Human Rights Puts Vietnam's TPP Status at Risk: US

Published on Jan 15, 2016 by Luke Hunt

Vietnam’s status in the Trans-Pacific Partnership could be “in very real jeopardy” if the country abjures its human rights commitments, the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam said Jan. 14.In remarks previewing a state visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, Ambassador Ted Osius said Vietnam’s treatment of labor and other human rights activists could affect who are already divided on the TPP, end up voting on the 12-nation trade pact.Read more Lien Hoang at Bloomberg. .

Tsai Ing-wen Victory in Taiwan Poll a Fresh Rebuke to China

Published on Jan 14, 2016 by Luke Hunt

As both Beijing and Washington watch anxiously, Taiwan’s voters go to the polls Saturday and are widely expected to oust the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) after eight years in power and elect pro-independence opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen on her second try to become the island’s first female president.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Washington Times..

Brunei Bans Santa

Published on Dec 27, 2015 by Luke Hunt

Relations between the Islamic and Christian worlds have seen their fair share of tensions and even conflict, particularly in the Middle East where both faiths were initially fostered. That animosity is also being fostered in the tiniest corners of Earth where religion is often fashioned for political gain.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Islamic State on Trial in Indonesia

Published on Dec 23, 2015 by Luke Hunt

Indonesia is intensifying its efforts to mitigate any fallout from home-grown recruits returning from the battlefields in the Middle East, where hundreds have fought with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Has Abu Sayyaf Gone Regional?

Published on Dec 23, 2015 by Luke Hunt

As the rest of the world grapples with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), their latest attacks on Paris, and what some commentators are calling the Global Jihad Insurgency, Philippines-based Islamic militant group the Abu Sayyaf may be spreading its own unwanted tentacles.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..