US interest in the Pacific Islands tested at Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders

Written by Henrietta McNeill and Joanne Wallis

This week’s meeting, and President Biden’s meeting with Pacific leaders, will both be key signals for how Pacific states are responding to the US’ sudden renewed interest in the region.

Pacific9DLSeptember 12, 20229DashLine, US interest in the Pacific Islands tested at Pacific Island Conference of Leaders, Henrietta McNeill, Joanne Wallis, US, Pacific Islands, Pacific Islands Forum, Pacific Island Conference of Leaders, regionalism, PICL, Hawaii, Fiji, 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, Micronesian five, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, China, Wang Yi, Timor-Leste, Frank Bainimarama, Kamala Harris, George Ariyoshi, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, David W. Panuelo, Micronesia, Northern Pacific Ocean, Guam, Compact of Free Association, CNMI, FSM, Marshall Islands, Pacific Islands Development Programme, Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific, East-West Center, US Congress, Honiara, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Joe Biden, Manasseh Sogavare, Forum Fisheries Agency, Australia, New Zealand

Seoul cannot have a credible Indo-Pacific strategy without Taiwan

Written by Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy and Tereza Novotna

Much of this is also about how far Seoul will be prepared to join many of its partners in working with Taiwan. In other words, if South Korea wants to play a bigger role in the Indo-Pacific, it is high time that Seoul joins the ‘Taiwan club’.

East Asia9DLSeptember 9, 20229DashLine, Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, Tereza Novotna, Seoul cannot have a credible Indo-Pacific strategy without Taiwan, Republic of Korea, south korea, China, PRC, Taiwan, japan, Shinzo Abe, USA, Yoon Suk-yeol, semiconductors, Nancy Pelosi, Indo-Pacific, Beijing, Seoul, Taiwan Strait, Tokyo, middle power, Security, Washington, Park Jin, india, Australia, defence, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, EU, Brussels, European Parliament, Covid, Global Cooperation and Training Framework, GCTF, Taipei, quad, Nobuo Kishi, US-Japan Security Consultative Committee, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, Pelosi, People’s Republic of China, Korea, South Korea, Japan, India, COVID, COVID19, Taiwan Model, Europe, Xi Jinping, hybrid warfare, cyberattacks, THAAD, Quad, Quaderateral Security Dialogue, SCRI, Delhi, Taiwan Club, Russia, Ukraine

The EU’s self-perceived role in the Indo-Pacific — still a normative power?

Written by Phuong Mai Tran

Obviously, the EU must prioritise Europe’s defence. The important question here is whether its Indo-Pacific strategy would be affected as a result.

Pacific9DLSeptember 8, 20229DashLine, The EU’s self-perceived role in the Indo-Pacific — still a normative power?, Phuong Mai Tran, EU, European Union, Indo-Pacific, normative power, Indo-Pacific strategy, Brussels, geopolitical, France, Germany, The Netherlands, European Commission, EU High Representative, joint communication, military, Ursula von der Leyen, von der Leyen, Vice-President Borrell, Borrell, Josep Borrell, President von der Leyen, proactive cooperative power, strategic autonomy, democracy, rule of law, human rights, Human RIghts, sustainable development, Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP, partnership, multi-dimensional, cooperative power, polarisation, ASEAN, minilateral, minilateralism, US, Japan, UK, Australia, India, China, Multilateralism, Global Gateway, trade, cyberattacks, like-minded partners, Indian Ocean, Russia, Ukraine, PHUONG MAI TRAN

Announcing webinar: India's geoeconomic policy in the Indo-Pacific

As Washington and Beijing vie for influence in the capitals of the Indo-Pacific, India seems to be trying to garner influence from outside the largest trade agreements ever signed.

Register now to join us on Thursday, 8 September at your local time.

News9DLSeptember 7, 2022India, geoeconomic, Indo-Pacific, Indo-Pacific Circle, CSDR, The Council for Strategic Defense Research, Gulshan Sachdeva

In Conversation: Katie Stallard on ‘Dancing on Bones’

9DASHLINE recently sat down with Katie Stallard to discuss her new book ‘Dancing on Bones: History and Power in China, Russia, and North Korea’. Drawing on first-hand, on-the-ground reporting, this fascinating book examines how the leaders of China, Russia, and North Korea manipulate the past to serve the present and secure the future of authoritarian rule.

