Asia Global Institute

How the Rules-Based International Order Took Root

Author: Zhiwu Chen, Director, Asia Global Institute

The governance gap between the US and China - the former focuses on the rule of law, the latter on the rule by the Communist Party - suggests differences in their perceptions of the nature of a rules-based international order. Zhiwu Chen, Director of Asia Global Institute, says that this disconnect can be better understood by looking at how, at the beginning of the 20th century, lawyer-diplomats took over from military generals in negotiating international treaties.

US-China trade war talks collapsed due to ‘culture gap’ in understanding of law, professor says

An article in the South China Morning Post covering the perspectives of Zhiwu Chen, Director of Asia Global Institute, on how trade talks between China and the United States collapsed and Chinese and American officials failed to reach a deal.

Could the US and China Have Avoided Escalating Their Trade War?

Author: Zhiwu Chen, Director, Asia Global Institute

Zhiwu Chen, Director of Asia Global Institute, says that the rise in trade tensions between the US and China may be due to the American side’s failure to appreciate the implications of China’s not being a rule-of-law country – that administrative action, not laws on the books, get things done in China.

CGTN: Comments on Trump’s recent visit to Japan

Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, was joined by fellow panellists at CGTN to discuss implications of Trump’s recent visit to Japan.

Condivergence: The duality of life

Author: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute

In his Condivergence series in The Edge Malaysia, Andrew Sheng, Distinguished Fellow of Asia Global Institute, says the polarisation in society that we witness today is a reversion to a more fundamentalist outlook of the social, religious and political levels, driven by the widespread social technology. He believes this is the greatest irony of the duality of life. Social media technology, which promised to narrow access to information and result in convergence of society (reduction in social income, wealth and knowledge), has instead created greater divergence of society.

RTHK: Interview on US-China Trade War

Alejandro Reyes, Director of Knowledge Dissemination of Asia Global Institute, was joined by fellow panellists at RTHK to discuss the US-China trade war.