Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Nabeel A. Mancheri, NIAS
On 13 March 2012, the US, the EU and Japan filed separate but coordinated complaints against China to the World Trade Organization.
China’s export controls on rare earth metals and non-rare earth metals such as tungsten and molybdenum, which have many industrial uses, are at the heart of the complaint. Read more…
Author: Ren Xiao, Fudan University
A reform-minded status-quo power sits somewhere between rigid and anti-status quo powers.
A status-quo state accepts the existing rules of the game and does not seek to change them because it is generally satisfied with the current situation. China has benefited from the existing international system, and has risen to become the world’s second-largest economy. Logically, it would not aspire to overthrow this system within which it is rising to new heights. In this sense, China is a status-quo power. Nevertheless, China is not simply looking to rigidly adhere to this existing system. Read more…
Author: John Blaxland, ANU
With Aung San Suu Kyi now in parliament and Myanmar’s ongoing reform, it is time for Australia to increase the pace and level of engagement with this long-isolated state.
Numerous institutions within Myanmar require assistance to build capacity and implement reform (education is one key shortfall), but the military in particular must become the subject of increased and well-considered engagement. Read more…
Author: Chalongphob Sussangkarn, TDRI
The Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) is a regional foreign exchange liquidity support mechanism that developed as a result of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis.
The CMI was designed to be closely linked to the IMF, and later evolved into a multilateralised mechanism, the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM). Read more…
Author: Myoung-ho Park, Dongguk University
South Korean voters find themselves in the midst of a busy political year.
The parliamentary election, which took place on 11 April, saw the governing Saenuri Party retain power. But attention is now turning toward the upcoming presidential election in December. Read more…
Authors: Simon Butt, Luke Nottage and Brett Williams, University of Sydney
Indonesia’s new mining regulation requiring divestment of majority foreign investments is unlikely to generate many formal investor-state arbitration (ISA) claims against Indonesia, based on existing bilateral or regional FTAs, or investment treaties.
Avoidance of arbitration is primarily motivated by immediate pragmatic considerations. Read more…
Author: Peter Drysdale, Editor, East Asia Forum
Indonesia will be the tenth-largest economy in the world by the end of the decade, Nouriel Roubini reckons, and could be the sixth-largest economy by 2030.
Citi’s Research and Analysis group suggests that it will be the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2040, accounting for 4.8 per cent of global output. Read more…
Authors: Simon Butt and Luke Nottage, University of Sydney
The Indonesian government issued a regulation in February 2012 requiring majority or wholly foreign-owned companies holding mining licenses in Indonesia to divest a majority share of the company — a minimum of 51 per cent — to an ‘Indonesian participant’ after 10 years of production.
For many foreign investors, this will mean a mandatory divestment of equity.
Author: Sanchita Basu Das, ISEAS
ASEAN concluded its 20th Summit on 4 April 2012. The discussion shifted away from building an ASEAN Community, to debates over territorial disputes in the South China Sea between China, Taiwan and four ASEAN member states (the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam).
There was significant debate on whether China should be invited to take part in the drafting of the code of conduct, envisioned as a legally binding document to prevent small incidents in the South China Sea from escalating into bigger conflicts. Read more…
Author: James Laurenceson, UQ
The challenges wrought by burgeoning Asian demand for Australia’s natural resources have already begun to receive policy attention from the Australian federal government.
The Minerals Resource Rent Tax is just one example. But the challenges arising from trade flows are only part of the story that will confront Australian economic policy makers during the Asian Century. Read more…
Author: Aurelia George Mulgan, UNSW Canberra
Ichiro Ozawa’s trial verdict of ‘not-guilty’ for violating the Political Funds Control Law has now been appealed, placing constraints on his political activities.
Fortunately for him, the DPJ executive, under the leadership of key Ozawa ally, Secretary-General Azuma Koshiishi, had already restored his membership and the executive is not intending to revisit their decision. Read more…
Author: Dr. Simbal Khan, ISSI
As the 2014 security transition in Afghanistan approaches, it is imperative to adopt multiple strategies to pursue sustainable peace.
A regional solution is often projected as a critical element in achieving this, and neighbouring countries are considered the key to stability in Afghanistan. Read more…
Author: Rajesh Basrur, RSIS
India’s launch of the Agni-V, an intermediate-range missile close to intercontinental range, has been widely hailed as a ‘game changer’ and a ‘milestone’ in India’s quest for security.
Now that the applause has died down, it is worth looking at how the game stands to be changed by this launch.
Author: John Blaxland, ANU
The recent bombings in the tourist city of Hat Yai in southern Thailand reflect deep-seated and enduring institutional problems that defy easy categorisation.
Commentators have put forward many explanations for this complex situation, ranging from seeing the conflict in terms of a counter-terrorist campaign as part of the so-called global war on terror, to nationalism, religious extremism, linguistic and cultural disenfranchisement, poverty, lack of education, corruption and absence of the rule of law. Read more…
Author: David Arase, Nanjing University
On 5 May 2012, the last of Japan’s 54 nuclear power reactors was shut down for safety checks.
This has been welcomed by Japan’s growing anti-nuclear power movement, backed by public opinion that is overwhelmingly in favour of reducing Japan’s dependence on nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear-plant disaster. Read more…