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Daily News on the Southeast Asian Region
19 May 2020  (pm) - 20 May 2020 (am)
Greetings

This issue of Daily News Alert includes a commentary by Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Visiting Senior Fellow , ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. You can click on his name to go to the article directly.

This is a daily information alert service containing articles and commentaries from international and regional news sources. The alert is released every Monday to Friday, focussing on Southeast Asia and special topics relevant to ISEAS' research interests. You can click on any of the links below to directly access the subject of your immediate interest. If you think your friends and colleagues would find this alert useful, please invite them to subscribe.

 
Country Studies
 
   Indonesia
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Southeast Asia Countries
 
Laos
 Philippines
Timor-Leste (East Timor)
 
Region
 
 
Special Interests (A-Z)
 

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Brunei
Brunei Darussalam

1 .
Friday Prayers? You Need A Reservation In Brunei: with Brunei reporting no new COVID-19 case during the last 10 days, authorities in the country have decided to open mosques and prayer halls in a phased manner with certain caveats in place.
Cambodia
Cambodia

2 .
May 20, a day which must survive: May 20 is no ordinary date in Cambodia. It is a day of potential; an annual memorialisation of the national past, an opportunity to deepen the peace we share today and, ultimately, to imbed into the national consciousness the principal of reconciliation established 14 years ago by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. It is a day central to Cambodia's experience with war and peace. But it is essential to our future, too.
 
Ly Sok Kheang is the director of the Anlong Veng Peace Centre, Documentation Centre of Cambodia.
Phnom Penh Post, 19 May 2020
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/opinion/may-20-day-which-must-survive

Indonesia
Indonesia

3 .
How "militarized" is Indonesia's COVID-19 management? Preliminary assessment and findings: Indonesian analysts have recently debated whether Indonesia's handling of the COVID-19 management has been "securitized" or even "militarized" as military (TNI) officers appear to be at the forefront of both national and local mitigation efforts.1 This essay provides a preliminary empiricaanalysis of the patterns and extent to which Indonesia "militarized" its national and local management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
[7-page PDF document]
 
Evan A. Laksmana, Senior Researcher, Department of International Relations CSIS Indonesia and Rage Taufika, Project Research Assistant, Defense Policy Research Project, CSIS Indonesia
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (Indonesia), 20 May 2020
https://www.csis.or.id/publications/how-militarized-is-indonesias-covid-19-management-preliminary-assessment-and-findings


4 .
EDITORIAL: Democracy in time of corona: Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 1/2020 is the first major sign of the country running toward an aberration of democracy. Not only has the state budget deficit been extended beyond the legal cap of 3 percent of gross domestic product, officials who order spending for programs related to COVID-19 will be protected from any criminal charges. It was this absence of accountability from Soeharto's New Order regime that brought students and activists onto the streets in the late 1990s.

5 .
RI's clean energy program faces setback: Indonesia fell seven ranks to 70th of 115 countries surveyed in this year's Energy Transition Index (ETI), down from 63rd last year. ... Going forward, the pandemic-led collapse of fuel prices and energy demand further threatens Indonesia's energy transition unless the government intervenes, the WEF told The Jakarta Post.
 

6 .
New joint command faces first test under COVID-19: The Joint Regional Defense Command (Kogabwilhan) was formed in September 2019, to organize the TNI's deployment into three theaters of operations - Kogabwilhan I, II and III - each responsible for overseeing the mobilization of combat units in Indonesia's western, central and eastern parts, respectively. Initially, attention on Kogabwilhan has been largely on its capacity to improve the TNI's readiness to maintain security at Indonesia's borders. However, its support of efforts to handle the pandemic has brought attention to its roles in non war military operations.
 
Tiola. Senior analyst at the Indonesia Program, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technology University, Singapore.
Jakarta Post, 20 May 2020
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/05/20/new-joint-command-faces-first-test-under-covid-19.html


7 .
Amien Rais Sebut Pemerintah Represif [Amien Rais says government is repressive]: Dalam kuliah politik selama 75 menit itu, Amien memang sempat melontarkan beberapa kritikan terhadap pemerintah. Salah satunya, ia menilai pemerintah saat ini tengah kebingungan dan juga hanya bisa berbicara tanpa tindakan dalam mengatasi wabah Covid-19.

