Sudeste Asiático

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the ASEAN Regional Forum, Vientiane, Laos, July 2024. Chalinee Thirasupa / Reuters

MundoAméricaMundoAsia,

The United States has recently been touting its “convergence” with Asian partners. At the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin titled his remarks the “New Convergence in the Indo-Pacific”.At the Brookings Institution the following month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken maintained that the United States enjoys “much greater convergence” with key Asian partners, citing improved ties with Japan and South Korea and the strengthening security links between NATO and the Indo-Pacific. And, also in July, at the Aspen Security Forum, Blinken reiterated that he had “not seen a time when there’s been greater convergence between the United States and our European partners and our partners in Asia in terms of the approach to Russia, but also in terms of the approach to China”.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia,

Mientras el mundo lidia con las consecuencias de la pandemia de la COVID-19, la aceleración del cambio climático, guerras y genocidios, muchas economías emergentes descubren que fueron abandonadas a la hora de ofrecer atención sanitaria de alta calidad a precios accesibles.

De hecho, casi la mitad de la población mundial carece de diagnósticos médicos oportunos, precisos y asequibles. En la región del sudeste asiático donde nací, cuya población es de casi 700 millones de personas, los costos directos para los pacientes están entre los más caros del mundo. En 8 de los 10 países de la ASEAN —Camboya, Indonesia, Laos, Malasia, Birmania, Filipinas, Singapur y Vietnam— esos costos representaron más del 30 % del gasto total en salud de 2022, cuando la tasa promedio en la OCDE fue del 20 %.…  Seguir leyendo »

A protester outside the prime minister’s residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 2024. Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters

MundoAsia,

In a move that would have seemed unimaginable just a few weeks ago, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ended a decade and a half of uninterrupted rule on August 5, resigning her post and fleeing the country. The military, which has seized power in Bangladesh on several occasions, urged Hasina to leave as a popular nationwide uprising threatened to overwhelm security forces. In surreal scenes, protesters wandered through the rooms of the prime minister’s residence in the capital, Dhaka, lounging on its furniture, posing for photos, and stealing. For now, reports suggest that Waker-uz-Zaman, the army chief, has taken the reins.…  Seguir leyendo »

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, right, receives four-star general epaulets, from President Joko Widodo in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Wednesday. (Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo)

MundoAsia,

February was a pretty good month for Southeast Asian politicians wanting to evade accountability.

On Feb. 2, Malaysia’s disgraced former prime minister, Najib Razak, learned that his 12-year prison sentence for corruption was being cut in half. Najib is now eligible for release in 2026 — in time for the next general election — after being convicted of one of the biggest financial thefts of the century involving billions of dollars missing from a state investment fund. Malaysians were understandably outraged, with one lawyer calling the decision a “slap in the face for justice”.

On Feb. 18, Thailand’s controversial deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was released from a prison hospital where he was spending time on charges of corruption and abuse of power.…  Seguir leyendo »

El capital catalizador tiene la llave para la transición verde del sudeste asiático

MundoAsia,

La Conferencia de las Naciones sobre el Cambio Climático (COP28), realizada en 2023 en Dubái, concluyó con un acuerdo histórico para el abandono gradual de los combustibles fósiles y triplicar la capacidad de energías renovables del planeta. Si bien este es un paso en la dirección correcta, ¿cómo podemos asegurarnos de que las economías emergentes cuenten con los recursos necesarios para lograr una transición justa a las energías limpias?

En el Sudeste Asiático esta es una interrogante que ha ido adquiriendo urgencia. En 2021, en la COP26 de Glasgow, ocho de los diez países de la ASEAN -Brunéi, Camboya, Laos, Malasia, Myanmar, Singapur, Tailandia y Vietnam- revelaron sus planes actualizados de reducción de emisiones, fijándose ambiciosos objetivos de cero emisiones netas para 2030 y comprometiéndose a alcanzarlos para 2050, una década antes de lo planificado originalmente.…  Seguir leyendo »

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, right, with vice-presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka in Jakarta Nov. 14. (Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images)

MundoAsia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo — known as Jokowi — is barred from running for a third term next year. So far, he is officially neutral on a successor but has signaled that he is leaning toward his defense minister and erstwhile rival, Prabowo Subianto.

