https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/318213/feed Latest news and analysis on diplomacy between Asian governments including China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Coverage of ASEAN summits. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Neil Denslow,Raymond Ma Neil Denslow,Raymond Ma US President Donald Trump pressed Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during last month’s summit to end a deep freeze in relations with Japan’s Sanae Takaichi, the South China Morning Post reported. Trump raised Japan’s grievances over Chinese restrictions imposed following Takaichi’s comment in November that the Japanese military might intervene in the event of conflict in the Taiwan Strait, according to Thursday’s report, which cited people familiar with the discussions. Beijing regards Taiwan as... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3370186/trump-pushed-xi-end-japan-freeze-chinese-leader-unmoved https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3370186/trump-pushed-xi-end-japan-freeze-chinese-leader-unmoved Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:11:27 +0000 Wang Xiangwei Wang Xiangwei For American and Chinese people interested in the outcome of the latest summit between China’s President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, their conclusions could not be more different if they turn to the media and pundits for guidance. Chinese state media spared no superlative, echoing the official description of the summit as: forging the right way for the major powers to get along and writing a new chapter in ties. It played up the fact that Trump gave Xi the highest-level reception... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3369358/how-g2-effect-trump-xi-summit-reverberating-through-asia https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3369358/how-g2-effect-trump-xi-summit-reverberating-through-asia Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:30:06 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong An escalating diplomatic row over Ukraine’s disclosure of a North Korean prisoner-of-war transfer is threatening to jeopardise South Korea’s future ties with and support for Kyiv, analysts say, even as it hands fresh ammunition to the political opposition in Seoul. South Korea’s presidential official issued a statement late on Sunday demanding an official explanation and apology for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s disclosure about the POWs at last week’s UN General Assembly. Seoul said... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3369055/south-koreas-pow-row-ukraine-puts-ties-and-aid-risk https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3369055/south-koreas-pow-row-ukraine-puts-ties-and-aid-risk Mon, 28 Sep 2026 08:50:03 +0000 Simon Tay Simon Tay The good news is, when US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Washington this week, neither chose confrontation. Amid the high pomp and ceremony, what China has called “constructive strategic stability” continues. Even an uneasy truce in great power relations can be useful. Both recognise the considerable incentive to prevent their economic rivalry from spiralling out of control. Even limited understandings can reduce risks in artificial intelligence (AI) and other... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3368638/us-china-world-asean-must-do-more-avoid-choosing-sides https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3368638/us-china-world-asean-must-do-more-avoid-choosing-sides Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:30:12 +0000 Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed to resist “economic coercion” and emphasised the need for stability in the Taiwan Strait, taking an implicit shot at China just days before President Xi Jinping’s White House summit. The three countries plan new talks on economic security and enhancements to a trilateral supply chain early warning system, according to a statement issued after a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and counterparts Toshimitsu Motegi of Japan and Cho... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3368381/us-tightens-japan-south-korea-ties-ahead-trump-xi-summit https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3368381/us-tightens-japan-south-korea-ties-ahead-trump-xi-summit Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:07:00 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo In early July, China fired a test missile from a nuclear submarine into the South Pacific for the first time, a weapon capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Washington and Canberra were livid. The Pacific has long been the exclusive testing ground for such long-range missiles from the United States. How dare China! The reaction from Pacific island states was more measured. While leaders from Tuvalu, Palau and the Solomon Islands strongly criticised the test, the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3367734/pacific-island-states-are-trapped-cold-war-20 https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3367734/pacific-island-states-are-trapped-cold-war-20 Sun, 20 Sep 2026 21:30:06 +0000 Gabriela Bernal Gabriela Bernal The recent opening of a new road bridge between North Korea and Russia may look like a modest infrastructure project. In reality, the 1km stretch across the Tumen River carries implications far beyond the movement of vehicles between two border towns. For China, it is a reminder that its influence over North Korea is no longer as secure as it once appeared and that Russia may be increasingly capable of challenging Beijing’s interests on its northeastern periphery. The bridge, inaugurated on... