Asia
Managing Japan-Australia energy tensions in a time of transition
Yamagami Shingo, who until last week served as Japan’s ambassador to Australia, again voiced criticism of Australia’s energy policy just before leaving his post. The Japanese…
Chinese spy bases on Myanmar’s Great Coco Island? Here we go again
On 31 March, Chatham House published a report titled “Is Myanmar building a spy base on Great Coco Island?”.The tone of the report was measured and its conclusions sensible but,…
Finding opportunity in Asia’s net-zero transition
The Asia-Pacific region is witnessing a surge in climate action, with nearly all countries in the region committing to achieving net-zero emissions, albeit with varying timeframes…
How Indonesia can afford to cut coal-fired power – and faster
At the COP26 global climate talks in Glasgow, Indonesia’s state-owned electricity utility company PLN declared its roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2060. The state-owned…
South Korea can’t afford to be a Wally with water
South Korea, Asia’s extraordinary economic development success story, is facing water shortages. The situation is bad enough that the government recently warned the 1.4 million…
Marcos has turned the Philippines towards America – not without risks
With President Ferdinand Marcos Jr about to make an official visit to Washington, the Philippines this month granted the United States rotational access to four more military…
Will US reassurance be enough to halt South Korea’s nuclear ambition?
Years of painstaking diplomacy to ensure less nuclear weapons, less nuclear states, and strong anti-nuclear weapons norms appear to be unravelling. It is not only fringe actors on…
Economic diplomacy: Friends, rivals and diplomatic gaslighting
Hitting the gas
Japan’s ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami made himself an unexpectedly public figure in the reserved Canberra diplomatic corps with his witty social media…
The two big flaws in Penny Wong’s talk of deterrence over Taiwan
Speaking at the Press Club in Canberra last week, Foreign Minister Penny Wong dismissed discussion about war over Taiwan as “dangerous … parlour games”. It was an odd thing to say…
Quad should ask ASEAN to a diplomatic dance
In early 1979, fearing the growing security cooperation between Hanoi and Moscow, China invaded Vietnam. A year earlier, the then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping met Singapore’s…