De Facto Diplomacy: Taiwan’s Quest for Ontological Security in Somaliland
Bilateral ties between Taiwan and Somaliland strengthen each state’s identity and ontological security through strategic narrative engagement.
Asia Pacific
Ukraine war, trade top the agenda as Macron heads to China
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to push Chinese President Xi Jinping to lean on Russia to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire during his three-day visit to China starting Wednesday. Macron’s fourth state visit to China is also focused on trade a…
Handling of China spying case was ‘shambolic’, security committee concludes
Report says ‘systemic failures’ led to collapse of trial, but found no evidence of UK government interference Parliament’s security committee has criticised prosecutors for pulling their charges against two men accused of spying for Beijing, in a damni…
Global heating and other human activity are making Asia’s floods more lethal
Much improved response systems are struggling to cope with ever more powerful and destructive stormsFamilies stranded on the their rooftops. Homes buried by fast-flowing mud. Jagged brown craters scarring lush green hillsides.The scenes are the result …
UK government delays decision on China’s super-embassy until January
New date to approve site near Tower Bridge in London aligns with Keir Starmer’s planned visit to BeijingThe government has delayed its decision on whether to approve China’s super-embassy in London until January, when Keir Starmer is expected to visit …
British women stranded by landslides in Sri Lankan mountains running out of food and water, daughter says
Friends Melanie Watters and Janine Reid have been trapped in Pussellawa since ThursdayTwo British women stranded by landslides in Sri Lanka’s tea mountains are running out of food and water, the daughter of one of them has said, as officials reported t…
Death toll from Indonesia floods passes 700 as 1 million evacuated
About 3.2 million people on Sumatra island have been affected, 2,600 have been injured and 504 are missingThe number of people killed by floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island rose to 708 on Tuesday, the country’s disaster agency said, wit…
Hong Kong responds to disaster differently from Beijing – but the gulf is narrowing
Independent inquiry into fire and media questions to leader would not happen in mainland China, but crackdown on dissent has begunAs Hong Kong mourns the victims of its worst fire in decades, the response to the disaster reveals the ways in which the s…
Hong Kong leader orders probe into deadly blaze that killed 151
Hong Kong’s leader on Tuesday announced a judge-led independent committee to investigate last week’s apartment blaze that killed 151 people. Officials said the city’s worst fire in decades spread rapidly through exterior scaffolding netting that faile…
Hundreds of thousands of Asia flood survivors face food and fuel shortages
Hundreds of thousands of people stranded by the violent floods that have swept through in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia were on Tuesday facing increasingly alarming shortages of food and fuel. Nearly 1,200 have been killed in the torrent…