On a recent visit to the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, as joint US-South Korean military exercises were underway, I found no sign of tension. Instead, there was an eerie quiet, marked by the almost complete absence of North Koreans. Even in the truce village where North Korean […]Continue Reading
Jordan’s prisons are bursting at the seams amid a dearth of beds, a surge in crime, and legal codes that favor incarceration. With more than 19,000 inmates in 18 institutions designed to hold no more than 13,300, it’s a bad time to be in a Jordanian jail. Overcrowding has resulted in several problems, for inmates and for […]Continue Reading
Drums of war sound louder around China. For at least three years, Beijing’s propaganda has been warning that China must prepare for war, a vague phrase in China’s often macho Communist Party rhetoric. The announcements are to be taken literally, warned a recent Foreign Affairs article signed by two of the most prominent China analysts in the […]Continue Reading
“Mr Leong is big into histrionics and portrays himself as the proverbial David against Goliath. However, his antics have also got him into trouble more than once,” says an analyst.Continue Reading
China may be on a spy infrastructure-building spree in Myanmar and Cambodia, deftly leveraging these countries’ security and economic troubles to advance its geopolitical interests. This month, Economic Times reported that satellite imagery from US-based Maxar Technologies showed renewed construction activities on Myanmar’s Great Coco Island, including a freshly-lengthened 2,300-meter runway. The report also mentions […]Continue Reading
My book “The Superpower Transformation” showed how Australia’s full participation in the world’s move to early zero net emissions would underpin full employment with rising living standards for a growing population through the next four decades. While doing well for itself, Australia would increase the likelihood of success in our battle with climate change. Australia moving to net zero reduces global […]Continue Reading
It is newsworthy on its own that conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol flew to Tokyo to meet with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio last week. Yoon’s predecessor, the progressive Moon Jae-in, demonstrated little interest in official meetings with his Japanese counterparts across his five years as president, one of the few things he had in common with his conservative […]Continue Reading
The steel-hulled ferry could accommodate up to 430 people and was not overcrowded, said another coast guard official, Commodore Rejard Marfe. According to the manifest, it was carrying 205 passengers and a 35-member crew, Marfe said. In addition, it had a security contingent consisting of four coast guard marshals, whoContinue Reading
This week, Xi Jinping’s regulators signaled that the Jack Ma debacle of the last 28-plus months is finally over. And that China Inc is back in business. Beijing announced Tuesday (March 28) that Alibaba Group will divide its US$220 billion empire into six distinct business units, a move that will generate several initial public offerings […]Continue Reading
Authorities are urging the public to maintain vigilance to prevent a surge in infections as Indonesia moves towards treating COVID-19 as an endemic.Continue Reading