Thailand is already almost halfway through its ASEAN chairmanship in what has been a rather low-profile period considering political developments. In the lead-up to Thailand’s elections on 24 March, the country’s political energy was directed inwards. …
The second Belt and Road Forum, hosted by China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week, attracted 37 world leaders and delegates from 150 countries and 90 international organisations. There were also some conspicuous absences, …
Last week, the whole world, including me, closely watched the Trump–Kim summit in Hanoi and the leaders’ personal interactions. One particular scene stuck in my mind: Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, trailing along behind her …
Over recent days, commentators have been parsing the meaning of the breakdown of the US–DPRK summit last Friday. Most of the speculation turns upon the question of who wins and who loses from the busted …
In late 2017, the revival of an idea over a decade old—the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue—created a wave of debate, concern and anticipation across the world. The Quad, as it is commonly referred to—or, more precisely, …
The choice of venue for the second meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, scheduled for 27–28 February 2019, is about more than convenience of distance, familiarity (Trump visited Vietnam in 2017) and diplomatic facilities. …
Originally published 11 July 2018. The free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) isn’t just a new name; it signals an important shift in framing a geostrategic understanding of the consequences of China’s rise. Apart from the …
As I noted in April, this year’s ASEAN chairmanship wasn’t going to be an easy one. Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong used every opportunity to remind people of ASEAN’s purpose and its fragile beginnings …
The increasing strategic competition between the US and China means one thing for most of the countries in the Asia–Pacific region: it’s going to be harder to respond to a more assertive China that challenges …
The debate about the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue revived as Quad 2.0 has been centred largely around perceived negatives: the harm it could cause rather than what it can really contribute to regional security. Those assumptions …
On 3 October, the secretary-general of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, received overwhelming support from the party’s central committee for assuming the role of the country’s president, which has been vacant since the …
The announcement earlier this month that ASEAN and China had agreed on a single draft code of conduct negotiating text over the South China Sea after years of talks has been hailed as a milestone. …
