ASEAN | Astute News

The COVID-19 Chronicles: ASEAN

May 22, 2020 Opinion

The ten Southeast Asian states of ASEAN with a collective population of 622 million people has weathered the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) relatively well. A combination of quick reactions, a he…

USA Bolsters Anti-Chinese Efforts in the Indo-Pacific

November 17, 2019 Opinion

In response to China’s increasing political and economic clout in the region of South Asia, Washington has intensified its efforts to promote its concept of the free and open Indo Pacific. Donald Trum…

Trump Miscalculates the Importance of ASEAN

November 9, 2019 Opinion

The 2019 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit held in Thailand earlier this week has given a signal of how the regional order is beginning to change. The ASEAN platform serves as a bi…

A Blue Dot Barely Visible from New Silk Roads

November 8, 2019 Opinion

Chinese President Xi Jinping six years ago launched New Silk Roads, now better known as the Belt and Road Initiative, the largest, most ambitious, pan-Eurasian infrastructure project of the 21st centu…

The RCEP Train Left the Station, and India, Behind

November 6, 2019 Opinion

A pan-Asia high-speed train has left the station – and India – behind. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which would have been the largest free trade deal in the world, was not s…

Russia Is Skeptical Of the US’ ‘Indo-Pacific’ Concept

November 6, 2019 Opinion

The interview that Russian Prime Minister Medevedev gave to the Bangkok Post during his recent visit to Thailand to attend the ASEAN Summit there served to remind everyone of Russia's skepticism towar…

The Bangkok Blasts Are Bad, But Aren’t Really That Big of a Deal

August 5, 2019 Opinion

Terrorism should always be condemned in every one of its forms, but the latest Bangkok blasts really aren’t that big of a deal if one puts them into context, so they therefore shouldn’t trigger an ove…

Western Intellectuals Freak Over ‘Frankenstein’ China

July 20, 2019 Opinion

Western economists and intellectuals obsessed with demonization of China are never shy of shortcuts glaringly exposing their ignorance. The latest outburst posits that “we” – as in Western intellectua…