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  • Philippine Tycoon Gokongwei Eyes Post-Pandemic Recovery With $1.3 Billion Bet On Airline, Hotels And Banks

    Philippine Tycoon Gokongwei Eyes Post-Pandemic Recovery With $1.3 Billion Bet On Airline, Hotels And Banks

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    Billionaire Lance Gokongwei is spending 73.6 billion pesos ($1.3 billion) this year to ready his sprawling conglomerate to reap the fruits of a post-pandemic recovery. His family’s JG Summit is stepping up investments in each of its major businesses—airline, hotels and banking—to tap resurgent demand in the Philippines and key markets across Southeast Asia.

    More than half of the planned capital expenditure will go toward buying new aircraft for, Cebu Air, the Philippines’ largest airline, which witnessed a more than four-fold increase in passenger traffic last year as domestic and international travel resumed following the relaxation of movement restrictions around the region. The rest of the spending will be on expanding the conglomerate’s banking footprint and accelerating property development.

    Gokongwei faced the worst crises in JG Summit’s 33-year history as the pandemic grounded almost the entire fleet of Cebu Air, which accumulated net losses of about 60 billion pesos ($1.1 billion) in the three years since the Covid-19 outbreak. While the airline remains in the red, losses have narrowed significantly in 2022 (Cebu Air is due to announce full-year results later this month) and analysts expect the company to return to the black this year amid a tourism boom.

    “Covid lasted longer than we had anticipated but we talked to our banks and our suppliers and told them [that the airline] can get through this without declaring bankruptcy,” Gokongwei, 56, chairman of Cebu Air, tells Forbes Asia on the sidelines of the Wharton Global forum held in Singapore earlier this month. Several Asian airlines declared bankruptcy during the pandemic, including billionaire Lucio Tan’s Philippine Airlines, which has turned profitable since exiting insolvency in December 2021.

    Cebu Air—which runs budget carrier Cebu Pacific—raised fresh capital of $250 million by issuing convertible bonds to the International Finance Corp. and Indigo Partners during the depth of the pandemic in 2021, and convinced creditors and suppliers to agree to longer payment terms. “Since we were able to find a route that was acceptable to everybody, it raised the platform of credibility for us to bounce back stronger,” Gokongwei says.

    “We’re growing [Cebu Air] in a very manageable fashion.”

    The airline survived the pandemic by slashing jobs, downsizing operations and shelving expansion plans. Now, Cebu Air is ready to soar again. It plans to lease five new aircraft on top of the 10 new Airbus Neo planes that will be delivered this year.

    With the new deliveries and lease expiry on some aircraft, Cebu Air will have a fleet of 76 planes by the end of this year, up from 70 in 2022. To support the expansion, it has earmarked 42 billion pesos for capital expenditure this year. “Given the speed at which local and global travel is recovering, Cebu Air’s proactive refleeting is not only strategic, but necessary,” Jacqui de Jesus, an analyst at Maybank Securities in Manila, says via email. The expansion will help the budget carrier increase flights and boost operating cashflow, she adds.

    Cebu Air transported 14.8 million passengers to domestic and international destinations in 2022, up from 3.4 million the previous year, but below the pre-pandemic peak of 22.5 million passengers set in 2019. “We’re growing [Cebu Air] in a very manageable fashion,” Gokongwei, who is also president and CEO of JG Summit, says. That’s a stark contrast when Forbes Asia previously interviewed him in 2020, when the airline was operating at 2% capacity and losses were mounting.

    With the airline recovering, Gokongwei in December stepped up as chairman and relinquished his roles as the company’s president and CEO. Cebu Air promoted chief commercial officer Alexander Lao to president and named Michael Szucs—an industry veteran who has been advising the management for the past seven years—as CEO. The revamp allows Gokongwei to step back and focus on repositioning the broader family business empire for growth.

    Since revamping Cebu Pacific, which he has helmed since its inception in 1996, Gokongwei has made big moves in the banking industry. In January, the group, through Robinsons Retail, bought Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC’s 4.4% stake in Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI)—the country’s oldest lender—for 19.7 billion pesos, four months after agreeing to merge Robinsons Bank with bigger rival BPI in exchange for shares in the merged entity. The Gokongwei group will own over 10% of the combined entity once the merger is completed later this year, making it the second-largest shareholder in BPI next to Ayala Corp. “This signifies our confidence in the Philippine economy and the shared value we’re going to create at BPI,” Gokongwei says.

    Investors view the merger positively. “BPI has among the most developed digital banking platforms in the Philippines, which in our view would further be enhanced and expanded by integrating into JG Summit’s well-developed consumer-centric ecosystem of suppliers, tenants and customers,” Maybank’s De Jesus says.

    To support the group’s expansion plans, Gokongwei has been strengthening the balance sheet of JG Summit, which Maybank says had 26.5 billion pesos in cash as of September 2022. Last July, the company sold 36 million shares of Manila Electric for 12.4 billion pesos, paring its stake in the Philippines’ largest electric utility to about 26%. The opportunistic sale was meant to shore up the group’s coffers in case the pandemic drags on, Gokongwei says, adding that there are no plans to further trim the stake.

    Elsewhere, JG Summit’s real estate arm Robinsons Land is busy building new shopping malls, office buildings, hotels and residential projects. The company’s net profit climbed 21% to 9.75 billion pesos in 2022 from a year earlier, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, bolstered by housing sales and soaring hotel revenue, the fastest-growing segment.

    “This growth looks sustainable, it’s not just pent up demand.”

    After completing three new hotels last year, Robinsons Hotels this month opened the 32-story Westin Manila in downtown Ortigas, north of the Makati financial district. Managed by U.S. hotel chain Marriott, the skyscraper boasts of 303 rooms, including 57 suites. It adjoins a 50-story residential tower with 344 private apartments, 85% of which have already been sold by developer Robinsons Land.

    With over 4,000 rooms in 26 properties across the country, Gokongwei believes Robinsons Hotels will continue to benefit from the country’s post-pandemic tourism boom. “This growth looks sustainable, it’s not just pent up demand,” he says.

    JG Summit, one of the biggest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines, also has interests in food manufacturing, petrochemicals and telecommunications. The business was founded by the late billionaire John Gokongwei in 1954 as a corn starch factory. After their father passed away in 2019, Lance and his sisters—Robina, Lisa, Faith, Hope and Marcia—inherited his fortune. The siblings had a combined net worth of $3.1 billion, placing them at No. 4 on the most recent list of the Philippines’ 50 Richest published last September.

    MORE FROM FORBESBillionaire Lance Gokongwei’s Cebu Air To Expand, Renew Fleet As Travel Demand ReboundsBy Jonathan BurgosMORE FROM FORBESLance Gokongwei Is Trying To Pandemic-Proof JG Summit, Here’s HowBy Roel Landingin

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    Jonathan Burgos, Forbes Staff

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  • Exclusive: China’s ‘attacks’ unite region against Beijing, US ambassador to Japan says | CNN

    Exclusive: China’s ‘attacks’ unite region against Beijing, US ambassador to Japan says | CNN

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    Tokyo
    CNN
     — 

    China should not be surprised Washington and its allies in Asia are deepening military ties given Beijing’s aggressive behavior toward many of its neighbors, the US ambassador to Japan said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with CNN.

    “You look at India, you look at the Philippines, you look at Australia, you look at the United States, Canada or Japan. They (China) have had in just the last three months a military or some type of confrontation with every country. And then they’re shocked that countries are taking their own steps for deterrence to protect themselves. What did they think they were going to do?” Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said in the interview at his residence in Tokyo.

    The US envoy listed a string of what he said were aggressive military actions by China, including “attacks” against India along their shared Himalayan border, Chinese coast guard ships aiming lasers at Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, the firing of missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone and the harassment of US, Canadian and Australian aircraft by People’s Liberation Army ships and planes.

    Beijing has denied being an aggressor in all those instances and accused Washington of being the primary instigator of heightened tensions in the region.

    On Tuesday, China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned that “conflict and confrontation” with the US is inevitable if Washington does not change course.

    “The US claims it seeks to compete with China but does not seek conflict. But in reality, the so-called ‘competition’ by the US is all-round containment and suppression, a zero-sum game of life and death,” he said during his first news conference in the new post.

    “Containment and suppression will not make America great, and the US will not stop the rejuvenation of China,” Qin said.

    Emanuel countered on Wednesday that military buildups and exercises by the US and its partners in the Indo-Pacific are not acts of containment, as Beijing charges, but acts of deterrence against further – and possibly more dangerous – Chinese aggression.

    “They’ve come together to realize that (Chinese aggression) can’t continue as is, so every country is taking steps, both within an alliance (and) also within their own self-interest of creating a comprehensive coalition of deterrence. That’s what’s going on,” Emanuel said.

    He praised Japan for doubling its defense budget and taking on a leadership role in the region, citing plans for it to operate joint South China Sea patrols with the Philippines and its agreement with South Korea just this week to settle grievances dating back to before World War II concerning Japan’s colonial rule in Korea.

    And he praised both Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for putting the future before history and taking a stance that has prompted domestic backlash in both Tokyo and Seoul.

    “I do think that both leaders showed a braveness and a boldness to look to the 21st century and make the most of that rather than being tied by 20th century,” Emanuel said.

    “To me the test of leadership is to be idealistic enough to know why you’re doing what you’re doing. And then tough enough to get it done,” he said, adding that both Kishida and Yoon had passed that test.

    The US ambassador also contrasted the countries Japan has been partnering with, including South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, India and even the United Kingdom, with countries with whom China works, including Russia, North Korea and Iran.

    “There’s a phrase in America, you’re known by the company you keep,” Emanuel said.

