Commentaries

2018/22, 9 March 2018

Malaysia’s general elections should happen weeks from now. The ruling BN and PH are already busy with their walkabouts and roadshows even before official campaigning begins. In the rural state of Kelantan, small scale campaigning has already begun: political parties have started the traditional “flag warfare” (perang bendera) by hanging party symbols along the main roads to increase visibility. This escalated before the Chinese New Year celebrations last month, with parties targeting those returning to the villages during the holidays.

An idea of a ‘single digital market’ in ASEAN was shared by Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, during a panel discussion in Jakarta, organised by Bank Indonesia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week. He said that ASEAN is excited to provide opportunities for businesses in the digital space and is working to provide the regulatory framework. He further mentioned a new initiative of a network of smart cities that is expected to facilitate smooth digital commerce in the region. While the idea itself is a good start, it will take ASEAN a long time to serve such an ambition.

China’s reaction to an American aircraft carrier’s first ever visit to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War has been deliberately muted. China has downplayed the significance of the USS Carl Vinson visit to Danang by regarding it as part of any normal exchange and cooperation including in the military field between two sovereign countries, i.e. the United States and Vietnam. Nevertheless, China has urged the United States and Vietnam to ensure that such exchanges would contribute to regional peace and stability in a positive and constructive way rather than injecting any unsettling elements.

2018/19, 5 March 2018

ASEAN’s digital economy has untapped potential. At the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat in Singapore from 1-3 March 2018, Mr. Lim Hng King, Singapore’s Minister of Trade, urged ASEAN governments to work together to facilitate trade and investment in the region. In his words, ‘our trade architecture might have served us well over the past years, but we need to enhance and update it to ensure that trade and investment flows continue unhindered throughout the region’. As ASEAN Chair in 2018, Singapore wants to work with the partner economies on digital connectivity and e-commerce flows in the region.

2018/18, 5 March 2018

American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s visit to Danang from 5 to 9 March 2018 is a significant landmark in the accelerating rapprochement between Vietnam and the United States. USS Carl Vinson is the first American aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam after the Vietnam War, and, together with two accompanying warships and 6,000 servicemen, constitutes the largest American military presence in the country since then.

2018/17, 1 March 2018

The ASEAN-Australia Special Summit scheduled from 17-18 March 2018 in Sydney is off to a rocky start, and may come off the rails if the Cambodian Prime Minister carries through his threat to withdraw from this important event.

2018/16, 23 February 2018

On Monday, in a speech to the Chinese-Filipino Business Club, President Duterte in his typical off the cuff manner made two statements that caught the media’s attention. He joked that the Philippines could become a province of Taiwan (he probably meant China) to solve its money problems and that the Armed Forces of the Philippines should send troops to China for counter-terrorism training. China’s ambassador to the Philippines who attended the speech diplomatically ignored the first and warmly embraced the second.

2018/15, 22 February 2018

The Trump administration’s seemingly forlorn push for bilateral trade deals in East Asia has received some unexpected support from the Duterte administration in the Philippines. On Monday, Philippines Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia emphasized the importance for the Philippines of elevating its current Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the US to a full free trade agreement. The next day, Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez stated that both sides are conducting their individual studies on a bilateral free trade agreement and suggested that negotiations could start within two years.

2018/14, 21 February 2018

As one of ASEAN’s earliest Dialogue Partners, Japan’s relations with ASEAN countries draws from its commitment under the Fukuda Doctrine to assist Southeast Asia’s post- World War II development. Japan was a major aid-provider to post-independent Burma’s economic development up to the military coup in 1988.  Even with Myanmar under military rule, Japan continued to maintain people-to-people contacts and provided humanitarian aid to areas and peoples in need. Japanese academics also visited Myanmar regularly to understand the general mood and the political and economic landscape.