Category: SE Asia

Misaligned rails keep SE Asia de-linked from China

Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative has inspired a flurry of SE Asian railway-building but few of the lines are actually designed to connect to China By Peter Janssen Last month’s launch of a 70-kilometer rail line between Sisophon and Battambang in northwestern Cambodia, a region that hasn’t seen a running train since the 1975-79 Khmer … Continue reading Misaligned rails keep SE Asia de-linked from China

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Understanding Duterte’s Win-Win South China Sea Model as Confirmed at ASEAN Summit in Singapore

Written by Adam Garrie President Duterte has used the ASEAN summit in Singapore to clarify his South China Sea policy which is increasingly seen as a pioneering effort in the wider world, in spite of its frequent criticisms domestically – criticisms that are often rooted in a total misunderstanding of Duterte’s goals and methods on the … Continue reading Understanding Duterte’s Win-Win South China Sea Model as Confirmed at ASEAN Summit in Singapore

Singapore-led Asean favors China over US

In a nod towards Beijing, city-state puts free trade rather than South China Sea disputes at center of regional bloc's 2018 agenda By Richard Javad Heydarian Singapore’s anticipated chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) opened on the weekend with a summit that reaffirmed the city-state’s vision of a “rules-based” regional order but … Continue reading Singapore-led Asean favors China over US

China’s Belt and Road, and implications for ASEAN connectivity

By Anushka Kapahi The ASEAN Master Plan for Connectivity (AMPC) and China’s Belt and Road Initiative have major commonalities. Both envisage transport connectivity as a way of bringing countries closer to one another, facilitating better access to trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people exchanges. Similar to the BRI project, AMPC calls for a system of roads and … Continue reading China’s Belt and Road, and implications for ASEAN connectivity

China, Philippines seek to share South China Sea

Proposed joint development agreement for contested area's oil and gas underscores diplomatic warming trend but faces legal hurdles and political risks By Richard Javad Heydarian China and the Philippines are now considering a series of resource-sharing agreements in the South China Sea, the latest development in a diplomatic warming trend that has reset the disputed … Continue reading China, Philippines seek to share South China Sea