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3367489/new-north-korea-russia-bridge-delivers-powerful-message-china https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3367489/new-north-korea-russia-bridge-delivers-powerful-message-china Sun, 20 Sep 2026 12:30:04 +0000 Hao Nan Hao Nan The prospect of United States, Chinese and Russian leaders meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen this November has revived the Yalta analogy. Talk of a Trump-Xi-Putin summit – echoing the 1945 meeting that reshaped the world – surfaced during the first Trump term, and speculation returned last year with the 80th anniversary of the second world war. No such meeting occurred. However, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the two presidents back-to-back in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3367866/middle-powers-dont-have-wait-trump-xi-putin-summit https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3367866/middle-powers-dont-have-wait-trump-xi-putin-summit Sun, 20 Sep 2026 08:30:09 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim caused a bit of a stir in India recently with his spirited rendition of a Bollywood classic – a lighthearted moment that also neatly captured his broader push to deepen ties with the South Asian giant. A video of Anwar singing, from memory, Kishore Kumar’s 1965 hit ballad “Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat” (“Are you a dream or are you reality?”) was first posted to his social media accounts last Sunday before quickly being picked up by Indian news outlets. The... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3368034/anwar-was-song-india-will-malaysia-reap-rewards https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3368034/anwar-was-song-india-will-malaysia-reap-rewards Sun, 20 Sep 2026 02:00:06 +0000 Djauhari Oratmangun Djauhari Oratmangun I remember 2011 well. Indonesia was chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and I was serving as deputy foreign minister for Asean cooperation. I learned a great deal, although if I had to summarise the experience in one word, I would say: meetings. Asean members meet. They talk. They disagree. They issue statements. Then, quite remarkably, they meet again. We meet in conference rooms, coffee shops and restaurants. We speak by telephone and online. And when matters become... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3367076/why-i-am-grateful-aseans-endless-meetings https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3367076/why-i-am-grateful-aseans-endless-meetings Tue, 15 Sep 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Global surveys show China is now more popular than the United States in most countries. The reality is China hasn’t become more popular, only that Uncle Sam has become odious. Two recent major summits demonstrate precisely why this erosion has occurred. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and the Group of 20 (G20) gathering in the US, the Trump administration faced withering criticism for policies that have destabilised global commerce, violated... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3367044/world-not-so-much-embracing-china-recoiling-trumps-us https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3367044/world-not-so-much-embracing-china-recoiling-trumps-us Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Raymond Ma,Neil Denslow Raymond Ma,Neil Denslow Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to India for the first time since 2019 and finalising plans for a US trip as he works through his busiest month of international travel in years. Xi will attend the annual Brics summit in New Delhi over the weekend and meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russia’s Vladimir Putin and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa are among other leaders going to the event, which gathers some of the world’s biggest energy producers and users. The India trip gives Xi... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367198/xi-india-bank-capital-injections-eu-china-trade https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367198/xi-india-bank-capital-injections-eu-china-trade Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:00:28 +0000 Makane Moïse Mbengue Makane Moïse Mbengue The ocean looks like peace from afar and truth up close, they say. But beneath the waves, the map of the world’s oceans is far less settled than it looks. Today, dozens of sea borders remain unresolved. Like so many conflicts, they owe their origins to complicated questions of where one country’s territory ends, and another’s begins. Many involve overlapping claims to areas rich in resources; and a disproportionate number concern the waters of the Global South. Africa’s coastline is a stark... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3366221/global-south-cannot-afford-let-its-maritime-border-disputes-fester https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3366221/global-south-cannot-afford-let-its-maritime-border-disputes-fester Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma China signalled a willingness to help set up a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the South China Morning Post reported exclusively. Beijing is playing an “active” and “constructive” role in rebuilding US-North Korea diplomacy, the SCMP said on Thursday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. A Trump-Kim meeting could potentially take place at the November Apec summit in Shenzhen, China, one person said. A US envoy visited the city and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367047/china-ready-help-trump-meet-north-koreas-kim https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367047/china-ready-help-trump-meet-north-koreas-kim Thu, 10 Sep 2026 09:10:24 +0000 Rizwan Basir Rizwan Basir Every climate summit now runs on the same illusion: the next pledge will be the one that