8 .
Visi Kaum Intelegensia Indonesia Masa Pergerakan Nasional [Indonesian intelligentsia's vision in a period of nationalist movements]: Periode awal abad ke-20 sebagai latar sejarah masa Pergerakan Nasional tidak dapat dipisahkan dari aspek perubahan sosial, ekonomi dan budaya yang terjadi terutama pada akhir abad ke-19. Pada masa itu telah terjadi perubahan besar-besaran dalam pranata kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia diakibatkan oleh kebijakan pemerintah kolonial Hindia Belanda yang berlangsung selama abad ke-19.
 
DR Didik Pradjoko, Sejarawan dan Dekan Fakultas Sejarah UI
Republika, 20 May 2020
https://republika.co.id/berita/qakvea385/visi-kaum-intelegensia-indonesia-masa-pergerakan-nasional


9 .
Investing in people: Social protection for Indonesia's future:...many countries have responded quickly [to COVID-19 pandemic] with measures to prevent vulnerable groups from falling into-or deeper into-poverty, and to help people and businesses retain jobs. Indonesia, too, has responded quickly, using the strong foundation of social assistance and social insurance programs put in place over the past two decades.

10 .
Observasi Aspek Hukum Pelibatan TNI dalam Gugus Tugas Percepatan Penanganan COVID-19 [Observation of Legal Aspects of TNI Involvement in the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19]: Relasi antara militer dan otoritas sipil tidak terhindarkan sejak negara demokratis berdiri, sebagaimana terjadi pada Republik Indonesia (RI). Relasi keduanya diatur dalam hukum dasar UUD 1945 dan Peraturan Perundang-undangan lainnya. Hal ini menandakan bahwa terdapat dua prinsip utama yang melandasi relasi tersebut yakni; konstitusionalisme dan kendali demokratik.
 
[5-page PDF document]
 
D. Nicky Fahrizal , Researcher, Department of Politics and Social Change, CSIS Indonesia
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (Indonesia), 19 May 2020
https://www.csis.or.id/publications/observasi-aspek-hukum-pelibatan-tni-dalam-gugus-tugas-percepatan-penanganan-covid-19


11 .
Opinion: A Call for Help: Refugees Risk Catching Covid-19 in Overcrowded Shelters: - Last Friday, a refugee living in a shelter run by the International Organization of Migration, or IMO, in Makassar, tested positive for Covid-19. Since then, as many as four other refugees are also suspected of having the virus. Though the refugees are now in self-isolation for the next 14 days, they've already had close physical contact with other refugees in the same overpopulated IOM shelter, which means a cluster of Covid-19 outbreak in the shelter cannot be ruled out. The refugees are desperately asking for more Covid-19 testing to identify how many of them are infected and stop them from spreading the virus to other refugees who have underlying illnesses in the same shelter.
 
Erfan Dana is a 23-year-old Hazara refugee from Afganistan. He has been living in a refugee shelter in Batam, Riau Islands, for five years.
Jakarta Globe, 19 May 2020
https://jakartaglobe.id/opinion/a-call-for-help-refugees-risk-catching-covid19-in-overcrowded-shelters


12 .
COVID-19 crisis exposes holes in social aid disbursement: The COVID-19 crisis has exposed fundamental problems in the distribution of social assistance, particularly the lack of reliable recipient data, as the government scrambles to shield the most-affected parts of society from economic pain. ... The root cause of the problem, left unresolved for years, was the sluggish pace at which regional governments regularly update their list of beneficiaries, said Athia Yumna, a researcher at Jakarta-based SMERU Research Institute.

13 .
Asian Development Bank and Indonesia: Fact Sheet: Across 2019, ADB committed $1.5 billion in sovereign loans to Indonesia. These loans covered five projects encompassing financial market development, emergency assistance, public expenditure management, public financial accountability, and private infrastructure investment.
 
