Today Trends

Author: Dimitris Symeonidis, The Hague Ukhnaa Khurelsukh enjoyed a landslide victory of 68 per cent of the popular vote in Mongolia’s June 2021 election. In the context of Mongolia’s rich uranium deposits, Khurelsukh’s longstanding endorsement of nuclear power appears to be generating geopolitical interest in Beijing. Khurelsukh and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in July 2021 to continue enhancing strategic relations , including in the mining industry.  If a shift to cleaner technologies as part of Mongolia’s Vision 2050 involves leveraging its uranium endowment towards producing nuclear energy, Ulaanbaatar appears to be facing a difficult choice between either Russia or China for developmental expertise. The potential for China, in particular, to step up Mongolia’s development of a domestic nuclear industry comes at a time when China is expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal near the China–Mongolia border.  In July 2021, analysts revealed that China appears to be construc

Author: David Widdowson, Charles Sturt University Trading is a complex business. Members of the international trading community must deal with multiple regulatory authorities when importing or exporting goods. Remarkably, trade-related regulatory requirements are administered and enforced by more than 30 agencies at the federal level in Australia, as well as some at the state and territory level. There is very little administrative coordination among the various agencies and the linkages between them have not been automated. For example, to import a motor vehicle you will require approval from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. There is also a need to lodge an import declaration with Australian Border Force, pay relevant duties and taxes, and arrange a biosecurity inspection with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Testing for the presence of asbestos may also be required, in accordance with Safe Work Australia

Author: Shihoko Goto, Wilson Center When Taiwan made its bid to join the CPTPP in September, a week after China officially declared its interest in joining, there was speculation about the implications of the timing. Taipei could not afford to wait to request entry once Beijing got in the game. Yet the CPTPP is at the heart of mapping out Taiwan’s long-term survival, not just a means to remain competitive in global markets. Taipei is facing formidable military pressure from Beijing. In a television interview in October, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen stressed that threats from Beijing were growing daily. In response the United States has galvanised like-minded countries within and beyond the Indo-Pacific to prepare to come to Taiwan’s defence should the need arise. Yet the schism grows between the United States (and its partners and allies) preparedness to come to the physical defence of Taiwan and their readiness to support Taiwan’s ability to continue remaining economically

Authors: Ross Buckley and Anton Didenko, UNSW Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are widely considered the next stage in monetary evolution, having the potential to overcome long-standing challenges within the global currency and payments system. Our recent article explores the range of benefits they can offer, from ensuring that public money remains a dominant unit of account as private currencies emerge in increasing numbers to fostering financial inclusion of the unbanked and underbanked in our communities. More rigorous evaluation of their viability and fitness for purpose in countries with undeveloped digital and financial infrastructure needs to be undertaken. The envisaged role of CBDCs has varied across countries and this is reflected in different design choices. Since advanced economies are mostly concerned with payments safety and opportunities to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments, and are more likely to opt for a ‘ wholesale ’ CBDC. This has the potent

Author: John Taishu Pitt, Georgetown University While the US-led Bretton Woods Institutions have been supporting infrastructure projects since the 1940s, there has been criticism in recent years that the United States has been inadequate in responding to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Biden Administration should utilise the Blue Dot Network (BDN) to incentivise private investments in sustainable infrastructure projects in conjunction with the existing Bretton Woods Institutions. By striking the right balance between accessibility and quality, the BDN would create a unique opportunity to narrow the infrastructure gap while also responding strategically to the BRI through coalition building. In November 2019, Australia, Japan and the United States launched the BDN, a voluntary program that aims to certify infrastructure projects that would meet high standards of transparency, sustainability and developmental impact to help countries pursue quality infrastructure inves

Authors: Sitao Li and Sida Liu, University of Toronto In the 2010s, the Chinese judicial system underwent several reforms that attracted scholarly and public attention. These reforms were executed in the name of strengthening judicial autonomy and accountability. But the reforms were a mask for political motives and have had limited success. Reforms included the relocation of authority over local court finance and personnel from local governments to the provincial level, introducing a personnel quota system to improve the calibre of judges, the emphasis of judges’ ‘lifetime accountability’ ( zhongshen fuze zhi ) for their judicial decisions and the specification of case transfer procedures between courts. Circuit courts, specialised tribunals and an online database of judicial decisions were created to improve judicial transparency. Driven by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s political agenda, the top priority in implementing these reforms was not to enhance judicial autonomy, but to

Author: Charmaine Misalucha-Willoughby, De La Salle University The US–Philippines alliance is one of the most enduring arrangements in the Indo-Pacific, encompassing deep interpersonal ties and robust trade and investment partnerships. While the overarching relationship has been expanded, the military pact remains anchored in the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), a document that reflects the geopolitical dynamics of 1951 more than the realities of 2021. Pushing for a review of the MDT will improve the outlook of the US–Philippines alliance. The overarching argument for an MDT review is China’s assertive moves in the South China Sea. Its occupation of certain features and creation of artificial islands are militarised measures that are designed to undermine the 2016 arbitration award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. These actions defy the rules-based international order. In March 2021, the Philippines reported that more than 200 Chinese militia vessels were present at Whitsun Re

Author: Arifin Rosid, University of Indonesia Indonesia has the lowest percentage of individual income tax revenue to GDP compared to neighbouring countries — 1.3 per cent, compared to 1.9 per cent in Thailand, 2.1 per cent in Philippines and 2.7 per cent in Malaysia. Due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the provision of related short-term tax incentives, Indonesian tax revenues in 2020 contracted 19.7 per cent year-on-year and its overall tax-to-GDP ratio is declining . What does the Indonesian government need to do to raise the revenues needed to chart a path to economic recovery from the pandemic? The answer, as the World Bank argued, lies in taking advantage of a window of opportunity to collect more taxes from the expanding middle class. The number of individual taxpayers in Indonesia was around 38.7 million in 2019, more than doubling since 2009. Of these the majority were wage earners; only 20 per cent were self-employed. Despite recent progress in en

Author: V Sridhar, IIIT Bangalore India has much to gain from 5G not only due to the high speed data transfers it provides but also from the way the technology will impact agriculture, education, healthcare, transportation and other services. The technology is expected to increase global GDP by about US$2 trillion in key sectors such as healthcare, retail, mobility and manufacturing alone. But the road to 5G rollout is far from smooth. After a tumultuous few years, the telecom sector in India is bracing up for the deployment and adoption of 5G network services. While the government announced the formation of a high-level panel to evaluate and approve roadmaps and action plans for rolling out 5G technology in India, it is time to assess the prerequisites and challenges for such a roll-out. Radio spectrum enables communication between mobile handsets and networks, and it is an essential scarce resource for the operators to provide communication services.  In India, the roadmap for

Author: Bryan Mercurio, CUHK The COVID-19 pandemic will have a lasting effect on many areas of international lawmaking. In recent years, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have struggled to progress the trade agenda or even keep the multilateral system functioning as designed. The pandemic may accelerate the trend of increased protectionism and movement away from liberalism and towards managed trade. At the domestic level, the pandemic will likely result in legislation from the most important trading nations that attempts to domesticate production. Sometimes the language used is more obscure — such as the US emphasis on ‘supply chain resilience’ — but the practical effect is the same. The pandemic provides a convenient excuse for those looking to diversify supply chains away from China. There have been efforts to label some goods as having critical ‘national security’ importance or being ‘essential interests’. This began when the demand for medical personal protectiv