Asia
Olympic détente just another North Korean deceit
It is tempting to view North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics as an olive branch, a step back from the edge of nuclear brinkmanship.
That’s certainly how much of the…
Sanction busting, North Korea–style
A recent report from the UN sanctions committee suggests that North Korea has been able to generate an estimated US$200 million from illicit dealings in the past year. Coal…
China’s cobalt conundrum in Congo
More than half of the cobalt that goes into phone batteries and electric vehicles worldwide – 66,000 of 123,000 tons produced in 2016 – is sourced from the Democratic Republic of…
Punitive measures: Indonesia’s new draft criminal code
Indonesia is currently gripped by news about plans to revise the country’s criminal code (RKUHP). This could see draconian new laws passed in the country that include…
Review: Asia on a knife-edge
John West. Asian Century … on a Knife-edge: A 360 Degree Analysis of Asia’s Recent Development. Palgrave Macmillan. 2018. 335 pages.
Kishore Mahbubani, the Singaporean…
Hong Kong: race-baiting the judiciary
The Hong Kong Government has long “sold” the city’s common law system and rule of law as a way to attract foreign investment and connect mainland China to the rest of the…
ASEAN: different strokes for different folks, but future should be in sync
The ongoing debate about whether ASEAN (still) matters, and how important it is for Australia, could not be more ASEAN in style.
Euan Graham and John…
China: the web closes in
The era of easily exploitable internet loopholes in China appears to be ending. Starting on 31 March, Beijing will ban non-licensed Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) via which …
Commentary
'Message to Trump – no TPP renegotiation'
Originally published in the Nikkei Asian Review (Photo: Washington Post/Getty Images).
Stephen Grenville
ASEAN matters and deserves credit
Euan Graham has given a glass half-empty explanation of the significance of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in an attempt to explain Prime Minister Malcolm…