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Daily News on the Southeast Asian Region
21 May 2020
(pm) - 22 May 2020 (am)
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ISEAS Library wishes our readers Selamat Hari Raya Puasa.
The next issue of this alert will be released on Tuesday, 26 May 2020. This will cover news between Friday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
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Country Studies
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Southeast Asia Countries
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Brunei Darussalam
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Laos
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Region
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Cambodia
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Making sense of Cambodia's Covid-19 budget: Two months after the announcement of Cambodia's fiscal stimulus plan ranging between USD800 million and USD2 billion, details have yet to be rolled out. As ambiguity continues to play over the breakdown of the plan, the government continues to dispense measures from time to time with the recent one being a 25 per cent discount on electricity tariff for five months for four key sectors. The adhoc measures suggest a lack of coordination on the part of the government ...
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Indonesia
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Fertile ground for failure: Indonesia hopes 2 million acres of rice paddies will help it weather COVID-19: The Indonesian government is pushing ahead with a plan to create 2.2 million acres of rice paddies on Borneo, reviving a decades-old agricultural scheme in a bid to shore up the country's food supply during the coronavirus pandemic. The government plans to convert swaths of peatland in Central Kalimantan province into rice plantations. But the program risks replicating the near-total failure of the "Mega Rice Project", an effort launched by former president and dictator Suharto in 1995 that ended in disaster-and produced zero rice.
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Analisis: perppu instrumen hukum yang tidak demokratis, perlu dibatasi penggunaannya [Perppus are undemocratic legal instruments and its use should be limited]: Perppu sejatinya adalah warisan pemerintah kolonial. ... Instrumen ini dihadirkan untuk menjaga kepentingan penguasa kolonial di Hindia Belanda. Lalu mengapa instrumen era kolonial ini berhasil bertahan setelah Kemerdekaan? Jawabannya adalah karena kebutuhan yang ada saat Undang-Undang Dasar (UUD) 1945 disusun oleh pendiri bangsa.
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In Indonesia, Will COVID-19 Trigger Another Asian Financial Crisis?: While the government of Indonesia struggles to contain the public health side of the COVID-19 crisis, the economic hit from the pandemic is starting to bite in earnest. The government now expects GDP growth to slow to between 2.3 and .4 percent for the year - and even this may be optimistic. As the scale of the crisis became clear in early March, capital outflows began to pummel the rupiah, eventually pushing it to over 16,600 to the dollar, a level not seen since the Asian Financial Crisis. As the crisis unfolds, it is thus natural to wonder if the turbulence of the 1990s is repeating itself.
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Building Indonesia's new capital: Jokowi's announcement put the cost of building the new capital at USD33 billion. This figure was quickly criticised as an underestimate. But if the project is designed well, it will be a money-maker, not a black hole. The government can use 'land value capture tools' to ensure that rich and powerful 'speculators' don't pocket the profits as land value goes up. Historically, this rise in value has been linked to infrastructure construction, urbanisation and gentrification. Typically, elites buy land at a low price before construction and then sell again at a high price when construction is complete. To prevent this, the government can retain land ownership in the new capital. This would allow the government to lease parcels of land to occupants and gradually increase rents as infrastructure improves and the land becomes more valuable. The growing rent income can then be used to finance further improvements.
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Analysis: Maintaining stability during the pandemic: BI has taken at least five strategic policy steps to reduce pressures on the financial markets. First, it increased the intensity of the triple intervention policy to reduce market volatility. Second, it lowered the conventional commercial bank foreign exchange reserve ratio to 4 percent from 8 percent, which had an impact on the $3.2 billion increase in bank foreign exchange liquidity to stabilize the rupiah since March 16.
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Skyscraper of waste: Greater Jakarta drowning in mountains of trash: Greater Jakarta, with more than 30 million people, sends more than 14,000 tons of waste to eight landfills every day. To put it into perspective, the waste that Greater Jakarta has produced in the past three years could fill up Jakarta's tallest skyscraper, the 310-meter-tall Gama Tower. The gigantic flow of trash, coupled with poor waste management, has brought the metropolitan area into a crisis.
