In Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections on 11 January 2020, Tsai Ing-wen secured a second term as president and her party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), maintained its legislative majority. The elections attracted unprecedented international …
In October, during his second official visit to Russia, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte invited Moscow-based energy company Rosneft to conduct oil and gas exploration in waters the Philippines claims in the South China Sea. The offer …
Vietnam has just released its new defence white paper, 10 years after the last one was issued in 2009. The 2019 document isn’t fundamentally different from the earlier one—there are limits on the extent of …
In part 1 of this series, I considered two of the narratives about great-power competition that have gained currency in Southeast Asia: that states are being pushed to make a choice between Washington and Beijing, …
Language and rhetoric are important in a time of consequential power shifts and may even form a key front in Asia’s great-power rivalry—especially now, looking at US strategy in the region. Washington’s declared strategy of …
‘The race to 5G is a race America must win’, US President Donald Trump said on 12 April. Just over a month later, on 15 May, he issued an executive order banning Huawei equipment in …
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just completed an official visit to Vietnam—a strategic partner and a priority country for Australia’s regional relations. Indeed, bilateral relations have been going from strength to strength and are likely …
In March last year, Australia and Vietnam upgraded their diplomatic relations to a strategic partnership, stressing among other things the importance of a region ‘shaped by rules and norms’ and annual meetings between their defence …
The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a survey vessel belonging to a Chinese government-run corporation, began surveying a large swath of seabed on 3 July northeast of Vanguard Bank, which falls within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. The ship has been …
Finally, after much prevarication, pressure and hesitation, ASEAN has decided that it’s time to acknowledge the ‘Indo-Pacific’. At the 34th summit in Bangkok last weekend, ASEAN released its much-anticipated contribution to the Indo-Pacific debate. The …
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, …