The reason? Jokowi’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is Prabowo’s vice-presidential running mate. And Gibran’s presence on the ticket heralds the emergence of a new political dynasty in the world’s fourth most populous country and third-largest democracy.

It also heralds a worrisome development for not only Indonesia but also the other developing democracies of Southeast Asia. As democracies around the globe face growing threats — including in the United States and Europe — the world hardly needs more democratic backsliding.…  Seguir leyendo »

The leaders of Vietnam, South Korea, and Cambodia at the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, November 2022. Cindy Liu / Reuters

MundoAsia,

The defining geopolitical contest of our time is between China and the United States. And as tensions rise over trade and Taiwan, among other things, concern is understandably mounting in many capitals about a future defined by great-power competition. But one region is already charting a peaceful and prosperous path through this bipolar era. Situated at the geographical center of the U.S.-Chinese struggle for influence, Southeast Asia has not only managed to maintain good relations with Beijing and Washington, walking a diplomatic tightrope to preserve the trust and confidence of both capitals; it has also enabled China and the United States to contribute significantly to its growth and development.…  Seguir leyendo »

Harvesting the wheat crop on the occasion of Baisakhi at a village on the outskirts of Gurugram, India. Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images.

MundoAsia

Despite South Asia being one of the least connected regions in the world, its economies do share numerous similarities – and the fact that Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal are each currently facing a mixture of economic and political crises reflects replication rather than contagion.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coming as it does two years into a global pandemic, has led to soaring prices of fuel and wheat – the latter to a level last seen in 2008 which was a factor in triggering the Arab Spring.

This time it is South Asia’s turn to be the first region to undergo political and economic turmoil because of rising commodity prices, on top of a combination of economic mismanagement and the impact of the pandemic.…  Seguir leyendo »

Crisis ambiental en el mar del Sur de China

MundoAsia, ,

Si se tiene en cuenta que los buques de guerra, tanto estadounidenses como chinos, incrementan sus peligrosos juegos de presión psicológica, y China transforma atolones y afloramientos en islas artificiales militarizadas, el mar del Sur de China presenta un sorprendente fotografía de lo que significa la competencia estratégica sino-estadounidense. Sin embargo, el pedido de amplia reivindicación territorial por parte de China con respecto a tener soberanía sobre territorios en alta mar no sólo desafía los derechos territoriales de otros y la libre navegación de las rutas marítimas internacionales, también amenaza una característica central del ecosistema del sudeste asiático y, por lo tanto, el futuro económico de la región.…  Seguir leyendo »

Filipino fishermen prepare to sail despite alleged harassment by China in the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines won a landmark arbitral case against China over territorial claims in the South China Sea. Photo by Jes Aznar/Getty Images.

MundoAsia, ,

Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency has invited counterparts from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam to ‘share experiences and foster brotherhood’ as the six Southeast Asian countries most affected by China’s activities in the South China Sea. The gathering next month appears to have been triggered by reports of Chinese coastguard ships harassing Indonesian oil and gas exploration.

Indonesia has long acted as if it were not involved in the South China Sea disputes but is now forced to recognize that Chinese companies and state agencies covet the oil, gas, and fish resources available off its coast, and so finds itself in the same boat as its Southeast Asian neighbours.…  Seguir leyendo »

Myanmar ruler Min Aung Hlaing, left, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Friday. (AP)

MundoAsia

On Jan. 7, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen arrived in Myanmar for a two-day visit, making him the first Southeast Asian leader to travel there since the February 2021 military coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar opposition, which is engaged in a bitter struggle with the military regime, harshly criticized the Cambodian leader for legitimizing the ruling junta.

Hun Sen wasn’t acting out of altruism. He clearly expected the leaders of Myanmar to return the favor by supporting his own authoritarian regime. Unfortunately, such behavior is becoming the norm around the region. The elaborate network of mutual dependence among Southeast Asian autocrats is accelerating the steady decline of democracy.…  Seguir leyendo »