Showing 91 - 100 of 181
A new paradigm for a changing world order
News, Abhisit Vejjajava, Published on 21/02/2019
» The latest air pollution crisis has been a wake-up call to the way we in this country think about the need for a more environmentally friendly development strategy.
Thoughts on Asean
News, Postbag, Published on 04/02/2019
» While the domestic concern for Thais is the upcoming general election on March 24, broadly speaking it is a relatively small geopolitical event.
Belt and Road: Just a vast mess?
News, David Fickling, Published on 10/01/2019
» Is China's Belt and Road Initiative a bold infrastructure vision, or a slush fund? The question is becoming more pressing.
China should remember its old friends
News, Mihir Sharma, Published on 19/12/2018
» Nobody can know if, when Deng Xiaoping launched his strategy of "Reform and Opening Up" 40 years ago, even he could have predicted the near-miraculous transformation of the Chinese economy that would follow. In the years since then, hundreds of millions have been lifted out of abject poverty and into the ranks of the global middle class; China's industrial heartland became the workshop of the world; and the People's Republic has muscled its way into the first rank of global powers.
Cambodia's key role in regional security
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 11/12/2018
» Last month, Asia Times, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, reported that China has lobbied Cambodia for a naval base in Koh Kong province on the Gulf of Thailand, prompting the Cambodian government to deny the news.
Eastern Economic Corridor must continue
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/12/2018
» As the election looms, the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will likely leave behind a very mixed legacy. Far from being a clean-up crew against graft and a technocratic team for effective policy performance when it seized power more than four years ago, this outgoing government has had its fair share of unaccountable corruption allegations and policy directions that merely served its own vested interests of staying in power after the polls.
China's Belt & Road needs to listen more
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 30/11/2018
» In the aftermath of a tense Asean-led summit season, it is clear now that the United States and China are engaged in a great-power competition not seen since the Cold War. The US-China trade war, irrespective of negotiated talks in Buenos Aires between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, is set to deteriorate over the next two years and probably longer. The two superpowers may have fundamental and structural differences that cannot be resolved without a sweeping deal that realigns their geopolitical status and geoeconomic interests in a way that is acceptable to both, an unlikely prospect. So the confrontation will likely intensify.
Asean summit season ends with more risks
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/11/2018
» The prominence and utility of Asean as a regional platform for peace and prosperity is demonstrated most vividly in a series of top-level meetings among its leaders and counterparts from other major powers, particularly the United States, China and Japan, among others. That Asean's summit season this year has ended with a whimper and acrimony bodes ill for what lies ahead. As the Asean Chair in 2019, Thailand should feel more pressed and incentivised to get its house in order with an elected government that can function effectively before major Asean meetings get under way next year.
Can US-China relations be saved?
News, Peter Apps, Published on 21/11/2018
» At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting on Saturday afternoon, Chinese diplomats arrived unexpectedly at the Foreign Ministry of host Papua New Guinea. Angry at Papua New Guinea's support for American wording in the meeting's final communiqué, they only left after police were called, Australian and other media reported.
4 big challenges for Thailand as Asean chair
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 20/11/2018
» Last week, Singapore handed the incoming Asean chair, Thailand, four formidable challenges that would define Asean's centrality and its relevance, not to mention the kingdom's leadership role. These issues are the nascent Indo-Pacific concept, the Rakhine crisis, peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and the drafting of a code of conduct (COC) on the South China Sea.