China’s extensive damming of the upper Mekong River has reduced water flows, threatening downstream countries Cambodia and Vietnam with environmental harm and food shortages, said experts in advance of a summit meeting of the multilateral Mekong-Lancang Cooperation group. The summit,… Read More ›

South East Asia
Southeast Asia overtook US as China’s 2nd major trade partner, and why it matters
“The U.S. is losing importance as a trading partner of China as their tariff war drags on, dropping a notch to third place in the first half of 2019 to trail the European Union and Southeast Asia…” reported by Nikkei… Read More ›
Vietnam is moving rocket launchers into the disputed South China Sea
Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China’s runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials. Diplomats and military officers… Read More ›
China must be stopped from blocking supply in the South China Sea
Australia and other countries are currently pushing for freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea, in response to China’s aggression and illegal claims in the region. For the immediate future, these countries should have a permanent presence in… Read More ›
US says China will be bound by maritime arbitration ruling in South China Sea
A senior U.S. official says that an upcoming ruling on a case brought by the Philippines to arbitrate territorial claims in the South China Sea will also be binding on China despite its boycott of the proceedings. China contends it… Read More ›
China’s delusions of regional hegemony – other Asian states want to squash Beijing’s leadership ambitions
The corollary of the decline of the west is not the rise of Asia. It is the erosion of Asia, at least as an idea, as rivalries within geographic Asia overtake the notion of regional cohesion that once bound these… Read More ›
Seven reasons China will start a war by 2017
China will start its war for a number of reasons: 1. Regime Legitimacy Very few people in China believe in communism anymore, including almost all of the 80 million members of the Chinese Communist Party. The party itself is now… Read More ›
Asean chief says ‘can’t accept’ China’s South China Sea claims
The secretary-general of Southeast Asia’s 10-member trade and security bloc Sunday said the group can’t agree to China’s use of its so-called nine-dash line to claim the contested waters of the South China Sea as Beijing continues its land-reclamation efforts… Read More ›
US, Australia and Philippines start war games in South China Sea amid China tensions
More than 11,000 soldiers from the Philippines, U.S. and Australia began joint drills in the South China Sea, as the Philippines’ military chief called China’s building work on disputed reefs “worrisome” and a source of friction with its neighbours. The… Read More ›
Asia’s dominance in manufacturing will endure – that will make development harder for others
By making things and selling them to foreigners, China has transformed itself—and the world economy with it. In 1990 it produced less than 3% of global manufacturing output by value; its share now is nearly a quarter. China produces about… Read More ›
Can China break the vicious circle of economic slowdown and foreign capital exodus?
Is China’s economic slowdown causing the foreign capital exodus or vice versa? It is like the old question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Let’s look at both scenarios. Economic slowdown has caused capital exodus. Taiwan media Want… Read More ›
China prepares for war
The following are the views of the original author, and not necessarily those of China Daily Mail: Apart from their frantic dredging and island-building in the South China Sea, China is now also building an air and naval base in… Read More ›
Massive spending won’t make China’s Asia dream come true; money can’t buy respect
After two years of waxing poetic at home about a “China Dream,” Xi Jinping wants to enchant the entire Asia region—and is dangling $1.25 trillion to make sure he does. “China’s development will bring huge opportunities and benefits to the… Read More ›
The Great Chinese Exodus; 64% of China’s rich plan to leave
Many Chinese are leaving for cleaner air, better schools and more opportunity. But Beijing is keeping its eye on them. Even when the emperors did their utmost to keep them at home, the Chinese ventured overseas in search of knowledge,… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, August 11
“Introspection”- The escalation went underground this week as nations look inside themselves. It all began August 1. A gas line explosion in Taiwan could change politics forever. Earthquake, a factory explosion, protests, and anti-Muslim laws in China. Manila finally jails… Read More ›
China seeks to become “capital” of South East Asia, by extending high-speed rail
A favourite export from China to its neighbours these days are high-speed rail lines designed to make trade routes in the vast stretches of Asia more accessible and fortify Chinese dreams of turning its southern reaches into the capital of… Read More ›
Indonesia and Philippines reach agreement in South China Sea dispute; lessons for other claimants
Indonesia and Philippines have rejected historical records, and accepted UNCLOS (1982) as the current prevailing law to settle maritime boundaries in the South China Sea. This should be a precedent to other claimant nations in the territorial disputes. The recent… Read More ›
Manila’s apology to Hong Kong is a presage of a deal, not a fight
The following are the views of the author, and not necessarily those of China Daily Mail. Is it just a coincidence that the Philippine Government made a four-year late official apology to the families of eight Hong Kong tourists before… Read More ›
China tries to become “Asia’s policeman” in missing plane saga; sends team uninvited to Malaysia to “advise” on search and rescue mission
In the aftermath of the March 8 disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 people on board, 153 of them Chinese nationals, Beijing is flexing its muscles. The Chinese government has dispatched two warships, 10 satellites, over 50 marines to the… Read More ›
Obama seeks to avoid “clash of civilisations” between China and the West
The following are the views of the author, and not necessarily those of China Daily Mail. On the next day after President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union (SotU) 2014, which did not mention anything about the tension… Read More ›
US tells China to adjust its territorial claims in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, or prove the claims
The U.S. voiced concern Wednesday that China is gradually asserting control in the disputed South China Sea on the basis of vague territorial claims unsupported by international law. Sharpening U.S. criticism of the rising Asian power, Daniel Russel, the top… Read More ›
China’s role in the French Pivot
During his recent visit to Jakarta for a bilateral with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, France’s top diplomat, Minister Laurent Fabius, dropped by the Asean Secretariat and there announced to a regional audience that his country had made a “pivot” to… Read More ›
Philippines seeks U.N. help to resolve maritime row with China
The Philippines has asked an international tribunal to intervene in its long-standing South China Sea territorial dispute with China and declare that Beijing’s claims are invalid, the government said on Tuesday. Manila asked the tribunal of the U.N. Convention on… Read More ›
Leaders of China, Japan will attend ASEAN, East Asia Summits in Cambodia
The leaders of two of Cambodia’s biggest donor countries, China and Japan, will attend the upcoming ASEAN and East Asia Summits in Phnom Penh. The leaders of the 10 ASEAN countries and other Asian leaders will be joined by Russia,… Read More ›
Wealthy Philippine Chinese community makes Aquino speak about peace
Radio Television Hong Kong reports, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III says that both the Philippines and China are striving to resolve the South China Sea disputes peacefully through diplomacy. Aquino was speaking when he attended Sino-Philippine friendship activities, sponsored by… Read More ›