great distances. Photos circulated on Chinese social media show what is suspected to be an experimental electromagnetic railgun mounted on the bow of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy landing ship Haiyang Shan. In stark contrast, the US Navy is winding down its railgun research program, citing budget constraints and shifting priorities. Read more…
Author: Tristan Kenderdine, Future Risk
The ‘Middle Corridor’ of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) is expanding. At a meeting in Ankara on 16 February it was agreed that Turkish State Railways would join the TITR as a full member. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia established the TITR in 2013 as a coordinating committee between their national railways. Read more…
Authors: Chaula Anindya and Satrio Dwicahyo, RSIS
The leadership of the Indonesian military is in flux. In the last three months of 2017, then commander Gatot Nurmantyo executed two reshuffles of senior officers: one on 27 October and the other on 4 December. Four days later on 8 December, Gatot handed over the commandership of the military to Hadi Tjahjanto. Read more…
Author: David Han, RSIS
The eighth Singapore–Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat held in Singapore from 14 to 15 January 2018 witnessed a milestone in bilateral ties. Leaders of both countries signed an agreement to build a rapid transit system linking Johor Bahru and Singapore, and officially launched the Marina One and Duo joint developments. But new challenges threaten to test relations between the two neighbours. Read more…
Author: Phan Le, ANU
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) thinks it is killing two birds with one stone by passing new laws regulating data storage. But it could soon find out it has no use for two dead birds while the stone flies off and damages the economy. Read more…
Author: Sharyn Graham Davies, Auckland University of Technology
On 27 January 2018, police in Aceh, Indonesia arrested 12 transwomen and forcibly cut their hair in public. The arrests were the result of a raid on five beauty salons owned and operated by transwomen. The North Aceh police chief declared that Islam is against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people and that the ‘disease’ of LGBT must be eliminated. Read more…
Author: Felix Heiduk, German Institute for International and Security Affairs
While countries in many parts of the world are reducing their military spending, Southeast Asian countries are bucking the trend. Total defence spending of ASEAN states doubled over the last 15 years in absolute terms, with countries like Indonesia and Thailand witnessing military expenditure growth rates of 10 per cent on a year-by-year basis. Read more…