[4-page PDF document]

14 .
Is a COVID-19-like virus infecting the lungs of Indonesian democracy? The most recently issued Governmental Regulation (PP) number 17/2020 on the management of civil servants is another droplet on a huge seismic shift undermining Indonesia's democratic checks and balances. This PP 17/2020 revision on the management of civil servants basically gives the president full power and in a way very arbitrary authority to promote, demote, or fire any civil servant.
[3-page pdf document]
 
Tobias Basuki, Research Fellow at Department of Politics and Social Change CSIS Indonesia
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (Indonesia), 18 May 2020
https://www.csis.or.id/publications/is-a-covid-19-like-virus-infecting-the-lungs-of-indonesian-democracy

Malaysia
Malaysia

15 .
Dr M's return as PPBM chairman uncertain despite winning uncontested: A political analyst foresees PPBM moving to prevent Dr Mahathir Mohamad's re-election as chairman of the party. Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the Registrar of Society's (RoS) confirmation that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is the party's acting chairman could see disciplinary action taken against Mahathir and his faction for going against the party line, particularly with regard to the formation of the current government.
 

16 .
How Pakatan lost half its states, after prematurely ceding federal power in the 2020 political crisis: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition made an unimaginable sweep of state seats in the 14th general election (GE14) on May 9, 2018, and wielded control over eight out of 12 states up for grabs by the time the dust had settled. With Sarawak's state elections held separately from the rest of the nation, PH in the 2018 elections cruised to an easy victory over its main rival Barisan Nasional (BN) in the states of Selangor and Penang, and took over Negri Sembilan, Johor and Melaka, with the situation in Perak, Kedah and Sabah initially uncertain before coming under PH after some realignment of political camps.

17 .
Makna 'kerajaan beta' [The meaning of 'his majesty's government']: Mustahil Raja-raja Melayu menyukai keadaan di mana peranan Parlimen hanya dipergunakan untuk mendengar Titah Ucapan Yang di-Pertuan Agong sahaja. Ia tidak pernah terjadi. Sementara Raja-raja Melayu sama sekali bukan perisai atau tembok politik kepada mana-mana sekalipun. Termasuk kepada sebuah kerajaan yang nampaknya rapuh.
 
Hasmi Hashim
Malaysian Insight, 20 May 2020
https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/bahasa/s/247012


18 .
Mencari makmur bersama [In search of shared prosperity]: Untuk menyediakan kehidupan yang wajar buat semua rakyat Malaysia, WKB2030 menggariskan tiga objektif untuk dicapai, iaitu menstruktur ekonomi supaya dapat menyediakan pembangunan berkualiti untuk semua, menangani ketidaksaksamaan yang wujud akibat jurang kekayaan dan pendapatan serta membina negara menjadi sebuah negara yang bersatu, makmur dan bermaruah.
 
Mohd. Nizam Mahshar, ketua pegawai eksekutif Institut Masa Depan Malaysia dan arkitek utama yang bertanggungjawab dalam melahirkan WKB2030.
Malaysian Insight, 20 May 2020
https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/bahasa/s/247019


19 .
With 9 states, Perikatan Nasional is in control: Under our parliamentary democracy framework, the constitutional monarch's role in appointing a prime minister is at the tail-end of a political process. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's claim to command the confidence of the majority in late February was subsequently contradicted by the statutory declarations signed by 114 MPs in support of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. In such a situation of "political uncertainty", the proper thing to do is to allow the political process to play out in Parliament. If Perikatan Nasional indeed has the majority, there is nothing to fear.
 
Salleh Buang is a former federal counsel at the Attorney-General's Chambers
New Straits Times, 20 May 2020
https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2020/05/593970/9-states-perikatan-nasional-control


20 .
Cabaran kerajaan Perikatan Nasional [The challenges of Perikatan Nasional government]: Pengarah Eksekutif yang juga Timbalan Pengerusi Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE), Profesor Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman berkata, dalam situasi politik semasa, Pakatan Harapan (PH) berhak mengemukakan usul undi tidak percaya kepada kepimpinan Muhyiddin.
 