    Over the past 18 months, the Biden administration has been keeping good company, too, he said, noting its record in uniting allies and partners.

    Emanuel cited multilateral agreements like the Quad – the informal alliance of the US, Japan, Australia and India – and the AUKUS deal for nuclear-powered submarines between the US, Australia and the UK as well as other economic, diplomatic and military initiatives.

    “I think that has given our allies confidence, like Japan, to increase the defense budget, to be more active on the diplomatic arena and stage,” he said, giving credit to Tokyo for getting eight of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to vote to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a March 3 United Nations General Assembly vote.

    Countries around the world will respond to Japan, or South Korea, or the US for a simple reason that China doesn’t understand, “the gravitational pull of freedom,” Emanuel said.

    “A rules-based system that upholds respect both for the individual and in trying to uphold freedom has its own, I don’t know how else to say it, but seductive gravitational pull.”

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  • Philippine Governor, 5 Others Killed By Gunmen In Attack

    Philippine Governor, 5 Others Killed By Gunmen In Attack

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    MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Gunmen in military uniforms fatally shot a governor and five civilians on Saturday while the provincial leader was meeting villagers at his home in the central Philippines, in the latest brazen assault on local politicians in the country, police said.

    At least six men armed with assault rifles and wearing military-style camouflage and bullet-proof vests alighted from three SUVs and opened fire on Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, hitting him and at least five other people in front of his home in Pamplona town. The province has a history of violent political rivalries.

    Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, the wife of the slain governor, said in a Facebook video that the five villagers also died.

    She demanded justice and said her husband “did not deserve that kind of death. He was serving constituents on a Saturday along with his department heads.”

    A total of 10 suspects were seen fleeing the scene and later abandoned the SUVs, police said. Police set up security checkpoints and launched a province-wide search for the suspects.

    President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the mid-morning attack, which took place as impoverished villagers gathered in front of Degamo’s house to seek medical and other aid.

    “My government will not rest until we have brought the perpetrators of this dastardly and heinous crime to justice,” Marcos said in a statement.

    Marcos said without elaborating that authorities had gathered “much information and now have a clear direction on how to proceed to bring to justice those behind this killing.” He addressed the mastermind and the killers, saying, “We will find you. If you surrender now it will be your best option.”

    Degamo’s killing underscores that even local politicians are not immune from high-profile gun violence that has persisted despite the government’s pledge to combat it.

    Last month, Gov. Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. of southern Lanao del Sur province was wounded and four of his bodyguards killed in an attack on their convoy. Police said they killed one of the suspects in a clash.

    In a separate recent attack, unidentified men reportedly wearing police uniforms fired at the van of northern Aparri town Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda, killing him and five companions in northern Nueva Vizcaya province. The suspects remain at large.

    Crimes, decades-long Muslim and communist rebellions, and other security concerns are some of the major problems inherited by Marcos, who took office in June last year.

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  • Philippines says China ship used laser against coast guard

    Philippines says China ship used laser against coast guard

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    MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines on Monday accused a Chinese coast guard ship of hitting a Philippine coast guard vessel with a military-grade laser and temporarily blinding some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea, calling it a “blatant” violation of Manila’s sovereign rights.

    The Chinese ship also maneuvered dangerously close, about 137 meters (449 feet), to block the Philippine patrol vessel BRP Malapascua from approaching Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef that has been occupied by Philippine forces, on Feb. 6, the Philippine coast guard said in a statement.

    The Philippines has filed nearly 200 diplomatic protests against China’s aggressive actions in the disputed waters in 2022 alone.

    China claims the South China Sea virtually in its entirety, putting it on a collision course with other claimants. Despite friendly overtures to Beijing by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in January in Beijing, tensions have persisted, drawing in closer military alliance between the Philippines and the U.S.

    Although the Chinese coast guard had tried to block Philippine coast guard ships in the disputed waters before, this was the first time it used lasers and caused physical suffering among Filipino personnel, Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo told The Associated Press.

    “The Chinese ship illuminated the green laser light twice toward the BRP Malapascua, causing temporary blindness to her crew at the bridge,” the Philippine statement said.

    A video issued by the coast guard in Manila shows a Chinese coast guard ship cutting across the path of a Philippine vessel from a distance. A green laser-like light is later emitted by the Chinese ship.

    The Philippine military said it’s time for China to restrain its forces from committing “any provocative act that will endanger the lives of people.” Spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar told reporters that the Philippine defense chief deemed the Chinese coast guard’s action “offensive and unsafe.”

    In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said a Philippine coast guard vessel trespassed into Chinese waters without permission on Feb. 6. Chinese coast guard vessels responded “professionally and with restraint at the site in accordance with China’s law and international law,” he said, without elaborating and mentioning the use of laser.

    “We hope the Philippines will earnestly respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea and avoid any actions that may lead to the expansion of the dispute and complication of the situation,” Wang said in reply to a question at a daily media briefing. “China and the Philippines are maintaining communication through diplomatic channels in this regard.”

    The Philippine vessel was forced to move away from the area, where it was escorting a supply vessel that was delivering food and sailors to a Philippine navy sentry ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which has been marooned on Second Thomas Shoal since 1999, the coast guard said.

    “The deliberate blocking of the Philippine government ships to deliver food and supplies to our military personnel on board the BRP Sierra Madre is a blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights in this part of the West Philippine Sea,” the coast guard said, using the name the Philippines has adopted for the stretch of waters close to its western coast.

    It was not immediately clear if the Philippine resupply mission pushed through despite the incident.

    The Chinese coast guard also blocked Philippine ships escorting a supply vessel from approaching Second Thomas Shoal in August, the coast guard said. At the time, one of the two Chinese ships that were joined by two Chinese civilian vessels removed the cover of its 70mm armament, the coast guard said, adding it would not be deterred by China’s aggression in protecting Philippine sovereignty in the disputed sea.

    Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway, where a bulk of the world’s commerce and oil transits.

    The United States lays no claims to the disputed sea but has deployed forces to patrol the waters to promote freedom of navigation and overflight — moves that have angered Beijing, which has warned Washington to stop meddling in what it says is a purely Asian dispute.

    The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps held joint exercises in the South China Sea over the weekend at a time of heightened tensions with Beijing over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon. The U.S. has been taking steps to rebuild its military might in the Philippines more than 30 years after the closure of its large bases in the country and reinforcing an arc of military alliances in Asia.

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  • Strike Launches Instant, Cheap Remittances For The Philippines Using Bitcoin Lightning

    Strike Launches Instant, Cheap Remittances For The Philippines Using Bitcoin Lightning

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    Strike, the leading digital payment platform built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, has announced the expansion of its “Send Globally” product to the Philippines. This will allow for fast, secure and low-cost money transfers between the U.S. and the Philippines, which is one of the world’s largest remittance markets. The Philippines relies on more than $35 billion annually in money sent from abroad, with over $12 billion coming from the U.S. alone. 

    Strike has partnered with Pouch.ph to enable transfers from U.S. dollars to Philippine pesos, which can be received in a bank or mobile money account in the Philippines.

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  • ICC to resume investigation into Philippines’s deadly drug war

    ICC to resume investigation into Philippines’s deadly drug war

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    Manila had argued it was conducting its own investigation into deaths under the controversial policy.

    The International Criminal Court has said it will reopen its investigation into possible “crimes against humanity” in the Philippines over former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, which led to the deaths of thousands of people.

    The Hague-based court announced plans for an investigation in February 2018 but suspended its work in November 2021 at the request of the Philippines’ government after Manila said it was undertaking its own review.

    Last June, having considered the files submitted by the authorites in the Philippines and others, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said the delay was not warranted and filed an application to reopen the ICC case.

    The court has since been examining submissions from the Philippines, the prosecutor and victims. In a statement on Thursday, the ICC said it was “not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the Court’s investigations”.

    The statement added: “The various domestic initiatives and proceedings, assessed collectively, do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps in a way that would sufficiently mirror the Court’s investigation.”

    Duterte, a former mayor of the southern city of Davao who campaigned for office on a platform of fighting crime, launched his “war on drugs” as soon as he took office in June 2016, and repeatedly urged police to “kill” drug suspects.

    A United Nations report in 2021 found that 8,663 people had been killed in anti-drug operations but the Human Rights Commission of the Philippines and local human rights groups say the toll could be as much as three times higher.

    Human Rights Watch says it found evidence that police were falsifying evidence to justify unlawful killings, with Duterte continuing the “large-scale extrajudicial violence as a crime solution”, which he had established during his 22 years running Davao.

    Duterte announced in March 2018 that he would withdraw the Philippines from the ICC – a decision that took effect a year later – and that his government would not cooperate with any investigation.

    The court has jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed up until March 2019 when the Philippines’s withdrawal became official.

    Presidents in the Philippines can serve only one six-year term and Duterte was replaced by Ferdinand Marcos Jr last year. Marcos Jr has said he will continue the “war on drugs” but with a focus on rehabilitation.

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  • ‘Truth wins’: Maria Ressa acquitted of tax evasion

    ‘Truth wins’: Maria Ressa acquitted of tax evasion

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    Appellate tax court clears journalist and Nobel laureate of all four charges of tax evasion, which could have sent her to prison for decades.

    Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and her online news outlet Rappler have been acquitted of tax evasion.

    The ruling by an appellate court on Wednesday handed Ressa a victory in a case that she has described as part of a pattern of harassment. If convicted, she would have faced 34 years in jail.

    Ressa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize along with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov in 2021, is the head of Rappler, which earned a reputation for its in-depth reporting and tough scrutiny of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

    “Today, facts win. Truth wins. Justice wins,” an emotional Ressa said after Wednesday’s ruling.

