Alarm bells are ringing across the globe as the United States (US)-China trade war continues to brew, and while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that a full-blown trade war would weaken the global economy, it may not be all bad news for ASEAN.China is ASEAN’s single largest trading partner, but the US is an important economic and strategic partner as well and its growth and spending power has been critical to driving worldwide trade. With increasing tariffs, goods pro

President Donald Trump declared China’s leaders “broke the deal” he was negotiating with them on trade, ratcheting up his rhetoric ahead of fresh negotiations that were already clouded by imminent tariff increases and China’s threats of retaliation.“They broke the deal!” Trump said at a campaign rally Wednesday night in Panama City Beach, Florida, leading him to raise tariffs. The president noted that top Chinese trade negotiator Liu He was traveling to Washington for further talks.

Labour rights violations in ASEAN are among the negative effects of an increase in production due to the ongoing United States (US)-China trade war which has resulted in a shift of some production from China to this part of the world. While the region is embarking on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, numerous industries in ASEAN still rely on labour-intensive factories.

As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution and practically everything is moving online, the importance of e-commerce is heightened now more than ever before. E-commerce, in fact, is quickly becoming the primary mode of business and trade around the world - ASEAN included. When speaking of trade in and around ASEAN, there is little doubt that China and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) comes to mind.

Bentleys and BMW convertibles roll up to the "Venetian Casino" in Mongla on the Myanmar-China border, a melting pot of sex, drugs and gambling on a frontier that has also become a "supermarket" for illegally traded wildlife.This area of Myanmar is largely self-governed – lying within the country's borders but playing by its own rules, nestled in the eastern range of mountains and cut off from the rest of the country.Instead, the region looks to China. The yua

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised the plight of ethnic Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang region during talks with Chinese leaders and stressed that China must fully respect human rights, his spokesman said Monday.Guterres faced calls to speak out on human rights during his visit to Beijing where he attended a summit on Saturday of China's prized Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and held talks with President Xi Jinping.The UN chief delivered a three-point message that s

The Malaysian government’s decision to revisit the US$34 billion Bandar Malaysia project earlier this month after a two-year stall is the latest infrastructure project to be renegotiated or revived with an eye on appeasing China.The newly-elected Alliance of Hope (Pakatan Harapan) ruling coalition embarked on a series of cost-cutting measures after coming to power last May, suspending a series of Chinese-financed projects as it sought to improve the government’s finances and reduce r

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday US$64 billion in deals were signed at a summit on his Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and more nations would join the global infrastructure programme as he sought to ease concerns over the colossal project.Xi and 37 world leaders wrapped up a three-day forum in Beijing with pledges to ensure that projects in his new Silk Road are financially sustainable and green following concerns about debt and environmental damage."We are committed to supporti

Chinese President Xi Jinping sought Friday to bat away concerns about his ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying his global infrastructure project will have "zero tolerance" for corruption while vowing to prevent debt risks.In a speech kicking off the BRI summit, Xi also offered soothing remarks to the United States (US) over subsidies, the yuan and trade as the two sides head into fresh high-level talks next week.Xi's signature foreign policy aims to reinvent the anc