Asia
Unpacking China’s overseas aid program
China’s role in the outbreak of the biggest pandemic since 1918 – both in terms of how it started and how China managed its response – has come into global focus. China is sharing…
Japan: Cracks in Abe’s government amid the Covid-19 crisis
Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is facing tough political challenges while dealing with Covid-19, which he has called “the biggest crisis” since the Second World…
The missing piece in the debate about the future regional order
With cruise ships banned from ports around the world, it would not be a stretch to wonder about the impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on future military movement as well…
Foresight and pragmatism missing in Australia’s relations with China
There are many reasons the world needs an independent inquiry into the origins of the novel coronavirus. After all, the pandemic has infected nearly three million people and taken…
Commentary
How Is the Coronavirus Outbreak Affecting China’s Relations with Its Asian Neighbors?
Originally published in ChinaFile and Foreign Policy.
A Covid-19 wake-up call to reshape Timor-Leste’s economy
The economic impact of coronavirus has been made even more severe in oil-producing countries due to the consequences of Covid-19 itself and a collapse in oil prices. Crude has…
Is this the Kindleberger moment?
In 1973 Charles Kindleberger wrote his now acclaimed book on the Great Depression. He argued that it was “great” because the global economic system had lost its hegemon – in less…
The Taliban makes the most of Covid-19 crisis in Afghanistan
Across the world, non-state entities from terrorist groups to drug cartels are taking steps to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has been no exception…
Troubled waters: China’s sovereign ambition in the shadows of Covid-19
Around midnight on 2 April, a Vietnamese fishing vessel sank in the disputed waters in the South China Sea after allegedly being rammed by the Chinese coastguard. Vietnam’s…
Kim is dead? Hang on, many South Koreans don’t trust their own press
Kim Jong-un may well be dead, but North Korea experts will be the first to tell you how little we know and how important it is not to speculate. Yet South Korean media spent last…