https://www.scmp.com/rss/270952/feed Thom Woodroofe is senior adviser on multilateral affairs to the president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Covid-19 has only catalysed the growing geopolitical interest in the Pacific Islands. Donors have been tripping over each other to prepare for an outbreak of the virus. But, at the same time, this has only exacerbated fundamental cleavages in the delivery of aid to the region. The Pacific has always had a messy web of donor footprints. Australia and New Zealand have been a constant presence. Alongside this, there is a split between the islands that recognise China versus those that recognise... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3113760/australia-china-and-other-aid-donors-must-realise-theres-better-way?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3113760/australia-china-and-other-aid-donors-must-realise-theres-better-way?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Dec 2020 19:30:14 +0000 Former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans famously quipped that Apec was "four adjectives in search of a noun". Almost two decades on, not much seems to have changed, with the gathering still lacking a coherent identity within the alphabet soup of Asian institutionalism. While last weekend's gathering in Vladivostok did agree to some important reductions of green tariffs, the continuing regional dispute over the South China Sea barely rated a mention outside press conferences and meetings... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1036060/still-searching-apec-identity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1036060/still-searching-apec-identity?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000