Southeast Asia

At present, we are carefully studying all the aspects of the global responses to the Coronavirus pandemic, the biggest challenge facing humanity in the 21 century.  In our analysis of the current situation, we would particularly like to focus on the way some Southeast Asian nations have responded to and have been fighting the COVID-19 outbreak.

President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has announced his intentions to end the nation’s security agreement with the United States, specifically its Visiting Forces Agreement.
The move puts into question America’s military presence in the Philippines and the influence it projects across Asia with it. In particular, it further complicates US attempts to encircle and contain the rise of China both in the region and upon the global stage.
Framing Growing US-Philippines Tensions 

US State Department-funded front “Radio Free Asia” (RFA) recently complained about plans to proceed with joint Chinese-Cambodian military exercises despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

“Long Live Democracy!” cried “student” protesters at Thailand’s Thammasat University as local and Western media organizations reported “hundreds” gathered to decry the disbanding of Thai political party, Future Forward.

It is mad, it is insane, but to get from point A to point B in Bangkok or Jakarta can easily take 2 or 3 hours. Often, the traffic comes to a total gridlock. The air quality is now one of the worst on earth. Periodically, life comes to a standstill. On average, people spend years of their lives sitting in traffic jams.

Chinese President Xi Jinping became the first high-level official from the PRC to pay an official visit to Myanmar in 20 years. He had been invited by President Win Myin and was in the Southeast Asian nation from 17 to 18 January of this year. And although the focus of the talks between the Chinese Head of State and Myanmar’s true leaders was on economic cooperation, it was the political implications of the visit that garnered most attention from commentators.

It is 2020 and time for the world to sum up the outcomes of different economic sectors, including tourism. At first glance, the tourist industry does not appears to be an important part of the business sphere, unlike the sale of oil and weapons is. However, nowadays, there are hundreds of millions of tourists who not only pay transport companies for transfers but also spend considerable amounts of money in destinations they visit. As a result, the total sums involved are enormous.

US State Department-funded and directed Voice of America recently noted that its networks in the Southeast Asian country of Cambodia are reorganising, though no in such straightforward terms.
VOA’s article, “Journalists Form A New Press Association, Plan to Protect At Risk Reporters,” claims: