Tag Archives: Southeast Asia

Only time will tell whether or not Myanmar will reciprocate to Beijing’s overtures, but owing to the lack of alternatives offered by Washington, Myanmar seems to have a very simple choice to make.

As China grows increasingly able to weaponize its financial clout for security purposes, failure on the part of the US to craft a comprehensive economic response undermines the autonomy of Southeast Asian countries and diminishes US influence.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s recent visit to Thai capital suggests that Thailand is now strategically courting authoritarian major powers, namely Russia and China, in defiance of Western criticism of Bangkok’s coup and military regime.

For three decades, traveling around, into and out of Southeast Asia, J. Brooks Spector and his family passed through Singapore numerous times. One of his children was even born there. This gave him a chance to see Singapore’s evolution under the guidance of its redoubtable, and very long-lived leader, Lee Kuan Yew.

Peace in Mindanao will never be achieved unless there is disarmament of armed groups. Lasting peace still has a way to go but it has not yet been derailed.

As the poll draws close Sri Lankans look set to have their closest election in more than a decade. But President Rajapaksa is still favored to win.

Recently, Bangladesh’s foreign minister Dipu Moni met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing to push forward the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor. The initiative follows China’s intensified co-operation with Pakistan in South Asia and recent Asian summits in which both President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have been promoting a new “maritime Silk Road” and deeper economic co-operation with Southeast …