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The Debate
The Debate is our home for the best opinions from around Asia. Whether it is negotiating with Iran, responding to North Korean provocations, discussing Japan's looming demographic issues, or considering the new balance of power in the Asia-Pacific, some of the region's leading thinkers offer their take.
Taiwan’s Health Diplomacy Didn’t Start With the COVID-19 Crisis
By Marcin Jerzewski and Kuan-Ting Chen
Despite diplomatic exclusion, Taiwan has worked to provide wide-scale humanitarian assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic -- and beyond.
Who Is an Afghan?
By Prakhar Sharma
Attempts at nation-building in Afghanistan cannot overlook the need to craft an inclusive sense of national identity.
Time for Asian Countries to Put Aside Squabbles and Cooperate
By Kan Kimura
The pandemic poses risks that should transcend nationalist pride.
Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Chinese Persecution of Critics Hasn’t Stopped – It Has Worsened
By James Tager
While the world struggles with the coronavirus, China makes moves to extend its persecution well outside its borders.
Japan and South Korea Should Use the Coronavirus to Patch up Their Differences
By Rintaro Nishimura
It’s in both Seoul and Tokyo’s interest to get along.
Did Xi Jinping Deliberately Sicken the World?
By Ben Lowsen
PRC moral turpitude forces us to consider the unthinkable.
How the West Failed the Rest in the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Xie Tao
There is renewed discussion in some corners of the world about the decline of the West. Does that mean China is poised to lead?
COVID-19 Escalates the China-Australia Contest in the Pacific
By Philip Citowicki
China’s COVID-19 public relations push presents a major challenge for Australia, and the West broadly, in countering Chinese influence in the Pacific
To Help Save the US Economy – and Lives – End the China Tariffs Now
By David Firestein, Bob Holden, Mark Kirk, and Dan Slane
Leaving the tariffs in place will exacerbate the already enormous strain under which the U.S. economy is now laboring.
The Problem of Reporting on COVID-19
By Hannah Ryder
Without guidelines on reporting the background of people with COVID-19, media risk fuelling discrimination all over the world.
When Asian Economies Rebuild After COVID-19, They Should Choose a New Path
By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
The Asia-Pacific response to the coronavirus crisis must build a resilient and sustainable future.
Engaging China in 17+1: Time for the ACT Strategy
By Ivana Karásková
China has managed to build a system of interconnected relations in Central and Eastern Europe. How should the region respond?