China

As a direct neighbour to China, Myanmar plays a strategic role in the “Belt and Road Initiative”. In order to make this work in Myanmar’s highly fractured society, government needs to be more transparent, and parliamentarians and civil society need a greater say in the planning.

The next EU-China summit will take place on 9 April. The head of our EU office, Eva van de Rakt, spoke to MEP Reinhard Bütikofer (Greens/EFA) about his expectations for the forthcoming talks and negotiations. 

China suffers from draconian internet regulations, but enjoys a prosperous marketplace; it attracts IT giants from the United States and Europe, but it has also expelled some of them.

Over the last years, Asia has undergone an impressive digital transformation. Large parts of the continent have turned from the world’s factory into a creative industry. Digitalization has become a driving force of social and economic change. This certainly means more opportunities for innovation and growth for many countries. However, on the flipside, if new technologies are in the wrong hands they can also be used as a mean to abuse power.

Competing trade agreements and planned infrastructure investments are dilemmas that ASEAN can only successfully solve if they approach the challenges as group that lets go if its consensus decision-making and allows for countries´ flexible participation.

For those who have held the U.S. as the bastion of all things good and right, this may be a wake-up call.

Amitav Ghosh’s new book “The Great Derangement” examines climate change and climate policy from unusual perspectives. It is bound to get much international attention because it asks some fundamental new questions concerning the handling of climate change in literature and activist politics, and because it represents a well-known voice from Asia.