By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, 2 April 2023 (IDN) — After the success of the ‘Assignment China’ TV-series, Columbia University Press. recently published the book with the same title: “Assignment China: An Oral History of American Journalists in the People’s Republic”. The themes already covered in the TV series have been updated and expanded to 25 […]
Western Flags All Over Oceania Ensure a Continuing Hegemony
By Greg Fry and Terence Wesley-Smith* SUVA, Fiji, 15 March 2023 (IDN) — In his recently published article “Sea of many flags”, the head of the ANU National Security College Rory Medcalf makes the case for why Pacific Island states should regard the deep regional involvement of a Western coalition of powers, “quietly” led by […]
Thailand: Hunger Strike Ended, Not the Fight
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, 13 March 2023 (IDN) — Political hunger strikers Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon, 21, and Orawan “Bam” Phupong, 23, ended their hunger strike on Saturday, March 11, after 53 days. “Tawan and Bam want to let the public know that we have ended the hunger strike to save our lives and continue fighting,” […]
Port Moresby Shows Jakarta How It’s Done With 3 PNG Hostages Freed
By David Robie This article was published in Asia-Pacific Report and is being republished with the author’s permission. SUVA, Fiji, 6 March 2023 (IDN) — Two countries. A common border. Two hostage crises. But the responses of both Asia-Pacific nations have been like chalk and cheese.
Pacific Islanders Want Japan to Stop Dumping Nuclear Waste into Their Ocean
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji 6 March 2023 (IDN) — Alarmed at Japan’s plans to dump nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean regional leaders are calling upon the Japanese government to immediately call a stop to such plans. Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources, Jelta Wong, said on Monday (6 March) “there […]
Hunger Strike in Thai Prison Threatens Two Young Political Activists
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, 23 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon and Orawan “Bam” Phupong, aged 21 and 23, respectively, have been on hunger strike since January 18 to push for reforms in Thailand’s judicial system, the release of political prisoners and the abolition or reform of some of the laws against dissidents, including […]
US Re-Launches Military Alliance with Philippines
By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) — When Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was presiding over a right-wing authoritarian regime in the Philippines (1965-1986), the United States was one of his closest political and military allies. After a long break of successive regimes, where the US was cold-shouldered, the Biden administration re-launched in January 2023 its military […]
Australian FM Urges Britain to Confront Its Colonial Past in Asia
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — In a landmark speech at King’s College London, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has urged Britain to confront its colonial past if it wanted to strengthen and build new ties in the Indo-Pacific. Malaysian-born Wong said that Britain and other countries should strive to shed staying “sheltered in narrower […]
What the Resignation of New Zealand’s Inspirational Prime Minister Means
By David Robie* AUCKLAND (IDN) — Aotearoa New Zealand has been shaken to the core by the sudden resignation of one of its most iconic and revered prime ministers amid a fierce controversy over misogyny and death threats stirred by the global coronavirus pandemic. Jacinda Ardern, the world’s youngest female prime minister at 37 when […]
Heated Debate on Giving a Constitutional Voice to Indigenous Australians
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — Each year on January 26, Australians celebrate “Australia Day”, a national holiday that marks the day Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Sydney Cove in 1788, planted the Union Jack and proclaimed the continent for the British Crown. Later it was enshrined in the Australian constitution that it was “terra […]