Asia Watch Archive

The Sierra Madre, a rusting World War II-era vessel, is again at the heart of renewed tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

From March 18-20, South Korea hosted the third Summit for Democracy, a U.S.-initiated gathering of experts and leaders focused on addressing ‘democratic backsliding’ worldwide.

South Korea’s increasingly active role in global democracy promotion underscores its emerging status as a ‘Global Pivotal State’ — a concept that South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol advanced after he rose to power in 2022.

The abrupt resignation of Vietnam’s president, Vo Van Thuong, on March 20 — the second such resignation in two years — has rattled some foreign investors and raised questions about the country’s political stability. Although the presidency is largely a ceremonial role, Thuong was nonetheless the second-most powerful leader in the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

Thousands of people are fleeing Myanmar to avoid a military draft that will force them to fight against an armed opposition that has recently made inroads against the country’s ruling military junta.

On February 10, the junta — which overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government in 2021, sparking a civil war — revived a decade-old conscription law. All men aged 18–35 will be conscripted for a minimum of two years; women are exempted for the time being. The first group of 5,000 conscripts will be drafted by mid-April.
 

India’s election commission announced Saturday that India’s next election — the world’s largest, featuring up to 968 million registered voters — will unfold in seven phases from April 19 to June 1.

India is inking a new trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association, a grouping of four non-EU economies: Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. Once the deal is in force, India will lift tariffs on most industrial products in exchange for about US$100 billion in investment over 15 years.

China wrapped up its annual meetings of the Chinese People’s Political and Consultative Congress and National People’s Congress, commonly known as the ‘Two Sessions,’ on Monday. On the economy, Beijing announced a target GDP growth rate of “around five per cent,” the same target set for 2023.

On Saturday, Japan’s lower house approved a draft budget for the next fiscal year valued at C$1 trillion (112 trillion yen).

This week, Australia hosted an ASEAN leaders’ summit in Melbourne on climate and clean energy, trade, and maritime security, particularly in the South China Sea.

On Tuesday, Australia announced plans to increase its fleet of warships from 11 to 26 vessels — a number not seen since the end of the Second World War — by the mid-2040s.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly met with Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend. Neither side issued a readout, but Joly tweeted that the “frank discussion” centred on Canada-India relations. Jaishankar said the conversation “understandably focused on the present state of our bilateral ties.”

One of the world’s most exclusive security conferences kicks off on Friday at the ritzy Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly will reportedly attend the 60th Munich Security Conference, as will U.S. Vice President  Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and secretaries-general from NATO and the UN.

Independent candidates aligned with jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan claimed victory in the country’s February 8 elections, stunning the powerful Pakistani military, which reportedly threw its support behind another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and his centre-right Pakistan Muslim League Party.

China’s rocky relationship with Australia — buoyed by the October 2023 release of Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei — worsened this week following China’s issuing of a suspended death sentence to Yang Hengjun, a 57-year-old Australian writer and father of two. Yang was arrested in Guangzhou on espionage charges in 2019 and has languished in a Chinese jail ever since.

Last Friday, 70 delegations from across Europe and the Indo-Pacific flocked to Brussels for discussions on climate change, trade, and regional security at the third EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Bangkok last weekend. The pair spoke for 12 hours over two days, building on talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden in November 2023.  

The opening session of Canada’s foreign interference inquiry — which will examine, among other topics, alleged interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections by China, Russia, and “other foreign states,” including India — kicked off Monday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has abandoned his country’s longstanding goal of reconciling with South Korea, opting instead to frame the bilateral relationship as a conflict between two independent states and designate South Korea as the North’s “principal enemy.” Three state organizations dedicated to unification will also shutter, while Pyongyang’s nine-storey ‘Arch of Reunification,’ was reportedly destroyed o

The 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) unfolded from January 15–19 in Davos, Switzerland. India sent 100 delegates to Davos as part of a charm offensive designed to woo investors and build on momentum from last year, when the country hosted the G20, surpassed China as the world’s most populous nation, and completed a historic mission to the Moon.  

On Saturday, Taiwanese voters shrugged off dire warnings from China and elected Lai Ching-te — the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate — as president. The 64-year-old, a seasoned politician who most recently served as the island’s vice-president under Tsai Ing-wen, won 40 per cent of the vote. Turnout was around 72 per cent, three percentage points lower than Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election.