In Conversation9DLSeptember 6, 2022In Conversation: Katie Stallard on ‘Dancing on Bones’, 9DashLine, Katie Stallard, China, Russia, North Korea, authoritarian rule, regime types, historical memory, political tool, Soviet, ‘century of humiliation’, CCP, Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung, Japan, US, regime mythology, Korean War, Putin, Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping, Ukraine war, Kremlin, Moscow, Pyongyang, Beijing, Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il, intercontinental ballistic missile, nuclear programme, long-range missile capabilities, Post-Soviet Russia, The Great Patriotic War, Cold War, USSR, nationalism, strong-man politics, populist, ‘patriotic education’ initiatives, populist narratives, WWII, Kim Jong-il, Great Patriotic War, WW2, Chinese Communist Party, Xi, Nazis, fascists, Jewish, Holocaust, Ukraine, Crimea, Kyiv, Kim Il Sung, South Korea, ICBM, Trump, Donald Trump, George Orwell, Oxford University Press, New Statesman

Chinese public databases leaks reveal growing dissatisfaction with authorities

Written by Antonia Hmaidi

Chinese hackers, who until recently firmly sided with or at least tolerated the Communist Party of China (CCP), are now increasingly leaking government data.

Cyberspace and the DPRK: Evolving cyber strategy

Written by Abhishek Sharma

The DPRK’s targeting of US public and private organisations shows how far it will go to challenge the US. The (geo)political divide in technology will only make it more problematic.

East Asia9DLSeptember 2, 20229DASHLINE, Cyberspace and the DPRK: evolving cyber strategy, Abhishek Sharma, North Korea, DPRK, Nuclear weapons, south korea, US, US-ROK, united states, Korea, South Korea, Pyongyang, cyber, cyberspace, cyberattacks, cybercrime, Cyber warfare, Cyber attack, cybersecurity, Cyber, Cyber Attacks, juche, cyber capabilities, Japan, military, cyber operation, byungjin, Kim Jong-un, Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, spying, Surveillance, espionage, sanctions, Cyber Warfare Guidance Unit (Bureau 121), Lazarus Group, Lazarus, non-state actors, technology, cyber strategy, Russia, China, computer, Northeast Asia, Sony Pictures Entertainment, cyber warriors, Sony, Bangladesh Central Bank, hacker, hackers, hack, FBI, crypto, cryptocurrency, Chainanalysis, blockchain, data, Data theft, Bithumb, KuCoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Axie Infinity, US Department of Treasury, Tornado Cash, UN Sanctions Panel Committee on North Korea, Intelligence, US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, cyber threats, R.O.K., Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, ROK-US Working Group Meeting on the DPRK Cyber Threat, Budapest Convention, allies, bilateral, minilateral, multilateral

Campaigns, criminalisation and concessions: Indigenous land rights in Cambodia

Written by Bunly Soeung

In Cambodia, the violation of the land rights of indigenous peoples who have lived for thousands of years in their ancestral forests continues unabated.

Editor's Picks9DLAugust 31, 20229DashLine, Campaigns, criminalisation, and concessions: indigenous land rights in Cambodia, Bunly Soeung, Cambodia, indigenous communities, indigenous peoples, indigenous rights, chuncheat, Khmer, North Cambodia, North Eastern Cambodia, Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Stung Treng, Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, forests, natural resources, agricultural production, slash-and-burn cultivation, forest resources, Khmer Rouge, civil war, abolished private land ownership, vietnam, UNTAC, timber extraction, agro-industrial plantation, Department of Ethnic Minorities Development, Ministry of Rural Development and Land Law, Land Management and Administration Project, Sub-Decree on Economic Land Concessions, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Protected Area Law, National Policy on the Development of Indigenous Peoples, Sub-Decree No. 83, registration of land, private industrial agriculture companies, LICADHO, economic land concessions, ELCs, state land, industrial agriculture investment, rural communities, large-scale industrial agriculture, granted lands, human rights, hydropower construction, exploitative mining, illegal logging, deforestation, displacement, environmental pollution, ruling elite, concessions, China, Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, patron-client networks, political elites, patronage system, corruption, land policy reform, politico-commercial elites, high-ranking officials, Try Pheap, TTY, Chinese Guangdong Hengfu Group, Communal land registration, legal communal land titles, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Interior, Chong, Koh Kong, Areng Valley, hydropower dam, Ministry of Environment, lèse-majesté, Chut Wutty, Ven Vorn, Mother Nature Cambodia, Casotim, Phnom Penh, BUNLY SOEUNG

Unending hybridity: Has Shahbaz Sharif’s arrival changed Pakistan’s politics?

Written by Ayesha Siddiqa

Pakistan has just turned 75, but there is little hope in people’s hearts for a transformation from a decades-old military dominated power to a country under greater civilian control.