finally saves us. It will not. The money the rich world has promised the poor world is not coming at anything like the scale advertised, and pretending otherwise has become the main business of climate diplomacy. Barely nine weeks before the UN climate summit Cop31 opens in Antalya, Turkey, the honest task is not a bigger pledge. It is to make the finance that already exists reach the people drowning in the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3366917/cop31-forget-climate-pledges-countries-nepal-need-actual-cash https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3366917/cop31-forget-climate-pledges-countries-nepal-need-actual-cash Thu, 10 Sep 2026 08:30:06 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Vietnam’s president and Communist Party chief travels to Russia and France this week, on a trip analysts say is designed to do double duty: shore up support for Hanoi’s claims in the South China Sea and help bankroll its bid to become a high-income economy by 2045. To Lam’s itinerary encompasses talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before flying to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and attend an International Space Summit from Wednesday. By engaging two opposing... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366735/vietnams-lam-visits-russia-and-france-amid-south-china-sea-tensions https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366735/vietnams-lam-visits-russia-and-france-amid-south-china-sea-tensions Tue, 08 Sep 2026 06:22:48 +0000 Keji Mao,Yaxin Mao Keji Mao,Yaxin Mao As India prepares for the Brics summit less than two weeks away, relations with China are warming up. On July 22, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during the East Asia Summit; five days later, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited China. Last week, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also visited Beijing, for border talks. But India remains deeply ambivalent when it comes to economic engagement with China: it seeks Chinese... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3365334/india-needs-make-its-mind-about-economic-ties-china https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3365334/india-needs-make-its-mind-about-economic-ties-china Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:30:06 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Seven words, spoken almost in passing on a recent afternoon in Srinagar, have set off a diplomatic tremor across South Asia. “This is an important part of India,” Sergio Gor told reporters on August 19, during the first visit by a US ambassador to Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in six years. Within hours, Pakistan had summoned the top American diplomat in Islamabad, Natalie Baker, to deliver a formal protest. Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region claimed in full by both India and Pakistan,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3365621/us-envoys-kashmir-part-india-remark-rattles-pakistan-ties https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3365621/us-envoys-kashmir-part-india-remark-rattles-pakistan-ties Sat, 29 Aug 2026 07:00:13 +0000 Richard Heydarian Richard Heydarian In arguably his most important foreign trip, Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary for defence policy, visited key Southeast Asian capitals this month. In a speech in Manila, the Pentagon policy chief extolled America’s “flexible realism”, which he said serves “the practical, concrete interests of regular Americans” and echoes Southeast Asian nations’ commitment to “pragmatism, an openness to dialogue, respect for counterparts, proud nationalism, and a focus on economic prosperity”. Amid the United... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3365070/why-southeast-asia-isnt-buying-us-offer-flexible-realism https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3365070/why-southeast-asia-isnt-buying-us-offer-flexible-realism Thu, 27 Aug 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Hao Nan Hao Nan Forty years ago, the Stockholm Document turned the political promise of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act into a more practical system of confidence-building. Amid the Cold War, Europe’s East and West did not disarm, abandon deterrence or begin to trust one another. Instead, they agreed that military competition could be made safer through prior notification, observation, information exchange and verification. The lesson was modest but durable: adversaries do not need trust to reduce uncertainty. That... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3364882/security-obsessed-global-economy-needs-its-own-helsinki-process https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3364882/security-obsessed-global-economy-needs-its-own-helsinki-process Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:30:06 +0000 Zhou Bo Zhou Bo The Mecca security pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan stipulates that an armed attack against one shall count as an attack against all three. Yet the real message is directed at the United States: if being an American ally offers no immunity against attack, there is little point in waiting for Washington to honour its security guarantees. That there has been no official White House statement casts some doubt on whether Donald Trump is really “very happy to see that Saudi Arabia,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3364690/could-mecca-defence-pact-be-first-step-new-middle-east-order https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3364690/could-mecca-defence-pact-be-first-step-new-middle-east-order Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:30:09 +0000 Tan Poh Hwee Tan Poh Hwee A coalition may call itself a commitment. It still has to say what that commitment is. