supply chains — 9DASHLINE

The EU’s Global Gateway Initiative: Infrastructure cooperation with Southeast Asia

Written by Dr Alfred Gerstl and Nick Nieschalke

The investment in the Global Gateway Initiative (GGI) indicates the EU’s stronger global focus on infrastructure and connectivity partnerships within a dedicated scheme.

Europe and the Indo-Pacific, In Focus9DLMay 6, 20249dashline, The EU’s Global Gateway Initiative: Infrastructure cooperation with Southeast Asia, Dr Alfred Gerstl, Nick Nieschalke, EU, European Union, Indo-Pacific strategy, EU Global Gateway Initiative, Global Gateway Initiative, GGI, Indo-Pacific, Africa, Global South, geostrategic challenges, geo-economic challenges, EU institutions, EU member states, China, BRI, private sector, EU funds, Europe-Asia connectivity programme, infrastructure, connectivity partnerships, Brussels, Southeast Asia, alternative models of governance, economic benefits, values-based foreign policy, rules-based order, ASEAN, US, investment, de-risking, green transition, supply chains, energy supply, environment, health, education and research, energy, digital connectivity, UN SDG, sustainability, cooperation, Bac Ai hydropower plant, Vietnam, energy imports, net zero carbon emissions, electricity, hydropower, Hanoi, Beijing, environmental damages, lighthouse project, Philippines, Copernicus, natural disasters, climate change, Manila, soft power tool, geopolitical ambitions, security actor

In Forum: 2024 — US Strategy and the Indo-Pacific

To what extent can the US compete with China if it does not offer more economic opportunities to Indo-Pacific countries, especially due to mounting doubts about its reliability as a security guarantor in the region?

We invite several experts to assess this state of affairs.

In Forum: 2024 — China’s policy towards the West

China and Australia appear to have patched things up, and more conciliatory tones are even heard about relations with the United States following Xi’s visit in November. In this In Forum, 9DASHLINE asks a number of experts to weigh in on whether we can expect improving ties to continue through 2024.

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Increased engagement with Taiwan needs less rhetoric and more (quiet) action

Written by Dr Simona Grano

The key question remains to define and push for concrete tools and policies through which Europe can transform its growing solidarity towards Taiwan into a foundational basis of Europe’s China policy, without failing because of hindrances developing out of tight economic dependencies with China.

Europe and the Indo-Pacific9DLDecember 20, 20239DashLine, Simona Grano, Increased engagement with Taiwan needs less rhetoric and more (quiet) action, China, Taiwan, geopolitics, geopolitical competition, US, trade, Beijing, Taiwan Strait, business, balance, democracy, Taiwan’s autonomy, universal public goods, COVID-19 pandemic, supply chains, semiconductor industry, like-minded, Russian invasion of Ukraine, human rights, Taiwan Issue, global economy, European Union, chip manufacturing industry, European Chips Act, trade agreement, China’s economic coercion, diversification, economic dependence, parliamentarian delegations, World Health Assembly (WHA), INTERPOL, ernational Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), COP28, public health, climate change, civil society, think tanks, NGOs, Taipei, Chinese trade practices, EU-China summit, de-risking

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

The Quad’s public goods approach: countering the BRI

Written by Muhammad Faizal Bin Abdul Rahman

Even as it coordinates with other Indo-Pacific strategies and the G20, the priority for the Quad should be to make the geopolitical landscape more amenable to engagement with ASEAN.

