Tag: Politics & General News

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‘US can be secure only if Asia is’: US defence chief seeks to deepen strategic alliances in region

By Clement Tan | June 2, 2024 | The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – The United States wants to meld its strategic alliances and partnerships in Asia into a “new convergence” based on the rule of law – a commitment that its defence chief said will continue regardless of the outcome of the presidential election in November.

Mr Lloyd Austin evoked “a future of fresh and growing partnerships” in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue on June 1, which immediately elicited a question from a Chinese military delegate on whether the US was planning to build “a Nato-like system in the Asia-Pacific region”.

In response, the US Secretary of Defence described it as a strengthening of relationships with allies and partners based on a common vision and common values.

He also emphatically rejected the Chinese delegate’s suggestion that Nato’s eastern expansion was responsible for the war in Ukraine, eliciting applause from many in the audience.

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Taiwan’s political disrupter could be kingmaker in a split parliament. Here’s why it matters

By Clement Tan | January 26, 2024 | CNBC.com

TAIPEI — “One day, we’ll get our victory,” Ko Wen-je, the vanquished presidential candidate for the Taiwan People’s Party, said at his concession speech two weeks ago.

He urged his disappointed young supporters, some of them crying, not to give up, and framed himself as a one-man social movement crusading for political change.

“For me, over the last 10 years, whether I was in office or standing for election, I have always regarded it as a social movement aimed at changing political culture. Since this social movement has not fully materialized, let’s keep working hard,” the former Taipei City Mayor told supporters in Mandarin.

While he may have finished last in the first competitive three-way race for the Taiwan presidency since 2000, Ko garnered more than a quarter of the popular vote — disrupting the usual stranglehold of the dominant political parties, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and Kuomintang.

The 63-year-old clearly resonated with the young and educated as he spoke plainly into their everyday bread-and-butter issues, including soaring housing costs and stagnant wages at a time of high inflation.

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India suspends visa services for Canadians, demands parity in diplomatic staffing as bilateral crisis deepens

By Clement Tan | September 21, 2023 | CNBC.com

India suspended visa applications in Canada on Thursday due to unspecified security threats, while demanding Ottawa reduce its diplomatic staffing in India on grounds of interference in domestic affairs in an escalation of the festering diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

The feud was sparked Monday by the Canadian government’s announcement of “credible allegations” the Indian government orchestrated the extra-judicial slaying of a Sikh separatist in Canada. New Delhi had slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claims as “baseless” and “absurd” and accused Ottawa of being sympathetic to anti-India causes.

“The issue is not about travel to India — those who have valid visas and other kinds of document like OCI are free to travel to India — but the issue is of incitement of violence and the creation of an environment that disrupt the functioning of our high commission and consulates,” Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said at a regular news conference in New Delhi on Thursday.

OCI is short for Overseas Citizenship of India, a form of permanent residence for people of Indian origin that grants a lifetime of entry into the country, along with some benefits. 

The move will curtail Indian travel for Canadians, even if they apply in third countries, Bagchi said, adding that this temporary suspension will involve all visas, including e-visas. He said this situation will be reviewed on a regular basis.

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‘A real big deal’: Biden backs economic corridor as shifting geopolitical alliances fragment the global economy

By Clement Tan | September 18, 2023 | CNBC.com

NEW DELHI — Even for those accustomed to the ebbs and flows of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia relationship, the sight of President Joe Biden extending a handshake to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman at the recent G20 leaders’ summit in New Delhi was quite the turnaround.

After all, Biden had warned last October of “consequences” after the Saudi-led oil cartel OPEC decided to cut crude production and boost prices amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Roughly a year on, Saudi Arabia is not only one of six new invitees to the China-dominated BRICS coalition, but also a signatory to the Biden-led pact for a ship-to-rail economic corridor linking India with Middle Eastern and European Union countries unveiled on the sidelines of the G20 summit — framed as a counter to China’s decade-old Belt and Road Initiative.

Saudi Arabia’s double dipping underscores the range of economic and strategic opportunities that abound for the various economies caught between the dueling U.S. and China as they build their own alliances and spheres of influence. U.S. and other major Western nations have been keen to “de-risk” their economic — and not decouple — from China on grounds of national security.

This is also consequently leading to a fragmentation of the world’s economy as protectionism and nationalism impede global trade, while giving rise to a complex matrix of relationships in a multipolar world that are not always straightforward as nations pursue their self interests.

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G20 nations soften Russia condemnation to reach Delhi summit compromise, draw Ukraine’s ire

By Clement Tan | September 9, 2023 | CNBC.com

NEW DELHI — The Group of 20 nations on Saturday overcame differences in references to the war in Ukraine, reaching a consensus on a joint declaration that paves the way for frameworks on debt resolution, and country-specific climate financing solutions among other pledges aimed at enhancing development in the Global South.

In an 83-paragraph joint communique aimed at deepening the integration of the needs of developing economies into the multilateral forum’s agenda, the Delhi declaration omitted words from the last year’s statement that overtly condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine — instead highlighting the human suffering and other negative impacts of the war in Ukraine that have complicated recovery efforts in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The wording of “most members strongly condemned the war” was among the changes. Instead, G20 member states agreed to lean on the tenets of the United Nations charter on territorial integrity and against the use of force.

“Considerable time was spent — especially in the last few days — in regard to geopolitical issues, which really centered around the war in Ukraine,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Saturday at a press conference following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initial announcement of the consensus on a joint declaration.

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Singapore braces for ‘partisan’ vote for president, guardian of its vast reserves

By Clement Tan | August 31, 2023 | CNBC.com

SINGAPORE – As Singaporeans prepare to head to the polls this Friday to elect their ninth president, the campaigning has so far tested the narrow confines of the presidential office — underscoring simmering disenchantment at the status quo.

