When Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced this week that his country will order its first batch of Covid-19 vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX facility, it was notable that Cambodia’s first inoculations were not coming from China.

“Cambodia is …

Cease-fire and talks for peace are normally welcome news. But the politics in Myanmar is anything but normal, hence such talks do not necessarily signify prospects for peace, ephemeral or lasting.

This week the Spokesperson for Myanmar Tatmadaw or the …

Over 1.1 million Rohingyas continue to remain stranded in crowded camps in Bangladesh while the international community fails to provide a resolution to the crisis.

When in 2017 this lower-middle-income, majority Muslim country opened its borders to the Rohingya fleeing …

What struggles to build a democratic society truly fulfill the aspirations of the people? IBON will briefly share our experience in the Philippine context and look forward to discussions to enrich this from different perspectives. The winds of democracy are …

On 15 December 1960 (पुस १) exactly 60 years ago, King Mahendra ordered the jailing of Prime Minister BP Koirala and other political figures, many of whom the Nepali people had put in power 18 months earlier in Nepal’s …

Swirls of creamy pearl and lavender, sunset streaks across sky blue, and the pulsing shades of floral bloom flow through the Facebook page of Mary Rose Sancelan. The pastel hues carry psalms of gratitude and faith, and a few cries …

The first people in the UK will be getting a Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, while in New Zealand, the wait could be for several more months. Here’s the government’s plan to vaccinate Aotearoa.

Mass vaccination efforts against Covid-19 are underway …

Relations between China and Australia worsened significantly in 2020, reaching the lowest level in its history. Between spying scandals, fake news and trade tariffs, ties between both countries have diminished, impeding various possibilities for international cooperation. However, the recent agreement …

On the same day Victorians were celebrating Premier Daniel Andrews’ announcement of the easing of the 112-day COVID-19 lockdown, the state government oversaw the felling of a 350-year-old tree sacred to the Djab Wurrung people in central Victoria. The …

Farmers and agricultural workers from northern India marched along various national highways toward India’s capital of New Delhi as part of the general strike on Nov. 26.

They carried placards with slogans against the anti-farmer, pro-corporate laws that were passed…

Governments that issue press releases about the abuse of human rights tend to avoid close gazes at the mirror.  Doing so would be telling.  In the case of Australia, its record on dealing with refugees is both abysmal and cruel.  …

In December 2018, Survival International began receiving disturbing reports from the Nduga region of West Papua. Church leaders were saying that congregations from 34 churches in the Papuan highlands were missing. A violent military operation by the Indonesian army had …

In the last one decade we are witnessed three major protests in different issues, but the outcome of each protest was the same. The protesters became popular but the issue lost in between the crowd of protesters. The issues are …

This was originally published in October 2020.

Bangladesh is in the middle of rising Indian and Chinese competition for South Asian influence, a position that could benefit or imperil the Muslim majority developing nation of over 161 million people.

On …

As a people-powered movement that has prevented the Adani company from digging its climate-wrecking coal mine for ten years, the Stop Adani movement stands in solidarity with Indian farmers leading mass peaceful protests against [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi and [Gautam] …

A major sawmill operation linked to widespread deforestation and corruption in Indonesia has had its legality certification revoked by the licensing authority over allegations of a forged permit, meaning it will not be allowed to export any wood products.

Operator …

Red-tagging in the Philippines is getting to be quite fearfully alarming. The new wave all started some couple of months ago when certain showbiz celebrities were warned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff himself to …

Diplomacy is always a tightrope but what happens when your old mates turn on your new friends and demand you line up with them?

Today, The Detail looks at the stoush over “the club” – the Five Eyes security agreement …

US Senators Bob Menendez and Dick Durbin introduced a resolution openly siding with the anti-government and anti-monarchy mobs in Thailand. 

I have exposed the US government’s funding and backing of these mobs for years – and now the US government …

The destruction over the past five years of Australia’s mutually beneficial diplomatic and trade relationship with China was probably a successful ’Five Eyes’ information warfare operation,  facilitated by the Australian political class’s own foolish arrogance and ignorance towards China.  Australia …

“Never Again.”  These words are used with boring, stage managed frequency by political and company figures who should know better.  They title the interim report from the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia investigating the destruction of rock shelters at …

This article was originally published on June 7.

India was once known as the Crown jewel of the British Empire before gaining independence in 1946. Sadly, like most of the post WWII history, that leap to independence was tainted by …

An area of natural forest the size of 1,500 football fields has been cleared since January in an oil palm concession in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua by a company that ultimately supplies major traders and global brands.

The deforestation …

The next World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Annual Meeting is being moved to Singapore, given the COVID-19 situation in Europe. The global summit, which brings top leaders in politics, business and academia together, will be held between 13 and 16 …

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) recently arrested two of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi)’s Cabinet ministers.

