Showing 21 - 27 of 27
After 50, Asean's greatest threat is itself, not China
News, Johanna Son, Published on 09/08/2017
» The toasts to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (Asean) 50th birthday will continue for the rest of 2017. But the clink of champagne glasses cannot hide the fact that any spark of excitement there might have been around Asean less than two years ago -- when the Asean Community was launched -- is fast fizzling out.
The Philippines' headache over China
News, Johanna Son, Published on 18/07/2017
» When history is written one day of how a country called the Philippines dealt with China, would it make for a legend about how it smartly navigated geopolitical waters to assert its territorial and economic rights -- or a case study in how to bend over backwards and cede these to its giant neighbour to the north?
Stuck between China and the US
News, Johanna Son, Published on 16/03/2017
» Southeast Asia is looking for a precarious balance between the United States and China in order to feel more secure in the region, worried as it is by the behaviour of these two giants in its orbit.
Chairing Asean, Philippine fiesta style
News, Johanna Son, Published on 28/01/2017
» There is a song for the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a commemorative stamp for the occasion, and a Filipino pop singer proudly announcing that he is "Filipino, proudly Asean".
Philippines split on Duterte's drug war
News, Johanna Son, Published on 21/12/2016
» Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte doesn't bat an eyelash when saying he shot dead three criminals as city mayor more than 20 years ago, but sheds tears when visiting soldiers wounded in battle. The 71-year-old president makes off-colour jokes about women, but has named no less than five women in his cabinet, including three from leftist backgrounds.
Myanmar's deep fissures make explosive powder keg
News, Johanna Son, Published on 24/05/2016
» A tenuous civilian-military dance. Simmering Burman Buddhist nationalism. An impatient populace that is struggling with rising prices and power cuts, amid record-high GDP growth. A popular but inexperienced political leadership inching toward what some call "liberal authoritarianism".
Voter anger, frustration drove Duterte to the presidency
News, Johanna Son, Published on 12/05/2016
» Just months ago, Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' next president, had been saying he would not run for the country's top post. "The country does not need me. I find no need for it," he said, adding that he wanted to retire after more than two decades as the popular, tough mayor of southern Davao city.