Gillard May Drop Malaysian Deal
Published on Jul 1, 2012 by Luke Hunt
Prime Minister Minister Julia Gillard says she will take seriously advice from an expert panel looking at the asylum-seeker issue, even if it recommends dumping her government’s Malaysian people swap deal.Ms Gillard last week established the panel – made up of former defence chief Angus Houston, former top diplomat Michael L’Estrange and refugee advocate Paris Aristotle – to assess all asylum policy options.Read more in The Australian..
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Taiwan and the Mob
Published on Jun 15, 2012 by Luke Hunt
Taiwan’s Coast Guard published a composite of potential disguises for fugitive ex-lawmaker Lo Fu-Chu in late April. In one picture, he looks like a Dutch leader of a peacekeeping force, complete with beret and handlebar moustache. In another, he’s done up like one of the Gallagher brothers from seminal British rock outfit Oasis. A coifed mop frames his usually balding head as the handlebar gives way to a goatee.But it’s probably the shot of Lo in black ’70s aviator shades, ala late Colombian drug czar Pablo Escobar, that’s the most fitting. For Lo wasn’t just any Taiwanese politician failing to turn himself in for a four-year money laundering and insider trading prison sentence.From Cain Nunns in The Diplomat..
ASEAN + China and Bhutan?
Published on Apr 10, 2012 by Luke Hunt
Within the various corridors of power across Southeast Asia, tongues are still wagging over the outburst delivered by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at last week’s ASEAN summit.At the heart of the speech was Cambodia’s close relationship with China, and his message was simple: Beijing’s generous financial backing of his government didn’t compromise Cambodia’s standing as the annual host of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).Read more in The Diplomat..
Ramos-Horta Dumped
Published on Mar 19, 2012 by Luke Hunt
Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta has been dumped as President of Timor-Leste, with the battle for the post now likely to be fought in an April 21 run-off between Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres of the left-leaning Fretilin party, and Taur Matan Ruak, the former chief of the nation’s armed forces.Preliminary results from Saturday’s ballot show a tight contest between Lu Olo and Ruak, who had polled well after winning the support of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and his National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor party (CNRT). Read more in The Diplomat..
Malaysian Sideshow
Published on Dec 10, 2011 by Luke Hunt
While there is that motion picture-like air of a “coming to a polling booth near you, the nation’s next blockbuster – the 13th General Election” – in the rapidly changing Malaysian state of Sabah, the people remain unmoved and cynical.“It may be a new election but like some movies the plot never changes … in Sabah it will be the same old story,” volunteered a middle aged man, on his way to drop his family of four off at a cineplex in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital, to watch the latest offering.Like him, the nagging question on most locals’ minds as they prepare to countdown to elect a new government and Parliament anytime between now and 2013 – will the....