[Includes multimedia]
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Indonesia virus battle faces crucial test over Eid holiday: President Joko Widodo has banned people traveling for the holiday at the end of Ramadan, but despite concern from medical experts, some people have been allowed to go if they provide proof of reasons to travel and a health certificate. About 60 flights a day in Jakarta carrying 4,000 passengers are serving domestic destinations ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holidays starting this weekend, said Angkasa Pura, the country's main airport operator.
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Menilik ulang stereotip terhadap orang keturunan Cina dua dekade setelah Reformasi [Reviewing stereotypes of ethnic Chinese two decades after Reformasi]: Eksklusivitas, nasionalisme, dan keterlibatan orang keturunan Cina dalam politik di Indonesia adalah tiga isu pokok yang dikemukakan responden kami.
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Different names for the same thing: New Order still lingers 22 years after Soeharto's fall: Observers have said that Prabowo's appointment as defense minister, after a second electoral defeat to Jokowi in the 2019 election, highlighted the return of the New Order. Others believe that it had never really gone away; the fall of Soeharto spelled the end of his presidency, but not the end of the New Order. This is because Soeharto was just a face, while the New Order was a system, said historian Budiawan from Gadjah Mada University.
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OPINION: Transforming Indonesia's education through online learning: Indonesia is in a unique position to exploit the advent of online learning. More than 171 million or 69 percent of Indonesians are connected to the worldwide web with an internet penetration rate that stood at 63.5 percent in 2019 according to the latest survey by the Association of Indonesian Internet Service Providers (APJII), which is higher than the average of Asian countries. However, most Indonesian internet users are relying on the expensive and limited capacity mobile network, instead of the broadband network that can easily cater to the online learning requirements that require a large data exchange especially for video conferencing.
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Post-COVID 19: Deepening deprivation for young people: Although young people have not been as heavily impacted by negative health outcomes from COVID-19 as the rest of the population, the economic situation caused by the pandemic has highlighted the existing social and intergenerational inequalities faced by this segment of the population. When it comes to mental health issues, as well as issues around housing, young people are inversely impacted, and this is predicted to worsen from the long-term effects of the pandemic, an effect that economists call 'scarring'.
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Global Health Security: COVID-19 and Its Impacts - Indonesia's Regional Elections: Entering Uncharted Waters? ON 23 SEPTEMBER 2020, the Indonesian government is expected to organise another simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada Serentak) - electing regional leaders such as governors, mayors and regents across the country in nine provinces, 224 regencies, and 37 municipalities. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Indonesian government to rethink its plan to organise such an important electoral event. With the Large-Scale Social Restriction (PSBB) policy still in place to limit mass movements and gatherings, the General Election Commission (KPU) as the sole organiser and a handful of civil society groups have expressed doubts whether the regional leadership elections can be held on the designated date. Scholars and pundits also teamed up to urge the Indonesian government to reschedule the election day.
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22 tahun setelah kerusuhan anti-Cina Mei 1998, riset ungkap prasangka dan trauma masih ada [22 years after anti-Chinese riots in May 1998, research finds prejudice and trauma persists]: Semenjak Orde Baru, warga keturunan Cina harus meninggalkan segala atribut berbau Cina, termasuk mengganti namanya menjadi nama pribumi, misalnya. Pengkategorian ini memunculkan perbedaan mencolok dan mengarah pada prasangka buruk. Setelah kejadian Mei 1998, penelitian saya menunjukkan bahwa prasangka negatif terhadap etnis Cina tetap ada. Hal ini karena semua kasus terkait etnis Cina belum pernah diselesaikan.
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Janji Mahfud, Terorisme, dan Cek Kosong Bagi Militer [Mahfud's promise, terrorism and blank cheques for the military]: Draf Peraturan Presiden (Perpres) tentang Tugas TNI dalam Mengatasi Aksi Terorisme dikritik banyak pihak. Isinya dinilai memberi peran yang berlebihan kepada TNI dalam pemberantasan terorisme. Menteri Koordinator Bidang Politik, Hukum, dan Keamanan, Mahfud MD, berjanji akan menampung semua kritik yang masuk ke pemerintah. Namun, menurut mantan ketua Mahkamah Konstitusi ini, yang terpenting semua pihak harus berpijak pada tujuan menjaga eksistensi Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (NKRI). Artinya, semua kritik harus didasarkan pada semangat menjaga keutuhan NKRI, bukan justru sebaliknya.
