2022/09/08 |
Malaysia’s Institutional Uncertainty
Despite graft conviction, Najib Razak’s return to power could be imaginable given the power dynamics in UMNO. As a first step, he is now seeking a pardon from the king.
2022/10/28 |
Judicial Repression Becomes the Norm in Hong Kong
As of 2022, more than 100 civil society organizations and trade unions have been dissolved or closed in Hong Kong under the threat of the National Security Law.
2022/05/04 |
Unraveling the Controversies of Chinese Foreign Aid
China’s new aid and security pact with the Solomon Islands is the latest case to raise the question of whether Chinese aid is developmental or a political.
2020/12/23 |
How China’s State Serves the Party
Despite the vast and ongoing challenges through 2020 because of Covid-19, the Chinese Communist Party has never looked more dominant.
2018/12/20 |
JAPAN: Okinawa Referendum Set to Decide Future of US Military Presence
Voters will decide whether US troops should be relocated amid increasing opposition to their presence on the island.
2021/10/28 |
Japan’s Intensifying Refugee Debate
In Japan, the death of a Sri Lankan migrant highlighted the importance of thorough discussion on the provision of impartial treatment to detainees and asylum seekers.
2022/11/08 |
Developing Asia Adapts to the Dollar’s Strength
A strong U.S. dollar will likely continue for the near future. Asian economies need to prepare for a rough 2023.
2022/07/13 |
Can Egg Freezing Crack Singapore’s Demographic Decline?
Singaporean women and demographic observers may have cause for celebration, but medical technology does not present the ideal solution to what is, at heart, a social problem.
2022/03/18 |
Can Seoul Court Beijing’s Perception Problem?
While it might be unrealistic for Seoul to completely sever itself from Washington’s global geostrategy, Beijing and Seoul could still reach a modus vivendi on South Korea’s contribution to the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Strategy and its future relationship with the Quad.
2022/03/24 |
Philippine Party-list Elections Steal From the Poor and Give to the Rich
Instead of serving the poor in whose name they ran, many party-list representatives have been accused of corruption. They have also pushed for the closure of a leading broadcast network critical of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
2022/08/03 |
China’s Vocational Education Woes
China has a long-standing culture of degrading vocational graduates and discouraging parents from sending their children to vocational institutes.
2021/01/08 |
Singapore’s 2020 Risk Management Strategy
Singapore has kept the pandemic under control and its economy has survived in much better shape than expected. The success is based on the Singaporean government’s aversion to risks.
2021/11/16 |
Why APEC Still Matters — More Than Ever
The architecture of regional cooperation and engagement through APEC has been deliberately framed to complement and strengthen the rules-based global order, not to serve as a substitute for it.
2022/12/06 |
European Institutional Complexities and EU-Taiwan Relations
The European Union and its member states are enhancing their political relations with Taiwan, but it comes more expressly from the action of their legislative branches rather than their executive actors.
2022/12/30 |
Southeast Asia’s Tech Industry Goes From a Gallop to a Canter
ASEAN’s economic growth is projected to be above 5% in 2022 and 2023, outperforming China for the first time.
2020/12/10 |
North Korea Faces One of Its Toughest Winters
North Koreans are in for a tough winter, with the Covid-19 pandemic, severe food shortages, and the lack of heating options.
2018/11/02 |
Why Northeast China's 'Rust Belt' Is Crucial to Xi Jinping's 'Chinese Dream'
No leader since Mao has truly placated the residents of northeast China. Xi Jinping is trying.
2022/09/28 |
Church Drama Is a Dilemma for Kishida
Distaste for Abe and his fellow politicians’ links to the Unification Church has propelled a moral panic about controversial religious organizations in Japan, bringing to mind the media-driven alarm following the sarin gas attacks in 1995.