Kusu News 14-Mar-2022

U.S. should recognise Taiwan, former top diplomat Pompeo says

4-Mar-2022 Reuters

The United States should formally recognise Taiwan as a country, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday during a speech in Taipei, drawing a stern rebuke from China for his "babbling nonsense".

"The United States government should immediately take necessary and long overdue steps to do the right and obvious thing: that is to offer the Republic of China, Taiwan, America's diplomatic recognition as a free and sovereign country," Pompeo said in a speech organised by a Taiwan think tank.

Washington ended formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 when it recognised the People's Republic of China.

While Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China, politicians often add "Taiwan" in their public comments.

"While the United States should continue to engage with the People's Republic of China as a sovereign government, America's diplomatic recognition of the 23 million freedom-loving Taiwanese people and its legal, democratically-elected government can no longer be ignored, avoided, or treated as secondary," Pompeo said.

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A derailed EU will have a greater knock-on effect on Asean

11-Mar-2022 The Business Times

WHILE Asean's trade and investment linkages to Russia are relatively small, a derailed economic recovery in Europe as a result of a protracted Ukraine invasion will have a greater knock-on effect on the region, and particularly on Singapore, a key trading partner of the European Union (EU).

Western sanctions, including the latest US ban on Russian oil and gas imports, are posing headwinds to many baseline gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts. These may have to be revised lower if more sanctions are imposed to force Russia to end its aggression on Ukraine, a move which could set back Europe's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Europe is at risk of a recession, given its heavy dependence on Russian energy imports," said Chua Hak Bin, economist at Maybank Securities Singapore (MSSG). "Asean will not be spared from the global fallout, despite the small direct trade linkage with Russia and Ukraine."

While Russia accounts for just 0.4 per cent of Asean's total trade in 2021, and less than 0.1 per cent of total foreign direct investments (FDIs) into Asean, the latter's exports to Europe is significant at US$127 billion, representing 9 per cent of Asean exports. The figure is at 11.9 per cent for Vietnam and at 11.4 per cent for the Philippines.

A recession in Europe will have larger knock-on effects on Asean's exports, FDIs, tourism and growth.

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Ukraine crisis should be of concern in the Indo-Pacific

The region has similar issues in its own backyard — an aggressive China

11-Mar-2022 The Japan Times

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine significantly strengthens the case of the critical nature of reinforcing a rules-based order, the central pillar of not only Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision.

After World War II, international institutions and law were designed to prevent large states from dominating smaller states. It was hoped these institutions could stop the world from spiraling into another major disastrous conflict, not only in Europe but in the Indo-Pacific region as well.

Today, we are seeing authoritarian states, specifically Russia and China, eschew international law and the stability that was brought about by the post–World War II rules-based order to create spheres of influence — extending into Ukraine, and likely other parts of Eastern Europe, in the case of Russia.

This is not so much about a security threat associated with NATO, a military alliance in Moscow’s backyard. It is much more about the dangers of vibrant, rules-based, transparent democratic countries sharing a border with Putin’s authoritarian Russia, which is supported by corrupt oligarchs. The dangers of a democratic movement on its borders are centered in the reality that Russia’s government and its current political system are nonrepresentative and do not confer a freedom of press, support human rights or provide a representative government to its citizens.

More importantly, the Russian system is not delivering good governance and the economic prosperity that its citizens require. Comparing Russia to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Russia continues to rank low in terms of gross domestic product, longevity, health and salary.

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Singapore-Malaysia a key trade corridor that is expected to grow

13-Mar-2022 The Business Times

MALAYSIA, being one of Singapore’s closest neighbours, has always, in the words of Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, held “special importance” to the city-state. 

Indeed, Singapore and Malaysia are each other’s second most important trading partners and Singapore is Malaysia’s largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI). 

Going through the pandemic together has strengthened the two countries’ relationship said Dr Balakrishnan during the Minister of Foreign Affair’s Committee of Supply Debate on March 3.

In fact, the “very close relationship” has probably even been strengthened, he said. 

He further noted that supply chains both ways “never failed, even in the depths of the crisis” and that both countries worked to facilitate the safe movement of goods, services and people. 

“In fact, trade in goods and services increased in 2021,” he said.

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