Florence Chong's blog

THE China initiative for a Free Trade Zone for Asia-Pacific reinvents the APEC Bogor Declaration of 20 years ago – and that went simply nowhere . . .

ASIA is about to embrace a series of painful reforms which will bring uncertainty and change. Asia’s world has changed . . .

LEE HSIEN LOONG has been progressively softening the image of the Singapore he inherited from his autocratic father, Lee Kuan Yew. Working parents now qualify for kindergarten subsidies, and senior citizens, born before 1949, have been dubbed the Pioneer Generation, qualifying for unlimited healthcare and GST subsidies . . .

JOKOWI’s tenure as President will depend on his political cunning, his ability to negotiate the Indonesian Parliament and, perhaps, the whims of his Party’s matriarch, Megawati Sukarnoputri . . .

A KEY thrust of China’s interest in securing an FTA with Australia is the export of Chinese workers for Chinese-owned and funded projects in Australia . . .

ATI Magazine February/March 2014

TAIWAN has been playing an intriguing lead role in the dispute between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands. Simultaneously, the level of cross-Strait contacts between Beijing and Taipei has been escalated by China’s new President, Xi Jinping . . .

LAYERS of resentment have emerged in the traditionally warm relationship between the Burmese and the Chinese . . .

ONLY socialism can save China – and only reform and opening up can develop China, says Xi Jinping of his Third Plenum reforms . . .

PAST performance is no guarantee of future performance, Many Asian countries will be caught in the middle-income trap despite their ambitions . . . 

OBAMA’s absence from Bali has been a gift to Xi Jinping as he embarks on a charm offensive with APEC Leaders in a bid to reshape China’s love-hate relationship with the region  . . .