Recent reports by Humphrey Hawksley
In New York’s Chinatown, don’t mention politics
The streets in New York’s Chinatown are narrow. Packed with humanity, loud conversations and small businesses — noodle restaurants, laundries and foot massage bars — they spill out the sounds and smells of East Asia. Some 100,000 people live in this part of Manhattan Island, which lies between fashionable Tribeca and the Lower East Side, […]
Playing the long game
The re-election success of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes at a unique time for his country because Western democracies are continuing their inward naval-gazing and the world stage is crying out for new players with bold ideas. In his first term, Modi blazed an international trail through the sheer force of his personality and […]
How small nations can stand up to China
Beijing and Moscow haven’t always seen eye to eye. But, assisted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s belligerence, they are putting aside old suspicions and finding new opportunities for cooperation. The vast expanse of the Arctic Ocean is a case in point. Among the most significant practical achievements of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia […]
Nationalism endangers global security
Recent elections in India and Europe, societies with a range of cultures and levels of wealth, have provided further proof that the concept of a global society, with shared values, is retreating into one dominated by sovereignty and the nation state. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his Hindu nationalist ticket, won an even bigger […]
East Asia’s weakest link
The American-led pushback against Chinese expansion has exposed a critical vulnerability in the Asia-Pacific which Washington believes needs urgent resolution. Security analysts argue that the failure of its two staunchest Asian allies, Japan and South Korea, to resolve historical grievances puts at risk long-term US regional power-projection.Until this is settled, there can be no creation […]
A window into old Southeast Asia
There is much swirling debate at the moment about the rise of China, the cohesion of Asia and the writing of an alternative world order. Whether the threat comes from North Korea’s nuclear weapons or stealth espionage through the Chinese tech giant Huawei, the global commentariat is having a field day. Their arguments range from […]
Should the West trust Chinese technology?
David Foster hosted Humphrey on a TRT Roundtable discussion together with Dr Tim Stevens lecturer in global security at King’s College London, Mary-Ann Russon technology journalist, and joining them from Taiwan, Ross Darrell Feingold, an Asia political risk analyst.
Is the West wrong about Russia?
What are we to make of Russia? A major player on the world stage undoubtedly, but what really is Putin power? And is he being unfairly painted as the bogeyman of the east? David Foster hosted Humphrey on a TRT Roundtable discussion together with Ben Nimmo, who investigates Russian disinformation campaigns at the Atlantic Council, Alexander […]
Brexit weakens Europe and is against US interests
In 1884 Commodore Stephen Luce founded the United States Naval War College arguing that the one and only way to avert war was to be fully prepared for it. A century later, Ronald Reagan took up a similar argument with his ‘peace through strength’ catchphrase that gave the West victory over Soviet communism in the […]
Asia must learn from the Brexit chaos
Once a confident nation that ran an empire on which the sun never set, Great Britain is today a fractious place, split within families, villages, Parliament and from cabinet post to cabinet post. Meanwhile, many in Asia are shaking their heads, wondering what is going on and how much they should care about or plan […]
The Currency of Power – The Future of East Asia
Asia has a geographical reach and cultural diversity unlike any other continent. It stretches east from Turkey’s Bosporus to the shores of Hawaii and south from the Russian Far East to the southern tip of East Timor, or to Antarctica if we want to take in Australia and New Zealand. Unlike with Europe, there is […]
ABC Australia interview on Late Night Live
China’s rapid expansion into the South China Sea has been a global flashpoint since 2012, after a confrontation with the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal fishing reef. However, tensions over the disputed territories extend well into the previous century. And China’s expansion is rooted in its understanding of its 5000 year old history. As China […]
Indo-Pacific will be no pushover for China
Pity China and how swiftly the glittering beacon of its world vision has dimmed! Barely a year ago, the Beijing bankrolled Belt and Road Initiative to modernise the world with new infrastructure was capturing a global imagination. Every country, however weak and corrupt, could dream of its own cityscape skyline and high-speed railway, as long […]
Asian Values
A quarter of a century ago, an 18-year-old American student living in Singapore was sentenced to six strokes of the cane for writing graffiti on cars and stealing road signs. The United States protested the sentence’s severity, arguing Michael Fay’s punishment was too harsh for a teenage prank with no violent crime committed. Fay’s case […]
Pushback against China is on
Humphrey Hawksley tells Beverley O’Connor some smaller countries are starting to push back against China when it comes to its South China Sea ambitions. […]
A US-led Indo-Pacific alliance against China is an outdated idea
The scheduled visit by the U.S. secretaries of defense and state to India on Sept. 6 highlights Washington’s latest attempt to create a strategic Asian alliance strong enough to counter the growing influence of China. But is the unformulated plan for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” — promoted by officials from President Donald Trump down […]
Harrowing and beautiful Northeast India
Sanjoy Hazarika is a frustrated and restless native of the tea-growing state of Assam, and a highly respected human rights activist who wrestled for years over how he should write a book about his homeland. The result is a captivating analysis of a critically important area, not only of India, but also of Asia and […]
The West’s failure to reform threatens world order
Two years ago, China and Russia issued a joint declaration with the aim of throwing out an open challenge to the current US-led world order. Coming after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and a court ruling against Beijing’s claim to the South China Sea, the two governments announced bluntly in June 2016 that they would enhance […]
Europe must resist the lure of Chinese money
The attempt by China’s Three Gorges to take control of Portugal’s energy group, Energias de Portugal, highlights Beijing’s accelerating campaign to invest in Europe — and a growing push from the European Union to hold back the financial onslaught. The state-owned conglomerate, which is already the largest EDP shareholder with a 23% stake, had its […]
India’s role in reshaping the Commonwealth
After months of planning that required the most choreographed of diplomatic skills, Britain hosted a lavish visit in April for the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed by a summit for the 53-member Commonwealth, a large international grouping that comprises a bygone colonial power and those it had once colonised. At first glance, not much […]