Asia
The Chinese box office dilemma
China’s total box office takings have reportedly hit US$6.79 billion in the first eight months of 2018, a US$1 billion increase on the same time in 2017. Hollywood films had long…
Malaysia: allowing students to find voice
In October 2016, a group of four students stood in front of a public forum at the Universiti Malaya and declared “students want answers”. They had attended an event featuring the…
China’s aid: the image boost
Mounting accusations of Chinese debt traps, trade imbalances, and neocolonialism in Africa made for a heady backdrop to this month’s meeting of the Forum on China-Africa…
The human side of Moon and Kim’s agreement
The past two years have been full of unexpected twists and stalled promises in the relationship between North Korea and South Korea, as well as their ties with the United States.
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The other Rohingya crisis
As the world’s eyes are focused on the unfolding Rohingya refugee crisis Bangladesh, to the east in India another danger may be brewing for the Rohingya Muslim community.
Over…
The fight to repeal anti-gay laws in Singapore
LGBT activists first launched a campaign to repeal an anti-gay law in Singapore in 2007. That campaign ultimately failed, but over a decade later, the LGBT community is giving it…
Korean peninsula and the Moon-shot
The 12 June Singapore Summit has aged badly, as the declaration signed by Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un has proven as useless as most analysts imagined. Consequently, the…
Taiwan: the lonely winter
It’s back to normal: That is the message Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe got from China’s President Xi Jinping when they met last week, after nearly five years of tetchy…
The third Moon-Kim summit: uncertainties abound
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday for three days of talks with North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un, with denuclearisation …
Myanmar: media stranglehold
In a park in downtown Yangon, a mix of passers-by and snack venders milled about, watching curiously as a pack of reporters jostled amongst themselves for a position.
The focus…