South East Asia

Western trade and investment interests in China are facing new threats as sanctions trigger retaliation, heightening tensions over human rights, national security and territorial control. Since the start of President Joseph R. Biden’s term in office on Jan. 20, there have been several exchanges of new sanctions announced by the …

China’s increasing incursions in the contested South China Sea in defiance of global norms has heightened tensions in the region. In view of its massive military muscle and economic power that China has accumulated in the recent decades emboldens it to ignore and violate the sensitivities of other small claimants …

Russia’s Novatek and China’s Shenergy signed a new gas deal in February 2021, highlighting the primacy of energy ties in China–Russia relations. Under the provisions of the agreement, Novatek will ship around 3 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Shenergy’s Shanghai terminals over the next 15 …

In recent years, the dual factors of anti-globalization movement and intensifying geopolitical frictions have presented China’s economy a very different external environment compares with that in the past. In response to such change, China has begun to adjust its development priorities and strategies, with the “internal circulation” being the result …

The recent escalation in diplomatic tensions between the U.S., EU, China, and Russia is an unwelcome development for Central Asia. With the recent complicated visit to Moscow by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell marred by aggressive bilateral rhetoric, the White …

Taiwan said Wednesday that it is willing to shoot down Chinese drones that have been flying near Taiwan-occupied Pratas Island in the South China Sea, a response to what analysts view as the latest pressure tactic from Beijing. Ocean Affairs Council Chair Lee Chung-wei told Taiwan’s legislature that the Taiwanese …

The Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has wrapped up his second series of meetings so far this year with Southeast Asia leaders to discuss vaccine distribution, help with post-pandemic recovery and other offers that experts say could sway countries in the pivotal subregion toward China and away from growing U.S. …

fghan security forces have recaptured a key district from the Taliban in the southern Kandahar Province in an operation that killed and wounded dozens of militants, the Ministry of Defense said on April 5. Local officials also confirmed that the Arghandab district in the outskirts of the provincial capital, Kandahar …

In a recent televised speech, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah claimed that the Biden administration’s top priority today was to prevent the formation of a major alliance or axis between China, Russia, and Iran. Nasrallah also claimed that the United States and Israel were today in a state of …

Right out of the gate, the Biden administration seems to be at loggerheads with both China and Russia. Richard Nixon would be disappointed. Despite his reputation as an anticommunist, Nixon managed to get China and the Soviet Union in a competition to better relations with the United States. His diplomatic …