Asia Pacific | ANALYSIS Oct 29, 2020

Vaccines, not spy planes: U.S. misfires in Indonesia

Not only has the United States not promised to help with vaccine supplies, it also shocked Indonesia officials by asking to land its spy planes in the country.

Asia Pacific / Politics Oct 20, 2020

Indonesia rejected U.S. request to host spy planes, officials say

U.S. officials made multiple approaches to Indonesia's defense and foreign ministers before Indonesia's president rebuffed the request, the officials said.

Asia Pacific Aug 20, 2020

An endless first wave: How Indonesia failed to control the virus

Only last week Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s maritime minister and close confidant of the country’s president, touted herbal mangosteen juice as a coronavirus remedy. His suggestion was the latest in a string of unorthodox treatments put forward by the president’s Cabinet over the past six months, ...

Asia Pacific / Politics | ANALYSIS Apr 12, 2019

Pushing the envelope: Money politics undermines democracy in Indonesia

Shanti Ramchand learned quickly what was expected when she began campaigning in Jakarta for Indonesia's national parliament; distribute envelopes of cash at a small campaign event, and give a motorcycle or an air-conditioning unit to the community leader. Ramchand — an aspiring politician from the ...

Asia Pacific | FOCUS Apr 4, 2019

As Australia agonizes over accused mosque gunman, new clues of Tarrant's ties to far right groups emerge

From its clubhouses in Melbourne and Sydney, the Lads Society promotes drug-free living and exercise — and "white resistance" and Islamophobia, according to online statements and interviews with two of its leaders. One of Australia's most high-profile extremist groups, its members last year infiltrated the ...

Asia Pacific / Crime & Legal Feb 11, 2019

Meth 'disaster' for Asia-Pacific region as seizures surge tenfold in Thailand

Seizures of high-purity crystal methamphetamine have surged more than tenfold in Thailand over the past two years, statistics show, a stark indicator of the growth in industrial-scale production of the stimulant in neighboring Myanmar. Thailand is a major trafficking route for crystal meth manufactured in ...

Asia Pacific / Politics Jun 15, 2018

Crackdown and cash: Hun Sen's recipe for victory in Cambodian election

Drenched in sweat and more than an hour into a speech urging 16,000 garment factory workers to vote for the ruling party, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia revived the restless crowd by announcing that everyone would receive a cash gift. "Nephews and nieces, it ...

Asia Pacific Jun 4, 2017

Seizing of Philippines city by Islamist militants a wake-up call for Southeast Asia

At the beginning of the battle that has raged for the past 12 days in Marawi City at the southern end of the Philippines, dozens of Islamist militants stormed its prison, overwhelming the guards. "They said 'surrender the Christians,' " said Faridah P. Ali, an ...

Asia Pacific Apr 10, 2017

'Dollars and euros': How a Malaysian firm helped fund North Korea's leadership

Over the past two decades, North Korean-born Han Hun Il, the founding chief executive of a Malaysian conglomerate, funneled money to the leadership in Pyongyang, a North Korean defector, speaking out for the first time, has said. Han's conglomerate, Malaysia Korea Partners (MKP), worked in ...