$960 million The amount allocated in Australia’s 2014-15 budget for aid to Pacific Island countries in U.S. dollars. This represents around 20 percent of Australia’s overall aid budget and makes it the single largest donor in the region, accounting for…
By Carl Thayer In a statement Thursday, December 11, the Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said that Hanoi has asked the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague to take Vietnam’s legal interests and rights into consideration…
By Daniel Rosen & Beibei Bao Beijing is entering a critical one month period of announcements about its gross domestic product (GDP) – the broadest measure of its economic size – and GDP growth that will partly re-frame our understanding…
By Gregory Poling Beijing is fast approaching a December 15 deadline to submit its defense in the arbitration case against its South China Sea claims brought by the Philippines. That case, brought under the UN Convention on the Law of…
By Oliver Backes On November 12, 2014, Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev led the Russian delegation to the East Asia Summit (EAS). While Russia has taken part in this forum since 2011, it has yet to make a commitment to…
Who is she? Tsai Ing-wen is the chair of Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). A legal scholar, Tsai holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics. She began her public service career in 1993 as an appointed official…
By Nguyen Manh Hung Tensions between Vietnam and China were reduced substantially in July after China withdrew its oil rig from Vietnam’s continental shelf. The two countries have since begun to take steps to restore friendly and neighborly relations. Unlike…
By Brandon Cleary The Chinese government has been criticized for its relatively slow and initially inadequate response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa, but this criticism has not fallen on deaf ears in Beijing. China is now…
By Ernie Bower Asia generally, and Southeast Asia particularly, is undergoing a fundamental shift in governance as incumbent regimes struggle to respond to a newly empowered, massive group of voters (in some cases) or constituents who have access to information via…
President Obama is in Asia this week to participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC) summit in Beijing, China, the East Asia Summit in Myanmar, and the G-20 leaders meeting in Brisbane, Australia. The CSIS Asia program has prepared…
