East Asian Policy

This article conducts a case study of China’s influence on Pakistan by collecting and analysing news coverage from two prominent English and Urdu newspapers in Pakistan for a five-year period between 2013 and 2018. It compares the changes in newspaper reporting before and after the launch of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2015. Analysis has shown a significant increase in positive reporting on the CPEC and China. The case of Pakistan is representative of its recognition of China’s soft power in a developing country, thus offering a new perspective on China’s goodwill vis-à-vis the Belt and Road Initiative.

This article aims to assess the motivations, modifications and impacts of China’s public goods approach by studying its energy financing in Southeast Asia. It argues that China’s public goods approach of energy financing will help improve financing performance through sustainable development and multilateral cooperation. However, the approach is constrained by the lack of trust from the region, incompatible standards between China and other Western practices, and growing securitisation by the United States on Chinese economic activities.

As the first large-scale free trade arrangement in the Asia-Pacific region, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will play an important role in economic and trade cooperation, and regional governance in the region. Since the signing on 15 November 2020, RCEP has encountered internal and external risks and challenges. Effectively avoiding risks and coping with challenges are important for RCEP to play its due role. To China, RCEP presents a new opportunity and platform to expand its opening up.

South Asia has emerged as a “priority zone” for Chinese foreign policy with the highest density of early harvest projects under the Belt and Road Initiative and deepening Chinese engagements in realms beyond economics. Despite China’s growing presence in the region, there are few studies that track China’s internal discourse on the region, going beyond its targeted propaganda. Based on study of Chinese-language literature, this article aims to fill the knowledge gap in this domain and develop a basic framework depicting how China operates in South Asia as well as its mission and vision for the region.

Streamlining non-tariff measures (NTMs) plays an important role in improving market access for trade in goods among ASEAN-10 countries. An assessment of the impact of NTMs in ASEAN reveals that the agri-food trade has been constrained by contingent trade protective measures, quantity-control measures, technical barriers to trade (TBT), and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. The proliferation of SPS and TBT measures, coupled with their severe effects, suggests the need to accelerate NTM reforms in ASEAN.

This article aims to deepen our knowledge of Japan’s foreign policy in the Southeast Asian region and its role in Indonesia’s economic development, focusing on their economic cooperation via the Indonesia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) and Manufacturing Industry Development Centre (MIDEC) programme. The former has promoted cooperation via a tariff reduction scheme, while the latter facilitates the Indonesian government’s aid to micro, small and medium enterprises in the entrepreneurial sector.

The recent deterioration of US–China and US–Russia relations has stumbled the formation of a better world order in the 21st century. Washington’s concerns of the “great power realignment”, as well as its Manichean battle against China’s and Russia’s “illiberal regimes” have resulted in the activated alliance-building efforts between Beijing and Moscow, prompting the Biden administration to consider some wedging strategies. Despite their coordinated preparation to deter the US power, the Chinese and Russian leaderships seek to avert a conflict with Washington by diplomatic means, and the characteristic of their partnership is still leaving a “window of opportunity” for the United States to lever against the establishment of a formal Sino–Russian alliance.

The National Security Law has unequivocally clarified that Hong Kong’s “autonomy” is a bestowed privilege rather than an absolute political right. While effective in stabilising Hong Kong politics, the Law has also effectively rolled back democratisation and raised a number of serious questions about Hong Kong’s future. Going forward, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region faces a difficult task of maintaining its unique identity, lifestyle and exceptionalism as a truly global city while attempting to align with China’s plans and interests.