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to send a letter to dozens of countries, pressing them to choose sides in the US-China artificial intelligence race. Those that join Beijing’s proposed AI cooperation framework would be excluded from the US-led AI coalition. “To be part of everything is to be part of nothing,” the draft says. An American official summarised the message more bluntly: countries... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3364821/states-being-part-everything-doesnt-mean-being-part-nothing https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3364821/states-being-part-everything-doesnt-mean-being-part-nothing Tue, 25 Aug 2026 08:30:12 +0000 James Borton James Borton China has spent 80 years building formidable marine science capabilities. The harder test now is whether it can build rules for ocean data that its neighbours trust – and share. When China’s first department of oceanography was established in 1946, the country had only a modest capacity to study the seas around it. China now commands one of the world’s most extensive marine science enterprises, with research fleets, satellites, ocean-observation networks, deep-sea technology and advanced... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3364274/how-china-can-turn-its-blue-cradle-bridge-southeast-asia https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3364274/how-china-can-turn-its-blue-cradle-bridge-southeast-asia Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:28:00 +0000 Gabriela Bernal Gabriela Bernal South Korea’s security strategy has rested for more than seven decades on a single pillar: its alliance with the United States. That pillar has absorbed one blow after another during Donald Trump’s second term as US president. This week brought a fresh signal that has strained the relationship. In a social media post, Trump criticised joint US-South Korea military exercises, calling them “costly” and saying they send an “inappropriate and hostile” message to a North Korea he described as... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3364417/donald-trumps-blunt-remarks-offer-south-korea-opportunity https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3364417/donald-trumps-blunt-remarks-offer-south-korea-opportunity Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:30:06 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to host Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian leader seeks an economic reboot for his war-ravaged country and fresh supplies of fertiliser, oil and weapons. A pariah to much of the West over his 2021 coup and role as army chief during the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim minority, Min Aung Hlaing has nonetheless found friends in Beijing, New Delhi and Bangkok over recent months. That followed a heavily criticised election won... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364430/myanmars-president-heads-moscow-seeking-russian-arms-and-oil https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364430/myanmars-president-heads-moscow-seeking-russian-arms-and-oil Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:15:37 +0000 Albee Zhang Albee Zhang Since Chinese container ships began plying the Northern Sea Route three years ago, the Arctic shipping lane has gained global importance. Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea later that year disrupted traffic through the Suez Canal – the fastest route between Europe and Asia – in what was the most serious conflict-driven disruption since the Arab-Israeli war nearly six decades earlier. The 5,600km (3,480-mile) Northern Sea Route spans Russia’s Arctic coast, from the Barents Sea to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/politics/article/3364278/why-arctic-sea-route-has-become-so-important-china-and-russia https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/politics/article/3364278/why-arctic-sea-route-has-become-so-important-china-and-russia Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:00:10 +0000 Wenran Jiang Wenran Jiang Japan’s 610-page 2026 defence white paper cements a strategic shift: Tokyo has labelled China an “unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge” for the fourth straight year, a framing dating back to 2014, when a Japanese white paper first flagged Beijing’s East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone as risking unintended incidents. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has not altered this trajectory, only accelerated it. This strategic timing aligns with Beijing’s calculus. Even as US... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3363277/japan-china-faces-corrosive-security-dilemma https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3363277/japan-china-faces-corrosive-security-dilemma Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:30:06 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow New Zealand’s defence diplomacy has shifted into overdrive this year, with Wellington sealing three major Pacific security agreements in less than four months. Since April, the country has signed a defence pact with Papua New Guinea, locked in a security declaration with the Cook Islands and floated the idea of joining a fledgling Australia-Fiji defence alliance. Analysts say the common thread is China and concerns about its expanding security and policing links in the Pacific. “Security... