Vietnam: The Vietnamese government is trying to gather international support to bolster itself in it’s long-standing territorial disputes with China over the Paracel Islands. China has held military control over the majority of the islands for 30 years, and this year has announced its desire to set up tourism facilities in the archipelago. In response, Vietnam have been moving covertly to encircle China in a multilateral framework with all of Southeast Asia involved in negotiations. Since the Chinese government knows it has less leverage with smaller nations in the region in a multinational forum, it typically sticks to bilateral negotiations. When Vietnam assumes the ASEAN Presidency this year, Hanoi will be in the best position influence the other member-states to back it, especially considering that many of them have their own territorial issues with China. However, ASEAN works by consensus, and it is unlikely that Chinese client states such as Cambodia and Myanmar, will risk angering “The Dragon” over issues they have no direct stake in.
Unlike Vietnam, China does not just want the islands for oil & gas and fishing rights, but also to expand its territorial claim, which will allow it to move its military further into the South China Sea. This will make possible a security dream of a blue-water Chinese Navy able to secure its major southern trade routes. Thus far, China has only agreed to discuss joint development of the islands, not ownership.
Indonesia: Last week, this blog speculated as to how President Obama’s planned visit to Indonesia in March, might benefit Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, politically, especially in light of the political problems he has faced since his reelection last year. Opinion Asia has an excellent recap of the issues that have dogged Yudhoyono in the first 100 days into his new term. The author goes into some detail concerning the investigation into the Bank Century Bailout, and the trumped up criminal charges against top officials in the Corruption Eradication Common (of all places). The latter issue, Yudhoyono has not strongly addressed. This is odd, considering his decisive action against corruption in his first term, which became a hallmark of this presidency. The article also criticizes the foreign press for paying too much attention to issues in Indonesia which are not significant, such as the rantings from radical, although marginal, Islamic groups.
Singapore: Singapore’s government has granted a its first license for a Malaysian firm, Genting, to start work on a casino. The casino will be at Resorts World in Sentosa. U.S. company, Las Vegas Sands is scheduled to open another casino in April at the Marina Bay Sands resort, 5 km from Sentosa Island
…the casino will employ more than 2,300 workers and feature some 200 gambling tables, including baccarat, blackjack and poker, and 500 slot machines.
SNIP
The two casinos are expected to boost Singapore’s GDP by as much as 1 percent, or around $2.5 billion, the Singaporean government predicted. Singapore’s entry into gambling is expected to have a major impact on Macau and the gambling industry in other parts of Asia.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is a major support of the casino scheme, as a way to boost tourism and revenues. Obviously, the casinos could not possible be built without the consent of the Lee Family Political Mafia.