Maritime and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo and Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara were charged with bribery.

The former was accused of being involved in …

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the largest in scale infrastructure projects in our history, which was proposed by the PRC as far back as 2013. Its main aim is to link via roads, railways, deep water …

Then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pronounced in 2018 that Australia should aspire to be in the top 10 military equipment exporters in the world within the next 10 years. Turnbull committed to a $3.8 billion loan scheme for arms manufacturers to …

According to our calendar, the Karen People have lived in our forest home for 2,758 years. Our lands and waters play many important roles in everyday life and in our future prosperity. They are core to the subsistence practices of …

In March 2019, Buzzfeed News published the first of a series of articles tying international conservation giant WWF to violent and severe human rights abuses allegedly committed by park rangers working in Central Africa and South Asia. Based largely on …

2020 has not been a good year for thermal coal.

Trends that were already underway have accelerated as a result of the pandemic. As the energy source with the highest marginal cost of operation, coal has borne the brunt of …

The Chinese statement of December 2 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the ‘Question of Palestine and the Situation in the Middle East’ should trigger introspection in New Delhi. Without doubt, this must be one of …

China has overtaken the U.S. to become the EU’s biggest trade partner while the rest of the world slides into the red due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The country pushed past the United States in the third quarter to become …

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comments in support of Sikh farmers protesting against new farm laws in India have been met with an unusually sharp rebuff from New Delhi.

“The situation is concerning and we are all very worried about

If one were to get into the head of Australian government MP Andrew Hastie, a security tangle of woe would no doubt await.  Having been a captain with the Special Air Services and having also served in Afghanistan, he …

American Wars by Other Means

The United States of America has been a world power for almost a century. This century saw the highest level of technological progress but it was also the most brutal century in terms of wars, …

When the history of the insect collapse of the early 21st century comes to be written, it is likely that failure to implement adequate corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices will be blamed.

In a recent example, in September when a …

China finalised its campaign against protests in its Hong Kong territory when it expelled opposition politicians from Hong Kong’s government for endangering national security.

Following this move, opposition politicians still in office resigned in protest, leaving the territory’s government firmly …

Major-General Paul Brereton presented his report into allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan as necessary for a more effective ADF. But if we’re horrified when the Army breaks the rules of war, we should also be outraged when it …

Rising across remote stretches of southeast Cambodia, the Cardamom Mountains harbor dense tropical rainforest, much of it native growth carpeting the range’s wet slopes. Due to its remoteness, the vast protected area has historically seen relatively little human activity, which …

A Federal Court judge last week set a chilling and far-reaching precedent for the further overturning of basic democratic rights and academic freedom, especially to express political or other dissenting views.

The ruling backed the University of Sydney’s February 2019 …

While many around the globe are hopeful that a change at the White House means a change for US foreign policy – many of the most contentious and disruptive aspects of US foreign policy carried out over the last 4 …

Indian farmers have gathered outside the capital New Delhi in huge numbers demanding the withdrawal of the three laws. Their stand has forced the government to call for early talks

***

Following the joint nationwide strike by workers and farmers …

Spring exited into summer with record temperatures soaring to more than 40° Celsius in much of New South Wales and South Australia over the final days of November.

It was a harbinger of already existing climate change and a reminder …

Already reeling from one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in Asia, the Philippines has been battered by multiple storms in recent weeks, displacing more than 300,000 residents and claiming the lives of 69 people. 

The Philippines’ National Economic and Development …

Taiwanese environmental groups demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Taipei last Thursday to protest against a proposed plan by the Japanese government to dump 1.2 million tons of wastewater from the 2011 Fukushima disaster into …

Clay foot diplomacy is all the rage in Canberra, and the Australian government has become a solid practitioner.  Having stuck its neck out across continents and seas to proclaim the need to investigate China over the origins of the novel …

A Chinese military aircraft intruded upon Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday (Nov. 29), marking the 21st such intrusion this month.

A People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft flew into the southwest corner of …

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday made a four-pronged proposal for the future development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), calling for fostering a secure and stable development environment, consolidating integrated development, leveraging the catalytic role of sci-tech innovation and …

After the government took extensive measures to protect the army base the US-backed anti-government protesters originally targeted as their next protest site – protest leaders switched the venue at the last minute. 

Immediately the protest guards began removing razor wire …

China on Friday added wine to the growing list of Australian goods barred from its markets in a trade war against Australia over disputes including its support for an inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus.

The Ministry of Commerce …

Introduction

The day was August 14, 1945.¹ Fourteen-year-old Kageyama Tetsu was working at the Jiangnan Shipyard on the outskirts of Shanghai, an industrial complex that was once the crown jewel of Chinese industrial modernization. Since the early stage of …

“If the justice system fails, the community will not.” I like this. But in the Philippines, every time the justice system fails, there’s no other recourse because there’s no community. This is sad.

