Netherlands — 9DASHLINE

At China’s Universal Periodic Review, European states must defend human rights in Hong Kong

Written by Megan Khoo and Anouk Wear

The UPR is an opportunity to enhance what EU member states have been practising at the domestic and EU level over the past five years, and one which complements and solidifies their positions.

Faultlines, Europe and the Indo-Pacific9DLJanuary 23, 20249dashline, At China’s Universal Periodic Review, European states must defend human rights in Hong Kong, Megan Khoo, Anouk Wear, China, Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Palais des Nations, Geneva, United Nations, international human rights law, human rights, EU, Hong Kong, Beijing, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Albania, United Arab Emirates, Malawi, transparency, historical narrative, accountability, UN archives, enforcement, NGO, activists, human rights activists, multilateral, international law, Hong Kong Protests, Hong Kong’s human rights situation, European Parliament, export controls, elections, National Security Law, Jimmy Lai, pro-democracy, pro-democracy protests, media, press freedom, religious freedom, European Parliament Informal Hong Kong Watch Group, diaspora, Germany, France, extradition treaties, extradition, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, condemnation, human rights violations, Hong Kong Informal Friendship Group, Bundestag, political prisoners, Olivier Cadic, André Gattolin, André Vallini, Constance Le Grip, Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), Taiwan, Vilnius, Paris, Lithuania, Tiananmen Square massacre, Tiananmen Square, extraterritoriality, Chow Hang-tung, independence of the judiciary, freedom of assembly, Hong Kongers

Structural trends could force swing states to choose sides

Written by Marc Saxer

‘Partnerships of the Middle’ recognise the aversion of Asian powers against alliances and offer informal avenues of collaboration to safeguard global public goods.

Power Politics9DLNovember 7, 20239DASHLINE, Will structural trends force ‘swing states’ to choose sides?, Marc Saxer, China, United States, hegemony, competition, Indo-Pacific, superpowers, allies, balancing, balancing power, balancing game, balancing strategies, bloc building, bloc, technological bifurcation, bipolarity, band-waggon, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, military alliance, Marcos Jr., President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., President Marcos Jr., treaty ally, Russia, North Korea, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Burmese junta, Myanmar, ASEAN, bloc formation, binaries, Taiwan, cold war, hot war, hedging, Global South, Russian invasion, Russian invasion of Ukraine, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Malaysia, Pakistan, Beijing, International Monetary Fund (IMF), bailout, swing state, bamboo diplomacy, Thailand, Washington, Quad, Quadrilateral Dialogue, technology transfers, BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Bangladesh, Vietnam, diversification, supply chains, China plus One, multi-alignment, non-alignment, Biden administration, de-risking, decoupling, democracies, systemic rivalry, autocracies, rules-based international order, Tokyo, Canberra, G20, 5G, Huawei, Netherlands, South China Sea, geoeconomic, geoeconomy, geoeconomics, export controls, investment bans, strategic competition, friend-shoring, Eurozone, sovereign debt crises, the West, sanction regime, SWIFT, de-dollarisation, Renminbi, Russian System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), Chinese Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), Chip4, Partnerships of the Middle, Group of Friends for Multilateralism, Structural trends could force swing states to choose sides

Taiwan needs to establish its own World Bank — today

Written by Dr Oliver Scanlan

Taiwan has always sought ways to expand its geopolitical influence; expanding its ‘international space’ is a way of mitigating the risks of Chinese coercion. If establishing an SWF would serve this end, then a much larger development bank would be even more effective.

Editor's Picks9DLAugust 2, 20239DashLine, Oliver Scanlan, Taiwan needs to establish its own World Bank — today, Taiwan, Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), geopolitics, Development Finance Institution, development bank, foreign exchange reserves, “Taiwan Development Bank” (TDB), government debt, concessionary finance, loans, interest rates, investment, decarbonisation, economic leverage, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, Santiago Principles, Yang Chin-Long, Taiwan’s Central Bank, Germany, KfW, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Ethical, profitable, strategic sectors, Taiwania national investment fund, green energy, startups, joint ventures, circular economy, Taiwan’s “5+2” industrial strategy, resilience, adaptation, mitigation, official development assistance (ODA), “Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement” (IPETCA), New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Indigenous Nations, World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), export-led economy, whose sovereign debt is an attractive, international credit ratings agencies, Fitch, Public Debt Act, Net International Investment Position, Philippines, debt-to-GDP ratio, Austria, Netherlands, G20, OECD, South Korea, E3G, Nick Mabey, risk, US Inflation Reduction Act, supply chain, climate change, Chinese coercion, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

ASML, China, and Dutch national security interests

Written by Frans-Paul van der Putten

Given the potential geopolitical consequences of the Dutch assumptions for EU-China relations and Transatlantic security cooperation, the Dutch government should be more explicit about its considerations for further restricting semiconductor equipment exports.

The transatlantic puzzle in the Indo-Pacific

Written by Mathieu Droin

The brewing Indo-Pacific architecture is inherently “flexilateral” due to the breadth of factors and the rapidly changing stakes that determine its many actors’ positions.

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Sweden's EU presidency and the Indo-Pacific: A letter from Stockholm

Written by Axel Nordenstam

As Ukraine is the top European priority, it would make sense for Indo-Pacific partners to consider joint projects in and for Ukraine. The reconstruction of Ukraine could benefit from such cooperation.