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7 Kata Piagam Jakarta tak Sepenuhnya Hilang dari Pancasila [Jakarta's charter not totally lost in Pancasila]: Soekarno adalah yang pertama kali mengenalkan istilah Pancasila dalam pidato 1 Juni 1945. Sejarah Pancasila berproses melalui tiga fase. Pertama, dimulai dari 1 Juni 1945. Kedua, pada 22 Juni 1945, dan Ketiga, mencapai bentuk final pada 18 Agustus 1945. Dalam semua rangkaian proses sejarah pembentukan dasar negara, Soekarno memiliki peran sentral sebagai Ketua Panitia Sembilan Badan Penyelidik Usaha-Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (BPUPKI) yang melahirkan Piagam Jakarta 22 Juni 1945 dan sebagai Ketua Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (PPKI) dengan Mohammad Hatta sebagai wakil ketua yang mengesahkan Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia tanggal 18 Agustus 1945 ...
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Religious "Super-Spreaders" in Indonesia: Managing the Risk of Stigmatisation: Large gatherings of two religious organisations, one Muslim, one Christian, became "super-spreaders" of the Covid-19 virus in Indonesia, raising concerns that the pandemic could lead to an increase in religious intolerance, heightened communal tensions or localized outbreaks of violence. Despite a few close calls, however, no serious trouble had taken place by mid-May 2020, thanks in part to efforts by local leaders of the groups involved to defuse tensions. There are lessons to be learned, however, about how the outbreaks caused by these groups could have been better anticipated and prevented.
[19-page PDF document]
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Malaysia
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Not the right time to resume Chinese-backed projects, Putrajaya told: Shankaran Nambiar of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research said it was not likely that the multiplier effects of expensive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects would be felt immediately and it would be ill-advised to go ahead with them now. Construction work on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), the largest infrastructure project in the country, resumed on April 28 after its main contractor, China Communications Construction ECRL, received the government's approval.
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With power comes rifts: the revival of interest in Umno's top post: A rift is slowly widening in Umno as leaders jostle for the top presidential post, just over two months after the party's return to power following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in February.Party insiders spoke to FMT about how factions were being formed involving six personalities, including the current president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his former boss Najib Razak.
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Penang PPBM rep appointed as Perda chairman: A Penang assemblyman has been appointed as the head of the Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda), replacing lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla who resigned in March. PPBM's Bertam assemblyman Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq was made Perda chairman while former deputy chairman Shaik Hussein Mydin who is also deputy Penang Umno chief and PAS' Penaga assemblyman Mohd Yusni Mat Piah were appointed as board members.
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Anything could happen, Bung Moktar says on collapse of Sabah govt: Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin has not ruled out the possibility that the state government led by local party Warisan may fall to Perikatan Nasional (PN), as rumours swirl of a realignment of loyalties within the Pakatan Harapan (PH) ally. Speaking to FMT, the Kinabatangan MP said such things had happened before, noting Sabah's "track record" of assemblymen switching camps.
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Over half of Kedah division heads want Mahathir to helm Bersatu: Kedah Bersatu deputy chief Anuar Abdul Hamid said the division leaders have also pledged their unwavering support for ousted Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir as state Bersatu chairperson. "The leadership of Mahathir and Mukhriz is valid at the state and federal level based on Bersatu's party constitution, and this should not be disputed by any quarters," Anuar told Malaysiakini.
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'Appointments meant to lure Umno MPs to Bersatu but it's not working': Ministerial and other political appointments for Umno leaders were part of a plan to grow Bersatu by enticing them to defect, claimed Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman. He said this was revealed by Bersatu's top leadership as it sought to assure party leaders that Bersatu will not be marginalised within the Perikatan Nasional coalition and has a plan to eventually become dominant.
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Dr Mahathir, Muhyiddin will never reconcile, say Bersatu leaders: Bersatu supreme council member Muhammad Faiz Naaman told The Malaysian Insight the split has also culminated in there being three factions in the party - those aligned to Dr Mahathir, those behind Muhyiddin and a third group who want both to reconcile.
