Politics

Coming to the end of his second term, Indonesian President Jokowi is still enjoying influence in Indonesian politics, with analysts believing that whoever he endorses will end up the winner in the presidential election in February 2024. How critical will the Chinese Indonesian vote be? ISEAS academic Leo Suryadinata explains.

The sudden reshuffle of senior officers of the People’s Liberation Army has shocked the media and the public. While the reasons for the removal of two generals from the Rocket Force remains unclear, authorities seem to be signalling an anti-corruption wave in China’s military. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu tells us more.

Researcher Wei Da notes that while many things can be learned and embraced from the West, its political civilisation is one that China has rejected. But isn't that rejecting the core while transplanting the branches and leaves? Will that work?

Japanese academic Masaaki Yatsuzuka notes that Japan's Middle East diplomatic initiatives pit it against China, which is also attempting to increase its influence among the Arab nations. How will developments pan out, and what does the future hold for Japan-Middle East relations?

Comments by Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi recently to Japanese and South Korean guests at a forum that they could never be a Westerner, and encouraging greater China-Japan-South Korean cooperation have ignited some backlash in Japan. Academic Shin Kawashima says that it would be almost unthinkable for Japan and South Korea to respond to such a call from China.

The recent Niger coup and conflicts from Mali to Burkina Faso, Chad and Sudan have cast uncertainty on the future of Chinese economic diplomacy in the Sahel and other parts of Africa. Academic Alessandro Arduino explains.

With South Korea working on bilateral and multilateral international relations, especially with the US and Japan, it is perhaps unsurprising that China is not quite at ease with South Korea’s stand. Recent comments by Chinese ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming implying that South Korea’s pro-US stance will not lead to a good outcome has raised hackles in South Korea. Academic Kang Jun-young tells us more.

Japan and South Korea’s recent closeness may not just be a product of wariness of China, but US interests too, says Jin Kai, a visiting scholar at the Yonsei Institute for Sinology at Yonsei University, Seoul. But is closer Japan-South Korea-US trilateral cooperation sustainable amid tense dynamics in East Asia and the Korean peninsula?

Qin Gang’s removal as Chinese foreign minister seems to confirm the rumours about his month-long absence from the public eye, especially since the authorities do not seem to have entirely refuted them. Questions swirl in people’s minds, with some asking: is the Chinese system’s quality of decision-making in selecting and appointing talents in question?