    “These charges as you know were politically motivated, they were a brazen abuse of power and meant to stop journalists from doing their jobs,” she told reporters. “These cases are where capital markets, where rule of law, where press freedom meet. So this acquittal is not just for Rappler. It is for every Filipino who has ever been unjustly accused.”

    The tax evasion case stemmed from accusations by the state revenue agency that Rappler had omitted from its tax returns the proceeds of a 2015 sale of depositary receipts to foreign investors, which later became the securities regulator’s basis to revoke its licence.

    The news organisation remains operational and is fighting the Securities and Exchange Commission order to close it.

    Ressa, 59, still faces three other criminal cases, including a cyber libel conviction, currently on appeal, for which she could face nearly seven years in prison.

    Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said in September he would not interfere in Ressa’s cases, citing the separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches of government.

    The Philippines is one of Asia’s most dangerous places for journalists.

    It ranked 147 out of 180 countries in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index, and the Committee to Protect Journalists ranks it seventh in the world in its 2021 impunity index, which tracks deaths of media members whose killers go free.

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  • 18 of Asia’s most underrated places | CNN

    18 of Asia’s most underrated places | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations opening, inspiration for future adventures, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, where to stay and other travel developments.



    CNN
     — 

    Comprising more than 40 countries, Asia can’t be summed up easily.

    The classics are classics for a reason – from the awe-inspiring architecture of Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal to the buzzy metropolises of Tokyo and Hong Kong and the beaches of Bali and Phuket, it’s impossible for any traveler to find something not to their liking.

    But for the travelers who are fortunate enough to have time to dig a little bit deeper, there are less-crowded, equally-rewarding treasures to be found.

    CNN Travel tapped into our network of colleagues and contributors to ask them where the locals go. Here’s what they had to say.

    When it comes to great Malaysian food cities, most people think of Penang. But that’s only because they haven’t been to Ipoh.

    The capital city of Perak state, Ipoh’s location between Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown makes it an ideal stop for any Malaysian road trip. It’s also the gateway to Cameron Highlands, a district known for its cool weather and tea plantations.

    Ipoh’s food and world famous white coffee are enough reasons to visit but there are also magnificent limestone hills and caves that are home to unique temples as well as amazing hidden bars.

    Visit the Chinese temples of Perak Tong, Sam Poh Tong and Kek Lok Tong and be blown away by intricate stone carvings and bronze statues of Chinese deities surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites. Ipoh’s colonial legacy is also evident in its architecture: from its Railway Station to the Birch Clock Tower, town hall and the Old Post Office.

    – Heather Chen, Asia writer

    As popular as Thailand is among international tourists, the country’s northeast – collectively referred to as Isaan – is usually overlooked.

    But for those in search of a less-traveled destination that includes historic architecture, dramatic landscapes and culinary delights, Isaan ticks all the right boxes, and then some.

    Visitors will find it’s one of the most welcoming destinations in Asia and easily accessible, thanks to excellent infrastructure that includes several domestic airports offering daily flights to Bangkok and a range of upmarket hotels.

    The only challenge is deciding which highlights to experience. Made up of 20 provinces, Isaan shares borders with Laos and Cambodia, and their influences can be found in the region’s cuisine, language, historic sites and festivals.

    Attractions include the ancient Khmer ruins of Phenom Rung in Buriram, mountainous national parks in Loei, the 75 million-year-old “Three Whale Rock” in Bueng Kam and Bronze Age artifacts in the UNESCO-listed Ban Chiang Archeological Site in Udon Thani.

    And then there’s the food. Isaan cuisine, now prevalent on menus in Thai restaurants around the world, includes refreshing som tom (payaya salad), tangy Sai Grok Isaan (northeastern sausage) and larb, a flavorful minced-meat salad.

    – Karla Cripps, senior producer, CNN Travel

    Most people travel to Leshan city for the sole purpose of visiting the Giant Buddha. The world’s biggest and tallest ancient Buddha statue is indeed stunning, but this Sichuan city deserves much more than a side trip from Chengdu.

    The Mount Emei scenic area – home to the Giant Buddha – is also of great spiritual and cultural importance as the birthplace of Buddhism in China. Many ancient temples are scattered and ingeniously built on the cliffs of the pristine dense forest.

    On top of sightseeing, Leshan is a hidden foodie paradise with local Sichuanese saying “eating in Sichuan, tasting in Leshan.” This city is where Chengdu residents come for authentic bites of iconic Sichuan cuisine: chilled bobo chicken, jellied tofu, Qiaojiao beef, steamed meat with rice powder and more.

    – Serenitie Wang, producer, video programming

    Skardu district, in Pakistan’s Gilit Baltistan region, is a land of stark gigantic beauty, with many of the highest mountains on the planet – most famously K2 – concentrated in this one area.

    Deosai National Park sits on the second highest plateau in the world. It is a riot of color, alive with birds and butterflies. With no ambient city lights the stars are exceptionally bright, with the milky way looking so close it could be plucked out from the sky.

    In contrast, there’s the Sarfaranga Desert. The world’s highest cold desert, it’s filled with diamond-white sands and ebony mountains.

    Skardu has been inhabited for centuries and is studded with ancient Buddhist stupas and carvings, beautifully preserved mosques from the Middle Ages and shrines of Sufi saints.

    The Serena hotel chain has transformed the stunning Shigar Fort and Khaplu Palace into two of the country’s best kept hotels. Both are filled with gardens and climate friendly wooden architecture while serving regional food like Mamtu dumplings and grilled trout.

    – Sophia Saifi, producer, Pakistan

    Nikko is just 150 kilometers (93 miles) north of Tokyo, but it feels like another world.

    This small city is one of the most important sites in Japan for Shinto culture, with the ornate, gold-dripping Toshogu Shrine – a UNESCO World Heritage site – its centerpiece.

    If peace is what you’re after, Nikko is the place to find it. Nikko National Park comprises 443 square miles across three prefectures, with dramatic waterfalls, groves of fir and cedar trees, finely carved gates and rocky outcroppings among the things to experience.

    The park is also home to some of Japan’s famous natural hot springs, making Nikko an ideal autumn or winter destination.

    While the area has long been popular with Tokyo urbanites looking for a bucolic weekend escape, Nikko is beginning to land on the radar of more international tourists – a Ritz Carlton opened there just before the pandemic.

    – Lilit Marcus, digital producer, CNN Travel

    With its fresh mountain air and pine forests in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Dalat is a popular destination for local Vietnamese that isn’t as well known among international travelers.

    At 1,500 meters above sea level, the city’s cooler weather is a welcome reprieve from the tropical humidity found elsewhere in the Southeast Asian country.

    Centered around the romantic Xuan Huong Lake, Dalat boasts everything from French colonial architecture – a holdover from its days as a hill station – to the “Crazy House,” the Seussian creation of architect Đặng Việt Nga, with its twisting stairwells and whimsical sculptures. Plentiful waterfalls and a vibrant flower industry mean that delights abound in the city for honeymooners and nature lovers.

    – Dan Tham, producer, Global Features

    Urban Davao City is beloved for its night market.

    Davao City is more than just a provincial capital of the southernmost part of the Philippines — it’s a true mosaic of Filipino cultures seen nowhere else across the country.

    There’s food for everybody at the Roxas Night Market, which is lined with barbecue and grilled seafood, along with humble yet complex delicacies such as the fresh seaweed salad called lato and hearty law-uy vegetable soup. Nothing represents Davao more than pungent durians, which grow in abundance across the region as well as pineapples, bananas and sugarcane – served in all forms from shakes to pies.

    The city takes pride in its indigenous roots and celebrates the Kadwayan Festival in August to showcase local textiles, woodwork, song and dance from 11 tribes that reign from the mountains and its surrounding sea.

    A ferry ride away from the city will transport you to luxurious Samal Island, best known for its pristine beaches and pearl farms. Take a roadtrip along the palm tree-lined paths that lead to the surfer spot of Mati, or perhaps a detour to Mount Apo, the highest mountain and volcano in the Philippines.

    – Kathleen Magramo, breaking news writer

    The northeast Indian state of Meghalaya, which translates to “abode in the clouds,” boasts some of the country’s most peaceful and lush landscapes. As it requires a permit, it can be challenging to visit. But it’s worth it.

    Meghalaya is home to the towns of Cherrapunji and Mawlynnong. Both hold records for being the wettest places on Earth, having received nearly 12,000 mm (472 inches) of rain a year. The results are verdant, leafy forests with rivers and creeks running through that can be explored through crossing the state’s famous bridges.

    Built by locals out of the roots of ficus trees, some are as old as 500 years and symbolize the self-sufficiency of the Khasi indigenous tribe and their relationship with the forest. The living root bridges, known as “jingkieng jri” in the Khasi language, can be found in over 70 villages and continue to be used and nurtured by locals to keep them alive for future generations.

    In 2022, they were added to UNESCO’s tentative list of World Heritage sites. The most famous living root bridges are the Umshiang Double Decker root bridge in Nongriat village, south of Cherrapunji, and one in Riwai near Mawlynnong, certified as the “cleanest village in Asia” since 2003 by UNESCO.

    – Manveena Suri, freelance producer

    Palau Ubin is just a short ferry ride away from mainland Singapore.

    Thought Singapore was all about parties and skyscrapers? Think again. Located offshore from its northeast Changi region is Pulau Ubin (Malay for “granite island”), a nature lover’s paradise with jungle trails, mangrove wetlands and majestic quarries.

