Opinion Archives - Page 4 of 45 - The Singapore Post

The geopolitical ramifications of South Korea’s emergency martial law unrest throughout East Asia

6Dec

By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

The geopolitical ramifications of South Korea’s emergency martial law unrest throughout East Asia

As South Korea continues to be mired in political crisis following President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration and withdrawal of emergency martial law, academic Hao Nan analyses the impact on South Korea’s neighbours and partners. He thinks that for China, the opportunity to exploit divisions among US allies will be too significant to ignore.South Korea is once again in the global spotlight, not for its technological advancements or cultural exports, but for political instability that many believed was a relic of its past. On 3 December 2024, President Yoon Suk-yeol declared emergency martial law — the first such move in 44 years — only for the decision to be overturned within hours by the National Assembly. While South Korea has weathered political storms before, this event marks a concerni

David Perdue, a hardline former senator, is appointed ambassador to China by Trump.

6Dec

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

David Perdue, a hardline former senator, is appointed ambassador to China by Trump.

United States President-elect Donald Trump has named former Georgia Senator David Perdue as his pick for ambassador to China, a post that will require navigating an increasingly tumultuous relationship between Washington and Beijing. “As a Fortune 500 CEO, who had a 40-year International business career, and served in the US Senate, David brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China. He has lived in Singapore and Hong Kong, and worked in Asia and China for much of his career,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain peace in the region and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders,” Trump said. As a member of the Senate from 2015 to 2021, Perdue took a toug

Increased Militant Activity, Sectarian Conflicts, and Persistent Political Crisis in Pakistan

5Dec

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Increased Militant Activity, Sectarian Conflicts, and Persistent Political Crisis in Pakistan

Bottom Line Up Front Pakistan is increasingly grappling with a volatile and multifaceted security crisis, characterized by militant attacks, sectarian clashes, and political violence.In 2024, Pakistan witnessed a steep increase in violent attacks, with the total number of incidents reaching 856, driven by both attacks from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).Pakistan has also been plagued by sectarian violence, with a sharp rise occurring in late November after gunmen opened fire on a convoy of around 200 Shia passengers in the district of Kurram, near the border with Afghanistan, killing 52.Protests driven by discontent over the perceived political persecution of former Prime Minister Imran Khan by the government and military establishment hav...

Why are relations deteriorating after the attack on the Bangladeshi mission in India?

5Dec

By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

Why are relations deteriorating after the attack on the Bangladeshi mission in India?

India-Bangladesh ties have been frosty since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India after her removal in a student-led mass uprising in August, but diplomatic tensions have soared in recent days after the two South Asian neighbours traded accusations of alleged ill-treatment of the Hindu minority. The war of words escalated after Bangladeshi authorities arrested Hindu religious leader Chinmoy Krishna Das last week on sedition charges, setting off protests across several places in India. On Monday, a Bangladeshi mission in Agartala in the northeast Indian state of Tripura was attacked, eliciting a furious reaction from Dhaka. A day later, Dhaka summoned the Indian envoy in Bangladesh after condemning the attack. “This particular act in Agartala stands in violation of th

What happened after the president of South Korea imposed martial law, and why?

4Dec

By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

What happened after the president of South Korea imposed martial law, and why?

South Korea's president shocked the country on Tuesday night when, out of the blue, he declared martial law in the Asian democracy for the first time in nearly 50 years. Yoon Suk Yeol's drastic decision - announced in a late-night TV broadcast - mentioned "anti-state forces" and the threat from North Korea. But it soon became clear that it had not been spurred by external threats but by his own desperate political troubles. Still, it prompted thousands of people to gather at parliament in protest, while opposition lawmakers rushed there to push through an emergency vote to remove the measure. Defeated, Yoon emerged a few hours later to accept the parliament's vote and lift the martial law order. Now, lawmakers will vote on whether to impeach him over what the country's main...

South Korea lifted martial law after the president’s unexpected proclamation caused a stir.

3Dec

By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

South Korea lifted martial law after the president’s unexpected proclamation caused a stir.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s cabinet has reversed a martial law order in the country, just hours after he issued the surprise decree that plunged Seoul into political uncertainty and sparked fierce backlash from lawmakers across the political spectrum. The cabinet decision came after Yoon backtracked on his shortlived decree in the early hours of Wednesday local time and withdrew the troops deployed to carry out the order. South Korean lawmakers – who had scrambled earlier in the night to block the martial law order with a parliamentary vote – are now calling for resignations. The opposition Democratic Party says it will begin impeachment proceedings against Yoon if he doesn’t step down immediately. “We will not sit idly by and watch President Yoon’s crime of destroying

Lai Ching-te and the “Motherland” and “Republic of China” Theories

30Nov

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Lai Ching-te and the “Motherland” and “Republic of China” Theories

Since it was inaugurated in May, the administration of the Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Ching-te has gotten off to a relatively solid start. The administration enjoys a high approval rating, and neither of the two main opposition parties, the Kuomintang (KMT) nor the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) are performing well in the Legislative Yuan, something that had been a concern. Additionally, the TPP’s approval rating has been plummeting as a result of the TPP’s Ko Wen-je arrest and imprisonment. Forty percent of voters in Taiwan were originally non-party affiliated, but from 2023 and into the start of 2024, a large number of these independents joined the TPP, leading to an approval rating of 20 percent for the TPP. However, this approval rating has since dropped dramatically. In the Legi

Dissanayake of Sri Lanka questions the IMF’s revision, casting doubt on the country’s economic turnaround.

29Nov

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Dissanayake of Sri Lanka questions the IMF’s revision, casting doubt on the country’s economic turnaround.

Sri Lanka’s new leftist government, which won a landslide election earlier this month by promising to ease an austerity regime imposed by an IMF bailout, risks upsetting voters early into its term by following an unpopular debt repayment plan set by former president Ranil Wickremesinghe. The National People’s Power (NPP), a coalition of left-wing parties, gained support amid frustration with Sri Lanka’s debilitating economic crisis and the spending cuts required by the US$2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme to bail out the country after it defaulted on its debt in 2022. Years of deep financial crisis caused by a collapse of foreign currency reserves that drove the country into sovereign default has pushed many of Sri Lanka’s 22 million people to the bri

The UK parliament denies China’s Taiwan-related U.N. claims.

29Nov

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

The UK parliament denies China’s Taiwan-related U.N. claims.

London, Nov 28 (CNA) The British Parliament adopted a motion on Taiwan's international status on Thursday, making it the latest body to reject China's interpretation of United Nations Resolution 2758, which it has used to make territorial claims over Taiwan. The motion, which was adopted by the U.K. House of Commons after a debate on "the international status of Taiwan," stipulated that the U.N. resolution does not address Taiwan's political status nor establish the People's Republic of China (PRC) sovereignty over Taiwan. The U.K. Parliament thus followed Canada, the European Parliament, the Netherlands and Australia in following an initiative by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) to reject efforts by China to "distort" the meaning of the U.N. resolution in its favor....

Japan’s PM promises to stay in power despite the humiliating defeat.

28Nov

By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

Japan’s PM promises to stay in power despite the humiliating defeat.

Japan's prime minister Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to continue ruling the country despite a bruising loss suffered by his party at the general election. The country now faces an uncertain political future as the coalition led by the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has lost its majority in parliament, its worst result in over a decade. Ishiba was sworn in as prime minister just this month after winning the leadership of his party. He had called a snap election to seal his mandate. But in a speech on Monday, he admitted the LDP received "severe judgement" from voters, and added his party would "humbly accept" this. "The Japanese people expressed their strong desire for the LDP to do some reflection and become a party that acts in line with the people's will," Ishiba told...