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Was the May 18 Parliament meeting a sitting or not? Does only the opening speech by his majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong alone constitute a Parliamentary sitting? Because if it is not, Parliament will by now stand dissolved and we should go for the 15th general election. To answer this, some people are already knocking on the doors of our judiciary. Will the courts hurriedly hear this alarming case? Because anything can happen between now "a possibly dissolved Parliament" and the time the courts dispose of this matter.
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Sidang Dewan Rakyat sehari penuhi formaliti: Pakar Perlembagaan [One-day Dewan Rakyat sitting fulfills formalities: Constitutional Experts]: Pakar Perlembagaan, Profesor Madya Dr Shamrahayu Ab Aziz tidak bersetuju dengan pandangan pihak tertentu yang menyifatkan sidang Dewan Rakyat pada 18 Mei lalu sebagai hari Parlimen tidak lagi berfungsi dan memainkan peranannya. Katanya, walaupun persidangan diadakan sehari dan hanya titah Yang di-Pertuan Agong tetapi tetap memenuhi formaliti Perkara 55 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.
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Opinion: Federalisation for a stable environment - The second paper by Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) fellow Tricia Yeoh on federalism is titled "The Political Economy of Federal-State Relations" and makes for concise but fascinating reading on how ministries, agencies and other federal bodies have been established and empowered over and above institutions and mechanisms at the state level: "the politico-bureaucratic complex".The paper delves into the political motivations of this phenomenon - some of them remarkably candidly expressed by political leaders - and also explores attempts to forestall or reverse this phenomenon in recent years.
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Probability of purging Dr M and his supporters from Bersatu very high, say analysts: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) would most likely see intensifying efforts to remove Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his supporters from the party, say several analysts. ... Dr Jeniri Amir, a political analyst from Sarawak, said Muhyiddin would be more dominant in Bersatu following the ROS announcement that Dr Mahathir is no longer the party chairman.
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Chinese Embassy donates 2,500 food packs to Jawi: China's Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian said many people were facing difficulties during this time. He said as such, the embassy decided to donate the food packs containing cooking oil, rice, milk and other necessities worth a total of RM200,000. According to Bai Tian, the embassy also tasked Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia (Ikram) and Mohd Chan Welfare Organisation to purchase 6,000 bags of rice to help poor Muslim families.
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In Malaysia, a Razor Thin Majority Rules During an Unprecedented Crisis: In this politically precarious position, Muhyiddin Yassin would need to tread carefully given that he may not necessarily possess the full numbers needed to fulfill all of his administration's legislative agenda while trying to appease different stakeholders. In the absence of a more solid majority, he has the option of postponing the Parliament meetings set for July and August 2020.
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Oil palm sector faces labour shortage, wants to engage more foreigners: Travel restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are causing labour shortages in palm plantations, officials said. About 70% of its plantation workforce is made up of foreigners, mostly from Indonesia. Recruitment, however, has stalled in recent months because of stay-at-home orders in Malaysia and other countries to prevent the disease spread. The government said this week the country's plantation industry, including oil palm estates, was short of 500,000 workers.
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民政党复兴之路
[Road to Gerakan's recovery]
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民政党剩下三个选择，第一，跳槽到希望联盟，第二，留在国阵，第三，成为独立政党。对于第一项选择，我认为不可行，首先，希盟内已经有行动党，民政党的政治结构与行动党非常相似，面上标榜着多元政党，实际上是由华裔主导的政党。其次，过去数十年来，民政党与行动党关系并不好，多年来站在对立，特别是在议席竞选上多年交手。在此情况下，我认为已有行动党在内的希盟不急着与民政党合作。
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COVID-19 Cluster at Malaysia Immigration Detention Center Includes 17 From Myanmar: Malaysian officials said Thursday they had detected a coronavirus cluster at the main immigration detention center in Kuala Lumpur after 35 detainees--half of whom were fro Myanmar- tested positive for COVID-19, the first time authorities have announced any cases at such facilities. In Geneva, meanwhile, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on migrant rights called on Malaysia to halt what he described as an ongoing crackdown on migrants, after weeks of round-ups and arrests in the name of curbing the spread of the virus.
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Ahli Parlimen Bersatu sokong pembangkang boleh gugur keahlian [Bersatu MPs who support the opposition can be expelled]: Wan Saiful berkata, jangan biarkan wujud kasta 'dewa' yang membolehkan individu tertentu menolak disiplin parti secara terang-terangan kerana ia kelak menjadi barah yang merosakkan parti.