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362563/new-zealand-seals-trio-pacific-defence-pacts-counter-chinas-reach https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362563/new-zealand-seals-trio-pacific-defence-pacts-counter-chinas-reach Sun, 02 Aug 2026 01:00:10 +0000 Junaid Kathju Junaid Kathju High in the eastern Himalayas, where yak caravans once carried silk and salt between empires, a border crossing closed by suspicion six years ago is stirring back to life. The Nathu La Pass, a remote border trading post connecting India’s Sikkim state with China’s Tibet region at 4,310 metres (14,140 feet) above sea level, reopened to commerce on Saturday for the first time since 2020. For the roughly 600 registered traders in Sikkim who used to depend on this ancient route, the reopening means... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362556/india-and-china-revive-himalayan-trade-high-altitude-pass https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3362556/india-and-china-revive-himalayan-trade-high-altitude-pass Sat, 01 Aug 2026 05:00:13 +0000 https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/series/3362173/exclusive-jacob-helberg-interview https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/series/3362173/exclusive-jacob-helberg-interview Tue, 28 Jul 2026 15:12:20 +0000 Syed Munir Khasru Syed Munir Khasru South Asia is undergoing a gradual but important shift. Smaller states now command a widening array of options, and India’s primacy is quietly giving way. The lesson is clear. Regional leadership can no longer rest on geography and must be sustained through credible and mutually beneficial engagements that compare favourably with the alternatives. China’s challenge begins at India’s border. Both countries fought in 1962, continue to dispute a frontier of roughly 3,500km and had their deadliest... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3361501/india-losing-its-regional-primacy-beijing-and-washington-move https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3361501/india-losing-its-regional-primacy-beijing-and-washington-move Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:30:07 +0000 Gabriela Bernal Gabriela Bernal Each year on July 27, North Korea commemorates “Victory Day”, marking what it presents as its triumph in the Korean war. While few outside the country accept that characterisation, the date underscores a reality: the war never formally ended. The 1953 agreement was an armistice that left the peninsula in a state of suspended conflict. Responsibility for the resulting instability is widely distributed. North Korea’s missile tests, expanding nuclear arsenal and escalatory rhetoric have undermined... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3361385/americas-north-korea-strategy-needs-dose-reality https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3361385/americas-north-korea-strategy-needs-dose-reality Sun, 26 Jul 2026 12:30:05 +0000 Brian Y. S. Wong Brian Y. S. Wong In April 1955, amid the Cold War, 304 representatives across 29 Asian and African nations convened in Bandung, Indonesia, to discuss the principles of a more complex future world order. Among them were India, China and host Indonesia. While India would go on to champion the non-aligned movement at the 1961 Belgrade Conference, Mao Zedong’s China and Sukarno’s Indonesia were more sceptical of the colonial, Western order. Then the more US-sympathetic Suharto seized power in Indonesia in 1966.... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3361235/how-china-and-indonesia-can-build-truly-sturdy-partnership https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3361235/how-china-and-indonesia-can-build-truly-sturdy-partnership Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin The Solomon Islands, widely considered China’s closest security partner in the South Pacific, will soon sign a deal allowing the US Coast Guard to patrol its waters with local police aboard, Prime Minister Matthew Wale announced on a trip to Washington to strengthen bilateral ties. While the South Pacific nation has deepened its ties with China over the past few years, particularly following the signing of a secret security pact in 2022, Wale’s visit underscored efforts to strengthen maritime... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/article/3361396/china-security-partner-solomon-islands-sign-us-coast-guard-patrol-deal https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/article/3361396/china-security-partner-solomon-islands-sign-us-coast-guard-patrol-deal Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:28:27 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong North Korea’s top diplomat was in Moscow this weekend for talks analysts say likely focused on fresh ammunition and missile shipments to feed Russia’s war in Ukraine, while also laying the groundwork for a possible visit by Kim Jong-un. Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met Vladimir Putin on Sunday, more than two years after Russia’s president had invited Kim to Moscow during their landmark summit in Pyongyang in June 2024. On Sunday, Putin expressed fresh gratitude for North Korea’s assistance in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3361178/north-korea-paves-way-possible-kim-trip-moscow https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3361178/north-korea-paves-way-possible-kim-trip-moscow Mon, 20 Jul 2026 06:45:36 +0000 Jianlu Bi Jianlu Bi On July 12, a coalition of 14 nations – the United States, Philippines, Australia, Canada, Britain, Japan, New Zealand, and seven European states including Germany, Italy and the Baltic nations – issued a statement marking the 10th anniversary of the South China Sea ruling at The Hague in 2016. The document recycled familiar arguments, urging compliance with the ruling and framing it as a cornerstone of the rules-based international order. But beneath it lies a fundamental disconnect from... