Category: Asia-Pacific

Viewpoint by Corey Wallace The writer is Assistant Professor at Kanagawa University. YOKOHAMA, Japan (IDN | East Asia Forum) — Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics have cast a shadow over Japan’s COVID-19 response. Critics—including a former Japanese prime minister—questioned whether the government’s lacklustre early response to the outbreak and its ‘risky’ […]

Viewpoint by Emil Avdaliani* TBILISI, Georgia (IDN) — China fears the repercussions associated with the looming US withdrawal from Afghanistan as a rise of extremism in the country could spread and threaten Beijing’s key positions in Xinjiang and Central Asia. However, America’s exit might yet bring some unforeseen benefits. A Chinese-led peacebuilding agenda would mean […]

By Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake The writer, Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, is a Social and Medical Anthropologist, at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. COLOMBO (IDN) — On June 24, Poson Poya (full moon) day, one of the most sacred days in a Sri Lankan Buddhist’s calendar, the day that Buddhism arrived on […]

By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — The dark side of the global fashions industry was exposed in 2013 when over 1000 workers were killed in a factory fire and collapse. The global outrage resulted in the adoption of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety (AFBS) in Bangladesh. The eight-year-old Accord was due to expire […]

By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — Samoa, a small island nation in the South Pacific, is currently having two governments both sworn in with one claiming that they have been appointed to govern by God and the other claiming they have got the peoples’ mandate. The political crisis is also embroiled in arguments over the […]

By Kalinga Seneviratne As Buddhists across the world celebrate the triple anniversary of Vesak on May 26 that marks the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha, this IDN-Lotus News special feature by Kalinga Seneviratne—46th in a series—focuses on a landmark project in the dissemination of the Buddha’s teachings. Click here for previous reports.

By Asia Pacific Report News desk TAHITI (IDN) — A collective of community groups in Tahiti, trying to preserve a historical-cultural icon at Tautira, have condemned the Tahitian government for “deliberately trying to destroy our heritage”. The iconic Tahua-Reva is the community’s sacred mountain on the southeastern tip of Tahiti-Iti, the smaller section adjoining the […]

By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN | UN News) — Independent rights experts of the United Nations have urged businesses in Myanmar to fulfill their human rights responsibilities and pressure the military junta to halt grave human rights violations against its own people. According to UN News, some businesses have reiterated their public support for […]

Sri Lanka Embarks on Ambitious Project to Create Another Asian Financial Hub By Sugeeswara Senadhira COLOMBO (IDN) — The Sri Lankan Supreme Court’s determination on the proposed Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill will be placed before the parliament on May 18, paving way for the legal act to establish the Commission, with an amendment […]

By Ramu Damodaran The writer is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted in the Department of Global Communications. This OpEd was first published in #WhyWeCare on April 15. NEW YORK (IDN | UNAI) — If, as Suzanne Nossel writes, “the United Nations remains the closest thing to a system of global governance that the […]