asia
A fresh and ambitious Justin Trudeau administration has mainstreamed the climate change agenda into its foreign policy engagement with Thailand, but comprehensive bilateral relations must await a return to democracy in Thailand, says Canada's ambassador to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.
The Philippines' decision to join China's multilateral development bank marks Manila's renewed effort to befriend Beijing via “economic diplomacy” despite the South China Sea dispute, an analyst said.
Shila Amzah is a Malaysian pop star famed as much for her fashion sense as for her powerful voice […] These days, though, she sings primarily in Mandarin […] In a country wary of Islam — the Chinese government has a fractious relationship with its ethnic Uighur minority in the western province of Xinjiang […] her rise is attributable to […] a rapidly evolving cultural relationship between China and Malaysia.
President Barack Obama will host a summit with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in California on Feb. 15 and 16, the White House said on Wednesday. [...] “This unprecedented gathering – the first hosted by the United States with the ASEAN leaders – builds on the deeper partnership that the United States has forged with ASEAN since 2009 and will further advance the Administration’s rebalance to Asia and the Pacific,”
The article explores the interface of policies, partnerships and interests for three education hubs in Asia: Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong within both an international relations and public diplomacy context.
The Ministry of International Cooperation and Development said the UAE has provided Dh173 billion in foreign aid to 178 countries and geographical areas between 1971 and 2014. The report noted that the UAE ranked as the world's most generous donor in 2013 and 2014 and became an international role model of relief and assistance of millions of people affected by natural and man-made disasters and crises.
The fact that India and China are willing to have cooperative exchanges as part of soft or cultural diplomacy may seem accommodative and a positive effort to bridge differences. Between the lines, however, the Government’s efforts to push Buddhism by tracing commonality of roots indicate a subtle and smart move to steal a march over China, which is increasingly positing itself as the sole disseminator of Buddhist faith in the far-east and southeast Asia.