APAC Insider

(Disclaimer: This information was to the best of my knowledge accurate last time I looked on the respective websites, but may have changed now)Poor Japan–even on issues where it can validly claim to be a global leader its efforts get overlooked.In S

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit VejjajivaA temptation for governments, and Asia is no exception, is to start bashing (rhetorically) a neighbour to drum up domestic support, or at least to distract from problems at home. The trouble is, the passions that

As our contributor in Copenhagen, Stephen Minas, suggests in his latest dispatch from the climate change conference, there’s still an awful lot to do if any kind of deal is to be reached.Meanwhile, though, Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europ

Reports about the discovery of more than 30 tonnes of weapons (including rockets, explosives and missile components) on a plane inspected in Thailand, believed to have just come from North Korea, underscore the point I made recently about Pyongyang’s

Having mentioned last week the challenges facing a country the size of India in ensuring its integrity, it’s worth mentioning the challenges facing that other regional giant, China.As reported in the China Daily newspaper today, Chinese President Hu

Taiwan is an interesting island — despite its small size, it has the tenth-largest economy in Asia (26th in the world) and plays an outsized role in regional strategic reckoning because of its uncertain status. So polls here, even local ones, can be

An interesting piece of news out today about India’s plans to carve out a new state from Andhra Pradesh and create a new one called Telangana. The move for the underdeveloped region follows 50 years of sometimes violent demands for a separate state.G

The climate summit in Copenhagen already looks like it’s running into trouble with some leaked emails in the first couple of days outraging African nations (who worry a discussed goal of limiting warming to two degrees isn’t enough) and Saudi Arabia,

Image by Rich Lees(Contact: [email protected])The US has often stated that it wants Japan to be a more independent ally, though as is often the case with US policymakers the hope is that independent positions will always just happen to coincide w

Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hosted an interesting meeting over the weekend aimed at fleshing out his vision of a more integrated Asia community. Speaking at the gathering of regional media, think tank and government officials, Rudd said count

The dearth of information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden was underscored in the starkest terms in an interview aired over the weekend by George Stephanopoulos with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates. Asked when the last time was the Unite

A survey out yesterday conducted by the Pew Research Center on public and Council on Foreign Relations members’ opinions makes for interesting reading. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, the US public is turning inward and is increasingly of the mind that i