South Asia9DLAugust 29, 20229DashLine, Unending hybridity: Has Shahbaz Sharif’s arrival changed Pakistan’s politics?, Ayesha Siddiqa, Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan, Imran Khan, Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI, Pakistan Muslim League, PMLN, Mariam Nawaz Sharif, hybrid civil-military rule, traditional patronage politics, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, civil bureaucracy, Musharraf regime, armed forces personnel, Special Committee on National Security, Nawaz Sharif, Military Land & Cantonment, Saeed Shafqat, military, civil service reforms, General Ayub Khan, Punjab, General Qamar Javed Bajwa Khan, army, Pakistan army, AYESHA SIDDIQA, Columbia, Heidelberg, Ankara, China Pakistan Economic Corridor, CPEC, National Database and Registration Authority, NADRA, Ayub Khan, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, PNSC, Javed Bajwa Khan, London

Chagos Islands and the struggle for Global Britain

Written by Catherine Craven

For Britain, maintaining control over Indian Ocean Territory remains fundamental to its foreign, trade and migration policy interests — but also to its allies.

A litany of economic woes but in China politics rules

Written by Jabin T. Jacob

In the run-up to the 20th Party Congress later this year, the CCP under General Secretary Xi can be expected to engage ever more seriously with China’s economic problems.

Ranil Wickremesinghe’s quest to bring ‘stability’ to Sri Lanka

Written by Isha Gupta

Sri Lanka’s new government should focus less on restoring its previous ‘stability’ and do everything in its power to build a new governance system to prevent future policy failures and reflect the protestors’ demands.

India’s delayed cyber security policy

Written by Subimal Bhattacharjee

While the government understands the centrality of cyber security within its national security strategy, India’s cyber vulnerabilities make it imperative to announce an updated national Cyber Security Policy sooner rather than later.

China refuses to ‘acknowledge’ US one-China policy

Written by Pak K. Lee and Anisa Heritage

In order to minimise the chances of conflict with Beijing, Washington must now clarify its one-China policy rather than maintain strategic ambiguity over the matter of Taiwan’s indeterminate status.

The ‘virtual maritime gate’ and Indonesia’s new capital

Written by Jefferson Ng

The Makassar Strait is likely to grow in prominence as Indonesia’s new capital emerges as a centre of economic activity alongside Jakarta, and defence policymakers in Indonesia will want to better control the flow of maritime traffic passing through the Strait.

Southeast Asia9DLAugust 17, 2022The ‘virtual maritime gate’ and Indonesia’s new capital, 9DashLine, Jefferson Ng, virtual maritime gate, indonesia, Jakarta, Makassar Strait, Nusantara, East Kalimantan, Indonesian Law on the New Capital, undersea detectors, platform buoys, communication systems, ground data terminals, information fusion centre, conventional shipping routes, East Asian markets, Straits of Malacca, foreign naval warships, submarines, Indian Ocean, South China Sea, archipelagic sea lanes passage, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, Balikpapan Bay, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Sulu-Celebes Sea, unmanned underwater drones, China, US-China rivalry, unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, maritime traffic, unmanned submersibles, archipelagic state concept, strategic defence, aerial threats, ballistic missile, ballistic missiles, Andi Widjajanto, anti-ship Brahmos missile, gerbang maritim virtual, East Asia, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, UAV, National Resilience Institute, COVID-19, COVID

Going global: Beijing’s bid to rewrite the rules of international security

Written by Sam Bresnick

If Beijing succeeds in impelling Global Security Initiative partners to revise existing security norms and arrangements (certainly a big ‘if’), the United States and its allies could find themselves increasingly constrained.

India at 75 — Still a postcolonial poster child for democracy?

Written by Manali Kumar

Although unique in its particular causes, India’s democratic backsliding is part of a global trend. Like other polities, India too needs new ideas if it is to overcome this divisive, fascist turn in its politics.

Extraditions and legal cooperation: The next frontier in Taiwan’s outreach to Europe?

Written by Matej Šimalčík

Extraditions and legal cooperation in criminal matters have emerged as a new frontier for Taiwan-Europe relations. For a more robust relationship, Taiwan and Europe should strive to include the civil and commercial dimensions in their negotiations on legal cooperation.

East Asia9DLAugust 11, 20229DashLine, Extraditions and legal cooperation: next frontier of Taiwan’s outreach to Europe?, Matej Šimalčík, extradition, Taiwan, europe, European Union, legal cooperation, transnational legal cooperation, Taiwan-Europe relations, Slovakia, Arrangement on Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters, China, judicial cooperation, Central and Eastern Europe, Taiwanese Ministry of Justice, Poland, information sharing, legal assistance, detention, extradition of indicted persons, transfer of convicts, sovereignty, jurisdiction, extradition treaties, non-refoulment principle, death penalty, human rights, Czechia, Czech Constitution, European Convention on Human Rights, Spain, germany, Denmark, Switzerland, UK, transnational crime, Polish-Taiwanese Agreement on the Legal Cooperation in Criminal Matters, Slovak-Taiwanese Arrangement on Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters, Germany-Taiwan Arrangement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons, civil legal assistance agreements, EU-Taiwan relations