Conversation

12.16.22

How Well Is China Advancing Its Interests in Southeast Asia?

Gregory B. Poling, Sharon Seah & more
Xi Jinping traveled to Southeast Asia last month to attend the G20 summit in Bali before moving on to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ meeting in Bangkok. The meetings came on the heels of Premier Li Keqiang’s...

China’s South-East Asia Push Threatened by New Malaysia Regime

Ben Bland
Financial Times
Status as Belt and Road posterchild at risk as Mahathir vows to review Chinese projects.

A Malaysian Insta-City Becomes a Flash Point for Chinese Colonialism — and Capital Flight

Brook Larmer
New York Times
A futuristic city funded by China is rising from the sea off Malaysian coast.

Battleground Malaysia: China Extends Crackdown on Uygurs across Borders

James M. Dorsey
South China Morning Post
Malaysia has emerged as the latest battleground pitting Chinese efforts to export its security notions against principles of the rule of law.

Alibaba's ‘Digital Free Trade Zone’ Has Some Worried about China Links to Malaysia

Nyshka Chandran
CNBC
Alibaba e-commerce platform in Malaysia raises concerns over impact on local firms.

Philippines, Seeking to Appease Beijing, Halts Construction in South China Sea

Felipe Villamor
New York Times
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has ordered military officials to stop construction work on a sandbar in a disputed area of the South China Sea after Beijing complained, the country’s defense chief said on Wednesday.

Did Kim Jong-Un Kill His Uncle and Brother over ‘Coup Plot Involving China’?

Telegraph
Sources told the newspaper that Kim Jong-Un’s uncle, Mr. Jang Song Thaek, proposed a plot to overthrow Mr. Kim, with Beijing's assistance, and to replace him with his oldest half-brother, Kim Jong-nam.

China Jails Workers from Crown Resorts of Australia in Message to Casinos

New York Times
A court in Shanghai on Monday sentenced three Australian employees of Crown Resorts to less than a year in prison each for illegally promoting gambling in China. Including the time they have already spent in prison, all three should be released in...

Trump May Turn to Vietnam for Help on South China Sea

CNBC
On Wednesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be the first ASEAN leader to visit the White House since President Donald Trump’s election and the U.S. may look to tap into the emerging market’s friction with China.

Sinica Podcast

05.26.17

Chinese Power in the Age of Donald Trump

Jeremy Goldkorn, Kaiser Kuo & more from Sinica Podcast
When Joseph Nye, Jr., first used the phrase “soft power” in his 1990 book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, China did not factor much into his calculus of world order: It had relatively little military and economic power, and...

China, Philippines to Start South China Sea Talks: Ambassador

Benjamin Kang Lim
China and the Philippines will start bilateral consultations on the disputed South China Sea this week, the Philippine ambassador to Beijing said, as Manila looks to ease tensions with Asia’s top economic power.

South China Sea: Duterte Orders Philippines Military to Occupy Islands

James Griffiths and Chieu Luu
CNN
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he has ordered military personnel to occupy all Philippines-claimed islands in the disputed South China Sea.

Malaysia Buying Chinese Ships to Protect its Waters From China, Other

Voice of America
Officials from the Southeast Asian country, with a coastline stretching from the Sulu Sea westward to the Indian Ocean, said in November they would get four littoral mission ships made in China.

Malaysia’s Najib Risks Backlash at Home After Deals with China

Joseph Sipalan
Reuters
Malaysian Prime Minister is facing grumblings at home that he is "selling off" his country after returning from China with $34 billion worth of deals

On Duterte’s Heels, Malaysia is the Next Asian Country to Embrace China

Simon Denyer
Washington Post
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called himself a “true friend” of China, determined to take their relationship to "new heights"

Taiwan Objects as Malaysia Deports Taiwanese Citizens to China

Hilary Whiteman
CNN
Taiwan has filed a formal objection with the Malaysian government over its deportation of 32 Taiwanese nationals to China.

Viewpoint

01.08.16

The Storm Beneath the Calm: China’s Regional Relations in 2016

Yanmei Xie
On the surface, 2015 came to a close in a moment of relative tranquility after a turbulent year for China’s neighborhood. But the calm is misleading: the optics of regional diplomacy have become increasingly detached from the reality of the...

Malaysia Seeks Code of Conduct for South China Sea

Jason Ng
Wall Street Journal
Malaysia urged a rapid conclusion to creating a long-stalled code of conduct in the South China Sea, as tensions grow over conflicting territorial ambitions in Asian waters between Beijing and neighboring countries.

Missing Plane Believed to Be Beyond Search Area

Michael Forsythe
New York Times
The search area in the Indian Ocean that recovery teams have been scouring for more than a month is probably not the final resting place of a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner.

China is Reportedly Screwing Up the Search For MH370

Jordan Sargent
Gawker
With a handful of countries still searching the Indian Ocean for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the one country annoying the others is China.

Conflicting Reports of Potential Flight 370 Pings shows China’s confused status in investigation

Adam Taylor
Washington Post
Despite China's interest in finding Flight 370 and its efforts in the search, the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation does not offer it an official role.

China Plans to Build the Biggest Branch Campus in the World, but Will It Succeed?

Jason Lane and Kevin Kinser
Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chinese government announced recently that it will allow Xiamen University to establish a branch campus in Malaysia.