21 .
马哈迪和安华浮现龙头之争 [Mahathir and Anwar's battle for leadership] : 希盟依然是少数,但是,对慕尤丁政府仍然具有威胁。理论上,它只需要拉拢另外的 4 名议员,就可能推倒慕尤丁。马哈迪测量了水温之后,发觉并不是不可能的事;而他最大的机会,是策动慕派的土团议员倒戈。马哈迪可以在 7 月国会再试一次,不过,慕尤丁依然可以通过行政权力,拒绝表决。然而,马哈迪也可以利用政府提呈财政预算案的机会,继续倒慕尤丁。
 
郑丁贤
Sinchew
星洲网 , 20 May 2020
https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2274713.html


22 .
Mahathir vs Muhyiddin in a fight to the finish: Opposed camps have been locked in a bitter contest since the country's political battle lines were redrawn in late February, when a tussle for power led to the surprise collapse of Mahathir's governing coalition, triggering the nonagenarian leader's resignation and the royal appointment of his erstwhile deputy, Muhyiddin, as premier. The rivalry between the two is set to intensify as their factions vie to consolidate leadership within Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), or Bersatu, a political party both co-founded in 2016 along with Mukhriz Mahathir, the former prime minister's son, who was days ago toppled as chief minister of the state of Kedah in a political tit-for-tat.

23 .
India resumes purchases of Malaysian palm oil after 4-month lull: India has started to buy Malaysian palm oil again after four months following a diplomatic row, with buying spurred by a fall in domestic inventories and discounted prices. Reuters said the renewed purchases come amid improving trade ties between the two nations following the formation of the Perikatan Nasional government, with Malaysia signing a deal last week to buy a record 100,000 tonnes of Indian rice.

24 .
Pro-Anwar PH leaders were against Dewan Rakyat vote to choose Dr M's successor, audio reveals: Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders gunning for Anwar Ibrahim to replace Dr Mahathir Mohamad were not in favour of going to Parliament to choose the next prime minister, an audio recording of a heated, two-hour meeting days before the coalition's collapse in February has revealed.

25 .
Current govt won't last till next election, says Anwar after one-day sitting: Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says it's "very unlikely" the current government will last until the next election, even as his coalition lacks a simple majority in Parliament. Meanwhile, his Pakatan Harapan coalition will focus on ensuring its 107 MPs, of the total 222, remain intact, he added. The country is set to hold its next election before or in September 2023.

26 .
Was leaked audio attempt to drive wedge between Dr M, Pakatan? Bersatu man asks: A Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Supreme Council member has questioned the motive behind a leaked audio clip in which Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was heard attempting to delay his own party's exit from Pakatan Harapan (PH) released today. "If the purpose of this video is to break the relationship between Tun and PH, and to provoke [Datuk Seri] Anwar Ibrahim and the DAP, then it is evident that the 'Sheraton gang' has been mistaken."

27 .
Dr Mahathir no longer Bersatu chairman, says RoS: In a letter to Bersatu dated May 5, the RoS director-general Masyati Abang Ibrahim said the party's president Muhyiddin Yassin is now the acting chairman, as provided by its constitution. ... However, at the close of the party's nomination last March 16, Dr Mahathir was returned to the post unopposed.

Malaysian Insight, 19 May 2020
https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/246952


28 .
Jernihkan ambiguiti politik Pakatan [Clear ambiguities in Pakatan's politics]: Isu pertama yang perlu diberi perhatian, mengapa pimpinan PH meletakkan keutamaan politik ini di tengah-tengah kegawatan pandemik koronavirus dan darurat ekonomi yang boleh membawa persepsi yang salah kepada rakyat terhadap keutamaan pimpinan PH ketika ini. Kita mempunyai masa sekitar dua atau tiga tahun untuk mempersiapkan agenda dan jentera untuk menghadapi Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15.
 
Mahdzir Ibrahim, ahli Jawatankuasa DAP Johor.
Malaysian Insight, 19 May 2020
https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/bahasa/s/246770


29 .
Covid-19 and Penang2030: Refining the Goals and Defining the Means: The people empowerment and public participation in policy making which anchor Penang2030 and its expressed wish to create a family-focused green and smart state, provide fertile ground for growing a resilient post-Covid-19 society. The key issues that have called for most attention during the MCO are also making society cognisant of its weaknesses. The measures taken to remedy these should reasonably form the basis for long-term policy making, and even nation-building.
 