    Getting around the island is a breeze: In true Singaporean style, everything is well-marked, from jungle trails to concrete footpaths, but the island still remains very untouched.

    Mountain biking is particularly popular, especially on weekdays when crowds are few. But Ubin really comes to life on weekends – when families, couples and nature lovers descend, hoping to catch a glimpse of old Singapore.

    One of the most popular attractions on the island is Chek Jawa, a saltwater mangrove wetland rich in marine life. A well-built wooden boardwalk runs through the mangrove, allowing visitors to observe plant and marine life such as sea sponges, octopuses, starfish and cuttlefish, at close range.

    – H.C.

    Indonesia is comprised of several thousand islands – and, in the case of Samosir, an island on a lake within an island.

    Samosir Island is a volcanic island in North Sumatra’s Lake Toba. one of the world’s largest crater lakes.

    The Batak tribe calls this land their home, and you can meet these locals as they sell handicrafts from their villages along the waterfront, where their houses are built from wooden beams lashed to stones and have tall red roofs that resemble a ship’s sails.

    As Samosir is several hours’ drive and ferry ride from the closest airport, opt to spend the night in a homestay and support the community by purchasing ulos, a UNESCO-recognized woven, naturally dyed cloth that is used in every important facet of Betak life.

    – L.M.

    Northern Laos – home to elegant Luang Prabang and adventure-loving Vang Vieng – get the lion’s share of attention. But head south for a different kind of experience in Pakse, where two rivers converge in the country’s second biggest city.

    Pakse is diverse, pulsing and modern. It has buildings left over from the days of French colonialism, but these days Vietnamese and Chinese communities bring their foods, traditions and references alongside the existing Lao presence.

    While in town, head up to the giant gold Buddha at Wat Pho Salao, stroll along the Mekong at sunset, and then go off to the Bolaven Plateau to get deeper into jungle.

    – L.M.

    India casts a long tourism shadow over its neighbors, including Bangladesh. But this smaller nation has outsized offerings many travelers to South Asia might not realize. This is especially true in architecture, history, nature and food.

    In the capital of Dhaka, the Ahsan Manzil is an ornate, stunning vision in pink. Set on the banks of the Buriganga River, it was finished in 1872 during the British colonial era as a palace for the local rulers of the time. It is now a popular museum.

    For a sample of Mughal Empire architectural splendor, check out the incomplete Lalbagh Fort.

    And if you’d like to visit a mosque, consider the exquisite Star Mosque (Tara Masjid), renowned for hundreds of blue stars on its gleaming white domes.

    – Forrest Brown, freelance writer and producer

    Lijiang's old town, in Yunnan province, is popular with Chinese domestic travelers.

    Even though China is still closed to international tourists, Yunnan province has already welcomed about 350 million domestic visitors in the first half of 2022 alone.

    If you’d like to see the historical Yunnan like an experienced local, head to Tengchong.

    Bordering Myanmar in the west of Yunnan, Tengchong has been a critical trading stop on the historic Silk Route and Tea Horse Road in the past.

    Today, many local travelers first visit Heshun, an old town built surrounding a mountain and a lake. The Double Rainbow stone arch bridges, the Laundry Pavilion and the 98-year-old Heshun Library – the biggest rural public library in China – are some of the must-sees when visiting the cozy village.

    Yinxing (Gingko) Village in the northern side of Tengchong is known for its thousands of ginkgo trees, turning the village golden yellow every autumn.

    – Maggie Hiufu Wong, freelance CNN Travel writer

    The Gogunsan islands – meaning “an archipelago of mountains” in Korean – have been a popular summer destination for locals seeking a break from city life.

    A group of 63 islands on South Korea’s west coast, the islands offer a picturesque view of verdant hills scattered amid gentle waters.

    The world’s longest seawall and a series of bridges connect the islands to the mainland, making them an especially attractive destination for those behind wheels. The landscape invites visitors to light hikes and swim afterwards.

    – Jake Kwon, newsdesk producer

    Lan Ha Bay is a less-visited waterwat in northeastern Vietnam.

    Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam is no secret – the UNESCO-listed waterway has long been popular with backpackers and luxury travelers alike.

    But visitors who want to ply the waters with a lot fewer neighbors should head to Lan Ha, south of Ha Long Bay. Like its more famous sibling, Lan Ha Bay is a stretch of shimmering water broken up by limestone (karst) islands that can be enjoyed by day trip (kayak, canoe) or overnight (cruise ship, junk boat).

    Most travelers get here by bus or car from Hanoi or Haiphong, and it’s easy to set up door-to-door service with tour companies in advance.

    Leave from Cat Ba Island to explore Lan Ha Bay’s grottoes, caves and white-sand beaches.

    – L.M.

    On the southern tip of Taiwan lies Kenting, a sunny, laid back peninsula known for its white sandy beach, boisterous night market and chill vibe.

    Take a dip at Baishawan (White Sand Bay); scenes from the “Life of Pi” were filmed here on Wanlitong Beach, a hotspot for snorkeling teeming with marine life.

    Take a stroll at the Eluanbi Park, where a towering lighthouse stands – one of the top eight iconic landmarks on the island – and walk down to the southernmost tip of Taiwan, a perfect spot to watch the sunset.

    No visit to Kenting is complete without a stop at Longpan Park. Take in the panoramic view of the rugged coastline, the majestic cliffs and the grassy hills that together form a jaw-dropping landscape. Given the open space and the lack of lighting, the park is also popular with sunset watchers and stargazers.

    – Wayne Chang, China news desk producer

    Nestled under a canopy of trees, the temple ruins of Banteay Chhmar offer a glimpse into the might of the Khmer Empire – without the hordes of tourists.

    Completed in the late 12th century by Jayavarman VII, the “Citadel of Cats” is in northwest Cambodia, a few hours’ drive from Siem Reap, home to Angkor Wat. Banteay Chhmar is located 20 kilometers from the Thai border and is accessible by taxi from Sisophon, the fourth largest city in Cambodia.

    The massive complex comprises eight temples, featuring stone-faced towers adorned with mysterious smiles. There are also remarkably well-preserved bas-reliefs, depicting religious and military stories. Visitors to this remote, less-traveled part of Cambodia are rewarded with a sense of adventure and quiet.

    – D.T.

    Most foreign tourists head to Sri Lanka’s beautiful south coast or into its central tea country, both of which are fairly easy to reach from the main city of Colombo and beloved by Instagrammers who come to ride the famous rails.

    But the northern patch of the island is worth the sometimes-challenging car or bus trip to get there.

    Jaffna is the primary home of the country’s Tamil-speaking population and still has glimmers of its Indian and Dutch colonial past, resulting in a fascinating, complex culture.

    Start with architecture: the ornate, bright gold Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil Hindu temple and sprawling white Colonial-era Jaffna Library are both exceptional.

    Then, indulge in the food: bananas and mangoes fresh off the trees combine with curries, pickles and rice dishes for filling, inexpensive meals.

    – L.M.

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  • Philippines’ Marcos Jr. heads to China amid sea disputes

    Philippines’ Marcos Jr. heads to China amid sea disputes

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    MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. flew to China on Tuesday for a three-day state visit, saying he looks forward to his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as they work to boost bilateral ties.

    “As I leave for Beijing, I will be opening a new chapter in our comprehensive, strategic cooperation with China,” he told officials and diplomats, including the Chinese ambassador, prior to boarding his flight from an air base in the capital.

    “I look forward to my meeting with President Xi as we work towards shifting the trajectory of our relations to a higher gear that would hopefully bring numerous prospects and abundant opportunities for peace and development to the peoples of both our countries,” he added.

    Alluding to the two countries’ territorial dispute in the South China Sea, he said he looks forward to discussing bilateral and regional political and security issues.

    “The issues between our two countries are problems that do not belong between two friends such as Philippines and China,” he added. “We will seek to resolve those issues to mutual benefit of our two countries.”

    China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has ignored a 2016 ruling by a tribunal in The Hague that invalidated Beijing’s claims to the waterway. The case was brought by the Philippines, which says China has since developed disputed reefs into artificial islands with airplane runways and other structures so they now resemble forward military bases.

    Most recently, a Filipino military commander reported that the Chinese coast guard forcibly seized Chinese rocket debris that Filipino navy personnel had retrieved in the South China Sea last month.

    China denied the forcible seizure. Marcos said he would seek further clarification on his visit to Beijing.

    Accompanied by a big business delegation, Marcos said they will seek cooperation in various areas including agriculture, energy, infrastructure, trade and investments, and people-to-people exchanges. He said they expect to sign more than 10 key bilateral agreements during the visit.

    China accounts for 20% of the Philippines’ foreign trade and is also a major source of foreign direct investment.

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  • Floods in Philippines leave 51 dead, over a dozen missing

    Floods in Philippines leave 51 dead, over a dozen missing

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    MANILA, Philippines — The death toll in the massive floods that devastated parts of the Philippines over the Christmas weekend has climbed to 51, with 19 others missing, the national disaster response agency said Monday, as affected residents struggle to get back on their feet.

    Photos on social media showed residents in Misamis Occidental province in Northern Mindanao sweeping away thick mud from the floors of their homes. In the seaside village of Cabol-anonan, coconut trees were uprooted and huts made of light material were nearly flattened.

    The Northern Mindanao region in the south bore the brunt of the disaster, reporting 25 deaths, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Most of the deaths were from drowning and landslides, and among the missing were fishermen whose boats capsized.

    Floods have subsided in most of the areas hit by bad weather that disrupted Christmas celebrations in the eastern, central and southern Philippines. But over 8,600 of the nearly 600,000 affected people remain in emergency shelters.

