Asia-Pacific

Photo (front l to r): High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez serving as Chairperson-Rapporteur, Human Rights Council President Vojislav Šuc, Permanent Representative of Slovenia. Credit: Sri Lanka Permanent Mission to UN in Geneva.

Sri Lanka Chaired UN Forum Focuses on Sport to Promote Human Rights

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – The Social Forum of the UN Human Rights Council serves since 2008 as a unique space for open and interactive dialogue between civil society actors, representatives of Member States, and intergovernmental organizations, on a theme chosen by the Council each year. The 2018 Social Forum, with Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez as the Chairperson-Rapporteur, distinguished itself in more than one way.

It focussed on "the possibilities of using sport and the Olympic ideal to promote human rights for all and to strengthen universal respect for them". High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet emphasized at the opening the importance of sports as a tool for social and human empowerment.

: Jamshed Baruah; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 05 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

Turning Waste into Wealth for Growth and the Planet

Viewpoint by LI Yong and Hongjoo Hahm

LI Yong is the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Hongjoo Hahm, Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BAGKOK (IDN) – The business case for making our economy more sustainable is clear. Globally, transitioning to a circular economy – where materials are reused, re-manufactured or recycled – could significantly reduce carbon emissions and deliver over US$1 trillion in material cost savings by 2025.[1] The benefits for Asia and the Pacific would be huge. But to make this happen, the region needs to reconcile its need for economic growth with its ambition for sustainable business.

: J Nastranis; OPINION; 04 October 2018

Photo: The 11th Mekong-Japan Ministerial Meeting on August 2-3, 2018 in Singapore, with Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan serving as chair. Attendees included: Sok Siphana, Advisor to the Royal Government of Cambodia; Saleumxay Kommasith, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos; Kyaw Tin, Minister for International Cooperation of Myanmar; Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand; and Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam. Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand.

China-Japan Rivalry Intensifies in Asia's New Growth Region

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – While China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been in the news for a while – thanks mainly to negative reporting by the western media – Japan is slowly funding the building of supplementary trade corridors in the Mekong region projecting itself as not only interested in building infrastructure, but also trade facilitation through human capacity building in the region.

With a growth rate exceeding 5 percent and a combined population of over 240 million, the Mekong region, which was devastated by the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 1970s, has now emerged as a new growth centre of Asia. With the exception of Thailand, the population of the region – that also includes Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam – is young, with more than 20 per cent of residents below 15 years of age.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 October 2018

Photo credit: Transparency International

Right to Information a Mixed Success in the Asia-Pacific Region

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – Freedom of information is not only a human right, but also an essential tool to engage and empower citizens to demand accountability from governments and fight corruption.

Worldwide, around 120 countries have a right to information (RTI) act, indicating that most countries consider it important to spell out in detail how this right is exercised and to set obligations for public authorities to promote, protect and implement it in practice.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 01 October 2018

Photo (from left to right): Ms. Kaoru Nemoto, Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo; Mr. Nobuharu Imanishi, Director of Arms Control and Disarmament Division, MOFA; Ms. Masako Toki, Education project manager at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey; Ms. Mitsuki Kudo, Nagasaki Youth Delegation 2018. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri.

Japan Considers Ways of Shedding the Straitjacket and Go the Whole Hog for Nuclear Abolition

The following is a revised version of the article posted on September 30, 2018.

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) – Japan's profound interest in the international community's efforts to help usher in a world free of nuclear weapons was underlined in the run-up to the commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26, which was observed first time in 2014 in accordance with a decision of the UN General Assembly.

Two events marked the efforts of Japan's civil society to avail of the day to enhance awareness of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, and enable the country shed the straitjacket of compulsions imposed by the North Korean threat, delicate relations with China and the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

: Katsuhiro Asagiri; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 30 September 2018

Photo: Commemorative stamp for the International Day of Non-Violence featuring Mahatma Gandhi by artist Ferdie Pacheco. UN Photo/Ryan Brown.

India Hosts UN Chief on International Day of Non-Violence

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run-up to UN Secretary-General António Guterres' four-day visit to India beginning October 1, a senior official of the world body has expressed "a special thank you" to the Government of India, which is contributing US$1 million to install solar panels and a green roof on the Conference Building of the United Nations Secretariat.

The contribution, according to Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, was received by Under-Secretary-General for Management, Jan Beagle, who said that "India's generous contribution sends a strong message promoting innovation for action on climate change, and to enable greater efficiencies".

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 29 September 2018

Photo: India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj hosted the G4 Foreign Ministers Meeting of Japan, Germany and Brazil to discuss progress on early reform of the Council, including the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent categories of membership. Credit: Twitter MEA India

India Hosts G4 Meeting Pressing For Security Council Reform

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan – also known as the G4 – have reiterated the compelling need for a protracted reform of the United Nations Security Council and restated their support for Africa's appropriate representation in a reformed and expanded Council, which under the UN Charter bears primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

A Joint Press Statement, issued after a meeting on the first day of the General Assembly's high-level General Debate on September 25, 2018, said: "The G4 [Foreign] Ministers reaffirmed the need for an early reform of the Council including the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent categories of membership to enhance its legitimacy, effectiveness and representativeness."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 26 September 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.