Asia-Pacific Archive

In a sudden move on Aug. 5, India’s government announced it was eliminating the special, semiautonomous status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir by revoking Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The decision is a watershed moment in the 72-year-long standoff between India and Pakistan over control of the Kashmir region, as well as for the Kashmiri peoples’ long struggle for political autonomy. It opens an uncertain new chapter in Indian-administered Kashmir, with reverberations far beyond its contested borders. The historic arrangement under which Jammu and Kashmir was to have a greater degree of political autonomy than other Indian […]

Since 2016, protesters from New Zealand’s indigenous Māori population have occupied a plot of land at Ihumātao, near Auckland, to prevent construction of a housing development.* The land was confiscated from its original Māori inhabitants in the 19th century, and protesters are demanding that it be incorporated into a nearby public reserve. The standoff intensified last month after police unsuccessfully tried to evict the protesters, and it could damage Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s standing among the Māori population if it is not resolved peacefully. In an email interview with WPR, Grant Duncan, a professor of political studies at Massey University’s […]

In this week’s editors’ discussion on Trend Lines, WPR’s managing editor, Frederick Deknatel, and associate editor, Elliot Waldman, talk about North Korea’s recent string of short-range ballistic missile tests, the Trump administration’s less-than-forceful response, and what that says about the broader dysfunction plaguing the U.S. intelligence and foreign policy communities. They also discuss the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Algeria, which are now in their 25th week. As Francisco Serrano notes in his in-depth report for WPR this week, the outlook for the country’s protest movement remains unclear, given the risks that Algeria’s military leaders could still revert to form and […]

When the history of Myanmar’s genocide against the Rohingya people is finally written, it may read a lot like the cases of Rwanda and Yugoslavia. The International Criminal Court could eventually prosecute a few of the military officers responsible for killing and torturing thousands of Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority long persecuted in Myanmar. Chances are, though, that justice will be lumbering and uneven. Like others before them, most of the perpetrators will likely evade prosecution altogether. History could turn out differently, however, if calls are heeded from the United Nations independent fact-finding mission in Myanmar to sanction the […]

Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, WPR Newsletter and Engagement Editor Benjamin Wilhelm curates the week’s top news and expert analysis on China. Hong Kong experienced its most widespread antigovernment demonstrations yet Monday, as protests and a citywide strike led to road closures, disruptions to public transit systems and hundreds of flight cancellations. Riot police responded by volleying tear gas at demonstrators and arresting at least 82 people. Amid the chaos, the Chinese government warned “all the criminals to not wrongly judge the situation and take restraint for weakness.” That statement, Beijing’s sharpest denunciation of the protests yet, added to fears that […]

The truce in the U.S.-China trade war didn’t last long. Just a month after agreeing to restart negotiations on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, President Donald Trump announced another escalation last week. Unless something happens, or Trump changes his mind—which is always a possibility—U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin collecting an additional 10 percent tariff on the remaining $300 billion in imports from China on Sept. 1. And this time, consumers would feel the pain because the tariffs will hit clothing, shoes, electronics and other everyday items that had previously been spared. To top it […]

Late last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that China and Cambodia had signed a secret agreement allowing the Chinese navy to use a military facility near Ream, along Cambodia’s southern coast. According to a draft of the deal obtained by the Journal, it would reportedly grant China a 30-year lease on the port and permit the stationing of troops and storing of weaponry in an installation that covers 192 acres and includes one pier and other facilities. Images have also shown the construction of a military-grade airport and a development project of dubious commercial viability. The facilities, if managed […]

This week, diplomats from 27 countries around the Asia-Pacific gathered in Bangkok for the ASEAN Regional Forum, where they discussed the many geopolitical flashpoints in the region, from North Korea to the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Venezuela is coming under mounting criticism in the wake of a recent United Nations report on its human rights abuses, and a cease-fire agreement in Mozambique ended a return to violence 27 years after the end of that country’s devastating civil war. WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and associate editors Elliot Waldman and Laura Weiss talk about all of this and more on the editors’ […]