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3360419/14-nation-south-china-sea-statement-expansionist-overreach https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3360419/14-nation-south-china-sea-statement-expansionist-overreach Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:30:06 +0000 Kolette Lim,Aidan Jones Kolette Lim,Aidan Jones Myanmar’s gradual return from the diplomatic deep freeze continued over the weekend as Southeast Asian foreign ministers met their counterpart from the junta-run nation in Bangkok, a re-engagement that analysts warn lends legitimacy to a government still at war with its own people, without any commitment to end the violence. Thousands have been killed in the nationwide civil conflict resulting from the military’s 2021 coup, a power grab that prompted Asean to take the unprecedented step of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3360402/myanmar-edges-out-isolation-asean-steps-engagement https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3360402/myanmar-edges-out-isolation-asean-steps-engagement Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:00:13 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan has found a new export industry and it does not come off an assembly line. It arrives by plane, spends freely and is, increasingly, what Tokyo is banking its economic future on. Last year, 42.7 million foreign visitors arrived in the country, a record that shattered the previous year’s high by nearly 16 per cent. Now Tokyo wants to turn that surge into something more lasting: a permanent pillar of growth to rival, or even outlast, the industries that built modern Japan. To achieve that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3360158/japan-wants-60-million-tourists-china-isnt-sending-them https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3360158/japan-wants-60-million-tourists-china-isnt-sending-them Sun, 12 Jul 2026 01:45:05 +0000 David Dodwell David Dodwell As US President Donald Trump flew home from a fractious Nato summit in Turkey, he was poised to resume the war with Iran, whose leaders he labelled “sick” and “scum”. Trump also complained about European leaders’ failure to spend enough on arms, support him in Iran and recognise the need for the US to take control of Greenland. The sense of rising global conflict has been palpable this week. What clearly showed at the summit of the transatlantic security alliance was confirmed by the latest... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3360025/how-ai-changing-nature-war-and-conflict https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3360025/how-ai-changing-nature-war-and-conflict Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:30:07 +0000 Jeoffrey Maitem Jeoffrey Maitem Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has broken his silence on China’s sanctions against his defence chief, in remarks seen as a closing of ranks that could complicate diplomacy between Manila and Beijing in the near term. Observers say the president’s public backing of outspoken Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro amounts to a “good cop, bad cop” approach that signals Manila’s resolve and may strengthen defence cooperation with its allies. Speaking to reporters in Vancouver over the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3359817/philippine-president-backs-defence-chief-over-china-sanctions https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3359817/philippine-president-backs-defence-chief-over-china-sanctions Wed, 08 Jul 2026 05:54:44 +0000 Richard Heydarian Richard Heydarian “The Emiratis – by far the most hawkish, by far the most pro-Israel country in the [Gulf Cooperation Council] – they’re having conversations with the Iranians that have never happened before,” US Vice-President J.D. Vance told British media outlet UnHerd following the Iran-US negotiations in Switzerland. The Iranians “are certainly talking differently than they have in the past”, he added in a note of cautious optimism, highlighting how both Washington and its allies in the Persian Gulf are... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3359040/how-bitter-persian-gulf-rivals-can-make-peace-asean-way https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3359040/how-bitter-persian-gulf-rivals-can-make-peace-asean-way Sun, 05 Jul 2026 12:30:06 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Asean military observers have now visited both sides of the Thai-Cambodian frontier, measuring damage and recording claims as Bangkok and Phnom Penh continue to trade allegations of ceasefire breaches following last year’s deadly clashes. In late June, a delegation from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations fanned out across Thailand and Cambodia, escorted through contested ground and competing narratives. The fighting last year resulted in more than 100 military and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3359343/asean-monitors-simply-theatre-thai-cambodian-narrative-war https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3359343/asean-monitors-simply-theatre-thai-cambodian-narrative-war Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:10 +0000 C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar In a layered signal to Indo-Pacific nations and America’s domestic audience, the Trump administration last week said the US Indo-Pacific Command would revert to its long-used name, the US Pacific Command. The Honolulu-headquartered command was renamed in 2018 during Donald Trump’s first presidency. The administrative order by the Department of Defence was justified to honour the legacy of America’s oldest and largest unified combatant command, established in 1947. In the run-up to the 250th... