Showing 1 - 10 of 22
Our planet in peril
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 20/01/2020
» After three years, this will be my last commentary for Asia Focus. Time has flown by since I first sat behind this keyboard, and I have often used this space to vent my anger at dictators and complain about climate change. I will miss having this outlet for expression.
When tradition trumps reason
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 09/12/2019
» The senseless killing of animals is something that should be condemned not celebrated. But a notoriously bloody spectacle that went ahead last week in Nepal reminds us how difficult it can be to overturn centuries of "tradition".
Manila urges closer tie-up against China
News, Erich Parpart, Published on 04/11/2019
» The Secretary of the Philippines' Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), Martin Andanar, urged Asean to increase its cooperation against China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and ramp up counter-terrorism efforts against the Islamic State (IS) group within the region.
Networked to the future
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 21/10/2019
» Growing up in Gaeta, a coastal city in central Italy between Rome and Naples, Nunzio Mirtillo always wanted to be a doctor to help change people's lives for the better. But new medical graduates have trouble finding work right away, so he decided to study electronic engineering instead. It was a decision he took with his parents in mind as well.
Denial spells irrelevance for Asean
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 24/06/2019
» One big reason why members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) get along so splendidly is that they avoid talking about uncomfortable subjects, such as stunted democratic development or human rights abuses.
PM's book choice baffles nation
News, Erich Parpart, Published on 04/06/2019
» When I saw the headline, that Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha had recommended the people he is repressing read George Orwell's Animal Farm, I thought it was fake news from a parody page.
British, Thai democratic systems can't be compared
News, Erich Parpart, Published on 30/05/2019
» The National Council for Peace and Order's (NCPO) appointment of their allies, friends and family members to sit in the 250-member Senate has turned the NCPO members, particularly its leader and incumbent premier Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha into the subjects of accusations of nepotism.
Duterte can run but he can't hide
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 25/03/2019
» Last week the Philippines became the second country in the world to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after Burundi, which left in 2017. Many observers, myself included, see this as an attempt to evade an investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs, but it is not going to work.
People from Nowhere
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 18/03/2019
» A person can be born or made stateless, but either way the limitations such a status places on one's rights are severe. The issue has come into sharp focus with the case of Shamima Begum, a 19-year-old Islamic State supporter who was stripped of her British nationality for her decision to joined the self-declared caliphate in 2015.
Media freedom in the dock
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 18/02/2019
» The decision by Philippine authorities to arrest journalist Maria Ressa and the move by Thailand’s broadcast regulator to suspend the broadcaster Voice TV are the latest examples of how press freedom in Southeast Asia is deteriorating.