International Relations

Why ASEAN is engaging Putin while the G7 looks away

The Kazan summit highlighted Russia’s emergence as a useful partner for ASEAN and exposed the limits of Western efforts to isolate Moscow in an increasingly multipolar international order. Researcher Ronny P Sasmita examines the situation.

Ronny P Sasmita

30 Jun 2026

Latin America: Can US hard power stop China’s long game?

The view that China is reeling from the US’s efforts to restore its preeminence in the western hemisphere is premature and misses Beijing’s broader game at play, says ISEAS researcher Lye Liang Fook.

Lye Liang Fook

29 Jun 2026

How Turkey arms China’s rivals without angering Beijing

Just as it balanced its role supplying combat drones to Ukraine while deepening trade relations with Russia, Turkey is playing a similar game by advancing arms sales in the Indo-Pacific while staying out of China’s way. Italian commentator Emanuele Scimia gives his analysis.

Emanuele Scimia

29 Jun 2026

Did Japan and the Philippines expand Beijing’s reach in Taiwan’s eastern waters?

Taiwan seems to be the biggest loser, whatever the outcome of Japan-Philippines maritime delimitation talks, since this gives Beijing greater cause to regularise patrols in Taiwan’s eastern waters. Commentator Deng Yuwen shares his views.

Deng Yuwen

19 Jun 2026

G7 unity: Europe yields as Trump declares ‘I’m the boss’

At the G7 summit, European leaders went to great lengths to flatter Donald Trump. Yet behind the smiles lies deep anxiety over an unpredictable US and a looming trade war with China. Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong tells us more.

Han Yong Hong

19 Jun 2026

How Trump’s Iran war boosted Beijing

China’s diplomacy in the Middle East has seen highs and lows, most recently garnering some success in the Iran war, after troughs during the post-7 October 2023 period and initial highs when the US withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. Chinese academic Fan Hongda explains.

Fan Hongda

18 Jun 2026

Beijing’s sanctions only strengthened the Philippine defence chief

After Beijing made strong remarks and sanctioned Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr, the moves backfired — bolstering his standing at home, validating his criticisms of China and further damaging Beijing’s image in Southeast Asia, says Philippine academic Elaine Tolentino.

Elaine C. Tolentino

18 Jun 2026

ThinkCartoon (17 June 2026)

Heng Kim Song has been the freelance editorial cartoonist for Lianhe Zaobao since 1984. His cartoons are also featured in many major international publications including The New York Times, Asahi Shimbun, JoongAng Ilbo, South China Morning Post and Yazhou Zhoukan. His many awards include the Top Award in United Nations ESCAP’s Cartoon Competition and the Grafica Internazionale Award presented by Italian Museum of Political Satire and Caricature. Heng has also participated in many international exhibitions and events, including the World Economic Forum Annual Meetings held in Davos, Switzerland.

Heng Kim Song

17 Jun 2026

Who rules space may shape the world below: The US-China battle for orbit

Space is no longer simply a frontier of exploration. It is the newest arena of US-China rivalry — and a contest spanning military power, technological leadership, economic influence and alliances that could shape the global order for decades to come, argues researcher Tahir Mahmood Azad.

Tahir Mahmood Azad

16 Jun 2026

How Japan’s FOIP is reinforcing ASEAN’s strategic autonomy

The concept of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) was first proposed in 2016 by then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and now it has been updated under the Sanae Takaichi administration. Japanese academic Sukegawa Seiya notes that the FOIP is a channel for promoting regional cooperation with ASEAN, while respecting its autonomy.

Sukegawa Seiya

12 Jun 2026

China sidelines denuclearisation to strengthen ties with North Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent Pyongyang visit signals a pragmatic shift in Beijing’s policy, tacitly accepting a nuclear-armed North Korea to counter shifting regional alliances. Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong tells us more.

Han Yong Hong

12 Jun 2026

‘Neo-militarism’: Why Beijing sees Japan reviving a prewar trajectory

China’s charge of Japan’s so-called “neo-militarism” is not about arsenal comparisons — it is a decades-old fear, now updated, that Japan is quietly restoring the prewar state that 1945 was supposed to dismantle, say Chinese academics Shao Jingkai and Wang Guangtao.

Shao Jingkai, Wang Guangtao

12 Jun 2026