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Pas main peranan penting, jadi orang tengah wujudkan kerajaan PN [PAS plays an important role as middleman to form PN government]: "Walaupun bekerjasama dengan UMNO, Pas konsisten dengan prinsip atau pendekatan dipegang sebelum ini," katanya pada Wacana Sinar ke-170 Perubahan Kerajaan: Antara Persepsi dan Perlembagaan yang dibuat secara langsung hari ini.
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选票没有白投
[Votes have not been cast in vain]
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首先国盟与希盟如今在国会两强鼎立、势均力敌局面，至少显示大马目前迈向类似英美的两党制方向，避免回到过去国阵一党独大掌握国会三分二绝对多数的一言堂年代。其二，目前也是大马历史上首次没有出现任何执政党的年代，因为国阵和伊党领导层皆表明不会参与组织国盟作为一个政党阵线，并只依据宪法第
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条款支持慕尤丁以个人议员身分任相。因此在这种特殊背景下，慕尤丁政府很可能只是过渡期政权。
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Opinion: Posers on constitutional position - ALL crises produce heroes or bystanders. Malaysia's frontline workers of the Covid-19 catastrophe were rightly applauded as national heroes by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in his Royal Address to Parliament on May 18. Ironically, the institution where this deserving tribute took place has been largely a bystander in the nation's fight against the pandemic....The Covid-19 crisis has further weakened the institutional efficacy of Parliament and raised riveting issues about government-parliament relationship.
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Myanmar
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Myanmar's integrity test in an international court: The clock is ticking down to a May 23 deadline for Myanmar's government to provide demonstrable evidence that it has taken substantive action in the first four months of 2020 to protect its Rohingya minority from genocide. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) imposed that deadline in January in response to The Gambia's petition for "provisional measures" to protect the Rohingya from "real and imminent risk" of genocide by Myanmar authorities.
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Plainclothed Arakan Army Clashes With Myanmar Military Stoke Arbitrary Arrests: The use of civilian clothing by soldiers of the ethnic Rakhine rebel Arakan Army (AA) in skirmishes with Myanmar's military in Rakhine and Chin states has led to a substantial increase in arbitrary arrests of villagers by government troops, sources said Thursday... According to the Thazin Legal Aid group, which is based in the Rakhine capital Sittwe, more than 500 people were taken into custody by the military and charged with having ties to the AA in 2019 alone.
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Philippines
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40
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Five Filipinos arrested for death threats against Rodrigo Duterte on social media: The warrantless arrests come about a month after Duterte appeared to give police permission to 'shoot dead' violators of the country's coronavirus lockdown. Observers say the arrests are illegal, while a doctor has called for more understanding of people making outlandish threats under quarantine.
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Singapore
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Singapore Sees Negative Rates Creep In With Flush Liquidity: The plunge in money-market rates comes as the Monetary Authority of Singapore promised to provide sufficient liquidity in the financial system to cope with a virus-induced crunch. As the MAS doesn't set rates, but instead manages the currency against major trading partners as a policy tool, the city-state's borrowing costs tend to track U.S. benchmarks.
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Thailand
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High time for curfew to go: The country's performance in controlling the spread of coronavirus is quite impressive, with new daily infections hovering in the single digits, if any at all, for weeks now. Also on Sunday, the government gave the nod for more economic activities to resume. The curfew is making life hard for many, especially those using public transport.
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Protest pressure builds as govt enters new phase: Stithorn Thananithichote, director of the Research and Development Office at King Prajadhipok's Institute, predicted the Progressive Movement led by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit will move into top gear after the upcoming debate on the three executive decrees authorising borrowing loan to kickstart the economy following the Covid-19 lockdown.
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Quick-fix coups and the unfortunate legacy of 2014: Some "successes" in governments connected to military coups spell danger for a country where many have grown immune to putsches and look to them for a quick fix to national problems, argues Chaiwat Satha-Anand, a professor of politics and government at Thammasat University.
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Covid-19 casts two spells on Thai economy: The Thai economy has its own structural problems, such as weak farm income, big income gaps, political uncertainty, ageing population and poor education. Despite these shortcomings, tourism helped stimulate growth. Thailand may have appeared to be a magical paradise for tourists with its beautiful beaches, rich culture and cheap but good food. But for some locals, the word "paradise" may be an exaggeration.
