By Chris Cheang The author is a Senior Fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He served three tours of duty in the Singapore Embassy in Moscow between 1994 and 2013. A version of this article was first published on RSIS and then reproduced by the EastAsiaForum […]
China Chides U.S. for Portraying Silk Road as ‘Trap’
By Devinder Kumar PORT MORESBY (IDN) – China’s President Xi Jinping has rejected U.S. criticism of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, vowing it is not “a trap” and that it is not designed to serve any hidden geopolitical agenda. The project is also known as Silk Road Economic Belt. Xi was addressing a meeting of […]
ASEAN Refrains from Taking Sides as Trade Dominates Summit
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE (IDN) – Addressing a media conference at the close of the three-day 33rd ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Summit on November 15, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed fears that “circumstances may come” where the regional organization would have to “choose one over the other”. Though not naming […]
The ‘CRISIS’ In Sri Lanka – Invented by the Western Media
Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona Ambassador Dr Palitha Kohona, Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations. COLOMBO (IDN) – The change of Government in Sri Lanka, following the unceremonious sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasingha by President Maithripala Sirisena, has given rise to a crescendo of alarmist commentary in the Western media, […]
New ESCAP Chief Aims at Deepening Regional Cooperation
By Jaya Ramachandran NEW YORK | BANGKOK (IDN) – Dr. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), is convinced that the organization has the opportunity to lead from the front. “The Asia-Pacific region has in recent decades seen remarkable social and […]
Protests As Pakistan Blasphemy Death Sentence Is Overturned
Viewpoint by René Wadlow The author is representative to the United Nations, Geneva, of the Association of World Citizens (AWC)*. This blog was carried by AWC on November 1, 2018. Since then, Asia Bibi remains in prison, and it is her lawyer who has had to flee the country. There are demonstrations against the Supreme […]
West’s ‘Democracy’ Clash With Peoples’ Concerns in Sri Lanka
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE (IDN) – After Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s shock decision on October 26 to appoint his political foe of recent years Mahinda Rajapakse as Prime Minister, Western diplomats and the international media have expressed outrage at what they perceive as “lack of respect for democratic institutions” such as the Parliament. […]
A Crisis Within a Crisis for the Rohingyas
By Naimul Haq DHAKA, Bangladesh (IDN) – Despite a well-coordinated effort to address the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal town bordering Myanmar, some major challenges still need attention. The local administration admits that with over one million forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens arriving in such a short time, it is indeed difficult to […]
U.S. Foolish To Start Another Cold War, Says Jack Ma
By Kalinga Seneviratne KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – U.S. will suffer more from the current trade war with China, warned Alibaba founder Jack Ma addressing over 1000 business leaders, government officials and economic experts from Malaysia and across the region attending the China Conference here on October 10-11. He added that America has been growing and […]
More Transparency Could Ricochet ‘Debt Trap’ Accusations against China
By Kalinga Seneviratne KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – One of the major discussions at the ‘China Conference’ organized by the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post (SCMP) on October 10-11, was China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the perception created in the region, by the western media in particular, that it is a ‘debt […]