Words hurt: time for Asean leaders to speak up on SCS

• Editorial

Words hurt: time for Asean leaders to speak up on SCS

Government officials and heads-of-state in Asean appears to have a collective aversion to speaking up in public about Chinese transgressions and coercion in the South China Sea (SCS). Such reticence is based on misplaced fears […]

BRI backlash: time for China to reassure Asean

• Editorial

BRI backlash: time for China to reassure Asean

China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to draw criticism and disapproval. Its sceptics brand it as China’s Marshall Plan, or as a ‘neo-imperial project’. To ensure the initiative’s success, China should heed some […]

The Mekong: troubled waters in autocratic lands

• Editorial

The Mekong: troubled waters in autocratic lands

For the Mekong countries, including Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, 2018 was a big year both domestically and regionally. Key developments from last year will inevitably continue to shape the politics of the region […]

Mediation helping manage Laos’ legal case backlog problem

Mediation helping manage Laos’ legal case backlog problem

Law courts in many Asian countries are overburdened. A perfect storm of factors including rapid economic growth, urbanisation, industrialisation and the withering away of traditional governance systems has caused the number of criminal and civil cases to […]