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3357723/what-does-us-pacific-command-name-change-mean-china-and-india https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3357723/what-does-us-pacific-command-name-change-mean-china-and-india Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:30:04 +0000 Alejandro Reyes Alejandro Reyes China-Asean relations are usually described in two ways. One emphasises danger: the South China Sea, US-China rivalry, military pressure and risk of Southeast Asia being pulled into China’s orbit. The other emphasises opportunity: trade, infrastructure, investment, supply chains and shared growth. Both are true. Neither is enough. I recently joined a study tour by the University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World to Chengdu, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. During the trip, I was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3357468/china-asean-relations-are-bigger-mere-geopolitics https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3357468/china-asean-relations-are-bigger-mere-geopolitics Sun, 21 Jun 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Anthony Rowley Anthony Rowley Led by Japan, East Asia seems to be setting off along a road to nowhere – beyond tension and maybe eventual conflict. This may seem a harsh indictment yet consecutive Japanese leaders have shown a lack of vision on the constructive role their country could play in achieving regional peace and economic integration. The latest manifestation of this is Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s proposal this past week to G7 leaders in France to coordinate the stockpiling of critical minerals,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3357602/japans-g7-rare-earth-proposal-risks-further-regional-tension https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3357602/japans-g7-rare-earth-proposal-risks-further-regional-tension Sat, 20 Jun 2026 08:30:04 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran The runway at Clark International Airport was built to launch American air power across Asia. Now, it is being repurposed to project German industrial ambition. Analysts say the multimillion-dollar deal to develop the former US military base in the Philippines illustrates how economic investment has become the new language of strategic power. The deal, struck last week during German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s milestone visit to Manila – the first by a German head of state since 1963 –... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3357707/germany-blurs-defence-lines-bet-philippines-old-us-base https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3357707/germany-blurs-defence-lines-bet-philippines-old-us-base Sat, 20 Jun 2026 02:00:11 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow For years, Washington described India as an indispensable partner, a democratic counterweight to China and a strategic anchor in the Indo-Pacific. Then the US Navy killed three Indian sailors and America’s top diplomat could not even bring himself to apologise. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar raised the deaths directly with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call last Friday, reiterating what he called India’s “strong protest” and declaring, in a later social media... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3357385/3-dead-no-apology-us-strike-strains-relations-india https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3357385/3-dead-no-apology-us-strike-strains-relations-india Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:00:05 +0000 Aidan Jones,Iman Muttaqin Yusof Aidan Jones,Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysia and Thailand are edging closer to resolving a tit-for-tat seafood safety dispute, offering a lifeline to exporters after weeks of halted shipments and retaliatory restrictions on Thai shrimp and Malaysian sea bass. Tentative signs of a way out emerged on Wednesday when Malaysian officials confirmed that their Thai counterparts had returned a completed food safety standards questionnaire for formal assessment. Completing the questionnaire was a condition set by Malaysia for lifting the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3357404/costly-malaysia-thailand-seafood-stand-nears-end https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3357404/costly-malaysia-thailand-seafood-stand-nears-end Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:49:50 +0000 Hao Nan Hao Nan The Russia-India-China (RIC) dialogue is back in the diplomatic conversation. It has not formally restarted, and no summit is on the horizon. But the signals are here. In 2025, Moscow again pushed for reviving the RIC format. India said any meeting would have to be arranged in a “mutually convenient manner”, a cautious but open formula. China said it was willing to maintain communication with Russia and India on trilateral cooperation. This month, Russian President Vladimir Putin again spoke... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3356827/dont-count-russia-india-china-triangle-out-just-yet https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3356827/dont-count-russia-india-china-triangle-out-just-yet Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Jeoffrey Maitem Jeoffrey Maitem Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr did not dwell on warships or water cannons when he rose to speak at the country’s Independence Day celebrations on Friday. Instead, he signalled a new strategy in broaching the topic of the South China Sea: recasting the waterway not as an arena of territorial disputes, but rather as a shared vulnerability. In doing so, analysts say he may have found a way to keep China’s behaviour in the regional conversation without triggering direct confrontation... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3357162/philippines-unpicks-aseans-south-china-sea-sovereignty-deadlock https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3357162/philippines-unpicks-aseans-south-china-sea-sovereignty-deadlock Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:00:21 +0000