Japan needs to recalibrate and reevaluate its engagement with Southeast Asia (SEA) in view of China’s ascendency and the United States’ (US) uncertain engagement with the region. As Japan navigates competition from China and other rising powers, the influence of its economy will diminish. The question therefore, is how should Japan frame its foreign policy towards Southeast Asia in this new context. Policy experience, soft power project, people-to-people dimension or values based diplomacy on principles of democracy and human rights are non-economic dimensions that are likely to feature more as its foreign tools.  The debate over a non-economic approach emerged…

On 27 September 2019, Asia Centre signed an MOU with the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University. Dean, Faculty of Law, Munin Pongsapan and Asia Centre’s Executive Director Dr. Robin Ramcharan inked the agreement to cement their co-convening of Asia Centre’s 5th International conference on Hate Speech in Asia: Challenges and Solutions 8-10 July 2020. The MOU signing, witnessed by Asia Centre’s advisor Dr. Andrew Harding, builds on the Centre’s working relationship with the Faculty of Law since the last 2 years. For instance, on 30 October 2017, the Centre hosted the Faculty of Law’s students and Professor Thitirat Thipsamritkul at…

In 2019 Asia Centre undertook a series of meetings and interactions in Bangkok, Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Taipei, Taiwan to strengthen its relationship with Taiwanese institutions. The 2019 meetings built on Asia Centre’s initial December 2018 collaborative visit to Taipei, Taiwan. Engagement with Taiwanese institutions is expected to continue in 2020.On 18 December 2019, Asia Centre’s Dr. James Gomez and Yawee Butrkrawee met with Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) Malaysia’s Head of Mission, Anne Hung and Director, General Affairs Division, Chichia Chen. Dr. Gomez introduced Asia Centre and its plans to establish operations in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.Earlier on…

Asia Centre is often approached by different media outlets such as television news channels, radio stations and online news portals to either comment on current political issues or submit op-eds on human rights issues for publication. As Regional Director, Dr James Gomez is Asia Centre’s main spokesperson and takes the lead in speaking to the media, from time-to-time the Centre’s other representatives also speak to the media on their areas of expertise.Asia Centre media engagement has dealt with issues related to security concerns on the South China Sea, the Rohingya refugee crisis and political developments in Thailand and Singapore. In…

Asia Centre co-hosted The ASEAN Community Leadership & Partnership Forum on 23th till 24th of June 2019 at Park Hyatt Bangkok. The event was held in conjunction with the 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok and was convened by Kingsley Strategic Institute together with other co-hosts Nation Building Institute, Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries, the ASEAN Studies Centre and the Asia Centre. As co-host Asia Centre was responsible for inviting 50 participants from civil society, NGOs and academia which broadened the nature of interventions and networking opportunities during the event. Among those who attended included international organisation representatives from Amnesty…

Asia Centre convened its 4th International Conference on Fake News and Elections in Asia which started from the evening of 10 July and went on for another 2 full days on 11 and 12 July 2019. It was the Centre’s largest to date with 12 partners, 13 panels, 46 presentations and a total of over 80 participants who discussed various issues related to fake news (See Conference Proceedings). The conference’s program can be found here. Watch the conference’s video here.Asia Centre’s 12 partners were the Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University, The Thai Media Fund, School of Media, Languages and Cultures,…

To strengthen relationships with South Korean academia, civil society and other supporting institutions and as part of Asia Centre’s efforts to engage with the Korean government’s Southern policy, in 2019 from 2-9 June, Dr. James Gomez visited Seoul, South Korea to attend two conferences and several partnership meetings. From June 3th to 5th Dr. Gomez was a discussant at the conference entitled Democracy, National Identity and Foreign Policy dialogue on 3th of June, where he was part of a panel that reviewed developments in Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar. From 4th to 5th June Dr. Gomez participated in a second conference…

Disinformation contributes to an acceleration of human rights abuses in situations. Discussing the case of Rwanda, former US Ambassador to Rwanda, Margaret McMillion argued that lack of trust in transparent information contributed to genocide in that country in 1994. During the crisis many journalists were exiled in order to maintain the government narrative about the situation in Rwanda. The former US Ambassador to Rwanda made these remarks during her keynote address at  Asia Centre’s 4th Anniversary on the 19 June 2019. In a 45 minute address, she outlined human rights abuses during the Rwanda genocide and the reconsiliation process that…

Dr. James Gomez, Chair, Board of Directors, Asia Centre and Professor Jau-hwa Chen, Director, Chang Fo Chuan, Centre for the Study of Human Rights, Soochow University, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 12 May 2019, in Taipei, Taiwan. The MOU signing stems from Asia Centre’s participation in previous activities at Soochow University. For instance in November 2018, Dr. Gomez presented at a roundtable discussion the findings from the Centre’s book “The UPR of Southeast Asia: Civil Society Perspectives”. In March 2019, Dr. Gomez visited the Chang Fo Chuan, Centre for the Study of Human Rights at Soochow University to discuss…

On Monday 29 April 2019, Asia Centre hosted Indonesian Embassy’s Education and Cultural Attaché Prof. Dr. Mustari M.Pd. and a group of International Relations students from Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia as part of the Centre’s engagement with Indonesia.The visit started with an introduction about the work of Asia Centre by Yawee Butrkrawee (Programme Coordinator), followed by a presentation on the Centre’s three year project on Fake News and Freedom of Expression in Southeast Asia, provided by Tessa Alleblas (Research & Grants Officer).  Lively discussions with the students ensued and focused on how exactly fake news is defined, global media…