
Asian nations to sign pact eliminating import tariffs
Nov 14, 2020 14:45 pm UTC| Economy
Asian leaders are due to sign a trade deal dubbed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) this weekend that seeks to eliminate a range of tariffs on imports within 20 years. It also includes provisions on...
Nagorno-Karabach: why Iran is trying to remain neutral over the conflict on its doorstep
Oct 09, 2020 08:05 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan intensified in early October over Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed region in the South Caucasus at the centre of a conflict that has lasted for more than three decades. The South...
Under what conditions are international sanctions effective?
Oct 09, 2020 07:51 am UTC| Economy
According to US government data, 32 sanctions regimes are currently in effect. Canada, for its part, currently imposes sanctions on 20 different states and on terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. The EU is currently...
State aid is biggest Brexit dispute between UK and EU – there's a workable compromise
Oct 01, 2020 15:40 pm UTC| Politics
Officials from the UK and the EU are meeting at a crunch point in the negotiations for a future free trade agreement. A number of issues could scupper the talks, but perhaps the biggest is state aid. So what is the dispute...

Relax, losing access to China won't make us the 'poor white trash of Asia'
Sep 10, 2020 09:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy
In another round of the increasingly bitter exchanges between China and Australia, a columnist for Chinas Global Times, Yu Lei, suggested that a further decoupling from China will make former Singapore Prime Minister Lee...
Shots fired in the Himalayas: a dangerous development in the China-India border standoff
Sep 10, 2020 09:03 am UTC| Politics
In the midst of all the stories about Chinas oppression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang and its expulsion of foreign journalists, a recent clash on its border with India may pose the greater threat to Asian security. For the...

US-China decoupling and coronavirus: why 2020 upheaval won't kill globalisation
Sep 10, 2020 08:58 am UTC| Insights & Views
The sudden stop of the global economy in 2020 has brought to everyones attention the interconnectedness of supply chains across countries and continents. Add to this the mounting tensions between the US and China, with...