Emerging Issues9DLApril 26, 20239DashLine, The Quad’s public goods approach: countering the BRI, Muhammad Faizal bin Abdul Rahman, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), Quad, China, geopolitics, 2008 global financial crisis, ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), trade, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), economic coercion, Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), South China Sea, public goods, vaccines, cybersecurity, critical and emerging technologies (CET), outer space, offset China’s influence, Quad Ministerial Meeting, New Delhi, free and open Indo-Pacific, India, US, Australia, Japan, East China Sea, emerging norms, rules, and standards, open, transparent, and secure 5G networks, Open-RAN (Radio Access Network) solutions, Huawei, China's ‘national champions', Nokia, Ericsson, Prague Proposals on Telecommunications Supplier Diversity, democratic values, norms and rules on digital infrastructure development, supply chains, authoritarian governments, countries of origin, surveillance of Uighurs in Xinjiang, transparency, The State of Southeast Asia 2023 Survey Report, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, China's Global Security Initiative (GSI), Munich Security Conference (MSC), Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, AUKUS, missile defence drills, South Korea, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Exercise Malabar, Malaysia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Indo-Pacific NATO, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, minilaterals, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, alliance, European Union’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, Japan’s ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ vision, connectivity, G20, 2019 Osaka Summit, Putin-Wang meeting in Moscow, Russia, ASEAN dialogue partners, Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo, democracy vs. authoritarianism, Canada, China-US tensions, THE QUAD’S PUBLIC GOODS APPROACH: COUNTERING THE BRI

2023: The future of the QUAD in the Indo-Pacific

As a reinvigorated Quad steps up its engagement, some observers have called for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue to establish a permanent presence in the Indo-Pacific via a standing maritime force. But how viable is this idea?

Pacific9DLJanuary 11, 20239dashline, The future of the QUAD in the Indo-Pacific, Quad, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, standing maritime force, Blake Herzinger, United States, military, vaccination, supply chains, climate, maritime security, Maritime Domain Awareness initiative, Quad vaccine partnership, Beijing, China, Australia, India, Japan, Horn of Africa, military alliance, Indian Ocean, New Delhi, South or East China Seas, East China Seas, South China Sea, navy, Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, Gulf of Aden, maritime trade, geoeconomic, Pacific islands, Canberra, Pacific arc, Retired US Admiral Gary Roughead, Pentagon, Washington, defence planning, sea control, Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Free and Open Indo-Pacific, Indo-Pacific, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine, rule of law, sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom of navigation and overflight, Quad Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief meeting, Asian NATO, Quad Leaders’ Meeting, Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, Oceania, Southeast Asia, Taiwan Straits, Korean peninsula, ASEAN, Canada, south korea, Taiwan

Nguyen Phu Trong’s Beijing trip: Safeguarding regime-state security

Written by Phan Xuan Dung

As Vietnam’s most senior politician and the architect of the ‘bamboo diplomacy’ concept, Trong should promote efforts to update Vietnam’s strategic thinking, thereby enabling the country to bend and sway in the current geopolitical headwinds with greater flexibility.

Power Politics9DLNovember 18, 20229DashLine, Nguyen Phu Trong’s Beijing trip: Safeguarding regime-state security, Phan Xuan Dung, Nguyen Phu Trong, Trong, 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress, Vietnamese Communist Party, VCP, Beijing, China, Hanoi, Xi Jinping, Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic partnership, regime-state security, Russia-Ukraine war, Biden administration, authoritarian regimes, political stability, political survival, Marxist-Leninist one-party state, vietnam, Doi Moi economic reform, Doi Moi, united states, international relations, Olaf Scholz, Jacinda Ardern, Joe Biden, President Biden, comprehensive strategic partnership, bamboo diplomacy, post-Cold War era, pluralistic democracy, colour revolutions, US-led liberal democracy, Washington, peaceful evolutions, Biden's National Security Strategy, non-democracies, international rules-based order, socialist democracy, Marxist-Leninist ideology, socialist regime, CCP, Chinese Communist Party, South China Sea, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, bilateral trade, Vietnamese imports, export diplomacy, supply chains, domestic political legitimacy, human rights, Obama, regime change

The EU ventures into the strategic “jungle”

Written by Mohammadbagher Forough

While tropes such as ‘values’ and ‘standards’ are promoted as the main feature of the Global Gateway’s connectivity agenda, African countries (and many others in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America) will not overlook the fact that this promoted feature contrasts uneasily with neo-colonialist-sounding dichotomies like ‘garden/jungle’.

