South East Asia

Xi Jinping’s Quest for Order

Security at Home, Influence Abroad

In April 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a speech on foreign policy at the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual conference of business executives and world leaders in Hainan Province. In it, he proposed what he called Quanqiu Anquan Changyi, or the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which he framed as “promoting the common security of the world.” Xi offered few details of how the initiative might be put into practice, however, and with Western governments intensely focused on Russia’s unfolding war in Ukraine, the speech did not receive much attention.

What Does China Really Want? – OpEd

The 73rd National Day of China on 1 October brings a new reflection on its global purpose. Its future orientations remain mired in both inevitable challenges and the greatest potential, dictated by the path and spectre of its intention. Its dream of the great Chinese rejuvenation that will signal its comeback to global primacy by 2049, hinges on two indicators. Firstly, is Beijing fully equipped both in its hard and soft power calculations needed to both dislodge America’s position and to readily and capable execute the subsequent obligations? Secondly, will the responses by the other global players apart from the incumbent powers be accepting or otherwise in Beijing’s intent and purpose to create a Chinese led order?

Is Taiwan Becoming Asia’s Ukraine? – Analysis

Taiwan and Ukraine are far apart, geographically different, and have contrasting geopolitical valuations. One is in Asia, an island, and the world’s largest microchip maker. The other is in Europe, a continental country with a maritime frontage, with a bustling pre-war industrial base, and is one of the world’s breadbaskets. But as a devastating war in Ukraine entered its seventh month with no end in sight, growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait make for stark comparisons. Is Ukraine the present and Taiwan the future?

China’s Road Not Taken

How the Chinese Communist Party Rewrites History

On January 18, 2005, tucked away just above a weather report on page four of People’s Daily, the main newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was a three-line notice reporting on the death of an elderly man: “Comrade Zhao Ziyang suffered from long-term diseases of the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system and had been hospitalized multiple times, and following the recent deterioration of his condition, he was unable to be rescued and died on January 17 in Beijing at the age of 85.”

Haqqani meets border security, nomads in remote Khost district

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) Interior Minister Sarajuddin Haqqani met with border security and Kuchis during a visit to Kost province on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, Haqqani met with the two groups, along with locals, in a remote area in Gurbaz district close to the Durand Line.

Are Turkish drones complicating disputes in Central Asia?

Kyrgyzstan’s use of Turkish drones in a border dispute with Tajikistan leaves Turkey in a tight spot on how to balance its ties in Central Asia, a region where it has long sought to expand its influence.

Turkey’s efforts to add strategic depth to its ties with Central Asia appear to have hit a stumbling block, albeit not a big one, amid controversy over Kyrgyzstan’s use of Turkish combat drones in border clashes with Tajikistan.

Al-Qaeda Still Potent

A terror group which globalised the concept of Jihad and have existed for more than three decades is not dependent on just one leader for its survival

With the recent killing of Al-Qaeda (AQ) chief Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghan capital Kabul a lot of speculation is happening on the future of this terror outfit.

What Do Americans Care About? Not a Cold War With Russia and China

The Biden administration will soon release its National Security Strategy, which is being revised in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The document will no doubt trigger a renewed debate about how the United States should gear up for a new Cold War against Russia and China. But before we plunge into a global great-power competition, it’s worth recalling President Biden’s promise to create a “foreign policy for the middle class” and take a look at what most concerns Americans.