9th Jun 2019
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Wirathu Arrest Warrant Could Help Muslims In Myanmar

Ashin Wirathu, a leading monk in the ongoing persecution of Muslims in Rakhine State, was this week issued an arrest warrant by a Myanmar court, on the basis of “exciting or attempting to excite disaffection towards the government.” The warrant is significant not for the charge itself, but more as a development that could potentially disrupt the ongoing persecution of Rohingya Muslims by the military junta.

Wirathu’s Ma Ba Tha ultranationalist Buddhist sect is a prominent player in the racial crackdown that has targeted more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims, creating a veritable human rights emergency that has spilled over into the ill-equipped neighbouring state of Bangladesh.

Read the full article here.

28th May 2019
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Militia violence continues to displace Colombian farmers

Two years on from the monumental peace agreement which brought an end to Colombia’s 52-year civil war, the state still remains significantly unstable.

Following decades of conflict between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), local militia groups have seized the opportunity created by the ceasefire’s power vacuum, forcing thousands of subsistence farmers to leave their land and possessions behind in search of safety.

Read the full article here.

26th May 2019
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When in China, take the slow train

I had only the frigid  Beijing air and my large suitcase for company as I waited for the 7.30 train to Chongqing.

30 hours and over 1,800 kilometres separate Beijing from Chongqing via the slow train. Of course, I was well aware of the direct flights available as well as the high-speed rail, both of which would have more than halved my travel time. But it was neither speed or convenience that I wanted. Departing Beijing wasn’t motivated by a desire to arrive in Chongqing. To tell you the truth, I wanted everything in-between.

Read the full article here.

24th Jan 2019
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Is concern over ‘Made in China 2025’ justified?

From playing cards and plastic straws to new energy vehicles and advanced robotics, China is looking to drastically transform its manufacturing industry. For years China’s economy has been driven by cheap export items that have found there way into the homes of people around the world, and subsequently engendered a stereotyping of Chinese products as tacky and dispensable. Yet with any major economic growth comes an inevitable restructuring, and for China, that process has been neatly wrapped up and branded ‘Made in China 2025’.

Read the full article here.

12th Nov 2018
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Xi’s ‘Urban Dream’: A Dream for All?

China’s position as the world’s second-largest economy is due in no small part to the state’s ability to replace their once agrarian based system with a new ‘Urban Dream’. This dream, which aims to have 60 per cent of the population living in urban environments by 2020, is a blunt articulation of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) intention to increase the city-based population to create greater rates of consumption.

But as the effects of this dream begin to take shape, it’s clear that the costs of the government’s audacious objectives are felt most by those still finding their feet in the metropolis based society.

Read the full article here.

10th Oct 2018
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Putting Central Asia back on the map: the pragmatic politics of BRI

As Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) wraps itself around the Central Asian region which lies to China’s immediate west, it poses as the crucial link to Europe and beyond.

With Russia apathetic toward its role as the major trading partner to the significant region, China has swooped in with relative ease, forging a string of increasing diplomatic trade relations.

Read the full article here.

22nd Sep 2018
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Tigers and Flies: power consolidation in Xi’s anti-corruption drive

A strong anti-corruption campaign has been at the centre of Xi Jinping’s time as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CCP) since his inauguration in 2012. This position has not changed in the subsequent years. Xi still promises to eliminate the ‘tigers and flies’ and oust corrupt individuals ranging from reputable political figures to lowly party officials.

Read the full article here.