China watchers have grown ever more anxious as President Xi Jinping has concentrated power in his own hands, and as the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) leadership has become more coercive, both at home and abroad. The so-called trade war with the United States (US), deterioration in relations with many foreign governments, and the COVID-19 pandemic have had far-reaching consequences for China.
ASEAN has been pursuing an ambitious plan for regional economic integration for almost 15 years, ever since the publication of the first AEC Blueprint in November 2007.
The combined effects of COVID-19 and climate change have revealed profound vulnerabilities in Southeast Asia.
The relationship between the United States (US) and China promises to do much to define this era. And what could determine this relationship might well be whether the two countries are able to continue to avoid armed conflict over Taiwan. But with signs that the chances of conflict are growing, the question facing the US and its partners is how to avoid that outcome without sacrificing essential interests. Conceptual framing is always critical to foreign policy.
When Filipina Hidelyn Diaz won a Gold Medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – which ended the Philippines’ 97-year Olympic gold medal drought – there was an outburst of exultation, joy, and national pride in the Philippines and among Filipinos all over the world.
In the period leading up to the 2008 global financial crisis, a few prescient voices warned of potentially catastrophic systemic instability.
Last month, I lamented that the leaders of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) seem incapable of agreeing on coordinated policies that would benefit their own economies and the world.
COVID-19 has exposed the myriad weaknesses of cross-border value chains. Once the backbone of globalization, now they are associated with vulnerability to disruption. Thanks to the pandemic, value chains are being reconfigured with a focus on resilience. At the same time, China’s changing role in the global economy is forcing companies to reconsider it as a manufacturing hub. The world’s factory has reinvented itself as the world’s investor.
Many among the political detractors and critique of Rodrigo Duterte have claimed that the President’s trust rating and popularity have declined based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey. Such speculations came out after media networks reported a drop in Duterte’s satisfaction numbers based on the latest results of the SWS survey.
According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, we will overshoot the 1.5 degree Celsius (C) Paris Agreement threshold from the most to least optimistic scenario unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide occur now. As time is ticking towards mid-century, carbon sequestration could be the fundamental option to reduce emissions rapidly and decelerate global warming. Several countries have started investing in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China relations, a significant year indeed. I knew very little about ASEAN until 2003, when I got involved in the Track II processes in East Asia which then resulted in my academic focus on ASEAN-centred regional cooperation. Regarding each other as a strategic opportunity is a key to the extraordinary progress of the 30 years’ ASEAN-China relations.
The concept of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting standards has gone mainstream. Major Wall Street firms have adopted ESG standards as a guide to responsible investment, compelling the thousands of corporations in which they invest to do so as well. But is ESG helping investors and corporations that operate in the Global South allocate capital more efficiently?
