Asia
Digital Asia links: Weibo backflip, Facebook comeuppance, dancing grandpa, more
The Cambridge Analytica scandal has reached Indonesia after authorities launched a criminal investigation into Facebook. Local Facebook management testified before the Indonesian…
Why definitions will be crucial for North-South talks
In just over a week, President of South Korea Moon Jae-in will sit with his northern counterpart, Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un, at Panmunjom, the historic site of the…
China influence: in defence of parliamentary sovereignty
Despite their other disagreements, several fans and critics of Clive Hamilton’s Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia converge around the claim that his…
Is Japan’s rare earth discovery fool’s gold?
Rare earth. The term sounds like something derived from the imagination of J. R. R. Tolkien, but these composites of seventeen rare minerals are a silent but central…
Caught in a pincer
China, China, China.
All the talk is of increasing Chinese influence in our region. But this is to wilfully ignore the elephant in the room.
Contrary to most commentary,…
A new take on violence in Indonesian Papua
Last year’s “hostage stand-off” in Indonesian Papua had hardly ended before more armed clashes began. Most violence in Papua is assumed to be an issue of indigenous people…
A new high: India–Japan defence links
An unexpected partnership was forged last week at India’s defence exhibition, DefExpo 2018, in Chennai.
For some time, India has been in negotiations with Japan to purchase more…
Is Trump ready to bear the cost of a trade war?
Agree or disagree with his conclusions, we owe Hugh White thanks for forcing us to grapple with “the China challenge”. White’s writings have stripped away much of the easy, high…
Boao Forum, through the eyes of China’s state media
Chinese state media reporting on the recently concluded Boao Forum strongly emphasised the theme of “confidence”. The message for domestic consumption was that Chinese people can…
Japan, South Korea and the West’s tension with Russia
In the wake of the attempt on the life of Sergei Skripal, the ex-Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia in Britain, practically all Western countries joined to expel select Russian…