Europe and the Indo-Pacific9DLMarch 27, 20239DashLine, The Swedish EU presidency and the Indo-Pacific: Letter from Stockholm, Axel Nordenstam, Sweden, European Union, Czech Republic, Council of the European Union from, European legislative period 2019-2024, Swedish EU presidency, Stockholm, European foreign policy, war in Ukraine, great power competition between the US and China, energy prices, inflation, European common market, treaty reform, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, European Green Deal, green transition, Fit for 55, European Commission, EU as a global actor, EU policy on China, 2021 EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, value chains, Australia, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Indo-Pacific Digital Partnership, Trade and Technology Councils (TTC), EU-ASEAN ties, ASEAN, Germany, Netherlands, France, Indo-Pacific Envoy, EU-wide Indo-Pacific Strategy, Erik Widman, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Japan, South Korea, Folk och Försvar, Washington, Russia, EU budget, Global Gateway, Brussels

The UN Human Rights Commissioner’s visit to China: Disappointment or unrealistic expectations?

Written by Christelle Genoud

Indeed, one of the visit’s results is a reminder that Western countries have not dealt with the difficulties Bachelet has been facing regarding China any more successfully.

What will the Czech Republic’s EU presidency mean for China?

Written by Filip Šebok

In July, the Czech Republic takes over the reins of the EU presidency from France. While Ukraine will most likely dominate the agenda, Prague is still set up to offer new impulses on the bloc’s China policy, especially within the larger framework of the Indo-Pacific.

Pacific9DLMay 31, 20229DashLine, Czech Republic, Czechia, France, Ukraine, EU, European Union, FILIP ŠEBOK, China, Prague, Beijing, Brussels, Andrej Babiš, Taiwan, Human Rights, Václav Havel, Beijing Olympics, Miloš Zeman, Vladimír Tomšík, Jan Lipavský, Lithuania, CEE, Tibetan Government in Exile, Tibet, Badiucao, Uyghurs, Czech Chamber of Deputies' Foreign Affairs Committee, 16+1, Indo-Pacific, Libor Sečka, The Netherlands, Germany, 5G, Prague Proposals, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Washington, US, climate change, Japan, South Korea, India, ASEAN, EU Commission, Russia, Huo Yuzhen, What will the Czech Republic’s EU presidency mean for China?, Czechoslovakia, indo-pacific, Beijing Winter Olympics, Olympics, Central and Eastern Europe, President Zeman, Uyghur, Netherlands, United States, China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe, Association for International Affairs, MapInfluenCE

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat: Challenges and unity

Written by Daniel Julian Savua

While the PIF started in the era of regionalism and cooperation between nations, it has now turned to individualism with some nations taking steps that are best for them rather than the region.

Preparing for a crowded Indo-Pacific: where to next?

Written by Gabriele Abbondanza

What we are witnessing is an increasingly crowded region, one in which the many strategies of interested states and organisations do not coordinate to a meaningful extent and therefore frustrate each other.

Human Rights, China and the Winter Olympics — can democratic unity prevail?

Written by Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy

After Taiwan opened a representative office in Lithuania under its own name, Beijing didn’t only retaliate bilaterally, but it went after Lithuania’s trading partners in Europe, undermining the integrity of the European single market.

2022: Europe and the Indo-Pacific

9DASHLINE invited a number of leading experts to explore the prospects for greater EU engagement with the geopolitical centre of gravity as several member states including Germany, France, and the Netherlands are now crafting independent Indo-Pacific strategies.

EU-India strategic partnership: Time to co-create the Indo-Pacific governance

Written by Stefania Benaglia

At the end of the day, since the two sides are building their strategic partnership on shared values, particularly multilateralism, these need to be promoted in the region. If the EU and India are true to their words, they must find a way to co-create a governance system for the region.

Extreme green: How China and Germany manoeuvre through climate extremes

Written by Julia Teebken

We must understand how social routines and changed daily practices interrelate with population vulnerability, how they can foster resilience and be supported by state institutions (e.g., flexible adjustment of working hours and clothes during periods of extreme heat).

France in the Indo-Pacific: A credible strategy in the making?

Written by Antoine Bondaz

The possibility of renaming the Directorate of Asia and Oceania of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, which includes the sub-directorates of South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Far East, to the Directorate of the Indo-Pacific should be considered.

The UK steps up defence diplomacy in Indo-Pacific

Written by Olli Pekka Suorsa

Unlike the Royal Navy’s much larger destroyers, the OPVs can offer more opportunities for regional engagement, including participation in multinational training and exercises, capacity building activities, and showing flag. After all, ‘showing up’ is the ‘hot currency’ in Southeast Asia.

India and the EU: Small steps through summits

Written by Chirayu Thakkar

Even though there would remain a considerable gap between the EU’s policy commitment to the Indo-Pacific and actual maritime efforts, India should appreciate and build upon the moral strength that the policy brings to multilateral efforts.

In Conversation: Rory Medcalf on Indo-Pacific Empire

It is fair to generalise that most Indo-Pacific countries welcome the new style of European naval presence in the Indo-Pacific, which is about partnership and cooperation, helping us consolidate the reality that this is a sea of many flags that no one power is entitled to dominate.

In Conversation9DLApril 26, 2021Rory Medcalf, Indo-Pacific, China, Australia, Cold War, Japan, Pacific, South China Sea, SCS, COVID-19, Taiwan, East Asia Summit, Quad, India, G7, D10, EU, European Union, Germany, Trump, United States, Africa, Indonesia, Netherlands, Britain, France, US, UNCLOS, Cyber, Capitol Riot, Biden, Obama, Kurt Campbell, Mira Rapp-Hooper, 9dashline