Last week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held their first face-to-face conversation since the controversy over asylum boats and phone-tapping scandal. This highly anticipated reunion between Indonesia and Australia might have taken place earlier in May when Mr Yudhoyono...
The past few months have proven to be a turbulent time for key economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), especially Thailand and Vietnam. Is there any silver lining for investors, amid the current political and social turmoil? Thailand Since taking over, Thailand's interim military...
At last week’s Shangri-La Dialogue, the annual defence forum for Asia held in Singapore, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a firm signal: he wants Japan to take a more expansive role in the region’s security architecture. He hopes to set the wheels in motion...
While the extension of the United States’ economic sanctions has brought some level of uncertainty to foreign investors, it has also given Myanmar another year to clean up and polish their act. In a letter to Congress explaining his decision to extend sanctions against Myanmar, US...
The recent coup d’état by General Prayuth Chai-Ocha following the imposition of martial law has largely been condemned and criticised by foreign powers. The United States, for one, has suspended military aid as a result, while international media outlets have accused the military of threatening...
Organisers of a massive rally in Hong Kong’s financial district have said that more than half a million people had turned up on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule on 1 July, demanding that Beijing grants them the right to choose their...
United States Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday sharply criticised China for "destabilising, unilateral actions" in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea and warned that Washington would not look the other way when fundamental principles of international order are being challenged. In an hour-long...
With the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) landslide victory in the recent Indian elections, all eyes are now on the new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and how his government will handle India’s struggling economy. Modi, a nationalist hardliner with a strong focus on spurring India’s economic growth,...
The political storm over China’s deployment of an oil rig in the contested waters of the South China Sea made landfall last week. Violent anti-China protests erupted in industrial areas in southern Vietnam, disrupting businesses, damaging property and even drawing blood. Vietnam’s Nationalistic Response to China’s...
We now know the reactions in Vietnam to China’s move to begin drilling for oil in the South China Sea that both sides claim. More than 20,000 Vietnamese workers spilled out of control, attacking factories thought to be Chinese-owned, including those at two Singapore-run industrial...