A new era dawns: Labour’s Indo-Pacific offer

Written by Sam Hogg

Labour has chosen to keep its Indo-Pacific cards close to its chest. Success for a future British government in the region will require dexterity and a robust understanding of what regional players want.

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In Forum: 2024 — US Strategy and the Indo-Pacific

To what extent can the US compete with China if it does not offer more economic opportunities to Indo-Pacific countries, especially due to mounting doubts about its reliability as a security guarantor in the region?

We invite several experts to assess this state of affairs.

Taiwan: A partner for a resilient Indo-Pacific

Written by Dr Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy

With the Taiwan Strait as a potential military flashpoint in the Indo-Pacific, embedding Taiwan in regional cooperation frameworks will support the efforts of like-minded democracies to deter Beijing’s destabilising actions which are affecting the entire region.

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2023: Where is Japan headed under Kishida?

9DASHLINE invited a select group of experts to assess how the Kishida administration’s policies on domestic, international, economic, and security issues will differ from the Abe administration.

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How and why Japan can be an alternative to China in the Indo-Pacific

Written by Kyoko Hatakeyama

Moreover, since Japan has maintained a stable relationship with China — despite their territorial disputes — the region does not have to worry about backlash or anger from China just because they choose Japan over China.

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Chagos Islands and the struggle for Global Britain

Written by Catherine Craven

For Britain, maintaining control over Indian Ocean Territory remains fundamental to its foreign, trade and migration policy interests — but also to its allies.

Despite IPEF setback, Taiwan-ASEAN ties are on the right track

Written by Marshall Reid and Zoe Weaver-Lee

Fuelled by rapidly growing private investment, state-led cooperative initiatives and broader changes in regional trade flows, Taiwan has established itself as a key economic player in the ASEAN region.

Japan’s strategic policies under the current global order

Written by Elli Pohlkamp

This behaviour of inactivity and standing on the sidelines has changed now, driven by the concern that one day Japan might need help from its Western alliance partners should the security situation around Japan change.

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Crafting a durable US Indo-Pacific Economic Framework requires two-way buy-in

Written by Stephen Nagy

The raft of recent international trade agreements speaks to the multi-layered and multilateral approach many Indo-Pacific states are pursuing to deal with China.

Assessing the Biden Administration’s policy toward the Indo-Pacific

Written by Jacob Stokes

Biden’s prioritisation of allies and close partners could leave the rest of the region’s states unsure about their role and those of the region’s legacy multilateral institutions, such as ASEAN and the East Asia Summit.

President Biden’s welcome return to Asian multilateralism

Written by Susannah Patton

The President’s positive statement at least opens the door for US allies and partners to put forward their views on US regional economic engagement. The United States’ offer to host APEC in 2023 should give high-level impetus for the development of this economic framework.

Australia faces a contested region

Written by Nick Bisley

Whether others follow the example Australia has set, placing the military at the heart of regional policy, will be key to determining Asia’s emerging strategic landscape. Thus far even Japan, which has much greater clashes of interests with China, has not gone as far as Canberra.

ASEAN centrality in trade and investment

Written by Ong Kian Ming

ASEAN must also be willing to push the envelope when it comes to economic diplomacy in a manner that would strengthen the unity of the grouping and safeguard the interests of its members.

India and China: Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific decade: Future scenarios — Part II

Written by Velina Tchakarova

India’s geopolitical choices are either joining the US-led bloc of predominantly Anglosphere allies and close partners such as Japan and Australia against China, or, once again, building partnerships of non-aligned middle powers that can navigate through the complex relationship between Washington and Beijing without taking sides.

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Why the Quad will endure

Written by William Choong

While there have been negotiations for a formal Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, ASEAN has found no solution to Chinese assertiveness. This is where the four Quad navies can bring power and presence to bear.

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The CPTPP: Is the United States set to re-engage

Written by Tridivesh Singh Maini

The US and its allies need to provide an alternative economic narrative as merely criticising Beijing is not enough. Thus far the Biden administration has made the right noises by calling for a collaborative approach on economic issues. Nevertheless, it needs to strike a careful balance and can not ignore domestic political pressures.

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What to expect from US-Japan relations under the Biden administration

Written by Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp

As a middle power, Japan has the potential to enhance its role. In maintaining its partnerships with the United States and in balancing its deep economic ties with China it can lay the course and mediate in policies that concern itself, the United States and others in Southeast Asia.

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