ISEAS Perspective provides analysis of specific current events and their significance for the Southeast Asian region. This will be published occasionally, and is aimed at keeping decision-makers in both the public and private sectors informed; as well as scholars, laymen and the interested public. This series undergoes a peer-review process.
2021/58 “Vaccines and Vaccinations in Southeast Asia’s Fight against Covid-19” by Kevin S.Y. Tan and Grace Lim
2021 No. 58
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Vaccines are now a vital component for all countries to turn the tide in the Covid-19 pandemic. Partly due to vaccine nationalism, questions and issues surround the reliable supply of vaccines to Southeast Asia and the eventual normalisation of travel. Vaccine diplomacy by growing vaccine powers such as China help address supply gaps […]
2021/57 “Malaysia-China Defence Relations: Disruptions Amid Political Changes and Geopolitical Tensions” by Ngeow Chow Bing
2021 No. 57
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Malaysia’s defence relations with China improved steadily in the early 1990s and especially since the 2005 MOU on Bilateral Defence Cooperation was signed. Under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Malaysia’s defence cooperation with China reached its height in 2017, with many top-level exchanges, large-scale bilateral exercises, a breakthrough in defence industry cooperation, growing […]
2021/56 “Thailand’s Military in 2021: Mid-Year Reshuffle, Continuing Factionalism and Rejected Reform” by Paul Chambers
2021 No. 56
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Thailand’s military in 2021 finds itself with several principal tasks: reinforcing the police against youthful anti-government protestors; solidifying monarchical control of the country; assisting the police in arresting those suspected of violating Thailand’s lèse majesté law; conducting counterinsurgency warfare against Malay-Muslim insurgents in the country’s Deep South; and securing the 2, 416-kilometer-long Thai-Myanmar […]
2021/55 “Indonesia-China Vaccine Cooperation and South China Sea Diplomacy” by Ardhitya Eduard Yeremia and Klaus Heinrich Raditio
2021 No. 55
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Indonesia is among the Southeast Asian nations most heavily stricken by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also the ASEAN country that conducts the most comprehensive vaccine cooperation with China — from clinical trials to supply to production. Indonesia has nevertheless tried to diversify its vaccine supply and avoid over-reliance on Chinese vaccine. Around […]
2021/54 “The Military’s Resurging Influence in Vietnam” by Le Hong Hiep
2021 No. 54
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) appears to be gaining leverage in Vietnam’s political system. Two generals, Luong Cuong and Phan Van Giang, were elected to the Communist Party of Vietnam’s (CPV) Politburo at its 13th National Congress. The number of military representatives in the Party’s Central Committee also increased from 20 to 23, […]
2021/53 ““Political Connectivity”: A New Dimension of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the Philippines” by Aaron Jed Rabena
2021 No. 53
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, party-to-party (P2P) relations have been forged and deepened between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and various Philippine political parties: a) For the first time in history, there was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the CPC and a major Philippine political party, Duterte’s PDP-Laban. […]
2021/52 “The UMNO General Assembly and the Rocky Road Back to Putrajaya” by Norshahril Saat
2021 No. 52
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since Malaysia’s independence in 1957, UMNO (United Malays National Organization) has been the biggest Malay political party. Despite witnessing several splits throughout its history, it could always reconcile. In the May 2018 general election, UMNO lost power for the first time in history, but clawed back to power in March 2020 through defections […]
2021/51 “The Bilateral Consultative Mechanism on the South China Sea and Philippines-China Relations” by Rommel C. Banlaoi
2021 No. 51
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To promote the peaceful management of conflicts in the South China Sea and strengthen friendly relations between the Philippines and China, President Rodrigo R. Duterte pursued the bilateral approach favoured by China through the establishment of the Bilateral Consultative Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea. Launched in May 2017, the BCM held […]
2021/50 “Assessing Digital Economy Policies in Six Southeast Asian Countries” by Joey Erh
2021 No. 50
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The various digital economy policies across Southeast Asian countries can be evaluated and benchmarked on six main components – connectivity, digital literacy and skills, privacy and cybersecurity regulations, transformation, creation and regional collaboration. The six countries analysed each have policies covering these components but they vary in policy focus. More developed digital economies […]
2021/49 “ASEAN Navigates between Indo-Pacific Polemics and Potentials” by Hoang Thi Ha
2021 No. 49
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Despite releasing the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific in June 2019, ASEAN member states have yet to reach a coherent view on the Indo-Pacific. They remain ambivalent about the Indo-Pacific to different degrees due to the concept’s malleability and external pressures from China and Russia. As one of the more forward-leaning ASEAN members […]