More attention was given to United States President Barack Obama’s late decision to cancel his trip to Asia than to what the region did without him. This is testimony to America’s enduring power and the President’s prestige. Focus intensified also because of the circumstances that triggered...
American President Barack Obama was due to tour Asia next week to attend two key multilateral summits and visit two other countries — Malaysia and the Philippines. The White House initially described this as an “on-going commitment”, building on the American pivot to emphasise ties...
As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Environment Ministers meet this week in Jakarta to discuss the haze, there are reasons to doubt governments will address key issues decisively. Cynics point out that the number of hot spots has again been growing in Sumatra. While...
Angela Merkel and her CDU/CSU bloc have won a landslide victory in Sunday's elections (22 September), with 42% of the vote, up from 34% in the last election in 2009. This means Merkel will be the third only German chancellor, after Konrad Adenauer and Helmut...
Some fear that Indonesia is heading for a crisis. Growth in the second quarter dropped below 6 per cent. Deficits in both the current account and trade widened markedly. The rupiah fell some 10 per cent last month to its lowest level against the US...
Rising tensions in the South China Sea have changed the tenor of recent relations between the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China from cooperation to potential conflict. Yet, there is now agreement to begin consultations on a Code of Conduct. Since his appointment, Chinese...
Japan has received more attention and generated more optimism in the first six months of 2013 than perhaps during all of the preceding six years. This has been triggered by the return of Shinzo Abe as prime minister of Japan for a second time and...
The Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the third-largest economy in East Asia after China and Japan — needless to say, a robust, growing ASEAN has a positive impact on Asia and the world. A sustained growth spurt would push the region’s poor out of...
Myanmar’s political opening has caught the world’s attention, and many countries are rushing to what has been called Asia’s last frontier market. Punishing sanctions by the European Union have been lifted, while Washington DC has suspended its measures. Seized by the economic potential of the...
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s recent National Day Rally speech was a bold statement of the Singapore Government’s commitment to address key concerns of its citizens while charting a path to continued success for the country as a player on the global stage. While short on...