Category: Asia

Democracies’ ‘secret weapon’ against China’s sharp power

     

Since Taiwan’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive party (DPP) won the presidency and a parliamentary majority in 2016, China has ramped up pressure against Taipei on all fronts. Now, the DPP government… Read more »

Three ways to advance democracy abroad

     

While the new U.S. Congress will face deep divides on many issues, it does have a chance to act on one issue upon which both sides broadly agree: supporting democracy… Read more »

China’s autocracy with democratic characteristics: the regime ‘that failed to fail’?

     

The pattern is familiar to historians, a rising power challenging an established one, with a familiar complication: For decades, the United States encouraged and aided China’s rise, working with its… Read more »

Autocratic populists leave democracy ‘unfixable’?

     

Advanced democracies enjoy institutional defenses against would-be authoritarian leaders, analysts suggest, and even where they fall victim to illiberal or populist rule, they tend to demonstrate resilience and capacity for… Read more »

Bangladesh democracy hangs in the balance

     

By any measure, the current state of democracy in Bangladesh is grim, note analysts Atif Ahmad, a researcher at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and Michael Kugelman, senior… Read more »

Aiding autocrats: China’s ‘sharp power’ at work

     

Chinese telecommunications company ZTE has been helping Venezuela’s autocratic government construct an advanced citizen surveillance program, Slate’s Mia Armstrong reports. A Reuters investigation published Wednesday provides a detailed look into the development… Read more »

Sri Lanka turmoil points to China’s ‘new colonialism’

     

The surest way to lose an election in south Asia is to be too enthusiastic about China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Wherever Chinese influence has grown, governments have turned more… Read more »

Violence returns as Bangladesh gears up for polls

     

Bangladesh has faced increasingly difficult human rights challenges in recent years, notes the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission: The country’s decision to open its border to approximately 800,000 Rohingya refugees… Read more »

Opposition aims to rescue Bangladesh’s ‘decaying democracy’

     

The announcement of a schedule for the next general election in Bangladesh has triggered hope of a credible poll but also concern about more political violence across the Muslim-majority South Asian nation,… Read more »