    Over 4,500 houses were damaged by the floods, along with roads and bridges, and some areas still have disrupted power and water supply, the disaster management agency said. The government sent food and other essentials to flood-hit residents, deployed heavy equipment for clearing operations, and provided iron sheets and shelter repair kits, officials said. Teams from the capital Manila were sent to assist communities with limited clean water in setting up water filtration systems.

    At least 22 cities and municipalities have declared a state of calamity, the disaster management council said. The move will allow the release of emergency funds and hasten rehabilitation efforts.

    A shear line — the point where warm and cold air meet — triggered heavy rains in parts of the country last week, causing the floods, the state weather bureau said.

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  • Power outages at Philippine airports disrupt travel for thousands

    Power outages at Philippine airports disrupt travel for thousands

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    Hundreds of flights in and out of Manila are halted due to air traffic control malfuntion, stranding passengers at airports.

    Tens of thousands of travellers have been stranded at airports in the Philippines after a power outage caused a malfunction of air traffic control at the country’s busiest hub in Manila.

    The communication and radar equipment failure on Sunday, January 1 forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled, delayed or diverted, affecting some 56,000 passengers at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, according to the airport operator. It was unclear how many overflights were affected.

    Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista apologised to people for the halted flights, blaming the power outage for the breakdown that also affected operations at other airports in the country.

    He said the outdated existing facility should be upgraded immediately and that a backup system was also needed.

    “This is [an] air traffic management system issue,” he told reporters. “If you will compare us with Singapore, for one, there is a big difference, they are at least 10 years ahead of us.”

    Passengers look at a screen showing flight information at Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay, Metro Manila, the Philippines [Kevin Tristan Espiritu/AFP]

    The Manila International Airport Authority said in a statement that “the system has been partially restored thereby allowing limited flight operations” as of 08:00 GMT. By late evening, eight flight arrivals and eight departures had been allowed, according to the operator.

    “The flight delays and diversions are only precautionary measures to ensure the safety of passengers, crew, and aircraft,” the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.

    The outage hit as many people were planning to travel after the Christmas and New Year break.

    Photos and videos circulating on social media showed long queues at the airport and airline personnel distributing food packs and drinks to stranded passengers.

    There were chaotic scenes at check-in counters across the country as thousands of people tried to rebook tickets or find out when their flights might take off.

    Others who had boarded their aircraft before the glitch was announced waited for hours, then had to disembark.

    Tycoon Manny Pangilinan, chairman of Philippine telecommunications conglomerate PLDT Inc, tweeted that he had been flying from Tokyo to Manila when the plane was diverted to Haneda  Airport in Japan due to “radar and navigation facilities” going down.

    “6 hours of useless flying but inconvenience to travelers and losses to tourism and business are horrendous. Only in the PH. Sigh,” Pangilinan wrote.

    Philippine Airlines and budget carrier Cebu Pacific both said they were offering passengers due to fly on Sunday free rebooking or the option to convert tickets into vouchers.

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  • Philippine rain, flooding cause at least 25 deaths, damage

    Philippine rain, flooding cause at least 25 deaths, damage

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    MANILA, Philippines — The death toll from heavy rains and floods that devastated parts of the Philippines over the Christmas weekend has risen to 25, with 26 others still missing, the national disaster response agency said Wednesday.

    Nearly 400,000 people were affected, with over 81,000 still in shelters and nine others injured, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

    Sixteen of the 25 deaths were reported in Northern Mindanao region in the south, while 12 of the 26 missing are from the eastern Bicol region, the council added.

    A shear line — the point where warm and cold air meet — triggered rains in parts of eastern, central and southern Philippines, the state weather bureau PAGASA said.

    The weather disturbance disrupted Christmas celebration in affected provinces, with photos from the southern province of Misamis Occidental showing rescuers carrying an elderly woman on a plastic chair as they waded through a flooded street. Some residents in the province were seen hanging on to floaters as coast guard rescuers pulled them across chest-deep flood using a rope.

    The disaster management council said 1,196 houses were damaged by the floods, while sections of 123 roads and 12 bridges were affected. Some areas remain without power or water supply.

    While the effect of the shear line has weakened, a new low pressure area may bring moderate to heavy rains within the next 24 hours to the same areas affected by the Christmas weekend floods. The weather bureau said Wednesday that flooding and landslides are likely, especially in areas with significant prior rainfall.

    Each year about 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. The archipelago is located on the “Ring of Fire” along the Pacific Ocean’s rim, where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

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  • Philippines reports at least 8 deaths as rains, floods disrupt Christmas celebrations | CNN

    Philippines reports at least 8 deaths as rains, floods disrupt Christmas celebrations | CNN

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    Philippine authorities on Monday reported at least eight deaths mostly due to floods triggered by heavy rains in the southern provinces, as Christmas celebrations were disrupted for thousands of residents who were forced to evacuate.

    Images on social media showed rescue workers helping residents out of chest-deep flood waters caused by two days of moderate to heavy rainfall in the central and southern Philippines.

    In its latest bulletin, the national disaster agency reported eight casualties, five of whom died from drowning, while 19 were missing. Of the eight deaths, six were in the mountainous and coastal Misamis Occidental province.

    Nearly 46,000 people were sheltering in evacuation centers, data from the Social Welfare Ministry showed on Monday.

    “We need food. Our house and animals were carried away by floods,” Estela Talaruc, a Misamis Occidental resident, told DZRH radio station. “Nothing was left, not even clothes.”

    The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, sees an average of 20 tropical storms annually. The Southeast Asian nation is also hit by adverse weather conditions like monsoon rains that cause deadly landslides and floods, and damage crops.

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  • CoinCorner Partners With Pouch To Bring Instant Remittance Payments To The Philippines Utilizing Bitcoin’s Lightning Network

    CoinCorner Partners With Pouch To Bring Instant Remittance Payments To The Philippines Utilizing Bitcoin’s Lightning Network

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    Customers in the U.K. and Europe can now use CoinCorner’s Send Globally feature to transfer funds to the Philippines after partnering with Pouch, a Lightning service provider based in the Southeast Asian country.

    Send Globally utilizes the Lightning Network to convert one fiat currency into bitcoin, which is then sent over the Lightning Network to a receiving entity which converts the bitcoin into another fiat currency, effectively making global payments instant.

    Send Globally was recently enacted for both CoinCorner and Strike through partnerships with Bitnob. This enabled users from Europe, the U.S. and the U.K. to send money quickly and at low cost to Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.

    The Philippines is yet another remittance market that now has access to Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Around $33 billion a year is sent home from workers in foreign countries, a major percentage of the country’s GDP.

    CoinCorner CEO, Danny Scott, expanded on this, saying, “We’re excited to announce our latest partnership with Pouch and expand our Send Globally service to the Philippines. Every year, more than $2,412,600,000 (£2 billion) is remitted from the U.K. and Europe to the Philippines, so this is another great opportunity to demonstrate the power of Bitcoin, with instant and low cost transactions via the Lightning Network.”

    The CEO of Pouch, Ethan Rose, reaffirmed this excitement about Lightning, stating that, “The Lightning Network is the most efficient way to send money across borders, but until now the user experience has been too complex for the average user. We’re so pleased to announce the partnership between Pouch & CoinCorner, because it allows us to drastically simplify a remitter’s user experience while still taking full advantage of the utility of Lightning.”

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  • Asia’s year in review: Who had it good — and who had it bad — in 2022

    Asia’s year in review: Who had it good — and who had it bad — in 2022

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    Police officers step into the vandalized gateway to Sri Lanka’s presidential palace in July. The country has been hit hard by an economic crisis.

    Abhishek Chinnappa | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    Curtis S. Chin, a former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group. Jose B. Collazo is an analyst focusing on the Indo-Pacific region. Follow them on Twitter at @CurtisSChin and @JoseBCollazo.

    As the new year approaches, we turn again to our annual look at Asia’s winners and losers. Government and business leaders in every major economy — China now included — may well hope 2023 is the year when draconian pandemic-related lockdowns become a matter of history.

    In our 2021 annual review, we awarded “worst year in Asia” to Afghan women and girls — a consequence of the U.S. and its allies’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the return of Taliban rule. “Best year” went to Asia’s Cold War warriors, as social media, “wolf warriors” and politicians helped spark a return to Cold War rhetoric amid worsening U.S.-China relations.

    Now, with hopes that Covid is in retreat and that inflation will moderate in the year ahead, we take a last look at who had it good and who had it bad in 2022.

    Best Year: Southeast Asia’s comeback kids — Marcos and Anwar

    Perseverance proved a winner in 2022 as the year ended with Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of the Philippines and Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia becoming leaders of their respective countries. One salvaged a family legacy, the other moved from prison to power — storylines befitting a Netflix series.

    In the Philippines, Marcos — the namesake son of his authoritarian father — won a landslide election in May for president, despite what detractors see as a family legacy of corruption and impunity. More than 35 years ago, in February 1986, the senior Marcos and his wife Imelda fled to Hawaii in exile, driven out by a People Power Revolution and a loss of U.S. support.

    And in Malaysia, Anwar finally proved a winner in November, shedding the long-held descriptor of “prime-minister-in-waiting” to become his nation’s 10th prime minister. That followed decades marked by smear campaigns, imprisonment and backroom intrigue as the onetime deputy prime minister challenged vested interests with his vows to combat corruption.

    The two now face the challenge of governing and moving their respective countries forward. Stay tuned for the next episode.

    Good Year: Taiwan’s semiconductor chipmakers 

    In a year that saw tensions between the U.S and China reach a feverish peak when U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, the island’s sophisticated semiconductor industry ends the year in a good position. Taiwan’s chipmakers are more essential than ever.  

