Setback in Sri Lanka for China’s silk road
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with Chinese President Xi Jingping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 16 May, 2017 (Photo: Reuters/Damir Sagolj).

Author: Dániel Balázs, Tongji University

China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) sets the bar high. It strives to connect Asia, Africa and Europe with the aim of achieving mutual development. Sri Lanka, with its valuable geographic position in the heart of the Indian Ocean, is a crucial participant in Beijing’s newest endeavor. Read more…

High expectations for Moon amid mounting challenges
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in arrives at the National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea, 10 May, 2017 (Photo: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji).

Author: Gi-Wook Shin, Stanford University and Rennie J. Moon, Yonsei University

As expected, Moon Jae-in has been elected as South Korea’s 19th president. In a five-way contest, Moon garnered 41.1 per cent of the vote, with strong support from those in their 20s to 50s, winning most of the regions in the country.  Read more…

The Modi effect steamrolls New Delhi’s municipal elections
A supporter of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrates after learning of the initial poll results of the Uttar Pradesh state election outside the party headquarters in New Delhi, India, 11 March 2017. (Photo: Reuters/Adnan Abidi).

Author: Peter Mayer, University of Adelaide

There is no painless way for an incumbent political party to lose an election, especially if it appears that its former supporters have abandoned it. Read more…

Elections in Papua New Guinea’s dysfunctional democracy
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill makes an address to the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, 29 November 2012. (Photo: Reuters/Tim Wimborne).

Author: Bill Standish, ANU

2016 for Papua New Guinea (PNG) was both politically turbulent and economically stressful with government revenues and currency falling, but inflation and deficit rising. The nationwide election in June–July 2017 will be a major measure of the political impact of the government’s critics Read more…

Myanmar’s ‘national races’ trump citizenship
Rohingya refugee workers carry bags of salt as they work in processing yard in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, 12 April 2017. (Photo: Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain).

Author: Nick Cheesman, ANU

Taingyintha, or ‘national races’, is among the most important political ideas in Myanmar today. Although the term is not well recognised or readily translated in English-language scholarship on Myanmar, it lies at the heart of the country’s contemporary politics. Read more…

Shadow of history still looms large in ROK–Japan relations
A statue symbolising former South Korean 'comfort women' is seen during an anti-Japan rally on the day of the 98th anniversary of the Independence Movement Day in Seoul, South Korea, 1 March, 2017 (Photo: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji).

Author: Lauren Richardson, Edinburgh University

Park Geun-hye’s successor has been determined in one of the largest voter turnouts in South Korea’s electoral history. Moon Jae-in, a liberal human rights lawyer, was elected president in a landslide victory. While power transitions are never easy to navigate, Moon faces the exceptionally daunting task of picking up the policy pieces of his dramatically ousted predecessor. Read more…

Duterte’s populist project grinds on
President Rodrigo Duterte's supporters gather during a vigil backing the anti-drugs crackdown at the Luneta park in metro Manila, Philippines 25 February, 2017 (Photo: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco).

Author: Richard Javad Heydarian

Almost one year into office, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continues to rule with characteristic sound and fury. Under his watch, the Southeast Asian nation has experienced a radical reorientation of both its domestic and foreign policy. Read more…

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