Whatever China’s policymakers do these days matters a lot, and not just to the denizens of the People’s Republic. On the contrary, for better or worse what happens in China has a powerful and often immediate…
Different mindsets: the world does not view luxuries in the same way.
Three big lessons came out of the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. First, the Asian economies to our north could be a source of economic threat as well as opportunity. Second, economic crises…
It has become commonplace to observe that Australian policymakers face a major challenge trying to reconcile the strategic and economic aspects of foreign policy. But while we might have become used to…
Smart engagement with Asia means recognising the many ways in which Asian migrants to Australia are opening new pathways for discovery, innovation and cultural understanding.
EPA/Ole Spata
Skilled migrants from India, China and other neighbouring countries are building pathways for innovation, growth and better understanding between Australia and their homelands.
Myanmar has carried out discriminatory policies against the Rohingya for decades.
Nyunt Win/AAP
Despite international pressure, Myanmar’s government intends to continue the decades-long program of discriminatory policies against the Rohingya that denies them their human rights.
China’s construction of new islands in the South China Sea has attracted a great deal of entirely predictable criticism and controversy. Surely no-one connected with this decision can be surprised at this…
These Rohingya women and children, rescued by fishermen in Aceh, are among thousands in need of resettlement.
EPA
A summit in Bangkok is discussing the fate of thousands of people who were stranded at sea. Australia is represented but refuses to resettle any refugees, casting doubt on its commitment to a regional solution.
Defence department secretary Dennis Richardson has described Australia’s relationship with the US and Chinas as friends with both, allies with one.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Regional changes will eventually raise questions about whether Australia’s defence needs can be met with a spending level of 2% of GDP, Defence Department secretary Dennis Richardson has said.
Much to talk about: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chat during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
EPA/Kenzaburo Fukuhara
India wants closer engagement with its neighbours as it aspires to become a global manufacturing hub. Narendra Modi’s visits to China, Mongolia and South Korea are all about promoting this agenda.
The Australian-Indonesia relationship has become frosty and personal, which will test the diplomatic skills of Tony Abbott and Joko Widodo.
AAP/Eka Nickmatulhuda
The execution of Bali Nine pair Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan presents major problems for the Australian and Indonesian governments.
Powerful waves of nationalist sentiment have endured since the second world war and continue to pose difficulties for the leaders of Japan and China.
EPA/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Even for a government that has recently made an artform of policy backflips, the Abbott government’s belated, but seemingly inevitable decision to join China’s proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment…
Bowing out: former prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, has died at the age of 91.
EPA/Stephen Morrison
Lee Kuan Yew literally helped put Singapore on the map. Its subsequent influence far outstrips the tiny island’s geopolitical significance.
In the end, Tony Abbott – pictured with Xi Jinping and mining magnate Andrew Forrest – can’t ignore the economic consequences of snubbing China’s investment bank.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The US gravely miscalculated in trying to get China to accept the existing global order. Forced to make a choice, America’s closest allies are joining the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Martti Ahtisaari, former president of Finland, meets South Korean foreign minister Yun Byung-Se.
EPA/Jeon Heon-Kyun
Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are being transferred to an Indonesian prison island where they will be executed.
Chee Soon Juan, pictured campaigning for Singapore’s 2011 general elections, hopes to build on that success in the next election, which is widely expected to be held early, possibly even this year.
Wikimedia Commons/Dexterleezh
The Lee dynasty and their People’s Action Party have ruled Singapore since 1959, but their grip on power has weakened. Opposition leader Chee Soon Juan talks about about his long fight for change.
US Army members carry out an evacuation drill in Thailand during the Cobra Gold joint military exercises, which have gone ahead this month with a reduced American role.
EPA/Diego Azubel