Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona The writer of this 2-part series is former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, former Foreign Secretary and former Head of the UN Treaty Section. The articles are based on a talk on ‘China and Sri Lanka: A History that Stretches Back into the Mists of Time […]
China and Sri Lanka: A History that Stretches Back into the Mists of Time – Trade, Religion and Diplomacy – 1
Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona The writer of this 2-part series is former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, former Foreign Secretary and former Head of the UN Treaty Section. The articles are based on a talk on ‘China and Sri Lanka: A History that Stretches Back into the Mists of Time […]
Out of Africa into Asian Games Arena – ‘Shameful’, Critics Say
By Kalinga Seneviratne NEW DELHI (IDN) – It has been simmering since the Doha Asian Games of 2006, which is now perhaps coming to a boil, about whether Arab Gulf States flushed with petrodollars should be allowed to import athletes from Africa merely to win medals at Asian Games. There is a lot of resentment […]
The Rohingya are Subject to Genocide, International Community Must Act
Viewpoint by Razia Sultana The author is a Rohingya lawyer, researcher and educator specializing in trauma, mass rape and trafficking of Rohingya girls and women. She has been working with Rohingya women and girls in the refugee camps in Bangladesh documenting the stories of women and girls who fled Myanmar, and has published two reports: […]
Asia Society Names a Global Company CEO as ‘Game Changer’
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Asia Society, in partnership with Citi, has announced the Indian-born Indra K. Nooyi as Game Changer of the Year for 2018 in recognition of her “life-saving collaboration with the United Nations on food, nutrition, global water, climate, and women’s empowerment issues.” Asia Society President and CEO Josette Sheeran […]
‘2030 SDGs Game’ Arouses Growing Interest in Japan
By Ramesh Jaura and Katsuhiro Asagiri BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – Reports have it that when Albert Einstein was some five years old and confined to bed, his father gave him a magnetic pocket compass to play with. He twisted and turned it, wondering how the needle always knew to point towards the north. Takeo […]
‘Right To Water’ Should Be A Major Human Right, Say Indonesian Women Activists
By Kalinga Seneviratne JAKARTA (IDN) – Indonesian women activists, fighting an uphill battle to reverse a 20-year old water privatization project signed by former authoritarian ruler Suharto with French and British companies with the support of a $92 million loan from the World Bank, argue that the United Nations and the international human rights community […]
Towards the End of Elite Foreign Policymaking in Malaysia
Viewpoint by Adam Leong Kok Wey Dr Adam Leong Kok Wey is an Associate Professor in Strategic Studies and the Deputy Director of Research with the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies at the National Defence University of Malaysia. This article was first carried by EastAsiaForum on 29 July 2018. – The Editor KUALA […]
Asia’s Evolving ‘Free’ Trade Deal May Not Benefit Workers
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE (IDN) – A Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – a “free” trade agreement between the 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and its major trading partners in the region – is expected to be signed later this year. But labour unions and workers’ rights advocates in the region fear that […]
Japan-China Relations Apparently Back On Track
Viewpoint by Katsuji Nakazawa* TOKYO (IDN-INPS) – In early May 2018 during his first visit to Japan since being appointed in 2013, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang publicly remarked that Japan-China relations had returned to a path of normality. This “throw-away line” revealed that China’s official perspective prior to then was that Japan-China relations had been […]