ARTICLES

1 Nov 2022

From a Rule Taker to a Rule Shaper: The Importance of UNCLOS to China

Jade Guan

For its own legitimacy and status as a big power, China has leaned on the law of the sea for leverage in the past several decades.

4 Oct 2022

Can Mekong Stingrays Tell the Chinese Dam Story Well?

Hoang Thi Ha

China is crafting “wonderful stories” about its upstream dams in the Mekong. But the overall thrust of the narrative glosses over the more controversial aspects of dam building.

China Environment Mekong River

4 Oct 2022

UNCLOS’s Relevance to Taiwan Amid a Raging Storm

Huynh Tam Sang

After the 2016 South China Sea (SCS) arbitration award and recent developments, Taiwan — though not a formal party to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) — has all the more reason to support the Convention.

China Taiwan UNCLOS Why UNCLOS Matters

20 Sep 2022

China Dream Keeps Southeast Asia Awake at Night

David Arase

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan highlights his bid to advance his vision of the China Dream. This, however, will require changes in the global balance of power that Southeast Asian countries will find hard to manage.

China China-Southeast Asia relations Indo-Pacific Russia

16 Sep 2022

Chinese ‘Debt Traps’ in Southeast Asia: What the Data Say

Darren Cheong

This Long Read argues that while the terms of China’s aid and loans to Southeast Asian countries are less favourable compared to those of the World Bank, the weight of the evidence does not lend credence to the existence of a Chinese “debt trap” strategy in the region.

Belt and Road Initiative China China-Southeast Asia relations Economic Development Infrastructure

25 Aug 2022

The Taiwan Crisis and Implications on Southeast Asia

Drew Thompson

In this episode of Dialogues at Fulcrum, William Choong, Managing Editor of Fulcrum, talks to Drew Thompson about the latest Taiwan Strait crisis and the implications on Southeast Asia. Mr Thompson is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

China Dialogues at Fulcrum Southeast Asia Taiwan U.S.

10 Aug 2022

China’s Think-Tank Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: Idea Exchange or Echo Chamber?

Wang Zheng

China’s intensified efforts to engage with regional think-tanks have not produced the results it has hoped for, mainly because Beijing seems to care more about imposing its own views than a true meeting of the minds.

China Chinese Foreign Policy Diplomacy

29 Jul 2022

Building Peace in Asia: It’s Not the “Asian Way”

Hoang Thi Ha

China’s “Asian way” is an all-embracing idea and a coded language to discredit other countries’ actions that are deemed harmful to China’s strategic interests.

China Chinese Foreign Policy Security South China Sea

26 Jul 2022

The U.S.-China Strategic Competition in the Pacific: Something ASEAN Needs to Watch

Daljit Singh

Beijing’s recent moves to establish security cooperation with Pacific Island states have riled the U.S. and Australia. ASEAN needs to watch the ongoing great power competition there closely to draw lessons for its own security.

ASEAN AUKUS Australia China Maritime Security Pacific Islands Quad Security U.S.

8 Jul 2022

Climate Change Calls for Less U.S.-China Rivalry and More Renewables

Prapimphan Chiengkul

As climate change threatens to reshape global politics and domestic agendas, Southeast Asian governments would do well to court both Washington and Beijing in their quest for a green transition.

China China-U.S. Relations Climate Change Environment Sustainable Development U.S.