[16-page PDF document]
 

30 .
还是别小看土团党 [Better not underestimate Bersatu] : 现在乱世当儿,没有一方能占有绝对主导权的时候,土团党突围而出,继续在下届大选之后还当少数的主导者,也并非奇怪之事。马来人大团结的主旋律之下,我们非马来人看到的是,只要马来人主导的政府,谁当首相都没问题,但其实,故事没有这么简单。
 
郭健平 .
Sinchew
星洲网 , 19 May 2020
https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2274679.html


31 .
Who is the Opposition's PM-in-waiting? OPPOSITION leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was conspicuously absent from a press conference led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad after the Parliament meeting on Monday (May 18). In the press conference, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman Dr Mahathir was flanked on his left by Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, and on his right by Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir and Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal. Missing was any representative from PKR, which has the second-highest number of MPs in the Opposition bloc of 109 out of the 222 MPs in Parliament.

32 .
Two Bersatu supreme council members claim Dr M first mooted idea of joining hands with Umno, PAS: The idea of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) joining hands with Malay-based parties Umno and PAS to ensure political stability was first mooted by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself, as far back as right after the last general election, two Bersatu supreme council members have claimed. Wan Saiful Wan Jan and Datuk Razali Idris said Dr Mahathir had then told the supreme council that Bersatu had failed to gather the Malay votes in the 14th General Election (GE14) in May 2018 under Pakatan Harapan, and that the Malays were deemed "politically unhappy".

33 .
After taking Mukhriz Mahathir's Kedah, Muhyiddin's PN coalition targets other states: Having wrested control of rival Mahathir Mohamad's home state Kedah last week, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition is now setting its sights on three of the four remaining states controlled by the opposition. The Straits Times understands that horse-trading is under way in the eastern state of Sabah, where Warisan president Shafie Apdal is under threat from predecessor Musa Aman, despite currently commanding over two-thirds of the state assembly. While the federal opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) is the most precarious in Negeri Sembilan, it is in neighbouring Selangor, Malaysia's richest state, where efforts to destabilise the state government have already begun.

34 .
Asian Development Bank and Malaysia: Fact Sheet: ADB supports and facilitates Malaysia's active involvement in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), and the Coral Triangle Initiative. Priorities include cross-border infrastructure projects, economic corridor and border development, energy cooperation, and coordinated management of coastal and marine ecosystems.
 
[4-page PDF document]
Myanmar
Myanmar

35 .
Asian Development Bank and Myanmar: Fact Sheet: ADB operations in Myanmar focus on infrastructure for transport, energy, and urban development; education and training; and rural development.
 
[4-page PDF document]
Singapore
Singapore

36 .
Asian Development Bank and Singapore: Fact Sheet: this ADB Fact Sheet provides information on Singapore's contributions to ADB in terms of capital subscription and funding, the country's delegates to ADB, and the involvement of Singaporean companies and consultants in ADB projects.
 
[4-page PDF document]
Thailand
Thailand

37 .
Thailand: Deadly crackdown sees no justice after ten years: Ten years ago today, Thailand witnessed one of the deadliest government crackdowns in the country's history. While protest leaders and demonstrators have faced criminal prosecutions, no justice, truth or reparation has been served to families of those killed during the violence.
Vietnam
Vietnam

38 .
Vietnam's textile and garment industry hit hard by COVID-19: With a supply chain that over relies on only a few key partners, Vietnam's textile and garment industry is among the country's hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Vietnam has traditionally focussed on garment production with little capacity for fabrics manufacturing. It is estimated that Vietnam imports up to 89 per cent of fabrics - 55 per cent from China, 16 per cent from South Korea, 12 per cent from Taiwan and 6 per cent from Japan. US and EU markets account for more than 60 per cent of Vietnam's garment exports.
 
Jason Q Nguyen and Quan V Le, Vin University
East Asia Forum, 19 May 2020
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2020/05/19/vietnams-textile-and-garment-industry-hit-hard-by-covid-19/


39 .
Vietnam looks to call end to coronavirus as Assembly nears: Vietnam's first session of the 2020 National Assembly starts on Wednesday, with the legislative body formed in 1946 to hold online meetings for the first time ever to limit the risk of a new outbreak of the coronavirus. The country's constitution stipulates the Assembly is the highest organ of state power. The legislative session, which is scheduled to conclude on June 18, comes as the communist-led country emerges from the pandemic.

40 .
Preservation of President Ho's embalmed body been mastered: Colonel Dinh Quoc Hung, Political Commissar of the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Protection High Command, talks about the preservation of the late President's embalmed body.

