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By Agence France-Presse • Jul 26, 2020
A Malaysian court will hand down its verdict in Najib Razak's first corruption trial on Tuesday, nearly 16 months after it began probing the former prime minister's role in the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal. Here is the story behind one of Southeast Asia's biggest corruption scandals ever
By Mary Banfield and Morris Averill • Jul 20, 2020
With the Myanmar General Election slated for November, five years of stalled peace negotiations, broken promises and stunted economic prosperity for ethnic minority groups may prove the undoing of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party
By Bilal Hyder • Jul 15, 2020
With US-Myanmar relations at a low ebb on several fronts, not least the Rohingya issue, observers on both sides of the negotiating table have identified pieces of low-hanging diplomatic fruit that could get the two nations back on track
By Lee Ying Shan • Jul 09, 2020
From pandemic conditions, to alternative media sources, e-rallies and 'trials by internet', Singapore's 2020 General Election campaign period has been unprecedented in many respects, as well as one of the most contentious in recent history
For decades, Vietnam has been a geopolitically significant theatre of competition for the superpowers. Today, leaders in Hanoi must navigate and leverage the competing interests of China, the US and Russia to protect its citizens, national integrity and economy
By Alex Shykov • Jul 01, 2020
With Singapore looking set to hold its general election in July, rights group ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights have said that going to the polls during a pandemic will only worsen an electoral process already skewed in favour of the ruling People's Action Party
By Lee Ying Shan • Jun 18, 2020
The deadline to adhere to UN sanctions on North Korean businesses passed in late-2019, with notable efforts made to close ventures across Southeast Asia. But with attention elsewhere and the pressure off, sanctions adherence may fall on the backburner
By Alexi Demetriadi • Jun 02, 2020
Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sen will be portrayed as a "handsome hero" in a soon-to-be-published book chronicling the decisions he made during the Covid-19 pandemic according to the book's publisher
By Agence France-Presse • May 27, 2020
With the closure of the Philippines largest television network ABS-CBN this week, press freedom looks at its weakest since the Marcos era. Dr Tom Smith argues that the move has merely cemented what many suspected – Rodrigo Duterte has embraced dictatorship
By Tom Smith • May 07, 2020
The South China Sea territorial dispute has pitted Southeast Asian nations against China in a heated standoff for decades. Singaporean defence analyst Andy Wong argues that the city-state should lead ASEAN in aligning with the US on the issue, warding off Beijing's growing influence
By Andy Wong • May 06, 2020
April 30 marks 45 years since communist troops entered the city of Saigon, reuniting North and South Vietnam. Eye witness accounts from that day paint a picture of the scenes in what became Ho Chi Minh City, as Vietnam finally found peace after three decades
By James Springer • Apr 30, 2020
Dams, economic interests and political power are just some of the factors contributing to the over-exploitation of the mighty Mekong. With several competing transnational bodies established to oversee its development, will any of them halt the river’s decline?
By Andrew Haffner • Apr 23, 2020