Asia Rising

Asia’s relationship with democratic governance is complicated. While some countries such as Japan and Indonesia pride themselves on transparent elections, the struggles for democracy continue in countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines, where growing authoritarianism may be undermining long-term prospects for democratic institutions and civil liberties.

Guest:

Dr James Gomez (Regional Director, Asia Centre)

Recorded on 23rd June, 2021.

For the last seventy years Taiwan and mainland China has remained mostly separated. While China has encouraged interaction in the hope of a peaceful reunification, they have sought to isolate Taipei internationally, offering inducements and economic incentives to those who might engage.

In recent months there could be signs that Beijing is contemplating taking Taiwan by force, with an increase of military activity near the island. This live podcast will discuss this shift, the implications for Taiwan, and the international dilemma.

Guest:

Dr Oriana Skylar Mastro (Center Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Stanford University)

Recorded on 15th June, 2021.

Regional security is a critical issue for The Philippines. Once closely aligned with western democracies, the strong-arm leadership of Rodrigo Duterte has guided it in a more authoritarian direction, leading critics to voice concern for the country’s democratic freedoms.

In the international arena, tensions in the South China Seas have complicated a cooling relationship with China, leading the Philippines to diversify its foreign relations and take the development of its defence and security capabilities seriously.

Dr Charmaine Misalucha-Willoughby (Associate Professor in International Studies, De La Salle University, Manila).

Recorded on 10th June, 2021.

Japan has been expanding its military roles in the post-Cold War period. While the conventional security threats associated with China’s military rise and North Korea’s nuclear weapons are still present, Japan’s participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, the arms trade ban policy, regional maritime capacity-building and shaping international norms have become more influential in Japan’s foreign and defence policy.

How have domestic norms and political interests contributed to this trend? How does Japan balance a desire to broaden its military role without violating the pacifist domestic norm? And how will it expand relations with other states to pursue its economic and security interests in a changing region?

The book launch of Japan's Evolving Security Policy: Militarisation within a Pacifist Tradition by Kyoko Hatakeyama, published by Routledge.

Panel:

Professor Kyoko Hatakeyama (Graduate School of International Studies and Regional Development, University of Niigata Prefecture)

Professor Nick Bisley (Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University)

Associate Professor Nobuhiro Aizawa (Department of Cultural Studies, Kyushu University)

Dr Bec Strating (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia)

Held as live zoom panel on 8th June, 2021.

In April 2017, Chinese Communist Party authorities in Xinjiang launched a series of “strike-hard” campaigns against “illegal births” with the explicit aim to “reduce and stabilise a moderate birth level” and decrease the birth-rate in southern Xinjiang. The crackdown has led to an unprecedented and precipitous drop, and the largest declines have been in counties where Uyghurs and other indigenous communities are concentrated.

Guest: Professor James Leibold (Head of Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy at La Trobe University and a senior fellow at Australian Strategic Policy Institute).

Professor Leibold’s report, ‘Family De-planning: The Coercive Campaign to Drive Down Indigenous Birth-rates in Xinjiang’ was co-authored with Nathan Ruser of ASPI.

Recorded on 18th May, 2021.

Over the past two decades Japan has experienced slow economic growth, changed employment practices, population decline, an ageing society, and an increasingly multi-ethnic population resulting from migration. How all of these factors have influenced education will shape the society of the future.

Guest:

Professor Kaori Okano (Asian Studies and Japanese, La Trobe University)

The rise of China, Trump’s America First policies, division within Europe and successful defiance by authoritarian states are affecting the shape of the emerging new order. Human rights, rule of law, free media and longstanding global institutions all seem set to be weakened. Autocracies are exercising greater control over world affairs. Australia will need to engage heightened levels of diplomacy to forge relations with countries of opposing principles. It will need to be agile in pursuing a realistic foreign policy agenda if it is to be well positioned for this future.

A La Trobe Asia 'China in Focus' seminar, held in front of a zoom audience on 22 April, 2021.

Speakers:

Geoff Raby (former Australian ambassador to China (2007–11); ambassador to APEC (2003–5); and ambassador to the World Trade Organization (1998–2001). Member of the La Trobe Asia advisory board.

Human trafficking is an urgent human security issue in Asia. The abuse and exploitation associated with human trafficking have been documented across a range of sectors, including the sex industry, domestic work, construction, agriculture, and fisheries. Key drivers of human trafficking across the region include poverty and the desire for a better life. Increasingly widening economic disparities in Asia and the impact of climate change have become a focus of attention for organisations attempting to address peoples' vulnerability to human trafficking.

Trafficking for labour exploitation outside the sex industry is now recognised as an equally significant concern in the region. The offshore fishing industry is beset by extreme cases of forced labour and human trafficking, exploiting migrant workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Myanmar, and with countries like Australia benefitting from the import of this seafood only fuelling the problem.

Speakers:

Associate Professor Sallie Yea (Tracey Banivanua Mar Principal Research Fellow, La Trobe University)

Jenny Stanger (Executive Manager at the Anti-Slavery Task Force, Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney)

Sunil Rao (Lecturer, La Trobe Law School, La Trobe University)

Chair: Dr Bec Strating (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia)

Held as live zoom panel on 20th April, 2021.

While the rest of the world still struggles with a deadly pandemic, Beijing has suppressed the spread of COVID-19 and is executing an exit plan to make the most of its opportunities in a changing world, where "the east is rising while the west is declining".

A live recording of the Asia Rising podcast.

Guest:

Recorded with a live zoom audience on 30th March 2021.