There is an oft-quoted legal dictum known as “The Rule of Law” that posits that all people are equal before the law regardless of status or standing, and that all must obey the law. How then (one must ask) does such a widely-held principle conform to the recent ruling of the US Supreme Court that Continue reading »
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In Southeast Asia, hedging is a pragmatic policy that maintains options and mitigates risks. While some ASEAN states, like the Philippines, are aligning more closely with the United States, most are pursuing a more inclusive and selective approach to partnerships, ensuring concurrent engagement with China and the United States. This approach is more desirable in Continue reading »
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So is a graph or chart. All provoke questions and new ideas. The above chart clearly portrays China’s economic rise as seen by it winning over and hosting top companies in competition with the United States. It also conjures up some interesting questions… Item Continue reading »
Australia’s obsession with every little political twist or swing in the US seems to grow with each day, with the latest event to gain saturation coverage being the first presidential debate of the current American political cycle. The event was shown live on the public broadcaster, though it is highly debatable whether an Australian audience, Continue reading »
President Bongbong Marcos played down the ramming of a Filipino Navy boat by a Chinese coastguard on 17 June. Calling it an accident, not amounting to an armed attack, when the photos showed otherwise. It was an embarrassing afterthought for a Head of State. The incident at Second Thomas Shoal has clearly breached Article IV Continue reading »
China and the Philippines are battling over control of contested waters in the Pacific. So far there has been no shooting, but there have been casualties. And the Biden administration has committed Americans to go to war if even one Filipino dies—or so Manila apparently believes. That would be madness, of course. The Philippine archipelago Continue reading »