A largely ceremonial role with a six-year tenure, the Singapore presidency is conferred limited powers. One of its key roles is to guard the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state’s reserves, which remain a state secret.

Observers say some Singaporeans seem to believe the president’s custodial powers over the reserves allows the person to weigh more muscularly on fiscal and monetary policy decisions.

Other issues underscored on the campaign trail so far include underlying unhappiness about the high cost of living, unaffordable public housing and debate about heightened competition for jobs with foreigners. A lack of accountability among lawmakers also came to the fore as Singapore’s reputation for incorruptibility was recently hit by a spate of political scandals.

“The contest that has developed so far reflects the competing and even conflicting visions of the presidency,” said Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University who is a former parliamentarian.

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China vows to ‘adjust and optimize’ property policy in ‘tortuous’ economic recovery

By Clement Tan | July 24, 2023 | CNBC.com

China’s top leaders pledged to “adjust and optimize policies in a timely manner” for its beleaguered property sector, while elevating stable employment to a strategic goal, along with other pledges to boost domestic consumption demand and resolve local debt risks.

Chaired by President Xi Jinping, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body said it would implement a “counter cyclical” policy and stick largely to a prudent monetary policy and pro-active fiscal policy, according to a readout published late Monday of a quarterly meeting of the Politburo.

The July Politburo meeting typically sets the tone for China’s economic policies for the second half of the year, with market watchers eagerly awaiting firmer guidance on policy support for faltering growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

“Currently, the economy is facing new difficulties and challenges, mainly due to insufficient domestic demand, difficulties in the operation of some enterprises, many risks and hidden dangers in key areas, and a grim and complex external environment,” Xinhua quoted the Politburo as saying.

The post-pandemic economic recovery will proceed in a “wave-like” fashion in a “tortuous” process, it added. The Chinese phrase for risk appeared at least seven times in the readout, underscoring the government’s focus on its containment.

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Thailand’s Parliament is about to pick a new prime minister — and a generation’s hopes are at stake

Clement Tan | July 12, 2023 | CNBC.com

Thailand’s Parliament will vote for a new prime minister on Thursday, and the country’s young and urban are about to find out whether their backing of a progressive opposition party at May’s elections will translate into genuine power.

Not too long ago, they were basking in the euphoria of the party’s stunning victory, priming themselves for democratic change and reform. Two months on, they are instead confronted with the sight of 79-year-old Wan Muhamad Noor Matha — very much considered a member of the old guard — as the “new” speaker of Thailand’s House of Representatives.

The young voters had propelled the Move Forward Party — led by the Harvard-educated, 42-year-old Pita Limjaroenrat — to an unprecedented majority of the seats in Parliament after nine years of military rule, but this was too slim for the party to push forward its own candidates, forcing it into a coalition with seven other parties.

Move Forward had campaigned on an ambitious structural reform agenda targeting the country’s monarchy, monopolies and military. These aims essentially extended the goals of student protests more than two years ago that were triggered by the dissolution of a political party — Move Forward’s predecessor entity — which was highly critical of outgoing Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the former military general who seized power in a 2014 coup and made changes to the Thai Constitution in 2017.

Its slim majority has made its agenda vulnerable to the machinations of the institutions it is seeking to reform, along with the interlocking patronage networks that remain despite the ouster of several influential business families in this election. The installation of Wan Noor as a compromise candidate after second-placed party Pheu Thai had objected to Move Forward’s choice, was just the beginning.

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U.S. and China trade barbs at top security summit as Taiwan Strait tensions simmer

By Clement Tan | June 5, 2023 | CNBC.com

SINGAPORE — A handshake and a ministerial lunch were all that the U.S. defense chief and his Chinese counterpart shared on the sidelines of a regional security summit in Singapore.

Ahead of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue which kicked off Friday, Beijing rejected a U.S. request for a bilateral meeting between its defense minister, Gen. Li Shangfu, and his American counterpart Lloyd Austin.

On Saturday, when Austin took to the stage at the summit where global defense leaders gathered, he called out China for refusing to engage in military dialogue.

“Dialogue is not a reward. It is a necessity. A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for substantive engagement,” Austin said in prepared remarks. “The more that we talk, the more we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict.”

China’s Li responded a day later by accusing the U.S. of lacking sincerity and behaving in a manner not befitting of a superpower.

“It is undeniable that a severe conflict or confrontation between China and the U.S. will be an unbearable disaster for the world. China believes that a major country should behave like one,” Li said Sunday in a translation provided by summit organizers. It was his first address to an international audience in his current role as China’s defense chief.

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China’s record high youth unemployment is deepening economic scars

By Clement Tan | May 30, 2023 | CNBC.com

As youth unemployment in China rises to a record high, college graduates are caught in a perfect storm — with some forced to take on low-paying jobs or settle for jobs below their skill levels.

Official data shows urban unemployment among the 16- to 24-year-olds in China hit a record 20.4% in April – about four times the broader unemployment rate even as millions more college students are expected to graduate this year.

“This college bubble is finally bursting,” said Yao Lu, a professor of sociology at Columbia University in New York. “The expansion of college education in the late 1990s created this huge influx of college graduates, but there is a misalignment between demand and supply of high skilled workers. The economy hasn’t caught up.”

The scourge of underemployment is another issue that Chinese youths and policymakers have to grapple with.

In a paper Lu co-authored with Xiaogang Li, a professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University, the professors estimated at least another quarter of college graduates in China are underemployed, on top of the rising youth unemployment rate.

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