By Le Thanh Binh HO CHI MINH CITY | 3 January 2024 (IDN) — The Mekong Delta in South Vietnam has been the country’s rice granary for generations, feeding more than 20 million people today. But climate change resulting in droughts and salinity of the river-fed waters is now threatening food security. The Mekong River […]
Japanese PM Kishida Struggles for Political Survival
By Purnendra Jain and Takeshi Kobayash* East Asia Forum published this article ADELAIDE, South Australia | TOKYO | 21 December 2023 (IDN) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are facing one of the worst financial scandals in decades, resulting in growing public distrust of the party and threatening the […]
Tuvalu Confronts Multiple Challenges on the Frontline of Climate Change
By Kalinga Seneviratne* FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu | 4 Dec 2023 (IDN) — While COP28 in UAE debates about how to distribute money from the new climatic change reparation fund, the small Pacific Island state of Tuvalu is grappling with a multitude of climate change-induced problems that could take millions of dollars to fix, if at all. […]
COP28 and the Unaccounted Loss and Damage for Pacific Youth
By Ria Shibata* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission. WELLINGTON, New Zealand | 4 December 2023 (IDN) — As the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) […], the global community braces for tough negotiations over climate finance, emission reductions, adaptation strategies and funding for climate-induced loss and […]
Sri Lanka’s Northern Tamils are not for Sale to China
By P. Soma Palan* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 25 November 2023 (IDN) — I write this not as a northern Tamil but as an independent, free, and objective thinker. In today’s international politics, the phrase “Geopolitics” is a commonplace expression. It means an inter-play of power and spheres of influence between militarized nations. Geopolitics has […]
Exploring China’s Role in Facilitating Israel-Hamas Truce
By M. A. Hossain DHAKA | 18 November 2023 (IDN) — As the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensifies, the death toll of civilians in Gaza has risen to more than 10,000, including 3,700 children. China has stepped forward to mediate between the parties in this catastrophic context. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the […]
Concerns in the Pacific Over “Neo-colonial” Australia-Tuvalu Agreement
By Ravindra Singh Prasad SUVA, Fiji | 16 November 2023 (IDN) — A new treaty deal announced by Australia and the tiny Pacific Island state of Tuvalu during this month Pacific Island Forum (PIF) in Cook islands may signal a new strategy of Australia and its western allies to counter China in the region. But, […]
A Loss and Damage Fund in the Pacific?
By Kate Higgins* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission. VICTORIA, Australia | 16 November 2023 (IDN) — At last year’s COP27 in Egypt, an agreement was reached to establish a Loss and Damage Fund for countries, such as those in the Pacific, vulnerable to the “adverse effects” […]
Pacific Needs Powerful Voice Against Superpower Dominance
By Shailendra Bahadur Singh* SUVA, Fiji | 15 November 2023 (IDN) — The Pacific Islands Forum chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown, has emerged as one of the more powerful Pacific leaders’ voices in projecting the region’s concerns and priorities to the world. Knowing that the international attention was focused on the recent […]
Korean Peninsula: U.N. Coalition’s Commitment to Peace Praised
By Joseph Clark WASHINGTON, D.C. | 14 November 2023 (IDN | DOD News) — Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III praised the international alliance committed to securing lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula as United Nations Command member states gathered today for the coalition’s inaugural defense ministers’ meeting in Seoul, South Korea. Austin […]