Once again East Asian countries have dominated the global education tables. In recent weeks, both the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) published their rankings of education systems worldwide based on students’ skills and knowledge. 

Duterte had announced, upon being elected, that he intended to pursue an “independent foreign policy”. On September 12, he declared he was “not a fan of the Americans” and that he wanted to “reorient” foreign policy with the U.S. On September 27, he added that he wanted to pursue “new alliances with Russia and China.”

The election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency is continuing to send shockwaves in the corridors of power across East Asia. Yet even before the results of the 2016 US elections became known, the tremors of political change in the region were already evident. Arguably, the U.S. president-elect has only added fuel to the fire of America’s relations with East Asia.

In the future, China, Japan and South Korea should make efforts to improve their relations. First, the three countries should take positive steps to increase regional cooperation and establish mechanisms such as the Free Trade Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. This is beneficial to the future development of the three countries

China has 128,000 poor villages with 55.75 million registered poor people. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to lift them out of poverty. Typically, people fall into four categories of poverty, requiring different approaches. Unlike some development players, NGOs are more agile and are innovative in solutions, allowing them to provide support sooner.