Asia-Pacific

Photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. overseeing weapons tests at an undisclosed location in May. KCNA/EPA

Door to North Korea Remains Open Despite Missile Tests

By Alicia Sanders-Zakre and Kelsey Davenport

While Alicia Sanders-Zakre is research assistant, Kelsey Davenport, is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, which carried this report on May 21, 2019.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – The next steps for U.S. diplomacy with North Korea remain unclear after Pyongyang tested several short-range ballistic missiles in early May. Despite the missile tests, South Korea and the United States urged a resumption of dialogue. North Korea, however, has said little about returning to talks since Chairman Kim Jong Un declared in April that he would give the Trump administration until the end of the year to change its approach to negotiations or face a "bleak and very dangerous" situation.

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 May 2019

Photo: The UN Secretary-General António Guterres saw the frontline of “the battle against climate change” for himself on May 16 by taking to the tropical waters of the South Pacific off the coast of Fiji, on a solar-powered boat. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten.

Stop Tuvalu and the World from Sinking

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YORK (IDN) – Like many of the world’s low-lying islands, Tuvalu, the South Pacific island whose highest point is less than five metres above the waves, faces the threat of being submerged under rising seas.

“We must stop Tuvalu from sinking and the world from sinking with Tuvalu,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a tweet posted during a recent trip to the South Pacific.

Pointing out that Tuvalu is “on the extreme frontlines of the global climate emergency,” he noted that “rising seas threaten to drown this island nation – a sign of what’s in store for us all.”

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 22 May 2019

Photo: Colonel Channy Vongvannak, Commander of the Cambodian Force Military Police of UNMISS, inspects a water purification plant within the Cambodian quarters. Credit: UNMISS/Isaac Billy.

Cambodia, Recipient in 1993, Gives Back to UN Peacekeeping

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK | JUBA, South Sudan (IDN) – “Cambodia received peacekeeping troops in 1993, and we feel that we have to contribute in the same way as other countries did when they worked in the UN mission in our country,” remembers Colonel Channy Vongvannak. “So, we understand that countries and people suffer during conflict – and they need help.”

UN peacekeepers from around the world were deployed to Cambodia between February 1992 and September 1993 as part of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) which was established to ensure implementation of a political settlement of the conflict in the south-east Asian country.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 20 May 2019

Photo: Tulips garland Mt Daisen. Credit: Palitha Kohona

Are the Japanese Really Different? Maybe

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

The writer was on an extended visit to Japan recently. He returned from a four week trip in April 2019. Some his observations might provide some clues for their phenomenal success despite being devastated by War. There might be useful lessons for other countries following the path to development.

TOKYO (IDN) – Arriving in Japan after a long and tiring flight is such a pleasure. Polite immigration officials in neat uniforms are there to guide you and to organise the orderly rapidly moving immigration queues.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 17 May 2019

Photo: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (left) with Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (second from right) in February 2019. Source: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Twitter account.

Pakistan's Juggling Act on a Precarious Tightrope

Viewpoint by James. M. Dorsey

James M. Dorsey – a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture – offered this viewpoint to IDN.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Pakistan risks falling off the tightrope it walks as it attempts to balance its relations with rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 13 May 2019

Photo: Buddhist monk taking food in Bangkok. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne.

Buddhist Kingdom of Thailand Caters to Muslim Tourists

By Setiawan Liu

This article is the 32nd in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous series.

BANGKOK (IDN) – An Indonesian tourist found the Buddhist dominated Thailand more comfortable than the Christian majority Netherlands where she had gone a few years ago. It is because Thailand – whose major revenue earner is tourism – has developed its tourism industry to cater for the multicultural tourists of today.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 12 May 2019

Photo: Sri Lanka bans burqa to ensure public safety. Source: India Blooms.

Burqa Ban Does Not Absolve Sri Lanka Govt. of Responsibility for Carnage

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – One week after the heinous bomb blasts that shattered the calm of an Easter Sunday, the Sri Lankan Sunday Times carried an editorial titled 'Let’s resurrect ourselves from this catastrophe'. This was a timely advice since only crude opportunists would attempt to hijack "the dastardly attacks by crazed religious bigots condemned by their own community" to advance their goals.

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 04 May 2019

Photo: Indonesian school girls. Source: East Asia Forum

Need to Raise Awareness about Sexual Harassment in Indonesian Schools

By Iwu Dwisetyani Utomo

CANBERRA (IDN-INPS) – A recent Gender and Reproductive Health Study in Indonesia found a surprisingly high degree of comprehension of sexual harassment among Indonesian students and teachers, but there were some worrying differences across various demographics.

The findings suggest the need for more research, education and awareness-raising on sexual harassment in Indonesia, as well as institution-building for reporting and policing sexual harassment.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 26 April 2019

Photo (Screenshot): UN Secretary General António Guterres delivered remarks at the opening of Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on April 26. Credit: UN China/Zhao Yun

UN Chief Expects Belt and Road Initiative to Foster 'Inclusive, Sustainable and Durable' Development

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – China’s international trade and economic development plan – known as the Belt and Road Initiative – could contribute to a more equitable and prosperous world, and help reverse the negative impact of climate change, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Addressing Chinese President Xi Jinping and dozens of other state leaders at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on April 26, Guterres urged the international community to “come together” in mobilising resources to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and “stop runaway climate change.”

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 26 April 2019

Photo: The Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo, which was among three Colombo hotels hit by suicide bombers on Easter Sunday. CC BY-SA 4.0

Sri Lanka Easter Sunday Attacks Possibly More Than a Religious Conflict

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – “I gave leadership to the government that defeated the terrorists that no one thought could ever be defeated. From the moment this government came into power in January 2015, they have been persecuting the members of the armed forces and the intelligence services that ended that war,” said former President and Current Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapakse in an emotional 10 minute address to parliament on April 23.