The Belt and Road Initiative is typically associated with China’s efforts to engage foreign partners. The initiative’s effects on China’s domestic situation are thus sometimes overlooked. An example of the BRI’s domestic implications can be seen in China’s northwest, where limited access to sea routes...
By Simon Tay For The Business Times He's been described as a liberal reformer, modern Javanese king and skilled pragmatist IN Indonesia's fiercely contested elections, early exit polls show that incumbent Joko Widodo is headed for a clear victory. An official result may take some days, given the...
Against an evolving security order in the Asia-Pacific region, France views ASEAN as a key actor to promote multilateralism in the region and it is in France’s interest to support ASEAN’s centrality. This was one of some key messages that Ms Chen Chen Lee, Director of...
Myanmar Chinese President Xi envisions deeper ties, assures Myanmar of Beijing’s support (10 Apr 2019) Xi expressed during a meeting with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Beijing, that China would like to enhance strategic communication and deepen cooperation with Myanmar no matter how the international situation...
Indonesia Fourth Presidential Debate Excites as Election Nears (30 Mar) The fourth presidential debate between incumbent Joko Widodo “Jokowi” and Prabowo Subianto occurred on 30 March, Saturday, and covered ideology, governance, security and foreign affairs. The two candidates sparred over issues such as Indonesia’s defence budget, which...
By Chen Chen Lee and Lau Xin Yi For The Jakarta Post Relations between the European Union and Malaysia and Indonesia hit an obstacle when Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Indonesia’s Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan recently threatened to boycott EU’s products if the bloc...
Haze/ Resources/ EU Indonesia threatens to quit Paris climate deal over palm oil (27 Mar) Indonesian leaders have announced that they are considering leaving the Paris climate deal if the European Union proceeds to phase out palm oil in renewable transportation fuel. The announcement comes after the...
March 2019 | As a number of you have asked, I thought to share some observations about the upcoming election in Thailand, our region’s second largest economy. This is especially after the dramatic development when Princess Ubolratana briefly offered to serve as Prime Minister and the...
By Simon Tay and Liyana Othman For Bangkok Post When complaints are made about the haze crisis and air pollution in Southeast Asia, most usually think about fires in Indonesia's provinces, which have been a recurrent problem for over two decades. However, the situation this year has been different...
Tech Business FIS Acquires Worldpay for US$43 bn in Largest Deal Made in Payments Industry (18 Mar) Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), a US financial services provider, announced that it will purchase Worldpay, a major cards payments player in the UK, for US$43 billion. The deal is...