Straits Times
Meth spreading across region as supply spikes
The Golden Triangle’s methamphetamine problem is spreading beyond the Mekong region, with high volumes of the drug being seized in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Figures revealed yesterday show that from 2008 to last year, meth tablet seizures in the region increased from 50 ...
Chinese port project could land Myanmar in debt trap
The Myanmar town of Kyaukpyu, nestled around a small fishing port on the Bay of Bengal, has the air of a place expecting to get rich soon. In the market, stalls of seafood unloaded from wooden fishing boats have been joined by stacks of Chinese-made ...
Avoiding a South China Sea trap on mainland South-east Asia
A month ago, the Third Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit was held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, with the Lao, Thai and Vietnamese premiers joining host Prime Minister Hun Sen. As in the previous meetings, China, the upstream nation, was present, but only as a dialogue ...
The limits of minilateralism in Asean
Australia convened a meeting recently with six South-east Asian states focused on counter-terrorism. The meeting in Perth was not only a notable development in and of itself but also just the latest example of the use of minilateralism in the security realm in South-east Asia. []These ...
Prashanth Parameswaran
China's debt-trap diplomacy: Inquirer columnist
This is not the kind of invasion that Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warns about, but a subtle and insidious mode of conquest that could undermine Philippine sovereignty in the long term. In fact, with the way Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano is defending ...
Alito L. Malinao
Slight delay in Thai high speed rail project due to environmental impact study
Construction work has been delayed until the middle of next month for the initial 3.5-km stretch of the Thai-China high speed railway (HSR) in Thailand’s north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, Bangkok Post daily reported on Thursday.[] The full line will span 873 km, linking Thailand and ...
Strait Times Reporter
Surbana Jurong, partners ink MOU to develop infrastructure in Laos
Infrastructure consulting firm Surbana Jurong has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Singapore-based Mekong Group and Laos’ Phongsavanh Group to develop infrastructure projects in Laos. Keep reading ...
Chia Yan Min
The changing face of Japan-ASEAN aid
Japan’s foreign aid toolkit has been expanding since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012, as he seeks to shore up Japan’s influence in South-east Asia in the face of muscle-flexing by China. Japan announced on August 12 that it would give two new large ...
Land used for palm oil could double without damaging forests, say researchers
The area covered by palm oil plantations worldwide could double without damaging protected areas or sensitive forests, Austrian researchers said on Tuesday (July 26).Researchers from the Austria-based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) studied satellite maps from South-east Asia, Africa and Latin America to ...
