United States (US) President Joe Biden will meet in mid-May with the leaders of Southeast Asian nations, with a likely focus on the rising power of China, the host country announced Saturday.The summit, originally scheduled for March, "will demonstrate the United States' enduring commitment to ASEAN," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations."It is a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration t

As the May 2022 Presidential Election draws near, with the impending change of administration in the Philippines, there have been different views and perspectives on how Philippine foreign policy should adjust to the changes in the strategic environment underpinned by the United States (US)-China geopolitical competition in the Indo-Pacific region and the US-Russia geopolitical tussle in Eastern Europe amid the Ukraine crisis. Indeed, the rivalry and competition of major powers, more

The Ukraine-Russia crisis is posing a major challenge for China on many fronts.The ever-closer diplomatic relationship between Russia and China could be seen at the Winter Games with Mr Putin coming to Beijing as one of only a handful of known world leaders to attend.Significantly, Mr Putin waited until just after the Games were over to recognise the two breakaway regions of Ukraine and send in troops to back them.In its public pronouncements, the Chinese government has urged all sides to de-

In the area of foreign policy, President Rodrigo Duterte was successful in the historic return of the “Balangiga Bells” from the United States (US).

China's overtures to the Taliban indicate a bid to extract maximum benefit from the dramatic collapse of the United States (US) project in Afghanistan.But Beijing will remain watchful of the hardliners now running the show in Kabul, especially as Afghanistan borders China's eastern Xinjiang province, home to the Muslim-majority Uyghurs, analysts say.Around a fortnight before the Islamists seized power in a lightning offensive that stunned the world, Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a

Israel’s attempt to justify its latest brutal assault on Gaza rings hollow to anybody familiar with events in Israel, where the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, backed by anti-Arab racists, has systematically, cruelly, and persistently violated the basic human rights of the Arab population. Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global non-governmental organisation (NGO) with many Jewish leaders, has recently condemned Israel for crimes against humanity.

The special ASEAN leaders meeting conducted on Saturday 24 April indicates a collective attempt by the regional organisation to seriously deal with the deteriorating situation in Myanmar based on “the ASEAN way”. The face-to-face forum, hosted by Indonesia at the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta, resulted in a five-point-consensus; summarising plans to stabilise the political turmoil in Myanmar. This agenda, however, has attracted supports as well as criticisms towards ASEAN.

Australia has scrapped agreements tied to China's Belt and Road initiative (BRI), prompting anger from Beijing and adding further strain to tense relations between the countries.The federal government used new powers to rip up two deals made between the state of Victoria and China.Canberra said it was backing away from the agreements to protect Australia's national interest.The Chinese embassy in Australia branded the move "provocative".It said the action by Canbe

Time and again, the deceptive and misleading “Chinese Threat” rhetoric has been hyped-up by the political detractors of the Duterte administration and by some mainstream media outlets; capitalising on the current skirmish in the South China Sea (SCS) involving the alleged more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels spotted in the Whitsun Reef or commonly known to Filipinos as the Julian Felipe Reef. One of the obvious reasons is to discredit President Rodrigo Duterte’s “rapprochement” poli

We can finally state with confidence that United States (US) President Donald Trump will leave the White House, however reluctantly, on 20 January. As his four years in office come to an end, it is not too soon to raise the question of how he will be viewed.History will judge Trump to have been a consequential US president, in that he left America and the world much changed. He will also be seen as one of the worst, if not the worst ever.True, Trump did accomplish some useful things.