Category: Southeast Asia

A military-focused WeChat public account recently published a detailed post analyzing the border skirmish between Thailand and Cambodia, which has since reportedly ended with a ceasefire agreement. But the post drew attention as it struck a nerve by asking: “Has the Thailand-Cambodia conflict turned into a ...

Tropical forests around the world are vanishing fast. Logging, mining, and industrial agriculture continue to raze the world’s most carbon-rich ecosystems, accelerating the climate crisis and displacing the people who have protected these forests for generations. Efforts to halt deforestation have largely failed—not because the science is ...

Indonesia’s $8.1 billion deal to purchase 42 Rafale fighter jets from France marks a significant step in the country’s military modernization. However, the agreement has also attracted attention in another arena: Indonesia’s information space, where narratives—not just policies—are shaping perceptions of national defense, trade, and foreign ...

China said Thursday it was "deeply concerned" over deadly clashes between Cambodia and Thailand, which mark a dramatic escalation of a long-running border row between the two neighbors. "We are deeply concerned over the current developments (and) hope both sides can ...

Chinese companies are pouring into Vietnam, but rising costs and fragile foundations raise questions about how long the boom can last. Vietnam’s GDP grew 7.52% in the first half of 2025, recording its fastest first-half growth in 15 years. A record ...

Top U.S. officials promised President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines on Monday that Washington will defend its longtime ally and ramp up military resources aimed at deterring an assertive China. Marcos will meet Tuesday with President Donald Trump, who has rattled ...

Listen in on many of the foreign policy discussions about Vietnam that take place at think tanks and government seminars in Washington, D.C., and you'll hear this sense of optimism that "Hanoi is on our side." They see Vietnam's historical suspicions ...

China is poised to expand its influence over Southeast Asia's development as the Trump administration and other Western donors reduce aid, a study by an Australian think tank said on Sunday. The region is in an "uncertain moment", facing cuts in ...

By Le Hong Hiep On 2 July 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new U.S.–Vietnam trade deal, declaring that “Vietnam will pay the United States a 20% tariff on any and all goods sent into our territory, and ...

Singapore announced it was battling a "serious" cyberattack against its critical infrastructure, attributing the hack to an espionage group that experts have linked to China. The attack, a kind of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), poses a serious danger to the city-state, ...

Malaysia clamped down Monday on the export, transshipment, and transit of all U.S.-made artificial intelligence chips, seeking to stop illegal trade to countries including China. "Effective immediately, all exports, transships, and transits of high-performance AI chips of U.S. origin are subject ...

Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono’s recent remarks at the ASEAN–China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur mark a welcome and necessary development in regional diplomacy. Amid long-standing discussions dominated by trade and economic cooperation, his decision to highlight transnational crime and maritime security brings long-overdue attention to issues ...