    Semiconductor chips lie at the heart of everything from computers to cars to smartphones. Underscoring the Taiwanese tech industry’s critical role, a Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)/Boston Consulting Group 2021 study found that 92% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity is located in Taiwan. The other 8% was in South Korea. 

    TSMC headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The semiconductor manufacturer’s products lie at the heart of everything from automobiles to smartphones.

    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    A rare bipartisan U.S. Congress has taken notice, passing in July 2022 the CHIPS and Science Act, which allocates $52 billion in federal funding to spur further domestic production of semiconductor chips. In December, the world’s dominant chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), announced plans for a second semiconductor chip plant in Arizona, raising to $40 billion what is already one of the largest foreign investments in U.S. history. 

    With numbers like those, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry ends the year on the move, still building ties and winning growing support from business and government in the United States and elsewhere.

    Mixed Year: Asia’s ‘love’ for crypto

    As in much of the world, investors in Asia — once bedazzled if not bewitched by the crypto industry — end the year in a mixed mood. Industry meltdowns have left many, including in government, wondering if the message of caveat emptor — buyer beware — is sufficient, and new regulations loom. 

    The crypto exchange FTX’s billions-dollar implosion set off alarm bells throughout the region. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, which has written off its entire $275 million investment in the now-collapsed FTX cryptocurrency business, has suffered “reputational damage,” Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said.

    FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is led by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police force following his arrest.

    Mario Duncanson | Afp | Getty Images

    Bad Year: Sri Lanka, the (one-time) pearl of South Asia 

    Even amid food insecurity and economic worries across much of Asia, the images of angry citizens storming the official residence of Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Presidential Secretariat stand out in what was most decidedly a bad year for this one-time “pearl of South Asia.”

    Sri Lanka continues to face a multidimensional crisis. A broken economy, depleted foreign currency reserves, high inflation — at one point reaching more than 70% — and power, fuel and food shortages made worse by the impact of the war in Ukraine, a growing “brain drain” and meager tourism numbers characterize this south Asian nation today.

    Negotiations for an IMF deal remain complicated by large amounts of Sri Lankan debt held so by China, India and Japan.

    By September, nearly 200,000 Sri Lankans had left the island nation, and thousands of would-be emigrants were planning to do the same in search of a brighter future elsewhere. 

    An IMF deal to restructure Sri Lanka’s debt could provide much needed cash and economic stability, but negotiations remain complicated by large amounts of Sri Lankan debt held so by China, India and Japan.

    Worst year: China’s beleaguered, locked-down citizens

    While China has taken pride in an extraordinarily low number of (officially reported) Covid-related deaths, the nation has also become a showcase for the negative consequences of efforts to contain the virus. In what should have been a good year for Chinese President Xi Jinping, he has seen the year close with a wave of Chinese discontent. 

    By year-end, anti-lockdown protests were reported in numerous cities, including at the world’s largest iPhone assembly factory in Zhengzhou, as China’s zero-Covid policy took its toll on the economy and everyday people’s mental health.

    China will come through the Covid reopening, but it's going to be a bumpy ride

    “We want freedom, not Covid tests,” became a common chant of some protesters, according to Reuters, as individuals “pushed the boundaries by speaking for change in a country where space for dissent has narrowed dramatically.”

    The spark that set off the rare protests was news of the deaths of 10 people, including several children, in an apartment building fire in Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang province — in an area that had been locked down for several months. A storyline on social media that resonated across the country focused on the role that Covid controls might have played in those deaths.

    Chinese citizens can take heart that those protests may well have had an impact. The Chinese government has begun to relax zero-Covid restrictions. Still, the nation continues to lag the world in opening and moving forward, and worries continue about the nation’s rate of vaccination among the elderly.

    And so, even as hope has returned for a better year ahead, China’s beleaguered, locked-down citizens take the dubious honors of worst year in Asia 2022.

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  • Philippines’ inflation soars to 14-year high, fueling expectations of more rate hikes

    Philippines’ inflation soars to 14-year high, fueling expectations of more rate hikes

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    A boat ferries passengers on the Pasig River in Makati City, Metro Manila, the Philippines, on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022.

    Veejay Villafranca | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Philippines’ annual inflation data for November soared 8% year-on-year, marking the country’s highest inflation in 14 years as food prices soar, according to data from the Philippines Statistics Authority.

    Its surge was driven primarily by costlier food prices.

    Recent typhoons have hammered the production of crops like vegetables, rice and fruits, driving food prices higher.

    Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose by 6.5%.

    “The government is continuously implementing targeted subsidies and discounts to allay the impact of the higher prices of essential goods, especially for the vulnerable sectors and low-income earners of our society,” in a separate statement, the Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.

    He said the Philippines will be ramping up food production in a bid to ease price pressures. 

    The inflation issue is sticky but “not unique” to the Philippines, JPMorgan’s global strategist Kerry Craig told CNBC. He said the rise in prices is driven by supply side pressures rather than an increase in demand.

    “Given the pace of inflation it’s likely that a further rate hike will come later this month,” he added.

    ING economist Nicholas Mapa forecasts that the Philippine central bank may raise rates by 50 basis points at its mid-December meeting, bringing the policy rate to 5.5%.

    The central bank raised interest rates six times this year, according to data from Refinitiv.

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  • Harris dives into Asian diplomacy amid questions back home about her political future | CNN Politics

    Harris dives into Asian diplomacy amid questions back home about her political future | CNN Politics

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    Palawan, Philippines
    CNN
     — 

    Vice President Kamala Harris is sticking close to her script when responding to what Democrats hope will once again be their greatest electoral mobilizer: Donald Trump and his third White House bid.

    “The president said he intends to run and if he does, I will be running with him,” she told CNN on Tuesday – the first time she’d been asked about Trump’s 2024 candidacy, which he announced last week. She was addressing a gaggle of reporters aboard the Teresa Magbanua, a Philippine Coast Guard vessel stationed at the edge of the South China Sea.

    Her cautious response at the end of a weeklong gaffe-free trip to Thailand and the Philippines could serve as a reflection of Harris’ vice presidency in its second year: toe the line but don’t make waves.

    As she returns from Asia, she’s stuck in a swirl of uncertainty about her place in the party if the now 80-year-old President Joe Biden does not seek a second term. The President is expected to consider the decision over Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays with family, whose advice he’ll seek about running for reelection.

    Harris’ trip to Asia – her third to the region since taking office – was another chance for America’s first South Asian vice president to showcase her ability to lead in the traditional ways of the vice presidency without overstepping her role as No. 2.

    She attended a series of bilateral meetings and greetings with Asian prime ministers and presidents alike, including China’s President Xi Jinping, called a last-minute high-profile meeting with Indo-Pacific countries after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile hours before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ summit began and went on a symbolic visit to the Philippines’ archipelago island of Palawan, which could potentially heighten tensions with China.

    With Biden in Washington, DC, for his granddaughter’s wedding, Harris continued her role as his top-ranking envoy in a trip meant to deepen ties to mostly friendly Asian nations and cast the US as the region’s best option for economic stability –part of an ongoing effort to counter China’s growing influence.

    The vice president called the trip a success, as she brandished her policy chops in the region, attempting to fashion herself as a deft leader who speaks for Biden in his absence.

    “It is very important that we were here today to restate the United States commitment to international rules and norms. This trip and this visit in particular has also been about demonstrating the strength and importance of our relationship with the Philippines both as it relates to economic issues and also security issues,” Harris said in Palawan, in a speech where she rejected China’s aggression in the South China Sea and announced funding initiatives ameant to beef up the country’s systems and deepen security ties.

    Still, Harris’ events were tightly scripted and the trip itself, highly choreographed.

    Harris’ “brief greeting” with Xi, as her office described it, was her first face-to-face meeting with the world leader, happening on the margins of APEC. It was likely Harris’ most high-profile moment of the trip, despite the lack of US press in the room to witness it. The vice president met with him just a week after Biden’s first in-person bilateral with Xi, which lasted three hours.

    But unlike the president, who can share as much of a conversation as he pleases, there was an obvious limit to how much Harris felt comfortable sharing. She repeatedly declined to go far beyond what was written in a carefully calculated statement on her meeting with Xi.

    “We discussed that we are keeping open lines of communication, that we do not seek conflict or confrontation, but we welcome competition,” Harris told reporters in a press conference wrapping up her trip to Thailand, dodging twice whether that conversation touched on North Korea or Taiwan.

    If the goal was to remain gaffe free, the planning seems to have paid off. The Republican National Committee only clipped on Twitter moments thatmay have been awkward but didn’t lend themselves to real criticism –unusual treatment for one of their most attacked Democrats.

    On the first day of APEC, a “deeply concerned” Harris rushed aides to convene a last-minute unannounced multi-lateral emergency meeting with Indo-Pacific region allies, according to a senior administration official, after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile Friday morning– her second most high-profile moment of the trip.

    Harris directed her team once she was briefed on the latest launch, a White House official said utilizing the Indo-Pacific nation’s presence at the APEC Leaders Summit to do so. At the head of a u-shaped table inside a small room in the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, the vice president accused North Korea of “brazen violation of multiple UN security resolutions.”

    “This conduct by North Korea most recently is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security resolutions. It destabilizes security in the region, and unnecessarily raises tensions. We strongly condemn these actions, and we again call North Korea to stop further unlawful destabilizing,” Harris said. “On behalf of the United States, I reaffirmed our ironclad commitment to our Indo Pacific Alliance.”

    Her statement closely tracked one the National Security Council issued hours earlier on Biden’s behalf, almost to a tee.

