Asia-Pacific

Photo: Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner Md Kamal Hossain visiting Rohingya camp Kutupalong. Credit: Md Mojibur Rahman Rana.

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 manage the environmental damages and rising crime rates faced by the local people.

Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner Md Kamal Hossain told IDN that in terms of supplies of food, commodities and household basics efforts have been well coordinated. However, “environmental damage and the crimes rising by the day are major concerns but they are being addressed now and hopefully we would soon find solutions.”

: Naimul Haq; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 October 2018

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: Ali Baba founder Jack Ma addressing the conference via skype. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS.

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 unemployment has been on the decline, even with the deficit in the trade balance with China.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly cited the huge trade deficit with China as the reason for putting up tariff walls against Chinese goods. Ma warned that such trade wars could cause problems for anyone who trades with China or the U.S.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 13 October 2018

Photo: A glimpse of the China Conference. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS.

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 trap'. Many speakers from Asia, especially those from Malaysia, argued that more transparency in negotiating such projects could refute such allegations.

After coming to power five months ago, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad caused anxiety in Beijing when he cancelled $23 billion of China funded infrastructure projects citing inflated costs. Many speakers from Malaysia argued that this should be seen in terms of corrupt practices of the previous regime and not as a signal that Malaysia sees Chinese investments as debt traps.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 12 October 2018

Photo: Kalpana Saroj. Crdit: kamanitubes.com

An Indian Woman Rises from the Downtrodden to a Socially Aware Multimillionaire

By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE (IDN) – In 2013, Kalpana Saroj, Chairperson of the Mumbai-based Kamani Tubes Ltd. (KTL), was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest honour for civilians, for her achievements in the fields of Trade and Industry.

Saroj was successful in turning around the fortunes of KTL, a manufacturing company producing quality copper and copper alloy pipes and tubes. She succeeded where others, including well-networked, male corporate honchos, failed.

What makes her accomplishments all the more impressive is the fact that she is a Dalit (formerly 'Untouchables', the lowest caste in India's millennia-old caste hierarchy) and a woman too. "Her rise to the top is, without a doubt, a function of her personal fortitude and grit," Christina Thomas Dhanaraj, consultant for #dalitwomenfight, told IDN.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 12 October 2018

Photo: Skyline of Lujiazui, Pudong New Area, Shanghai (2016). Xi Jinping has specified the goal of achieving – between 2020 and 2035 – the condition of xiaokang shehui, of a moderately prosperous society, without poor. CC BY-SA 2.5

On 'Socialism with Chinese Characteristics' – or Harmony and the Seeds of Conflict

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the fourth of a four-part series. Click here for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

ROME (IDN) – Since 2004-2005, the CCP has set itself the task of "building a harmonious society". The internal harmony of China presupposes the discipline of farmers and the working class within the paternalistic dictatorship of the single party. No longer totalitarian as in the time of Mao – and how could it be otherwise when becoming rich is the glory of "socialism", transnational societies are courted, Confucius is a model of wisdom and capitalists are no longer demons to beat?

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 09 October 2018

Photo: The ballet The Red Detachment of Women, one of the Model Dramas promoted during the Cultural Revolution. White House photo by Byron Schumaker. Source: https://web.archive.org

On 'Socialism with Chinese Characteristics' – or Ideological Mess and Reality

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the third of a four-part series. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.

ROME (IDN) – One of the collective ideological hallucinations of the 20h century was Mao Zedong Thought. A remarkable thought in terms of metaphors and similitudes but even more so in terms of incoherence: as with Stalin, the most different lines can be extracted from the texts and the practice of Mao depending on convenience.

It is true that the Red Army was mostly peasant; but it is also true that from the "Great Leap Forward" in the second half of the 1950s – which resulted in the greatest famine of the twentieth century (about 30 million deaths between 1958 and 1961) – up to the phase of the "Third Front" of industrial development in China's interior, and passing through the Cultural Revolution and most of the 1970s, the peasant masses trapped by the hukou system were uninterruptedly squeezed like a lemon to finance industrial development, especially heavy and military industry.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 08 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: Puay Kim Teo speaking at the 1st Asian Buddhist Media Conclave in Delhi in August about the festival.

What is Buddhist in a Buddhist Film Festival?

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 25th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – The just concluded 5th edition of 'Thus I Have Seen Buddhist Film Festival (THISBFF)' in Singapore attracted a large non-Buddhist audience according to its organisers, but still it grappled with the question of what constitutes "Buddhist" in a film festival.

Festival director Puay Kim Teo of ‘Dhamma in Action’, reminiscing at its origins 10 years ago, recalls “we were looking for an outreach platform to share Buddhist teachings and Buddhist culture with the wider community in Singapore, beyond the normal temple grounds and society premises”.