South East Asia

Elective Affinities: Iran, India and China’s Responses to the Ukraine War

Iran, India and China have found themselves dragged into the crisis in Ukraine, as their wagons remain hitched to the invading power for complicated reasons. 'Sooner or later Russia will be back, and we do not know what kind of Russia that will be. It may fall subject to some …

Read More »

The US No Match for China’s Advanced Use of Energetic Materials in Missiles

The US military could potentially be at a tactical disadvantage should a conflict arise in the South China Sea over Taiwan. This is what National Defense magazine noted regarding the edge of China in terms of developing energetic materials commonly used in pyrotechnics, propellants, and explosives. The article revealed the …

Read More »

Xi Sees the Ukraine War Through the Lens of the U.S.-China Rivalry

Not long after the commencement of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I wrote that for China, binding itself tightly to Moscow would do harm to Beijing’s long-term interests. That is because, I wrote, an alliance between a superpower like China and a far less dynamic country like Russia, whose economy is …

Read More »

China Just Raised Its Diplomatic Ambitions in Africa

Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi completed a tour of Eritrea, Kenya and Comoros, continuing a tradition dating back three decades by which Chinese foreign ministers open the diplomatic year with a trip to Africa. The visit—which comes just over a month after the conclusion of the eighth Forum …

Read More »

Pakistan arrest militant suspect in deadly bombing of Chinese nationals

Pakistan on Tuesday said it had arrested a militant who provided technical support for a deadly suicide bomb attack on Chinese teachers at Karachi University in April. A suspected female suicide bomber killed three Chinese teachers, drawing strong condemnation from Beijing, in the first major attack this year against nationals …

Read More »

The United States Contests the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative with a Private Corporation

At the G7 Summit in Germany, on June 26, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden made a pledge to raise $200 billion within the United States for global infrastructure spending. It was made clear that this new G7 project—the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII)—was intended to counter the Chinese …

Read More »

Can IPEF Outweigh India’s Over Dependency On China For Supply Chain?

The recent disruptions in global supply chain, leading to China losing prominence, are prompting serious discussions on India’s dependency on China. Hitherto, notwithstanding political face-off, India’s fast growth in electronic and electrical and pharmaceutical industries were largely dependent on supply chain from China. Given the China’s prominence in global supply …

Read More »

Digital Economy Development In China Shifts Focus To Production Side

Just recently, China’s Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform reviewed various plans for data system, including a guideline on building the basic systems for data and making better use of data resources. The central government’s layout from the construction of the basic system of data is intended to lay a …

Read More »

State-Owned Enterprises And Asia’s Energy Transition

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Asia are in a unique position to take a leading role to shift economic activity from polluting to green. Yet so far, most SOEs have underutilised green financial instruments, such as green bonds, to support this transition. This leaves ample room for growth which could spur …

Read More »