    The last-minute nature of the meeting caused aides to move quickly to corral the US press, but without time to pre-set cameras, press from the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Korea were fighting for an angle – causing the photo-op visuals to be at times shaky and askew.

    Still, it was a moment that looked almost presidential for Harris as it was reminiscent of the emergency in-person meeting Biden convened with top allies during his final day at the G20 in Indonesia, when a Russian-made missile fell inside the borders of a NATO ally.

    But the presidential posturing had limits. During the weeklong trip, the vice president only answered political and policy questions on two separate occasions from the group of all women reporters traveling with her from Washington – taking two or three questions each time.

    Harris didn’t stray from talking points in her answers, careful not to move beyond Biden’s position on a multitude of issues.

    Harris has long sought opportunities to showcase her own interests and craft her own lane as a younger vice president with potential presidential ambitions.

    Domestically, she has taken the lead for the administration on abortion rights. And on foreign trips, Harris has told aides she wants to go outside of the box when it comes to the schedule. A major part of that has been to meet with women and families in different countries.

    That directive was evident in Manila, when she participated in a moderated conversation about women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship inside a ballroom in the Sofitel.

    “On the issue of the economic wellbeing of women, I think we all know, and I feel very strongly, you lift up the economic status of a woman, her family will be lifted. Her community will be lifted,” Harris said as the Filipino women nodded in agreement. “All of society will benefit. Lift up the economic status of women, and all of society benefits.”

    In the Palawan fishing village of Tagburos, Harris watched women clean fish in front of a picturesque backdrop to talk about the devastation climate change and illegal fishing has had on the village.

    “Hi ma’am,” they yelled as she approached. Harris’ translator introduced the women as her best friends.

    “Best friends,” Harris said, with a laugh and a wave.

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  • Philippines and China tussle over retrieving rocket debris floating in disputed South China Sea | CNN

    Philippines and China tussle over retrieving rocket debris floating in disputed South China Sea | CNN

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    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    The Philippines and China tussled on Sunday over Chinese rocket debris in the disputed South China Sea, raising tensions ahead of a scheduled visit by US Vice President Kamala Harris.

    A Chinese vessel allegedly blocked a Philippine naval boat twice before taking the debris it was towing off Thitu Island, which is occupied by the Philippines and known locally as Pag-asa Island, said Philippine Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos.

    In a statement issued Monday, Carlos said that the Chinese coast guard had “forcefully retrieved” floating debris off the waters. He said local personnel used a long-range camera and spotted the debris about 800 yards away from a sandbar on Sunday and set out to inspect it.

    The debris was described as “metallic” and similar to fragments recovered in other parts of the country two weeks ago, raising suspicions that it originated from a recent Chinese rocket launch, state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported.

    Speaking at a regular press conference on Monday, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also confirmed that Chinese maritime police ships found an unknown floating object in the disputed waters on Sunday.

    Mao denied any confrontation and told reporters “there was no so-called interception and seizure at the scene.”

    “After identifying it as the debris of a rocket fairing recently launched by China, local personnel first salvaged and towed the floating object. After friendly negotiations between the two sides, the Philippine side returned the floating object to the Chinese side on the spot, and Chinese personnel expressed their gratitude to the Philippine side,” Mao said Monday.

    The incident was reported Sunday, a day before a scheduled visit by Harris to the western province of Palawan where a Philippine military command in charge of defending and patrolling its waters on the edge of the South China Sea is located.

    This was not the first time China’s space debris was found near the Philippines. Debris retrieved in two different locations off the waters of Palawan and Occidental Mindoro may have come from a Long March 5B rocket that China launched in late October, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said in a statement on November 9.

    “In relation to this, PhilSA would like to reiterate its sustained efforts to promote and encourage accountability among nations for objects launched into space,” the statement said.

    China has been criticized repeatedly for allowing rocket stages to make uncontrolled reentry to Earth, with NASA last year accusing Beijing for “failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris” after parts of a Chinese rocket landed in the Indian Ocean.

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  • Kamala Harris To Visit Front-line Philippine Island In South China Sea Feud

    Kamala Harris To Visit Front-line Philippine Island In South China Sea Feud

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    MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will underscore America’s commitment to defending treaty ally the Philippines with a visit that started Sunday and involves flying to an island province facing the disputed South China Sea, where Washington has accused China of bullying smaller claimant nations.

    After attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Thailand, Harris flew Sunday night to a red-carpet welcome in Manila. On Monday, she meets President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for talks aimed at reinforcing Washington’s oldest treaty alliance in Asia and strengthening economic ties, said a senior U.S. administration official, who was not identified according to practice, in an online briefing ahead of the visit.

    Harris said her trip to Thailand was “quite successful” as she reiterated the U.S. commitment to the region Sunday afternoon at a roundtable discussion on climate change.

    The panel of climate activists, civil society members and business leaders focused on clean energy and the threat climate change is posing to the Mekong River, which more than 60 million people in Southeast Asia use for food, water and transport. Harris announced the U.S. plans to provide up to $20 million in funding for clean energy in the region via the Japan-U.S. Mekong Power Partnership.

    Before her flight out, she stopped by a local market and perused a maze of shops, struck up conversations with shopkeepers and purchased Thai green curry paste.

    On Tuesday she’ll fly to Palawan province, which lies along the South China Sea, to meet fishermen, villagers, officials and the coast guard. Once there, she’ll be the highest-ranking U.S. leader to visit the frontier island at the forefront of the long-seething territorial disputes involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

    The Philippine coast guard is scheduled to welcome Harris on board one of its biggest patrol ships, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, in Palawan, where she is scheduled to deliver a speech, according to coast guard spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo.

    Harris will underscore the importance of international law, unimpeded commerce and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, the U.S. official said.

    China can view the visit the way it wants, the official added in response to a question, but Washington’s message is that the U.S., as a member of the Indo-Pacific, is engaged and committed to the security of its allies in the region.

    Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said Harris’s trip to Palawan shows the level of America’s support to an ally and concern over China’s actions in the disputed sea.

    “That’s as obvious as you can get, that the message they’re trying to impart to the Chinese is that ‘we support our allies like the Philippines on these disputed islands,’” Romualdez told The Associated Press. “This visit is a significant step in showing how serious the United States views this situation now.”

    Washington and Beijing have long been on a collision course in the contested waters. While the U.S. lays no claims to the strategic waterway, where an estimated $5 trillion in global trade transits each year, it has said that freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea is in America’s national interest.

    China opposes U.S. Navy and Air Force patrols in the busy waterway, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. It has warned Washington not to meddle in what it says is a purely Asian territorial conflict — which has become a delicate front-line in the U.S.-China rivalry in the region and has long been feared as a potential flashpoint.

    In July, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its forces, vessels or aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.

    China has rejected the 2016 decision by an arbitration tribunal set up in The Hague under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained in 2013 about China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters. Beijing did not participate in the arbitration, rejected its ruling as a sham and continues to defy it.

    Harris’ visit is the latest sign of the growing rapport between Washington and Manila under Marcos Jr., who took office in June after a landslide electoral victory.

    America’s relations with the Philippines entered a difficult period under Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who threatened to sever ties with Washington and expel visiting American forces, and once attempted to abrogate a major defense pact with the U.S. while nurturing cozy ties with China and Russia.

    When President Joe Biden met Marcos Jr. for the first time in September in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, he stressed the depth by which the U.S. regards its relations with the Philippines despite some headwinds.

    “We’ve had some rocky times, but the fact is it’s a critical, critical relationship, from our perspective. I hope you feel the same way,” Biden said then. Marcos Jr. told him, “We are your partners. We are your allies. We are your friends.”

    The rapprochement came at a crucial time when the U.S. needed to build a deterrent presence amid growing security threats in the region, Romualdez said.

    Philippine military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro said last week that the U.S. wanted to construct military facilities in five more areas in the northern Philippines under a 2014 defense cooperation pact, which allows American forces to build warehouses and temporary living quarters within Philippine military camps.

    The Philippines Constitution prohibits foreign military bases but at least two defense pacts allow temporary visits by American forces with their aircraft and Navy ships for joint military exercises, combat training and bracing to respond to natural disasters.

    The northern Philippines is strategically located across a strait from Taiwan and could serve as a crucial outpost in case tensions worsen between China and the self-governed island.

    Harris spoke briefly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Saturday while heading into a closed-door meeting at APEC. When asked Sunday whether they discussed Taiwan or North Korea, she reiterated they talked about “keeping open lines of communication.”

    While aiming to deepen ties, the Biden administration has to contend with concerns by human rights groups over Marcos Jr. The Philippine leader has steadfastly defended the legacy of his father, a dictator who was ousted in a 1986 pro-democracy uprising amid human rights atrocities and plunder.

    Harris also plans to meet Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of Marcos’ predecessor, who oversaw a deadly anti-drugs crackdown that left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead and sparked an International Criminal Court investigation as a possible crime against humanity. The vice president has defended her father’s presidency.

    Given the Biden administration’s high-profile advocacy for democracy and human rights, its officials have said human rights were at the top of the agenda in each of their engagements with Marcos Jr. and his officials.

    After her meeting Monday with Marcos Jr., Harris plans to meet civil society activists to demonstrate U.S. commitment and continued support for human rights and democratic resilience, the U.S. official said.

    Associated Press writer Krutika Pathi in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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  • Russia’s war in Ukraine challenges old comrades in Southeast Asia

    Russia’s war in Ukraine challenges old comrades in Southeast Asia

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    Russian President Vladimir Putin has oozed a casual resentment when describing the “irreversible and even tectonic changes” that he says have led the West to become a spent force in the world.

    “Western countries are striving to maintain a former world order that is beneficial only to them,” he told attendees at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok in September.

