China – Belt and Road Initiative
Reset in US–Philippines relations tells of yet another China fumble
The Philippines recently granted the United States access to four more military bases, reportedly including at least one strategic location facing Taiwan. It’s an…
Chinese aid to the Pacific: decreasing, but not disappearing
Chinese engagement in the Pacific regularly hit the headlines in 2022, sometimes with dire warnings. The recent China–Solomon Islands security agreement sent shock waves across…
Development finance in Asia: a memoir
Book review: Takehiko Nakao, The Rise of Asia: Perspectives and Beyond. Memoir of the President of the Asian Development Bank 2013–2020 (Asian Development Bank, 2022)
In April…
Economic diplomacy: Names trump numbers in the new BRI debt battle
Back to basics
In the end, it seems, former prime minister Scott Morrison was on to something with his negative globalist scepticism about building a better world.
If one…
Proceed with caution: high-speed rail for Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur
With pandemic restrictions easing, especially for travel, some Southeast Asian countries have resumed the pursuit of enhanced intra-regional connectivity. The Malaysian and Thai…
Mapping Southeast Asian development assistance
Over the past two years, the global pandemic has had staggering economic and social impacts in Southeast Asia, pushing millions into extreme poverty. As economies slowly emerge…
Can Biden’s Build Back Better World compete with the Belt and Road?
The announcement of the Build Back Better World (BW3) infrastructure and investment plan following the G7 summit last month has been greeted with scepticism by some who…
The battle for Africa
In his first overseas trip as US President, Joe Biden has flagged he intends to rally European allies in a critical “battle between democracies and autocracies”, and “make it…
Do Belt and Road projects provide local benefits?
In a virtual meeting with a group of African students in late April, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked a question, implicitly, about China: “Are they bringing their own…
Has China given up on state-owned enterprise reform?
Outside observers have all but given up hope that China will engage in meaningful state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform. There is a pervasive sense that rather than shrinking SOEs,…