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Having Prawit at helm of Phalang Pracharat may usher huge changes: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is partly to blame for letting his people to openly fight for power at a time when it is necessary for the government be united in solving problems such as the rising cost of living, slumping economy and education as well as health concerns.What is even stranger is the fact that anti-junta parties such as Pheu Thai and Move Forward are both keeping quiet instead of slamming the core coalition party for focusing more on the power struggle rather than the public.
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Economic fraudsters may be `winning the war' in Thailand: PwC survey: A decrease in reported fraud and other types of economic crimes in Thailand over the last two years may indicate companies are not doing enough to protect themselves, a survey by PwC shows. ... It found that 33 per cent of companies reported economic crime and fraud in Thailand this year, down from 48 per cent in 2018. While on the surface this appears to be a positive development, lower reported crimes can indicate a bigger problem ...
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Vietnam
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Vietnam's secretive Communist Party embarks on a leadership transition: Since the Vietnam war, northerners have viewed the south as ideologically suspect. Hanoi and its surrounding regions have also hogged infrastructure development, paid for by the bustling south. If, as is likely, no one from the south is represented in the top leadership, says Le Hong Hiep of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a think-tank in Singapore, southerners must be promoted into the Politburo with an eye to the next reshuffle in 2026. Otherwise southern resentment will build.
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Vietnam slips in global business resilience ranking: Vietnam has dropped three places from last year to 91st in this year's business environment resilience index. Kevin Ingram, executive vice president and CFO of FM Global, said: "Especially after a crisis like Covid-19, resilience is critical for people, countries and businesses...
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Why 'Made in Vietnam' won't replace 'Made in China': Now that Vietnam appears to have won its health war against Covid-19 after recording zero deaths and winning international praise for its crisis management, speculation is rising the nation could also be an economic winner of the pandemic....there is widespread anticipation that the country will benefit from America's moves to economically "decouple" from China by moving supply chains out of China and into other regional countries including Vietnam....While the expectant surge of new investment from firms leaving China for Vietnam may soften the coronavirus-induced economic slump that every nation now faces, "Made in Vietnam" is not about to replace "Made in China" anytime soon - or even at all.
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ASEAN/Southeast Asia
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'Border-some' structures: The Foreign Affairs Ministry has sent a diplomatic note to the Vietnamese embassy over the setting up of tents by Vietnamese soldiers in a disputed border stretch in Kandal province's Koh Thom and Loeuk Dek districts... Mr Kimhong said the Vietnamese soldiers set up tents in areas where both sides have not reached agreement on demarcation and that is the reason why the Vietnamese government was asked to remove them. He said it is possible that the Vietnamese had an agenda by putting up the tents but the soldiers claimed they were there to make sure there is no illegal border crossings in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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Is ASEAN's COVID-19 response leaving migrant workers behind? Financially, MCOs have been costly for all ASEAN countries. While Malaysia's USD365 billion economy remains closed, RM 2.4 billion is lost each day. But existing regional imbalances in policy provisions could increase the risk of imported transmission as ASEAN members look to officially lift MCOs. There is growing concern over a new wave of infection when businesses fully resume because 30 per cent of the workforce in Singapore and Malaysia comprise foreigners. A rising proportion of the new COVID-19 cases in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are migrant workers. A more inclusive policy targeting migrant workforces are needed as these countries prepare to economically re-open.
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Leveraging ASEAN to respond to COVID-19: Though the COVID-19 Special ASEAN Summit provided much needed political momentum, the effectiveness of this regional response now depends on timely implementation. Vietnam, as the current chair of ASEAN, must initiate frequent leaders, ministers and officials conferences to ensure ASEAN can implement agreements made at the summit. The postponement of the ASEAN-US Special Summit demonstrated the stress COVID-19 puts on ASEAN centrality.
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Vietnam and Mekong peers pay economic price despite low virus tolls: Analysts at Maybank Kim Eng expect the growth rate for the four Mekong countries collectively known as CLMV to be more than halved this year, to 3% from 6.9% in 2019. Some experts warn that these governments may require international assistance to weather the crisis, even though their virus infections number in the hundreds versus tens of thousands across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc's five largest economies -- Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
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Asia Pacific
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55
.
