Some say the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership was designed specifically to exclude or even encircle China. So do its leaders mind being on the outs?
Why do forests fires rage every year in Indonesia? Some people benefit from the business of fire, enjoying profits and economic rents at the expense of environmental quality.
EPA/Adi Weda
Scientists and policymakers - aware of the extreme dry season of El Nino - have warned of fires in Indonesia months in advance. Why then, do fires continue to blaze and what is being done about it?
Indonesia has yet to join other South-East Asian countries in creating economic hubs in border areas.
EPA/Agus Suparto
As Southeast Asian countries countries gear up for its ASEAN Economic Community Indonesia should look into setting up special economic zones together with bordering countries.
Prime Minister Najib Razak is at the centre of a scandal over investigations into the origins of US$700 million transferred into his bank account.
Reuters/Olivia Harris
Najib Razak’s response to corruption allegations has been a crackdown on investigators and his critics on both sides of politics. Malaysians are left wondering where their nation is headed.
Australia and Singapore’s new comprehensive strategic partnership is not seen as harmful for neighbouring countries such as Indonesia.
EPA/Wallace Woon
Australia and Singapore recently signed a comprehensive strategic partnership on the 50th anniversary of their relationship. How would the new partnership affect Indonesia?
Rohinga people face triple discrimination.
EPA/Hotli Simanjuntak
ASEAN stood on the sidelines as thousands of refugees were stranded at sea, but it should apply its policy of constructive engagement to ending the persecution that drives Rohingya people out of Myanmar.
Governments and international organisations should find an effective solution for the Rohingya refugee crisis.
EPA/STR
Representatives meeting to discuss South-East Asia’s migrant crisis may learn from the previous refugee crisis that hit the region during the Indochina war.
A Thai vessel provides supplies to Rohingya migrants on an abandoned boat.
EPA/STR
Why have South-East Asian countries abandoned scores of migrants to drift in the sea?
A Filipino soldier patrols the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The US is considering sending aircrafts and warships to patrol the disputed area, which is claimed by China and four other Southeast Asian countries.
EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO / POOL
The US is considering naval patrols of disputed parts of the South China Sea in response to China’s creation of artificial islands. Other nations with claims may welcome a temporary US presence.
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar travelled in this fishing boat to Sumatra, Indonesia, with officials announcing some 2000 people were rounded up or rescued after arriving in Malaysia and Indonesia over the weekend.
EPA
Australia may have ‘stopped the boats’ but the tragedy of people drowning at sea continues to our north and is getting worse. A regional solution to the refugee crisis is urgently needed.
Bowing out: former prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, has died at the age of 91.
EPA/Stephen Morrison
With his country’s economy in mind, Indonesian president Joko Widodo is reciprocating China’s invitation to build stronger relations. China has been actively inviting southeast Asia’s largest economy to…
Golden handshake. Abe and Xi meet on the sidelines of the APEC meeting on Beijing.
Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool/EPA
With considerable pomp and circumstance – and at considerable expense – it fell to China to host the annual APEC summit this year. If it lives long in the memory at all, the meeting will probably be remembered…
While many poor people in Indonesia and elsewhere lack clean water sources, research has challenged long-held assumptions about the best aid approach to this problem.
Wikimedia Commons
Despite cuts to future aid spending since the Abbott government assumed office, the level of aid to Southeast Asia remains largely unchanged. What is in doubt is the space and the mechanisms for research…
In the Asian Century, where does Australia fit?
Nyien Chan Naing/AAP
Australia is proud to call itself ASEAN’s first Dialogue Partner and it is important that we mark this milestone. It is fitting that Australia and New Zealand, the most proximate non-member nations, began…
Australian resources are fueling Asia’s development, but the next challenge is to make that sustainable.
EPA/Bagus Indahono
If measured by political will and rhetoric, Australia’s relationship with Southeast Asia would undeniably be in fine shape. Prime ministers as diverse as Paul Keating, Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard have…
Cooperation has been key.
EPA/LAC Oliver Carter / DOD
The tragic disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has revealed some important things about China’s relations with its neighbours. The levels of tension between the states is a lot lower than some…
Foreign minister Julie Bishop has reportedly asked the Cambodian government if it would resettle some of the asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat.
EPA/Mak Remissa
Amid the ongoing bad news about Manus Island has come the revelation that the Australian government has approached Cambodia with a view to resettling some asylum seekers in the impoverished nation. So…
Thailand’s political crisis is spiralling into an intractable conflict.
Wally Santana/AP
After street clashes between groups of armed protesters on Saturday, many feared that Sunday’s election in Thailand would see an upsurge in violence. Anti-government protesters who opposed the vote had…
The protests in Thailand are the latest spasm in a long struggle.
PA
There has been much coverage of Thailand’s protests, with stories of the Yellow Shirt (PAD) and Red Shirt (UDD) saga popping up around the globe. Yet there is a conspicuous lack of discussion about what…