Faultlines9DLOctober 27, 20229DashLine, Mohammadbagher Forough, The EU ventures into the strategic “Jungle”, European Diplomatic Academy, Josep Borrell, Borrell, Vice-President Borrell, HRVP, garden, jungle, diplomacy, European Union, European Commission, geoeconomic, Global Gateway, Western, Europe, US security, Russian energy, Asia, Pivot to Asia, Biden administration, Indo-Pacific, Russian war against Ukraine, Ukraine, Russia, strategic autonomy, geopolitics, Ursula von der Leyen, China, EU’s Chips Act, John Keats, Germany, China strategy, Olaf Scholz, business lobby, France, Global Gateway initiative, EU Global Gateway Initiative, Europe’s Global Gateway, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), supply chains, resilience, shared communities of interest, India, Africa, Cold War, anti-colonialism, Middle East, Latin America, neo-colonialist, Robert Kagan, colonialism, racism, Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, Putin, Edward Said, decolonial

Resilience and deterrence to guide Taiwan’s future

Written by Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy

Strengthening deterrence in the face of growing hostility and new threats is where Taiwan’s leaders and citizens must focus more of their energy, in close cooperation with trusted partners, including the EU.

East Asia9DLOctober 25, 20229DashLine, Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, Resilience and deterrence to guide Taiwan’s future, Double Tenth National Day Celebration, President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan, resilience, deterrence, EU, post-pandemic recovery, climate crisis, economic inequality, authoritarian threat, strategic dependencies, Russia-Ukraine war, PRC, People's Republic of China, democracy protection, democracy promotion, supply chains, Beijing, economic statecraft, Taiwanese independence, Indo-Pacific, Indo-Pacific Strategy, Raphaël Glucksmann, European Parliament, disinformation, transparency, technology, fact-checking mechanisms, media literacy education, people-public-private partnership, #StrongerTogether, democracy, Audrey Tang, COVID-19 pandemic, semiconductors, New Southbound Policy, bilateral relations, Brussels, Resilient Supply Chains Agreement, Supply Chains Resilience Initiative, SCRI, Russia, sanctions, Taipei, Forward Alliance, Enoch Wu

A tall order: Germany’s comprehensive China strategy

Written by Christiane Heidbrink

For the first time in history, the German government is drafting its own China strategy. Although much is still up in the air, it is becoming apparent that Chancellor Olaf Scholz is trying to strike a balance between cooperation and tough-talking.

Europe and the Indo-Pacific9DLOctober 24, 20229DashLine, Christiane Heidbrink, Germany, China, German government, coalition, China strategy, A tall order: Germany’s comprehensive China strategy, systemic rivalry, EU-China policy, German Social Democrats, SPD, Greens, Alliance 90/The Greens, Free Democratic Party, FDP, Sino-German relations, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Scholz, Green BRI, Belt and Road Initiative, Green Belt and Road Initiative, climate goals, greenwashing, climate action, environmental protection, Scholz administration, Berlin, Beijing, EU Global Gateway Initiative, G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, Supply Chain Law, supply chains, German Foreign Trade and Payments Regulation, Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, 13th Mechanical Engineering Summit, decoupling, diversification, Chinese Dual Circulation Strategy, Indo-Pacific Guidelines, Indo-Pacific, diplomatic efforts, NATO 2022 strategic concept, Jens Plötner, tough-talking

Negotiation and negation: India’s post-Galwan diplomacy vis-à-vis China

Written by Jagannath Panda

India’s current and future plan to support, launch and take forward the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative with Australia and Japan points to New Delhi’s approach of building a stronger narrative that poses challenges to China’s economic moves and strategic motives.

South Asia9DLJuly 23, 20219dashline, Galwan, India, China, Quad, Australia, Japan, United States, Ladakh, Indo-Pacific, Xi Jinping, Modi, Bhutan, South China Sea, CCP, CPC, Indian Ocean, supply chains, Borders, Jagannath Panda, South Asian Voices

Southeast Asia: The next manufacturing hub? Reality trumps ambition

Written by Stephen Nagy and Hanh Nguyen

US lawmakers and officials are contemplating a ‘reshoring fund’ of $25 billion to encourage critical suppliers to move out of China. Japan earmarked more than $2 billion in subsidies for companies to either bring manufacturing back home or diversify supply chains to Southeast Asia.

Pacific9DLNovember 30, 2020China, United States, Indonesia, ASEAN, Singapore, Vietnam, manufacturing, supply chains, Japan, Southeast Asia