41 .
VN enterprises need protection from takeovers: experts: Foreign investors are eyeing processing and manufacturing industries with 822 deals worth more than USD1 billion, wholesale and retail, automobile and motorbike repair services with more than 1,000 deals worth USD500 million. [Minister of Planning and Investment (MPI) Nguyen Chi Dung] said difficulties caused by supply disruptions could not be overcome soon and would continue impacting many businesses and drive up M&A transactions, posing risks that businesses could be bought at low prices.

42 .
Vietnam ranks 2nd in top 10 fastest growing wealth markets: Vietnam ranked second, following Bangladesh, in the top 10 fastest growing wealth markets from 2010 to 2019, the Wealth-X Company revealed the ranking in its new report titled "A Decade of Wealth".
 
[Link to report "A Decade of Wealth" ]

43 .
Import-export turnover with China climbs to over USD35 billion: The Department's four-month statistics show Vietnamese exports to the northern neighbour enjoyed a significant annual increase of 22.1%, while imports decreased by 1.6%. At present, China has maintained its position as Vietnam's largest importer, accounting for 28.7% of the country's total import turnover during the reviewed period. It is also Vietnam's second largest export market after the United States, enjoying a market share of 15.7% of the country's total turnover.

44 .
Asian Development Bank and Viet Nam: Fact Sheet: ADB's investments in Viet Nam will enhance transport connectivity, urban development, access to quality education, health security, environmental sustainability, and integration into the regional and global economy. The bank has also been supporting government efforts to strengthen, deepen, and broaden the reach of Viet Nam's finance sector.
 
[4-page PDF document]
SEA
ASEAN/Southeast Asia

45 .
Cybercrime in Southeast Asia: The purpose of this report is to highlight how rooted in the conventional world cybercrime actually is. In many cases, there's a strong offline dimension, along with a local one. All cyberattacks have one or more people behind them. Some of those offenders know each other in person. All are physically based somewhere and are the product of local socio-economic conditions. As a result, we see different 'flavours' of cybercrime coming out of different parts of the world. The specific focus of this analysis is on the nature of cybercrime within Southeast Asia and the local dynamics therein.
 
Jonathan Lusthaus
Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 20 May 2020
https://www.aspi.org.au/report/cybercrime-southeast-asia


46 .
How sand mining puts Southeast Asia's farmers at risk: Farmers in Southeast Asia face increased pressure to feed the region during the pandemic, but on top of record droughts and climate change, they're now facing impacts from sand mining... a sprawling industry fueled by demand for concrete and glass for cities and infrastructure projects.

ASEAN-China

47 .
疫情对中国与东南亚经贸交流的影响 [Impact of pandemic on China-Southeast Asia trade] : 无论是从广度还是从深度来看,今天中国与亚细安的经济联结,比以往任何时候都要高。中国成为全球第二大经济体,占全球经济总量达到 16% 。中国因素对于亚细安经济最直接的影响,来自两个方面。首先,亚细安旅游业收入依赖中国游客消费。亚细安旅游自然资源丰富、人文色彩多元、景色风光独特,加上邻近中国,因此这一区域备受中国游客青睐。 2018 年中国游客到访东南亚超过 3000 万人次。来自中国的游客占亚细安各国入境游客的比重非常高,尤其是泰国、越南和柬埔寨。
 
余虹是新加坡国立大学东亚研究所高级研究员
Lianhe Zaobao
联合早报 , 20 May 2020
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/forum/views/opinion/story20200520-1054679


ASEAN-US

48 .
OPINION: ASEAN-US: Partners in beating COVID-19, building resilient, prosperous region: We start from a strong foundation with $294 billion in two-way goods trade in 2019 and $273 billion of US, foreign direct investment across ASEAN. We will continue to provide economic technical support to the ASEAN Single Window, the US-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership, and other programs. While we focus on overcoming the COVID crisis, we will remain vigilant against any efforts to undercut sovereignty or economic independence - including in the South China Sea or along the Mekong River.
 
