By Volker Boege* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission. BRISBANE, Australia | 1 November 2023 (IDN) — COP28 (the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) takes place from 30 November to 12 December in Dubai. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres […]
Australian PM’s Beijing-Visit Will Signal Reproachment with China
Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY | 29 October 2023 (IDN) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will arrive in Beijing on 4 November for a much-awaited visit to China, the country’s biggest trading partner. Australia’s wine and barley growers, as well as the tourism and tertiary education sectors, will welcome the visit. Albanese is also […]
US Likely to Persist with Renewed Pacific Role Despite Island Nations’ Doubts
Viewpoint by Shailendra Bahadur Singh* SUVA, Fiji | 23 October 2023 (IDN) — Pacific Island nations have been skeptical about the recent revival in U.S. interest in the region. Despite those misgivings, likely, Washington is back for the long haul. China’s rise to a major economy—second only to the United States—is reshaping the world, notwithstanding […]
Australia Referendum Exposes Flaws of Democracy Architecture
Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY | 17 October 2023 (IDN) — The resounding defeat suffered by the Australian Labour Government on the 14 October referendum to amend the constitution to recognize the “First Australians” (indigenous people) exposes the flaws in the Australian democratic architecture, especially the role of social media and concentration of media ownership […]
No Blind Support for Israel in Asia
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE. 14 October 2023 (IDN) — In the aftermath of Palestinian group Hamas’s terror attack inside Israel on 7 October and the Israeli state’s equally terrifying attacks on Palestinian settlements in Gaza, the media across many parts of Asia tend to take a more neutral stand to that of their western counterparts, […]
Who’s WHO?
BY Aayusha Pokharel* KATHMANDU. 12 October 2023 (IDN) — The World Health Organisation (WHO) will be nominating its South East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) Director at its 76th session starting 30 October in New Delhi. Nepal’s candidate Shambu Prasad Acharya has emerged as a clear favourite among international public health practitioners. But vying for the […]
Pope Francis’ Special Envoy Goes to China to Seek Peace in Ukraine
By Devin Watkins BERLIN | ROME. 14 September 2023 (IDN | VATICAN NEWS) — Pope Francis’ special envoy, Cardinal Matteo Mario Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna, is visiting Beijing on 13-15 September to seek peace in Ukraine, according to The Holy See Press Office. “The visit (to China) forms another step of the mission desired […]
Indonesia Favours “Cooperation” as Tensions Simmer at ASEAN Summit
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE. 9 September 2023 (IDN) — At the just concluded ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) summit in Jakarta, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo pleaded with the world’s big powers to “strengthen cooperation, not sharpen rivalries”. “I don’t know how many words of peace and stability we utter at every meeting… […]
Establishment of a U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, D.C.
JAKARTA. 6 September 2023 (IDN) — At the U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Indonesia on September 6, US Vice President Harris joined with the leaders of ASEAN in announcing their intent to establish, through a public-private partnership, a U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, D.C. To that end, the State Department has established a public-private partnership with Arizona State […]
China’s Shandong Province Expands Its Footprint to The Pacific
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji. 2 September 2023 (IDN) — A high-powered delegation of Chinese ocean and marine scientists and Asia-Pacific scholars from Shandong Province visited Fiji promoting South-South cooperation to mitigate climatic change—Pacific Islands’ biggest security threat. Facilitated by the Chinese Embassy here, Shandong Province and Fiji signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to […]