Malaysian academic Benny Teh assesses that the recent G7 summit in Hiroshima was a show of Japan’s more assertive role in international diplomacy in the face of greater threat perceptions, not least from China. In inviting a host of other countries that could further its ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ agenda, it sought to open dialogue that could help build a bulwark against rising alternative groupings courting the global south.
Economy
An Asian Monetary Fund was first mooted by Japan during the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s, but did not quite take off then. Now, with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim resurfacing the proposal during his recent trip to China, is the prospect of an AMF more likely today than it was 26 years ago?