• Editorial
A little over a year ago the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled on an application brought by the Philippines against China over their maritime dispute in the South China Sea involving the Spratly Islands. The Tribunal ruled unanimously on almost all of the Philippines’ claims. If China and the Philippines had complied with the […]
• Editorial
Fifty years ago Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines established the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). This association of primarily non-communist and relatively free-market countries was formed at a time when the Cold War was in full swing, and its end seemed to validate their confidence. The group expanded in the late 1980s […]
• Editorial
Attempts to amend Malaysia’s 1965 Criminal Jurisdiction Act, or RUU 355, have divided the country for more than two years now. The amendment was proposed as a private member’s bill by Abdul Hadi Awang, president of the opposition Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), to empower sharia courts to issue more severe punishments through implementation of hudud (Islamic criminal law) in […]
• Editorial
The Sittwe deep-sea port in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, which was financed and constructed by India, will soon commence operation. The port is one part of the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) in western Myanmar which aims to connect Mizoram in landlocked northeast India to the Bay of Bengal. Delhi is also planning to form […]
• Editorial
Despite the warmth between Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull following their February 2017 meeting in Canberra, hopes that the Indonesia–Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership (IA-CEPA) will achieve a high quality ‘21st century partnership’ should be treated with caution. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are generally evaluated differently by their respective countries. […]
• Editorial
The first half of 2016 saw Vietnam’s fight against corruption gain new momentum. Having consolidated his power after being re-elected as Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Nguyen Phu Trong issued resolutions and directives aimed at tightening party members’ ethical conduct. Trong then launched attacks on several high-ranking officials — notably Trinh Xuan […]
Editorial
Global trade needs a win to fend off rising tides of protectionism and anti-globalisation. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) offers the best vehicle to achieve this. The quick conclusion of this regional mega free trade agreement (FTA) will signal Asia’s commitment to free trade — from which it has benefited greatly — as well as […]
Editorial
With Southeast Asian nations facing a deteriorating external security environment and increasing Chinese maritime assertiveness, many commentators have predicted a widespread naval expansion in the region. To date these predictions have failed to materialise. Rather, there has been a stagnation in the development of Asean’s navies. This can, with some irony, be explained by examining the […]
Back in 1997 Asean leaders agreed to transform Southeast Asia into a stable, prosperous and competitive region characterised by equitable economic development. The ‘Asean Vision 2020’ sought to reduce poverty and socio-economic disparities. As a vehicle to achieve this vision, Asean leaders established the Asean Economic Community (AEC). The AEC is built upon a blueprint […]
Freeport-McMoRan (Freeport), the largest mining company operating in Indonesia, may soon be exiting after fifty years of doing business in the country. Hanging in the balance is the fate of Grasberg, a copper and gold project that is the world’s largest gold mine. The catalyst was a January regulation requiring the company’s local subsidiary to […]
The February 18, 2017 rallies for and against the bill to amend the 1965 Criminal Jurisdiction Act, known as RUU 355, have opened yet another political and social schism in Malaysian society. RUU 355 began as a private member’s bill by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party’s (PAS) president Hadi Awang and seeks to raise the penalties […]
Women’s roles in terrorist networks in Indonesia have until now been dictated by kinship ties through marriage, involving facilitating logistics and finance for terrorist acts. But there is a growing trend of women taking on combat roles. Last December Detachment 88, Indonesia’s police counterterrorism unit, arrested three women who were allegedly involved in plotting a […]
Indonesia’s youth (pemuda) have always been valued as the vanguard of political change, taking a leading role in the independence revolution of the 1940s and in more recent regime changes in 1966 and 1998. With a half of Indonesia’s 240 million people aged under 30, Indonesia’s youth are the key to its future development. Due […]
Cambodia currently faces significant foreign policy challenges amid great power rivalry in the Asia-Pacific. Against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s uncertain and unpredictable foreign policy in the region, China’s economic, military, and strategic influence over Cambodia continues to grow. China is now Cambodia’s largest foreign investor and most generous economic and military benefactor. […]
During the Obama administration, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was crucial to US foreign policy in Asia. In February 2015, the same month that the TPP was signed, Obama suggested that ‘we have to make sure that the United States — and not countries like China — is the one writing this century’s rules for the […]
