When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...
Category: Southeast Asia
Disputed Myanmar Election Wins China’s Vote of Confidence
Myanmar's military-run elections are being pilloried abroad and shunned at home, but neighboring China has emerged as an enthusiastic backer of the pariah poll. International monitors have dismissed the vote starting Sunday as a charade to rebrand Myanmar's military rule since ...
Cambodia Says Chinese National Wounded by Thai Military Shelling
A Chinese national was wounded by Thai military shelling into Cambodia on Monday, Phnom Penh's interior ministry said, as the Southeast Asian neighbors waged deadly border clashes. Thai forces fired "artillery shells into civilian areas" of Cambodia's border province of Battambang, ...
Beyond the Scams Narrative, Chinese Entrepreneurs Bet on Cambodia
Cambodia is often portrayed in Chinese media as a place defined by gambling, fraud, and danger, but for a growing number of Chinese investors, it represents a blue-ocean market at an early stage of industrialization. A Caijing magazine feature examines ...
Thailand’s Resumed Border Strikes on Cambodia Highlight Limits of U.S. Pressure, Chinese Scholars Say
Thailand and Cambodia signed a joint peace declaration at the ASEAN summit in late October, aimed at ending long-standing border disputes. Yet, less than two months later, Thai forces launched strikes on casinos and hotels in Cambodia, reportedly linked to cross-border online fraud. Experts in China
A Senior Xi Adviser Visits Indonesia, Bringing Beijing’s Long Game Into Focus
One of China’s highest-ranking political figures, and among President Xi Jinping’s closest ideological advisers, visited Jakarta last week, in a move that underscored Beijing’s deepening interest in its relationship with Indonesia. Wang Huning, one of China’s most influential political ...
Myth and Misperception: Does Shared Communism Tie Vietnam to China?
In this edition of Myth and Misperception, I want to take a deep dive into one of the most contentious debates on Vietnam’s foreign policy: what role does ideology play in the country’s foreign policy? As a communist party-state, Vietnam officially adheres to Marxism-Leninism in every ...
Malaysia Says Search for Long-Missing Flight MH370 to Resume
By Isabelle Leong The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will resume at the end of December, Malaysia said on Wednesday, more than a decade after the plane disappeared. The nation's Transport Minister, Anthony ...
Why the Myanmar Side of the China–Myanmar Railway Can’t Move Forward
In 2022, China opened a new railway between Dali and Baoshan in Yunnan. It was meant to be the first step of a much bigger vision: a rail line running across Myanmar to the deep-sea port of Kyaukpyu, giving China’s southwest a direct outlet to the Indian ...
Alleged Abuses at Chinese-Invested Nickel Plant Expose Indonesia’s Weak Labor Oversight
Last month, LBH Makassar, a legal-aid organization in eastern Indonesia that represents workers and low-income communities, delivered an open letter to the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta. The letter describes serious labor violations at PT Huadi Nickel Alloy Indonesia, a Chinese-invested nickel smelter operating in Bantaeng, a ...
How China Outmaneuvers the West in Myanmar
By Jared Bissinger In the last year, China has increasingly used its economic leverage in Myanmar to tilt the scales towards the military’s State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC), helping them to regain territory and re-exert economic control. China has done ...
Thailand Suspends Prison Boss Over Alleged Privileges for Chinese Inmates
Thai authorities have suspended a prison chief in Bangkok over allegations that high-profile Chinese inmates were granted access to women in a private cell and other privileges, the justice ministry said. The scandal erupted last week after local media reported two ...
Chinese Woman Who Faked Nationality to Become Philippine Mayor Jailed for Trafficking
A Chinese woman who faked Philippine nationality to become a town mayor was sentenced Thursday to life in prison on human trafficking charges, a Manila regional court said. Alice Guo, who served as mayor of a town north of the capital, ...
Why the West Gets Vietnam Wrong: The Myth of Pro-U.S. and Pro-China Camps
Welcome to Myth and Misperception! It has never been more urgent to understand China’s relations with the Global South and how they impact the United States. Unfortunately, many observers in the West do not have a firm understanding of these relationships due to an absence of native ...