Community is “common” “unity”. This is what …

Serene, prosperous, fertile. These words come to mind as I stand at the top of a hill in Tegaldowo village, on the island of Java, in Indonesia, one Sunday evening in 2019. It is an idiom used to describe this …

Nearly 1,000 people in Mandalay Region’s Mogoke Township have left their villages due to clashes this week between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar’s military.

The clashes have occurred about 11km north of Mogoke since Tuesday evening.

U …

President-elect Joe Biden says Americans might have to die for the Senkaku Islands. You know, the 51^st state. Er, a distant U.S. territory. Er, a vital geographic outpost blocking invasion routes into America. Er, some uninhabited rocks claimed by …

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released unemployment figures for the month of October, and in its monthly labour force survey on Thursday revealed an increase of one-tenth of one per cent nationwide, bringing the figure up to …

In 2015, Salma’s husband and his parents held her down and poured nitric acid down her throat because they wanted more than the Tk 100,000 (USD 1,100) that her parents had already paid in dowry. For months since the wedding, …

Australia has a culture for war, and that culture breeds atrocities.

The Australian government’s own inquiry has confirmed many of the allegations leaked by journalists regarding war crimes in Afghanistan, stemming from the execution by Australian special forces of prisoners …

Afghanis who say they have witnessed torture and murder at the hands of Australian soldiers want the chance to testify in court as well as compensation, a journalist says.

***

Australia’s Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell announced yesterday that there …

Funded by the US government via the notorious National Endowment for Democracy (NED) – iLaw set about petitioning the Thai government to have the nation’s entire constitution rewritten and rewritten in such a way as to make it easier for …

Everything is going as China has wanted with its India strategy since April. The situation has been evolving as Beijing predicted.

In other words, whatever China wants India to do, India does.

Because of its opaque governance system, it is …

Indonesia’s dwindling forests may be cleared for farmland under a government-led program to boost domestic food production, raising fears of a surge in deforestation.

The government’s “food estate” program calls for establishing millions of hectares of new farmland, mostly for …

The Maguindanao Massacre is unanimously viewed as the most tragic event in the Philippines that capped 2009. On the fateful morning of 23 November 2009 — exactly eleven years ago — fifty-seven helpless civilians including women and media people were …

In the West the population is at present sheltering to protect itself from Covid, entering the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, and facing the threat of unemployment and reduced living standards. On the other side of the world …

This article was originally published in May 2019.

The result of the biggest election in history, India 2019, is terrible news for tribal peoples in the world’s biggest democracy. Politicians with authoritarian nationalist inclinations like India’s newly invigorated Narendra Modi…

The close attention widely paid to the recent election campaign in the United States is understandable. We are talking about a change in the leadership of a country, which continues to occupy the position of one of the main pillars …

Malaysia has once again reiterated its stance to never entertain or recognise any claim by any quarters on Sabah.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar said the claim on Sabah, particularly by the Philippines, was not only baseless but also …

First published on APR in June 2020.

Andrew Korybko gave an interview to Indian journalist Parth Satam (June 2020) about India’s relations with China, the US, and Russia, just days before Monday night’s deadly clash between Indian and Chinese troops. …

China’s state-owned telecommunications carriers plan to launch as many as 10,000 satellites in the next five to ten years to form a constellation in low-Earth orbit and keep pace with US rivals.

Chinese cadres overseeing space technologies were reputedly jolted …

Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), a global transport and economic project, is well known world-wide. While some countries endorse it, many others consider it a form of Chinese expansion designed to subordinate the economies of other countries …

In 1939, a population of orangutans was found in the Batang Toru jungle in South Tapanuli on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They were thought to be Sumatran orangutans, but in 2017 scientists discovered they were an entirely new species …

Then and Now

The geopolitical frame of inter-state relationships as it exists today in East Asia remains as set around 70 years ago in the wake of the cataclysmic Second World War and subsequent San Francisco Treaty (1951), when the …

In recent years, Japan has started a new wave of militarization, which has surprised experts worldwide. Its closest neighbors, China and Russia are the countries that are most concerned with this new Japanese militarization.

After World War II in which …

China is notorious for a “Social Credit System” that controls the lives of citizens, rewarding what the authorities want and punishing what they don’t. The United States has a social credit system, too, even if we don’t call it that. …

After the third annual “2+2” high-level US-Indian talks in Delhi on October 27, a very important defence pact was signed: the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA). With so much focus on the American election, little attention has been given …

On November 15th, 15 nations in Asia-Pacific, after eight years of negotiations, sealed the largest trade agreement in the world, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). China is part of this new association, which surprises experts for its …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at the 17th ASEAN-India Summit on November 12 makes sad reading. It comes in the specific context of the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership [RCEP] on Sunday — the mega free trade agreement …

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu

“Holding on to anger is like …