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Maria Siow
Senior Correspondent, Asia
Maria Siow is a long-time China-based correspondent and analyst with keen interest in East Asia. Maria has a masters degree in international relations.
Maria Siow is a long-time China-based correspondent and analyst with keen interest in East Asia. Maria has a masters degree in international relations.
Areas of Expertise:
Chinese foreign relations, Asian affairs, China’s public diplomacyLanguages Spoken:
English, Mandarin
The initiative aims to break China’s near-monopoly, but private-sector caution and a history of unfulfilled pledges stand in the way.
Analysts warn that a lack of commitment by the four-member bloc on the project could open the door for China to expand its economic clout.
Analysts say the US defence secretary’s taunts ring hollow given Washington’s own record of undermining alliance obligations.
The military leader’s first presidential trip to New Delhi signals pragmatic engagement as India moves to counter rising Chinese influence.
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Restarting the shelved US$3.6 billion Myitsone Dam project could ultimately come down to Beijing’s ‘risk tolerance’.
Japan scrambled its fighter jets 448 times in nine months last year. Most of the intercepts involved Russian or Chinese aircraft.
Japan is a key counterweight for the Philippines to deal with its maritime challenges in the South China Sea, analysts say.
With submarine projects stalled and frigate funding cut, Thailand’s fleet risks being outpaced by regional rivals.
Energy security and supply chains topped the summit’s formal agenda. The subtext was a fear of ‘alliance abandonment’, analysts say.
Analysts say US-controlled parts may have been a factor in Norway’s revoked export licences, underscoring risks for Asian defence buyers.
Joint energy security is easy to endorse in principle, yet the bloc has a stubborn record of leaving its emergency frameworks untouched.
Bangladesh’s new prime minister has formally asked China to help with a long-delayed river project near the sensitive Siliguri Corridor.
Can a Philippine-led maritime hub succeed? Observers say the plan touches on a dispute other members are loath to broach.
Virtual talks may offer a ‘sensible middle ground’ for reconciliation after Myanmar’s years in the political wilderness, analysts say.
Roger Stone has been commissioned to rebuild relations with the US, though analysts doubt Myanmar can escape its pariah status.
President To Lam’s agenda during his visit to New Delhi is expected to include a deal for Vietnam to buy India’s BrahMos missiles.
Shared concerns about trade coercion and energy shocks are driving the two middle powers to ‘institutionalise’ their partnership.
Frigate and submarine sales are reportedly on the cards as Tokyo’s defence minister tours the region.
The pact allows up to ‘five warships, 10 aircraft and 3,000 troops’ to be stationed in each other’s territory for five years.
Tokyo has offered to give Delhi the plans to its US$500-million Mogami-class ship so that it can be built in India using Japanese materials.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are united in upholding the principle of free passage but this must be ‘actively maintained’, analysts say.
The former Bangladeshi leader and close Indian ally remains ‘a strategic asset for Delhi’, an analyst says.
The formalised deal offers Canberra a strategic alternative to uncertain US defence ties, analysts say.
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is now due for release in 2043 – provided she survives to the age of 97.
For decades, Indonesia’s standing was a given. A new survey suggests the region’s opinion leaders are no longer so sure.
Analysts say Indonesia worries about its neutrality as Tokyo ramps up ties with the US and lags behind China on green investment.
Indonesia is likely to resolve the drone issue through ‘quiet diplomacy’ and not escalate it into a major row, analysts say.
A survey by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute shows respondents trusted Japan more as a power than the EU, the US, China and India.
Internal warnings reveal a government split over risks that blanket access for US warplanes could drag Indonesia into foreign conflicts.