    Those days were numbered, he insisted.

    The future was in the “dynamic, promising countries and regions of the world, primarily the Asia Pacific region”, he said. Putin was followed on the podium by Myanmar coup leader Min Aung Hlaing – the symbolism was not lost on close observers of regional politics.

    This week Putin was invited to attend the Group of 20 meeting, which opens on Tuesday on the Indonesian island of Bali. It appeared to be the perfect venue for him to double down on his overtures to the Asia Pacific, particularly in Southeast Asia — one of the world’s most economically dynamic regions.

    But it was not to be.

    Putin skipped his moment in the Balinese sun due to undefined “scheduling” reasons.

    With Putin a no-show, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a captive audience when he addressed the summit virtually on Tuesday after his invitation to attend by the summit’s host, Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

    Putin’s absence from the G20 also undercuts “talk of a Russian pivot to Asia”, wrote Susannah Patton of the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank.

    Now with the Russian army retreating in parts of Ukraine and international sanctions biting deeply into Russia’s economy, some old friends in Southeast Asia appear to be avoiding direct eye contact as Putin looks east. Others are actively looking the other way, and Myanmar seems to be Moscow’s last true friend in the region.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing meet at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, in September 2022 [File: Valery Sharifulin/Sputnik/Kremlin pool via AP]

    Old comrades, short memories

    Russia has no major strategic interests in Southeast Asia, but Soviet-era relations run deep and Moscow has long political and emotional connections to the former nations of Indochina: Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

    Hanoi, in particular, remembers Russian support during the war against the US-backed regime in South Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s — a war from which it emerged victorious in 1975.

    Vietnam and Laos abstained from UN resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the annexation of Ukrainian territory, and voted against suspending Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.

    In Monday’s vote on a resolution requiring Russia to pay reparations for the damage caused to Ukraine, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were among the 73 members of the assembly that abstained. Among countries in the region, only Singapore and the Philippines backed the resolution.

    Vietnamese communist soldiers moving forward under covering fire from a heavy machine gun during the Vietnam War.
    Vietnamese communist soldiers moving forward under covering fire from a heavy machine gun during the Vietnam War, circa 1968 [File: Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

    Vietnam’s decision to abstain at the UN is perfectly legal, argued Huynh Tam Sang, a lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. But it is also “morally questionable” as Vietnam had failed to defend the “principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity”, he writes. That is no small oversight for a country whose successful liberation struggles against foreign occupiers — China, France, and the United States — is a defining national motif.

    “Vietnam’s move is aimed at avoiding criticism and potential retaliation from Moscow,” said Huynh Tam Sang, pointing out the material behind the fraternal: trade links between Hanoi and Moscow amounted to almost $2.5bn in the first eight months of this year, and Russia is a primary investor in Vietnam’s oil and gas sectors.

    Russia is also Vietnam’s largest arms supplier.

    “It is not in Vietnam’s interests for Russia to be weakened,” Carlyle A Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales Canberra, told Al Jazeera in a recent interview.

    Historical threads

    Vietnam’s support for Russia needs to be understood in terms of Hanoi’s traditionally fraught relationship with neighbouring China. Vietnam fought its own border war with China in 1979 and has often relied on its relations with Moscow as a counterweight to pressure from its historic rival.

    Neighbouring Cambodia, however, with its Putin-esque authoritarian leader Hun Sen who has held power for 37 years, has shown surprising insubordination to its former Soviet-era aid donor and political supporter.

    The then Soviet Union was one of the earliest countries to help rebuild Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge regime when the government in Phnom Penh — installed by Vietnam — faced near-total Western sanctions. One of Phnom Penh’s most popular markets is still known as the “Russian Market” owing to the large population of Russian diplomats and technical assistants from Soviet states who frequented its stalls during the 1980s.

    Just last year, Hun Sen received Russia’s Order of Friendship medal.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen during their meeting at the ASEAN-Russia summit in Sochi, Russia.
    Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen during their meeting at the ASEAN-Russia summit, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, in 2016 [File: Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool/AP Photo]

    But that has not prevented the Cambodian leader from taking a “surprisingly hard-line stand” against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, according to Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

    Hun Sen has not just called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine an “act of aggression”, but he has also questioned Russia’s ability to emerge victorious, and expressed a willingness to take in Ukrainian refugees, Storey notes.

    Hun Sen’s pro-Ukraine stance appeared to prompt the Russian ambassador to remind him in a tweet that it was Moscow who came to Cambodia’s assistance “in the most difficult period in its history” following the Khmer Rouge.

    Cambodia was unmoved by the Russian reminder.

    Phnom Penh has been a cosponsor of condemnatory UN resolutions on Russia’s invasion — although it has abstained on some Ukraine-related votes — and more recently, Hun Sen invited Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address by video link last weekend’s summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh. The invitation was apparently torpedoed by the need for consensus among the ASEAN leaders.

    Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have been more cautious in their public pronouncements on the war, with G20 host Indonesia careful to preserve its traditional non-aligned stance.

    But, Indonesia’s Widodo did visit Kyiv first and Moscow the next day in late June when he went to discuss the global food crisis with Zelenskyy and Putin, and presumably extend personal invitations to the Bali summit.

    Russian market for arms

    Russia’s arms industry is the “single largest supplier of major weaponry to Southeast Asia”, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

    Russia accounted for more than a quarter of all major weapons deliveries to the region over the past 20 years, according to SIPRI, and when Moscow cannot sell its weapons for hard cash, it has been willing to do barter deals or provide loans instead.

    The Indonesian government planned to buy 11 Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighter aircraft from Russia in a deal that involved payment of half the cost with the equivalent in agricultural and other produce, according to reports.

    In the Philippines, Russia said in 2018 that it was “more than willing” to provide a soft loan so that Manila could buy its first-ever — but Russian-built — submarine, the country’s Philippine News Agency reported.

    As SIPRI points out, sales of Russian weaponry to Southeast Asia are “an important element of Russia’s total export income and essential to maintaining the economic viability of the Russian arms industry”.

    But with US sanctions imposed on Russia following its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election, some regional governments have already begun to move away from Russia.

    Manila did not buy the Russian submarine, and Jakarta announced in December that the Sukhoi fighter deal was dead.

    Now, with a plethora of Ukraine war-related sanctions awaiting those dealing with Moscow, Russia’s export arms industry looks set to feel the collateral damage of Putin’s Ukraine invasion.

    Take the Philippines, for example.

    Over fears of sanctions, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said last month that his country would source military helicopters from the US after scrapping a $215m deal to buy 16 heavy-lift helicopters from Russia.

    The government of Marcos Jr’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, had signed the deal with Russia in November 2021. But even Duterte wanted to put distance between himself and Putin, whom he had once described as his idol, after the Ukraine invasion.

    “Many say that Putin and I are both killers,” Duterte said three months into the invasion in May.

    “I’ve long told you Filipinos that I really kill. But I kill criminals, I don’t kill children and the elderly,” he said, comparing his brutality to that of Putin in Ukraine.

    “We’re in two different worlds,” he added.

    ’21st-century imperialism’

    The Southeast Asia outlier is military-ruled Myanmar, which has thrown its full support behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Already warm relations between Russia and Myanmar have deepened further since the invasion of Ukraine and last year’s coup by the military that toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

    As the International Crisis Group notes, the Myanmar military has positioned itself as “Russia’s most uncritical post-invasion partner in Asia”, and Russia has backed the military regime in terms of providing international diplomatic cover and advanced weaponry.

    Ian Storey of the ISEAS sees three factors at work: “Diplomatic validation, arms sales and energy cooperation.”

    Moscow moved quickly to recognise the Myanmar generals when they seized power, and the generals have reciprocated by endorsing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Military leader Min Aung Hlaing has declared Russia to be Myanmar’s “forever friend”, in comparison with China being described merely as a “close friend”, as Storey notes.

    Similar to Vietnam, Myanmar’s military also needs Russia as an alternate supplier of weapons and a counterweight to China. Myanmar announced in September it would buy Russian oil and pay in roubles.

    But the Russia-Myanmar relationship is more than an odious alliance, it is also a timebomb for ASEAN.

    Storey notes that Moscow’s arms shipments are driving the Myanmar regime’s ability to wage a sustained war against its population and armed ethnic groups, which undermines the potential for peace talks and a negotiated settlement, which ASEAN wants to see achieved.

    Smoke rises from a village in Myanmar's Kayah State after it was bombed by the military.
    In this image taken from drone video provided by Free Burma Rangers, black smoke rises from burning buildings in Waraisuplia village in Kayah State, Myanmar, in February 2022, where the military targeted civilians in air and ground attacks [Free Burma Rangers via AP]

    Gregory Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, said Southeast Asia’s relationship with Russia is complex.

    Russia does, traditionally, hold appeal for those with anti-Western sentiment in the region, and Putin’s hyper-masculine image chimes in a region with a history of personalist, strongman politics.

    However, Southeast Asia’s experience with Western colonialism, and the commitment by nations in the region to the preservation of their sovereignty, allows countries to recognise neo-imperialism when it appears in the invasion of Ukraine, Poling told Al Jazeera.

    Countries in the region “look and see a resurgent Russian empire, and that this is imperialism in the 21st Century,” Poling said.

    That sentiment was articulated in a speech by Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, condemning Russia’s invasion and announcing sanctions on Moscow in February, Poling said.

    “Ukraine is much smaller than Russia, but it is much bigger than Singapore,” Bakakrishnan said at the time.

    “A world order based on ‘might is right’, or where ‘the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must’, such a world order would be profoundly inimical to the security and survival of small states,” he said.

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