Think-Tanks

China Lacking a Clear Strategy for Overseas Investments

Viewpoint by Xie Ping

The author is professor at the PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University and is former executive vice president of China Investment Corporation. This article first appeared on October 8, 2018 in EastAsiaForum.

BEIJING (IDN-INPS) – China has become one of the world’s biggest investors. The explosive growth of its outward investment is helping China connect to world business, absorb advanced technologies, upgrade its traditional industries and stimulate exports. But as China steps up its outward investment, foreign governments are also tightening their regulatory and security review regimes, making the hurdles even higher for Chinese firms looking to invest overseas.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 18 October 2018

India's Free Trade Woes in the Face of Deteriorating Balance

Viewpoint by Biswajit Dhar

The author is Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University. This article first appeared on October 9, 2018 in EastAsiaForum.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – Leaders at the sixth Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting in August 2018 appear to have taken steps towards concluding the deal by the end of the year. With a possible endgame in sight, India’s stance in the negotiations should be of utmost interest. The viability of the proposed grouping hinges on India’s response to the more active RCEP participating countries’ calls for a highly ambitious trade liberalisation agenda.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 18 October 2018

Photo credit: Peter Miller © Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

India Needs to Reify its Global Nuclear Disarmament Policy

Viewpoint by Pulkit Mohan

India's challenge in asserting its stance on global nuclear disarmament requires a precise articulation of its goals and plans, writes Pulkit Mohan, a Research Intern at India's prestigious Observer Research Foundation. The article first appeared on 28 September 2018, and is being reproduced courtesy the Foundation.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – For India, non-proliferation challenges have warranted special attention both from regional and global contexts for several decades. India's tumultuous relationship with its neighbours and its desire to be a regional and global power has continually shaped the tenets of its nuclear weapons programme and policy.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 08 October 2018

Photo: The US$1.4 billion Port City project in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Credit: China Dialogue | Shehan Gunasekara

China Suspected of Going Green by Dumping Brown Through BRI

Viewpoint by Dokku Nagamalleswara Rao & Atmaja Gohain Baruah

Dokku Nagamalleswara Rao and Atmaja Gohain Baruah are research scholars at the Center for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi India. This article first appeared in East-West Forum on 25 September 2018. – The Editor.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – The environmental impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been fraught with contradictions. While there are efforts to finance and promote green development through some BRI projects, other projects are raising serious environmental concerns.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 04 October 2018

Photo: Prime Minister meets Xi Jinping, President of China on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2018 in Qingdao on June 9. Credit: India's Ministry of External Affairs.

India-U.S. Strong Partnership Not Endorsement of Washington-led Regional Order

Viewpoint by Jagannath Panda

The writer is a Research Fellow and Centre Coordinator for East Asia at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. He is also the Series Editor for Routledge Studies on Think Asia. This article was first published in East Asia Forum on September 23, 2018.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's cold approach, the strategic partnership between India and the United States is deepening. The civil nuclear agreement signed in October 2008 marked a new beginning. And both the 2016 Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement and the 2018 Communication, Compatibility, Security Agreement have strengthened the relationship further. The U.S. decision to rename the Pacific Command the Indo-Pacific Command also gave a symbolic nod to India’s centrality in the region.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 26 September 2018

Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan city, Central China's Hubei province, April 27, 2018. Credit: XU JINGXING / chinadaily.com.cn

India's Stance on the Indo-Pacific Not Exclusionary of China

Viewpoint by Prateek Joshi

The writer is a Research Associate with the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) India, a New Delhi-based public policy think-tank. This article was first published in East Asia Forum on September 21, 2018.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – In a move that heralds greater bilateral cooperation, Chinese Defence Minister Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe paid his first visit to India in August 2018. The visit was precisely a year after both sides decided to withdraw their forces following the two-month standoff at the Doklam trijunction. The det ails from the defence ministers' meeting point towards an adherence to greater confidence building measures to avoid Doklam-like situations from resurfacing.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 25 September 2018

Photo: Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

The Indigenous Peoples, TRIPS & Biodiversity Convention

By Victoria Tauli-Corpuz

The writer is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and a Member of the South Centre Board. She has served as chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2005-2010). Following are extensive extracts from her presentation at the International Conference on the TRIPS-CBD Linkage: Issues and Way Forward, held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva on 7-8 June 2018. South Views carried the full text. The conference was jointly organized by the South Centre, the Centre for WTO Studies, New Delhi and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa to the WTO. - The Editor

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 17 August 2018

Photo: Vladimir Putin (right) and Donald Trump (left) at a news conference after their summit meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. Credit: en.kremlin.ru

Trump and Putin Can Put the Brakes on a New, Potentially More Dangerous, Arms Race

Viewpoint by Thomas M. Countryman, Kingston A. Reif and Daryl G. Kimball

The following analysis is the Arms Control Association's latest Issue Brief with the caption Can Trump and Putin Head Off a Nuclear Arms Race? authored by Thomas M. Countryman, former Acting Under Secretary Of State for Arms Control and International Security and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association, Kingston A. Reif, Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy, and Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director. It is being reproduced by arrangement with the Association. – The Editor.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – The much-anticipated July 16 summit meeting in Helsinki between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin did not go well for the United States.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 09 August 2018

Image: The Chinese frigate, Dongguan, was temporarily grounded near Half Moon Shoal in 2012. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The Philippines Cautiously Support U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy to Counter China

Viewpoint by Christian Vicedo

The writer is Senior Defense Research Officer in the Research and Special Studies Division, National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP). The views expressed are the author's own and do not reflect the official position of the NDCP. EastAsiaForum first carried this article on 2 August 2018. – The Editor

MANILA (IDN-INPS) – When U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 28, 2018, he conveyed Washington’s growing concern over Beijing’s military activities in the South China Sea (SCS). In response Xi stressed that Beijing "cannot lose one inch" of its territory.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 05 August 2018

Photo: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) in Beijing in May 2017, one year before he lost the election. Credit: The Mole Magazine

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 LUMPUR (IDN-INPS) – Malaysia’s election on May 9, 2018 saw a dramatic result – the incumbent Barisan Nasional ruling coalition that had ruled Malaysia for 61 years crumbled, and Pakatan Harapan, a coalition of opposition parties, emerged victorious. One of the numerous reasons why the ruling party lost in the elections is that Malaysia’s foreign policy was perceived by a large segment of its people to be too cosy to China.