Asia Watch Archive

Last week, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto fired Sri Mulyani Indrawati, one of Indonesia's longest-serving finance ministers, in a fresh bid to unshackle economic growth and quell further protests.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that the U.S. and China reached a tentative “framework” agreement on the fate of TikTok, stopping the clock on a ban and possibly transferring the app into U.S.-controlled ownership.

Thailand has its third prime minister in two years, following the removal of Paetongtarn Shinawatra last week by the country’s Constitutional Court. In a parliamentary vote on Friday, lawmakers selected business tycoon and long-time politician Anutin Charnvirakul as Thailand’s new leader.

On Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru announced his resignation, telling a press conference that it was the “appropriate time” to step aside following the conclusion last month of substantive trade negotiations with the U.S.

Last week, what started as a small, student-led protest in Jakarta against “tone-deaf” perks for Indonesian politicians — including a sizeable monthly housing allowance — evolved into massive, sometimes violent demonstrations against police brutality, income inequality, and political accountability.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted around 20 leaders from across Eurasia last weekend at the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, held in the northeast port city of Tianjin.

The two-day summit brought together leaders and representatives from the 10 SCO member states — including India, Pakistan, and Russia — and guests from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam, and elsewhere.

Last week, seven opposition lawmakers from Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) party survived a “recall vote” — a repeat vote triggered by civil-society groups accusing the KMT of being “pro-China” and obstructing the agenda of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) — in the DPP’s second recall loss in as many months. In July, a separate recall vote targeted 24 legislators from the KMT; all of them held onto their seats.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump held their inaugural in-person meeting at the White House on Monday, focusing on trade, shipbuilding, security co-operation, and North Korea.

South Korea and the U.S. kicked off an annual bilateral military exercise on Monday, labelled Ulchi Freedom Shield, which will run for 11 days and involve at least 21,000 troops.

Unnerved by the unpredictability and animosity of U.S. President Donald Trump, China and India are rebuilding bridges — resolving trade and border issues — as Trump, drifting closer to Russia, muddies the geopolitical waters.

Earlier this week in Seoul, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Vietnam’s To Lam, general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, for Lee’s first hosting of a foreign leader since being elected in June.

The two leaders agreed to roughly double bilateral trade from US$86 billion to US$150 billion. They also inked 10 memoranda of understanding, spanning science and technology, renewables, fisheries, and education.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending a trade truce with China for 90 days, just hours before sky-high tariffs were set to return. American tariffs on Chinese goods will hold steady at 30 per cent, while Beijing will maintain tariffs of 10 per cent on American goods.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, the first visit by a Southeast Asian leader since Trump’s inauguration six months ago.

Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s coalition squandered what remained of its withering political power on Sunday, losing its upper-house majority in a “disastrous” election that saw far-right parties surge and voter turnout spike.

The outcome could exacerbate policy gridlock in Japan and complicate Tokyo’s efforts to address cost-of-living concerns.

A July 23 leaders' summit between Japan and the European Union will feature talks on jointly developing “an extensive communications satellite network,” according to Nikkei, in part to reduce reliance on the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s monthslong trade war — and his polarizing push for tariff and trade deals — has strained relations with Washington’s Asia Pacific partners, with a new August 1 deadline to reach deals fast approaching.

Beijing is looking to exploit these divisions, reeling in aggrieved American allies and pitching itself as a relatively reliable trading and investment partner. In recent weeks, China has doubled down on bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, wining and dining leaders and diplomats across the Indo-Pacific.

Malaysia was a hive of regional diplomacy this week. As this year’s chair of ASEAN, Kuala Lumpur hosted meetings of the bloc’s foreign ministers and dialogue partners — including Canada, China, and the U.S. — as well as the East Asia Summit, and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Canada’s new foreign affairs minister, Anita Anand, is set to attend these events. She will also hold bilateral meetings with her ASEAN counterparts, with the exception of Myanmar, and with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China, another ASEAN dialogue partner.  

This week, letters from Washington to nine Asian trading partners delivered a mix of good, bad, and ugly. The White House granted a three-week ‘extension’ to avoid steep tariffs, for now, and reach trade terms acceptable to U.S. President Donald Trump. But the letters also threatened these same trading partners, stating that if they didn’t accept Trump’s demands, Washington would apply punishingly high tariff rates on them come August 1.

Ottawa has ordered Hikvision, a Chinese manufacturer of surveillance equipment, to immediately and permanently halt its operations in Canada. In a June 27 statement posted on X, Mélanie Joly, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada, said the decision was the result of a “National Security Review under the Investment Canada Act.”

The first shipment of Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Port of Kitimat in western B.C. to Asian markets notches a major milestone for Canada – in both its longstanding desire to diversify trade beyond the U.S. and its commitment to strengthen relations with Asian economies, many of which are eager to boost their energy security and wean themselves off coal.