The South China Sea dispute would be one of the more pertinent priorities on the minds of diplomats as they head to Singapore for the 33rd ASEAN Summit and other related meetings. The dispute has for the longest time been a thorn in the flesh of relations between claimant Southeast Asian states – the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei – and China, and for good reason.

As China and the United States (US) engage in a trade war, the ripples of the battle is felt throughout the world. Both the countries are the two largest economies in the world with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of almost US$32 trillion, a third of the global GDP.

Over the past 15 years, China has fuelled one of the most dramatic and geographically far-reaching surges in official peacetime lending in history. More than one hundred predominantly low-income countries have taken out Chinese loans to finance infrastructure projects, expand their productive capacity in mining or other primary commodities, or support government spending in general.But the size of this lending wave is not its most distinctive feature.

Over the past five years, issues in the South China Sea have only grown more complex. Claiming a historical right over most of the South China Sea and disregarding the Philippines’ victory against its claims at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, China’s presence in these disputed waters has become more prominent.

A long-overdue shift in America’s China policy is underway. After decades of “constructive engagement” – an approach that has facilitated China’s rise, even as the country has violated international rules and norms – the United States (US) is now seeking active and concrete counter-measures.

China and Southeast Asian states will hold their first joint maritime exercises next week, officials said Friday, in a move aimed at easing tensions but which may spark United States (US) alarm.Beijing's expansive claims to the South China Sea have long been a source of friction with rival claimants in Southeast Asia, as well as Washington which has traditionally been the dominant naval power in the area.Despite disagreements over Beijing's territorial ambitions, China and Southeast

The practice of “pulling wife”, bride kidnapping or marriage by capture is an old tradition among the rural Vietnamese. According to old custom, young girls are symbolically kidnapped and detained for two to three days by young boys, sometimes in collaboration with his family, to force a marriage negotiation with the girls’ parents. The girls’ parents could ask for her release or accept the marriage, following which the bride price – to be paid by the boy’s family – would be bargained.

With its sandy beaches, megamalls and local culture and cuisine, it’s no wonder that tourism contributes a significant amount to Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP). According to the Tourism and Sports Ministry, tourism contributed 17.7 percent to Thailand’s GDP in 2016 and 16.7 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, the World Travel and Tourism Council says tourism accounted for 10.4 percent of global GDP and 313 million jobs, or 9.9 percent of total employment in 2017.

China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) celebrates its fifth anniversary this month. The euphoria that initially followed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement in Kazakhstan and Indonesia has somewhat faded. In its place is a West-driven narrative of a debt-trap: an “insidious plot” by China for world domination where China strikes opaque deals and inflates the value of projects, leaving poorer countries unable to repay their debts.

Criticized by the White House for alleged interference in United States (US) politics, China has quietly blazed a path at the United Nations (UN) where it is, little by little, becoming one of the most influential members.At the Security Council, where China holds one of five permanent veto-wielding seats, its statements remain bland, often recalling fundamentals of the United Nations Charter such as national sovereignty and principles of non-interference."In their interpretation, democr