A Tough Choice: the Criminalization of Indonesian Fishermen
Memo #387 By: Antje Missbach – antje.missbach [at] monash.edu The tough choice between illegal fishing and transporting asylum seekers Many Indonesian fishermen have suffered the consequences of breaking Australian law in recent years as they have tried to make a meagre living from traditional work. Because fishing in increasingly overfished seas provides inadequate income, many have tried […]
Democracy Wall, Foreign Correspondents, and Deng Xiaoping
Memo #384 By: Andrew Chubb – achubb [at] gmail.com The significance of Western media coverage of the Democracy Wall Movement in China for the present. Between November 1978 and April 1979, Chinese citizens took to putting up wall posters on the streets of various cities in China, airing Cultural Revolution grievances, and calling for the […]
Malaysia’s Bloodless Repression against Activists and Critics
Memo #383 By: Wei Lit Yew – wlyew2-c [at] my.cityu.edu.hk Where does Malaysia stand in the face of rising activism? 2013 marked the point at which the Barisan Nasional (National Front, BN) coalition government of Malaysia began constricting political space, after experiencing its worst electoral performance in its history. In 2015, the number of people investigated, charged, […]
Constructed Hierarchical Government Trust in China: Formation Mechanism and Political Effects
Memo #382 By: Zhenhua Su – suzh [at] zju.edu.cn, Yanyu Ye, Jingkai He and Waibin Huang – huangwb [at] zucc.edu.cn In a political system, trust is of great importance for both legitimacy and effectiveness. A government with low levels of political trust will be more likely to face difficulties in finding public support for and […]
Can Canada Follow New Zealand’s Model for Free Trade with China?
Memo #381 By: Charles Burton – cburton [at] brocku.ca and Stephen Noakes – s.noakes [at] auckland.ac.nz What explains the absence of a Canada-China free trade agreement? From China’s perspective the benefits of free trade with Canada are clear: increasing its market share in Canada, locking Canada in as a reliable supplier of the energy, mineral and agricultural resources necessary to sustain […]
A Pariah No More: How Over-reliance on China Spurred Myanmar’s Reforms
Memo #380 By: Jonathan T. Chow – jchow [at] umac.mo and Leif-Eric Easley – easley [at] post.harvard.edu How Over-reliance on China Spurred Myanmar’s Reforms In late 2010, Myanmar’s repressive military junta transformed itself into a nominally civilian government, over two decades after it had seized power. Upon becoming president in early 2011, former general Thein Sein unexpectedly launched wide-ranging […]
Taiwanese Public Support For the Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Deal Breaker?
Memo #377 By: Timothy S. Rich – timothy.rich[at]wku.edu and Lucas Knight – lucas.knight078[at]topper.wku.edu Twelve countries comprising nearly 40 percent of the global economy signed onto the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in February. Taiwan’s president-elect Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has indicated her support for joining, yet persuading the Taiwanese public may take additional work. […]
New Veto Player in Town: The 20th South Korean National Assembly Elections
Memo #376 By: Hyung Gu Lynn – hlynn [at] mail.ubc.ca Perhaps the most unexpected result of the South Korean National Assembly Elections of April 13 was the emergence of Ahn Cheol-Soo’s People’s Party (PP) as not just a viable but significant third party (38 out of 300 seats; 26.7% of the popular vote). How did the […]
“The Japan Choice:” Will Australia choose Japanese submarines for its future defence force?
Memo #373 By: Thomas Wilkins – thomas.wilkins [at] sydney.edu.au Nothing is exciting strategic commenters in Australia more than the long drawn out process of competitive evaluation of rival boats for its Collins-class submarine replacement programme. The choice of sub represents a roughly A$50bn investment and the future of Australian naval deterrent capacity into the 2050s. […]
Religious Nationalism in the New Myanmar
Memo #372 By: Ian Mcdonald – ian.mcdonald [at] alumni.ubc.ca Although media depicted the November 2015 elections in Myanmar as a chance for reform in the country, the actual changes have been questionable, especially for the Muslim Rohingya in the westernmost state, Rakhine. So what have the election results meant for Muslims in Myanmar? The answer is […]