Heather Variava is charge d'affaires ad interim, United States Mission to Indonesia and Melissa Brown is charge d'affaires ad interim, US Mission to ASEAN.
Jakarta Post, 19 May 2020
https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/05/19/asean-us-partners-in-beating-covid-19-building-resilient-prosperous-region.html


49 .
Promoting Values In Southeast Asia Especially During COVID-19: The governments of some countries in Southeast Asia have been playing Russian roulette with their citizens' lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of ensuring the public's good, leaders in Indonesia and Cambodia downplayed or downright denied the threat posed by the virus. Meanwhile, other leaders, like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, are using COVID-19 as an excuse to amass power. The U.S. should present a counter-narrative of values-based policy that prioritizes the rights of Southeast Asians and calls on their own governments to do the same.
 
Olivia Enos, Researcher at Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation
Forbes, 18 May 2020
https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviaenos/2020/05/18/promoting-values-in-southeast-asia-especially-during-covid-19/ - 3fd29c3c6be1

AP
Asia Pacific

50 .
Fast-Tracking the SDGs: Driving Asia-Pacific Transformations: This report focuses on six interlinked transformative entry points that can help the Asia and Pacific region deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 under the Global Decade of Action. Data and findings presented are intended to inform regional and global dialogue on sustainable development as well as national and regional implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
 
[92-page PDF document]

51 .
Covid-19: The need to aid Asia to open up: The example of Bangladesh shows that large economic responses are needed from the international community. Urgent funding for humanitarian priorities is required as well. The detection, over the past few days, of Covid-19 in the huge Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox's Bazar is an alarming development. The likelihood that the virus will now quickly spread poses grave risks both for the one million Rohingya refugees in the camp as well as for the wider Bangladesh community nearby. Developing countries in Asia are struggling to cope with widespread impacts of the crisis such as this as well as instability across international financial markets.
 
Haider A. Khan & Peter McCawley
Interpreter, 20 May 2020
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/covid-19-need-aid-asia-open


52 .
The Launch of an Ideological Cold War in 2020: The US Perspective: Inseparable as Trump and Xi are in the trade wars, the geopolitical maneuvering, and now the pandemic's impact, we must also recognize that they represent two contrasting systems both of internal governance and of international order. When the Cold War ended, the system led by the US was victorious over the Soviet-led communist bloc, leading Mikhail Gorbachev to act. In the new era from the 2020s, the terms of the struggle for supremacy have changed, but there is unlikely to be a clear winner. Both democratic rule, symbolized by Washington, and communist party rule, embodied in Beijing, have failed.
 
Gilbert Rozman
Asan Institute for Policy Studies, 19 May 2020
http://www.theasanforum.org/the-launch-of-an-ideological-cold-war-in-2020-the-us-perspective/


53 .
Are Asian currencies at risk?After two months of turmoil, financial markets in Asia have stabilised. The region's currencies weakened sharply against the US dollar in the early days of the Covid-19 crisis. But they have now bounced up, even though many are trading at levels that are generally weaker than where they were pre-crisis. Still, there is no room for complacency. Asian currencies continue to be at risk as global investors remain nervous. The unsettled global economy, continuing virus risks and geo-political tensions could easily trigger another bout of financial turbulence during which our region's currencies could again come under severe stress.
 

54 .
ASIA INSIGHT: Asia faces financial health check after going big on stimulus: In Southeast Asia, Malaysia's stimulus comes to 15% of the economy's size, Singapore's is 13%, while the Philippines and Indonesia are spending 7.8% and 3.9%, respectively. Thailand's package of around USD67 billion accounts for about 12% of its GDP.
SCS
East/South China Sea

55 .
As Jakarta trims defence, Beijing makes waves in the South China Sea: The Covid-19 outbreak has hit hard for Southeast Asian economies. Anticipating more shocks to come, several countries have already moved to cut defence spending, seeing the military as a budget line that can be readily reduced. [...] Yet these cuts come at a time of growing maritime security threats in the region. If anything, the pandemic has made dangers even more urgent.
 

56 .
Assessing China's Assertiveness at Commodore Reef: The incident earlier this year between Philippine and Chinese naval vessels near Commodore Reef foreshadows dynamics that might characterize regional maritime security in the face of an increasingly assertive China. In this regard, it is essential to reexamine the incident through the lens of international law and good order at sea to understand its implications.
 
Christian Vicedo is a security analyst based in Manila.
Diplomat, 18 May 2020
https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/assessing-chinas-assertiveness-at-commodore-reef/


 


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