Asia-Pacific

Photo: Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters on 28 July 2019. CC BY 2.0

The Roots of Hong Kong’s Crisis

By Henry Huang*

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – Hong Kong, the pearl of the East, yet lives in such a turmoil. The ongoing political crisis and massive protest have drawn a large amount of international concern and attention. There are multiple explanations of what has happened in Hong Kong. Some may say it is for a “wider demands for democratic reform.”^[1] On the mainland side, some may argue, “‘The demonstrations in Hong Kong are not about rights or democracy. They are a result of foreign interference.’”^[2]

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 30 September 2019

White Paper Expounds China’s Relationship with The World

By Globaltimes.cn

BEIJING (IDN-INPS) – The State Council Information Office issued a white paper titled "China and the World in the New Era“ on 27 September. This is the first governmental white paper that has comprehensively expounded the relationship between China and the world. The white paper focuses on China's international outlook, its development objectives and the role it plays with a purpose to increase the international community's understanding on China's development.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 28 September 2019

Photo collage: (left to right) Kumnung Chantasit demonstrating how to plant cardamom; An example of how banana trunks and leaves are used to protect the young trees; One of the hard working Thai chickens. Credit: Bronwen Evans.

Thai Farmer Shows How ‘Sufficiency Economy’ Works in Practice

By Bronwen Evans *

CHANTHABURI, Thailand (IDN) – There are generally two reasons why Thai farmers embrace organics – one is health and the other is economics. For 73-year old Kumnung Chanthasit it was the latter. He had farmed the same plot of land in Thailand’s eastern province of Chanthaburi since boyhood. Despite the rich volcanic soil, he found himself sinking deeper and deeper into debt as he struggled to pay for the fertilisers and pesticides he thought he needed.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 September 2019

Photo: President Vladimir Putin with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at the Zvezda Shipyard on 4 September 2019. Source: en.kremlin.ru

India, Russia Synergize and Leverage Mutual Strengths

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) –The Modi-Putin relationship is, perhaps, the most fascinating of India’s external “affairs”. The reasons for their diplomatic bonding and evolving personal chemistry may be many. And, the dazzle of events and optics, as is the wont in any political romance, take the focus away from tangible outcomes.

This is what happened during the two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Russian port city of Vladivostok on September 4-5 for a summit meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Russia; 16 September 2019

Photo: On 4 September 2019, Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva who presided over the 9th MSP, handed over the Presidency of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to Ambassador Félix Baumann, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament as the President of the Second Review Conference. Credit: The Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Sri Lanka Praised for Advancing the Cluster Munitions Convention’s Objectives

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Sri Lanka has won kudos for a number of progressive measures taken during its presidency of the Ninth Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) that addresses the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm caused to civilians by cluster munitions, through a categorical prohibition and a framework for action. The Convention observed its ninth anniversary on August 1, 2019.

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 11 September 2019

Gunnar Myrdal Went Wrong with His ‘Asian Drama’

Viewpoint by Deepak Nayyar

The transformative experience of the last five decades shows that policymakers should approach development with a diagnostic mind and a healthy scepticism of magic wands, silver bullets, and universal prescriptions, writes Deepak Nayyar, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The following text is based on his input into a three-day global conference on ‘Transforming Economies for Better Jobs’ from 11 to 13 September 2019 co-hosted by UNU-WIDER and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 September 2019

India Calls for A Global Water Action Agenda to Restore Degraded Land

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI (IDN) – As COP14, the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) entered the second week, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the ministerial segment calling on the international community to set up a global water action agenda as the central theme to achieve land degradation neutrality (LDN).

: Devinder Kumar; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 09 September 2019

Photo: USS Boxer seen here off the coast of Australia, was deployed to the Persian Gulf in June 2019 as a result of increased tensions between U.S. and Iran. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

'Collective Security Act' A Possible Way Out of the Iran Crisis

Viewpoint by René Wadlow*, TRANSCEND Media Service

GENEVA (IDN) – It has often been mentioned that the Chinese characters for “crisis” is a combination of the characters for “danger” and for “opportunity”. Thus it is today for the Iran Crisis. The dangers are evident and have been around for a while. The Persian Gulf region has long been one of the flashpoints for conflict in the Middle East. The strategic significance of the region has been magnified by the region’s oil resources.

: Rene Wadlow; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 08 September 2019

Photo: Nepal still trying to recover from the devastating earthquake of October 2015. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne |IDN-INPS

Government Exam for Journalists in Nepal Riles the Profession

By Kalinga Seneviratne

KATHMANDU (IDN) – The democratically elected Communist Party government in this former Hindu Kingdom is trying to change decades old media laws that were enacted before the digital age and is running into opposition from journalists who fear that the government is trying to muzzle a free media.

“The communist party came to power with a two-thirds majority in 2017 and they didn’t come to enhance media freedom,” argues Kunda Dixit, Editor and publisher of the popular weekly Nepali Times. But he believes that the government does not want to do it suddenly.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 06 September 2019

UN Denies Endorsement of India in Nuclear Suppliers Group

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (IDN) – India, Pakistan and Israel, three countries armed with nuclear weapons, are not recognized as nuclear weapon states by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – a “privilege” bestowed only on the world’s five major nuclear powers: the U.S., UK, Russia, France and China, which are also members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)

But in a report titled “António Guterres backs India’s coveted NSG membership”, the New Delhi-based Economic Times said “India has received a shot in the arm for its civil nuclear program from the UN, with Secretary-General António Guterres announcing support for Delhi’s NSG membership in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi” (on August 25).