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Category: ASEAN

Chinese State Media is Predictably Downbeat About the Summit

It is widely acknowledged that China will feature prominently during this week’s U.S.-ASEAN summit. For that reason, it’s interesting to track how the summit is being covered in the Chinese state press.  The most prominent response so far was penned by ...

Which Issues will Dominate the U.S.-ASEAN Summit?

U.S. officials are coming to the ASEAN summit eager to emphasize the region’s importance, and to rebalance perceptions that it is currently mostly focused on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.  Cross-cutting issues like climate change are sure to occupy some of the ...

Why Africans Should Keep an Eye on the U.S.-ASEAN Summit

Nobody would blame Africans for not focusing on this week’s summit between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN.) After all, the continent is dealing with a few prior priorities: creeping debt distress in key states largely ignored by the international community, ...

Biden-ASEAN Summit is Back On, Cue Chinese Complaints

A summit between the United States and the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian States (ASEAN) is back on. The White House announced that President Joe Biden will meet with leaders from the group on 12 and 13 May. This follows the recent ...

Against Debt Trap Allegations as Financial Crisis Worsens

As Sri Lankan society buckles under an economic crisis fueled in part by an enormous debt burden, China is pushing back against allegations that it stranded the desperate country in a ‘debt trap.’ Mass protests took place across ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Q&A: Africa’s Role in China’s Global Military Expansion: Defense Expert Unpacks a Thorny Issue

The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Aquilino, on Tuesday added to the growing alarm in Washington DC defense circles about the global reach of China’s military. 

Speaking in front of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, Aquilino said China is building capacity to seize Taiwan, and: “The PRC also seeks to establish a network of overseas military installations that would extend its reach, allowing support for an increasingly global People’s Liberation ...

Japan Wants to Keep India in the Quad, Aims to Enlarge the China-Containing Bloc, Says Former PM

Keeping India in the Quad is crucial, even though New Delhi has so far refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The Quad (short for Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) is made ...

Countries Throughout Asia & The Americas Struggle to Find Balance Between the U.S. and China

Countries throughout the Global South have said repeatedly that they do not want to be forced to choose sides in the increasingly acrimonious relationship between the United States and China. But in some cases, they no longer have a choice. That's ...

A Chartered Air Zimbabwe Jet Took Off From China to Harare With a “Full Tummy” of Vaccines

344,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines landed in Harare this morning on a charter flight from China. This latest shipment is part of 1.2 million doses purchase made by the Zimbabwean government. In addition to the vaccines, various supplies including syringes ...

ASEAN, Not Africa is Becoming The Primary Venue for the U.S.-China Great Power Struggle

Three decades after the last Cold War ended, African leaders are understandably concerned they'll once again get swept up in great power rivalry, this time between the United States and China. But there's little indication that either Washington or Beijing has any plans to make Africa a ...

Lessons From ASEAN on How Africa Can Better Manage Ties With China

While Chinese engagement in Africa is a relatively new phenomenon, dating back around 20 years now, countries in Southeast Asia have millennia of experience in managing ties with Beijing. Today, the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian ...