https://www.scmp.com/rss/507460/feed Akash Sahu is an analyst in Indo-Pacific geopolitics and Southeast Asian studies. He was formerly at the New Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The Philippines and the United States have concluded their largest ever Balikatan exercise, with more than 17,000 troops taking part. On April 11, both countries also held their third 2+2 ministerial dialogue after a seven-year hiatus, committing to “modernising US-Philippines alliance cooperation” to strengthen “combined deterrence”. While a milestone for the relationship between these two traditional allies, the Balikatan exercise attracted objections from China, as expected. The exercise is... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3219028/philippines-study-how-balance-between-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3219028/philippines-study-how-balance-between-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 May 2023 00:15:16 +0000 Ahead of the 55th Asean foreign ministers’ meeting in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen mulled over a “new approach” to the Myanmar crisis. The country’s junta government had just executed four political prisoners. Since taking power in 2021, it has shown no willingness to implement the Asean “five-point consensus”, which calls for an immediate cessation of violence. Popular protests against the junta have not led to any change in governance, and clashes between government forces and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3190947/myanmars-junta-running-out-time-make-progress-asean-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3190947/myanmars-junta-running-out-time-make-progress-asean-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Sep 2022 01:15:10 +0000 The world is moving towards large-scale urbanisation. China’s Greater Bay Area is likely to become the world’s largest-ever urban agglomeration as the Chinese government plans to link 11 cities in the Pearl River Delta region. The development zone, home to financial and tech hubs like Hong Kong and Shenzhen, could have a combined gross domestic product of US$1.5 trillion. The total population will probably exceed 70 million as economic opportunities attract more people. Exactly how sustainable... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3152851/how-ai-can-be-key-water-security-chinas-greater-bay-area?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3152851/how-ai-can-be-key-water-security-chinas-greater-bay-area?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Oct 2021 01:45:12 +0000 The Indo-Pacific is often seen as the engine of global economic growth, given its vast human and material resources. However, climate change is setting the scene for a major transformation in the region as oceans are projected to become warmer, changing rainfall patterns induce flooding and drought in large areas, and rising seas threaten coastal ecosystems and salinisation of major agricultural areas. This will exacerbate geopolitical competition, interstate conflicts over resources and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3114900/how-climate-change-and-bad-water-policies-threaten-asias-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3114900/how-climate-change-and-bad-water-policies-threaten-asias-security?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Dec 2020 00:45:15 +0000 The signing by Japan and India last month of a new military logistics pact under an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement is worthy of attention, particularly given that Japan is revisiting its national security strategy and hinting at a shift in its defence policy from one of passive pacifism to proactive, multilateral pacifism. The fundamental takeaway from the agreement with India is Japan’s greater defence outreach to the Indo-Pacific, the confluence of two oceans, at the centre of which... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3105038/japan-keeping-southeast-asia-heart-its-indo-pacific-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3105038/japan-keeping-southeast-asia-heart-its-indo-pacific-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Oct 2020 20:00:08 +0000