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Safeguarding Food Security with Open Trade Policies: "Some governments have reacted to episodes of panic buying by implementing export bans or restrictions on certain food products, hoping to secure the availability of food," says Carlos Kuriyama, Senior Analyst of the APEC Policy Support Unit. Kuriyama, who is the author of the policy brief, explains that these measures could threaten food security and increase food prices, a detrimental scenario for citizens, especially the poorest households.
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56
.
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Analysis: Asian century began in May 2020 - Economic historians may date the start of the Asian century to May 2020, when most Asian economies bounced back to full employment while the West languished in coronavirus lockdown. Asia has emerged as an economic zone as closely integrated as the European Union, increasingly insulated from economic shocks from the United States or Europe.
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East/South China Sea
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57
.
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A Cold War Is Heating Up in the South China Sea: U.S.-China tensions over trade and the coronavirus epidemic are playing out dangerously on contested waters. China wrongly claims most of it as territorial seas. And as relations between the U.S. and China deteriorate into coronavirus finger-pointing and election-year posturing, the chances for a conflict in those waters are rising. In recent weeks, several U.S. warships - including a destroyer I commanded in the early 1990s, the Barry - have been confronted by the Chinese while conducting patrols. Why has this body of water become such a flashpoint, and what can be done to avoid an incident that could set off something bigger?
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58
.
|
US Freedom Of Navigation Operations In The South China Sea Are Counter Productive: For many years the U.S. has conducted Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) in the South China Sea in what it claims is a defense against potential threats to commercial shipping. It also justifies its military presence there as preventing China from bullying its rival claimants. But now its military maneuvers in defense of a country being bullied by China have been misunderstood as a possible FONOP against the very country - Malaysia - it was trying to help. This is more evidence that its FONOPs there are unwelcome and counterproductive and should be replaced by diplomacy.
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59
.
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Invasion by intimidation: Antonio Carpio issued a warning last week on China's "new warfare strategy" that should give Filipinos pause. Speaking at a live event on Facebook, he said China's "game plan" was to "win" the South China Sea "without firing a single shot." The strategy, he said, was intimidation.
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60
.
|
南海渔业资源保护刻不容缓
[Fisheries in South China Sea need immediate protection]
:
客观来看，越南管控渔船也存在现实难题，如渔船太多和监管投入限制等问题。与中国在南海日益萎缩的渔业活动不同，越南渔业尚处于高速发展阶段，但其近海的鱼类资源早已逐渐枯竭。另外，渔船和海上民兵是越南在争议地区展现存在和进行
"
维权
"
的重要手段，近两年更是被提到相当高的战略位置。越南一直将民兵自卫队视为重要国防力量，近些年还在不断加强。
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61
.
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Opinion: Should China compromise on South China Sea? - Analysts outside China are now arguing that it would be in China's long-term strategic interests to dial down its aggressive approach and compromise with its rival claimants in the South China Sea. To paraphrase, they maintain that China would gain strategic advantage by managing the disputes without coercion (at least overt and direct coercion). ...This argument ignores the strategic context and the core problem - US political and military meddling in the region. The US and China see each other as existential threats.
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Superpower relations and the region
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62
.
|
"
后冠病
"
中美争锋
东南亚如何应对
[How should Southeast Asia respond to US-China relations post-pandemic]
？新加坡尤索夫伊萨东南亚研究院高级研究员黎良福向本报形容，中国给予东南亚国家抗疫援助是
"
打对了牌
"
。各国纷纷对中国致谢，菲律宾总统杜特尔特在电视上说：
"
我不知道该不该说，习近平主席告诉我，他全力支持我们。
"
马来西亚外长希山慕丁用华语说
"
我们都是一家人
"
。
...
尤索夫伊萨东南亚研究院亚细安研究中心研究员黄河（
Hoang Thi Ha
）告诉本报，夹在中间的东南亚国家对中美的信任度原本就不高，预料未来这个信任度将更低。
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63
.
|
How China's expanding footprint puts it on a collision course with Trump's America, raising the spectre of a new cold war: From mask diplomacy and leadership at UN agencies to power projections particularly in the South China Sea, Beijing's expansion brings it increasingly at odds with Trump's America, pulling the world towards a new cold war
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