Africa  / China  / India  / Indo-Pacific  / Russia
BRICS: China Remains the Primary Challenge for India
July 4, 2022

With the world’s attention focused squarely on Ukraine, the leaders of the five BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – met virtually at the 14th Summit, hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping. While some of the focus of the meeting was centered on the possibility of expanding the group into Iran, Argentina, and/or Pakistan, India was able to steer clear of the rancor raised by their Chinese and Russian counterparts at Western countries, instead focusing mainly on the humanitarian situation unfolding in Ukraine. Modi, who met with G7 leaders in southern Germany, managed to avoid the diplomatic pitfalls that would have been injurious to India’s relationship with the United States. Likewise, refraining from joining the Western chorus on Russia while knowing Moscow would be the principal target of criticism at the G7 allowed India to balance two delicate bilateral relationships.


Cambodia  / Southeast Asia  / Thailand  / United States
Biden’s new economic framework holds slow gains for Southeast Asia
June 29, 2022

U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged a “new era” of U.S.–ASEAN ties. While Southeast Asian states like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia announced their interest in Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the economic gains from the framework could be a long time coming. Biden launched the IPEF while on a late May visit to Tokyo, describing it as “writing the new rules for the 21st century economy.” Almost five years after the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the new IPEF has 13 participant countries and aims to revitalise American economic interest in the Indo-Pacific region, providing a reasonable alternative to China.


Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Chadchart should work to widen Bangkok’s civic spaces
June 29, 2022

Last week, newly-elected Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt signed an order that declared seven public areas as suitable venues for public demonstrations, including the Bangkok Youth Center, Lan Khon Mueang Town Square, an area under the Ratchavipha Bridge, and four others. Chadchart had suggested that designating the seven areas would both ease the impacts of protests on Bangkok’s commuters, as well as keep protesters safe. Protesters would need to give at least 24 hours notice before the city can authorize and prepare for them.


Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Elephant welfare in Thailand: a growing ethical, political, and cultural concern
June 17, 2022

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, the tourist-driven economy elevated the use of elephants for the amusement of visitors and the profits of owners. In the space between the pandemic and slow economic recovery, several stories have emerged about the plight of elephants, both those privately owned and in the wild.  In 2019, a baby elephant named Ploy in the training village of Ban Ta Klang in Surin province was photographed in chains, with its trainer holding a daunting rod, supposedly used in training the animal to perform a variety of tricks. Earlier this year, also in Surin, a baby elephant named Pho Jai was forcibly made to dance at a monk ordination ceremony.


China  / East Asia  / Indo-Pacific  / Japan  / Taiwan  / United States
How Engaged Was China at the Shangri-La Dialogue?
June 16, 2022

It was in 2007 that the Shangri-La Dialogue came into its own, with China and the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific at the center of its discussion. While China didn’t send ministerial-level officials, Vice Minister and Lt. Gen. Zhang Qinsheng’s presence at the 2007 Dialogue suggested that Beijing viewed the forum as an opportunity to advance its public diplomacy and demonstrate China’s ability to be more transparent and inclusive about its operations in the South China Sea and beyond. Zhang’s speech, in which he declared that China’s “peaceful development is not a makeshift, but a serious choice and pledge of the Chinese government and people,” hinted at the same.


China  / East Asia  / Hong Kong  / United Nations
China: Failed UN Visit Comes at Heavy Cost
June 7, 2022

For UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, a visit to China has been in the works for years, and with it comes high stakes. Responding to reports that in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, more than one million Uyghur Muslims had been subject to torture as well as imprisoned in so-called re-education camps, the United Nations requested direct access to Chinese facilities as early as 2018. Despite the fact that information has been slow to trickle out of authoritarian China due to strict control over national media, international researchers and human rights activists gathered convincing evidence, calling out the deplorable conditions facing the Uyghur Muslim population, from prolonged detainment, mass surveillance, forced sterilization, to the accusation of cultural genocide. A trove of data recently obtained by hackers includes 2,800 photographs, hundreds of spreadsheets, and speeches that link Chinese President Xi Jinping directly with abusive policies aimed at the Uyghur population.


China  / East Asia  / Hong Kong  / Southeast Asia
Imperial Overstretch: Has Xi Jinping’s China Gone Too Far?
June 3, 2022

If Deng Xiaoping were alive today, he would neither be pleased nor surprised. The pro-market reforms that launched China into a global power are being undone under Xi Jinping, curtailing growth for the sake of concentrating political power, spending far too much political capital on crushing dissent and punishing the last vestiges of democratic ambitions, and overextending China militarily in the Indo-Pacific. Deng’s critical reforms were based on two fundamental beliefs, first, that communism in China could be saved by creating a vibrant economy and improving people’s lives, and second, without the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge, China would descend into chaos. When Wei Jingsheng went on trial in 1979 on charges of being a counter-revolutionary, the first sign was visible that the gaps between economic and political reform and the need for a Fifth Modernization, democracy, would not and could not be resolved.


China  / East Asia  / Taiwan  / United States
Is Biden Bringing ‘Strategic Ambiguity’ on Taiwan to an End?
June 2, 2022

While answering questions at a press conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week, U.S. President Joe Biden directly linked a potential China-Taiwan conflict to Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine. Arguing that the danger of invasion was closer than ever, evidenced by repeated Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s air defense zone, Biden opened himself up to the inevitable question of whether the United States would defend Taiwan, if invaded. Biden gave positive confirmation and suggested, like Ukraine, that the “idea that [Taiwan] can be taken by force” was inappropriate. Almost immediately, Biden’s advisors began to walk back his statement, noting that Biden was not suggesting a change in the longstanding U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity, the practice of being intentionally ambiguous on the status of Taiwan. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary, offered further clarifications, noting that Biden’s comment “highlighted our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to help provide Taiwan the means to defend itself.”


Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Chadchart ruling a reminder of Thailand’s distrust in the Election Commission
June 2, 2022

After a landslide victory in Bangkok’s gubernatorial election, Chadchart Sittipunt should have felt at ease. He had secured a record 1.38 million votes on May 22, far outpacing the next runner-up who received just over 200,000 votes. Many called the former Transportation Minister’s victory a democratic ray of light in an otherwise gloomy authoritarian state. But of course, this is Thailand. Victories are not automatic, and resistance from anti-democratic forces and electoral challenges are to be expected. It wasn’t long before complaints were launched over Chadchart’s recyclable campaign banners, most notably from political activist Srisuwan Janya, who noted that the campaign banners, which could be turned into shopping bags or aprons, was tantamount to vote buying. Another complaint alleged that Chadchart had insulted the government by saying that its complicated steps would affect his operations as the governor of Bangkok.


Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Eight disastrous years with a dictator and a tyrant
May 23, 2022

Eight years ago this past Sunday, General Prayut Chan-ocha staged a coup against the democratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra. It would be Thailand’s 12th coup since the 1932 revolution. Since the coup, Thailand has undergone profound change and under Prayut most of it has been reprehensible.  His first year in power was akin to a scene from a dystopian novel. Prayut promised to “return happiness” to the Thai people, while promising to vanquish its enemies, namely supporters of the former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. Aided by a partially compliant public, who posed for photographs with soldiers on the streets after a declaration of martial law, the military junta banned literature it deemed controversial, banned people from gathering in small groups, and replaced civilian courts with military tribunals. Even the Hunger Games movie, a film about a grim future under totalitarian rule was banned.