Today Trends

Author: Ben Ascione, Waseda University Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s decision to hold the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games under the one-year postponement plan inherited from the Abe administration revolved around his need to face a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election in September and a lower-house election by October. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, proceeding with the Games was intended to protect Suga, who lacks a factional base in the LDP, from the threat of internal challengers . The critical question was what level of infection control and vaccinations were needed to safely hold the Games without stretching Tokyo’s medical system? And what sort of measures would prevent spill over infections from the ‘Olympic bubble’? When pressed for details the Suga government insisted that Japan would hold a ‘safe and secure’ Games, evaded  establishing definitive criteria for success and moved the goal posts when new information came to light. The head of the Tokyo Medical Asso

Author: Moe Thuzar, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute Despite the shortcomings of its healthcare system, Myanmar’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic seemed cautiously optimistic. The National League for Democracy (NLD) government sought epidemiological advice from world-renowned sources in February 2020, launching a Health Sector Contingency Plan and a COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan in April. After the military coup in February 2021, Myanmar’s military (the Tatmadaw) officially recommitted itself to the NLD’s COVID-19 vaccination drive and associated economic recovery. Yet in reality the ruling military junta, known as the State Administration Council (SAC), focussed its attention and resources on suppressing anti-coup protests that sprang up nation-wide. Some 70 medical personnel started the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) on 3 February in protest against the junta’s indifference towards pandemic hardship. The junta reacted by suspending, expelling and imprisoning CDM prote

Author: Stewart Nixon, ANU In August 2021, Australia held its five-yearly census of population and housing, with responses providing crucial information on the backgrounds and characteristics of people present in Australia. Despite the unusual pandemic context in which it took place, the census provides a vital snapshot that will help shape and target government and non-government policies in a broad range of areas. Among the foremost statistical collections in any country, the census exemplifies the essential contribution of data to developing evidence-based policy. With coverage limited to persons in Australia, the census excludes Australian citizens and residents overseas on census night. The consequences of this have never been starker, with globalisation contributing to a burgeoning diaspora and Australia’s pandemic borders leaving tens or hundreds of thousands of Australians unwillingly abroad. While government policies — including social welfare, tax, housing and investment

Author: Yves Tiberghien, UBC Most of East Asia and Oceania aced the battle with COVID-19 in 2020. By implementing strict measures rapidly and effectively, countries kept cases and deaths much lower than in the United States, Europe, and South America. Even the worst affected countries — Indonesia and the Philippines — stood far below the world average for COVID-19 deaths. By the summer of 2021, this positive picture had weakened . The duration of the COVID-19 crisis and the emergence of the Delta variant changed the game and put stress on East Asia — a region that has been slow to develop or purchase vaccines. New cases are rampant in Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand and Japan. The number of COVID-19 deaths has risen sharply across the region compared to 2020 figures, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia. The East Asian and Oceanian model has fragmented into five groups, based on strategies (suppression, containment, mitigation), degree of international openness and use of vaccinati

Author: Editorial Board, ANU Japan has entered election season with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) presidential election on 29 September and the lower house election in late October or November. After succeeding Shinzo Abe less than one year ago, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on 3 September that he won’t contest the LDP election and will step down at the end of the month. The race for Japan’s next prime minister is wide open. Suga’s downfall is a reminder that there is no escape from the public’s top priority of effectively handling COVID-19. His government’s pandemic policy has been characterised by missteps and poor communication with the public. As Rikki Kersten explains in our lead article this week , Suga’s record on COVID-19 got off to a poor start when he… ‘forged ahead with the Go To Travel campaign which provided government subsidies for domestic travel to stimulate economic recovery. He was forced by spikes in infections to temporarily suspend the p

Author: Rikki Kersten, ANU In the time of COVID-19, competence in managing the pandemic is a vital criterion for reward or punishment at the polls for democratic leaders. This is politically tricky enough to manage on its own. Add hosting the Olympics during a pandemic and being a transitional leader, and you’re in the unique world of political pain that was the ultimate fate of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. When Suga failed to gain a popularity boost from the postponed Tokyo Olympics, it not only threw the electoral schedule into sharp relief for the ruling coalition but it also threw Suga under a bus. When his popularity sunk to the political death zone of an approval rating of 27 per cent Suga accepted that the compressed post-Olympic electoral schedule meant that he had to go. On 3 September Suga duly announced that he would not run for the leadership on 29 September, setting the stage for a new prime minister to lead the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) into Japan’s gen

Author: Aurelia George Mulgan, UNSW Following Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s announcement that he will soon step down, one of the frontrunners for Japan’s premiership is Fumio Kishida, a politician who has long been waiting in the wings for the presidency of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Kishida made his first bid for LDP president and prime minister last year, only to be beaten by Suga. Kishida ticks all the traditional boxes for holding the two top positions in Japanese politics. He has strong political and policy credentials. He is an LDP faction leader and a hereditary politician with a long political pedigree. Kishida is also a former cabinet minister, holding the position of foreign minister longer than any other Japanese politician in post-war history. He has also demonstrated substantial intra-party policy leadership as chairman of the LDP’s top policymaking body, the Policy Affairs Research Council. Kishida’s ambitions have been demonstrated by

Author: Michael Hutt, SOAS On 13 July 2021, 75-year-old Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the Nepali Congress party, was appointed Prime Minister by order of Nepal’s Supreme Court. He finds himself heading a coalition government which will have to grapple not only with the COVID-19 pandemic but also severe political, economic and environmental challenges. Deuba’s appointment came in the wake of the collapse of the Communist Party of Nepal, which had been in power for three and a half years. The party came into being after the 2017 general elections through the merger of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre). Despite its name, the party’s communism was barely visible. Unusually, its government held an overall majority, not only in Nepal’s House of Representatives but also in the new provincial and local administrations. There were hopes that its installation would be the final step in Nepal’s post-war transformation.

Author: Jeff Kingston, Temple University Japan On 3 September 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga unexpectedly announced he would not run in the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) presidential race scheduled for 29 September. Suga’s withdrawal opens up the leadership race and speculation is mounting as to who will throw their hat in the ring and prevail. Earlier in the week Suga seemed intent on clinging to his job, hinting he might call a snap Diet election aimed at wrongfooting rivals within the party and catching the opposition camp unprepared while delaying the LDP presidential contest . This plan, however, was vetoed by party heavyweights. Trying to regain the initiative, Suga convinced LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai to step down and announced a reshuffle of party executives. These moves aimed to counter Fumio Kishida, his chief rival for the LDP presidency, who vowed to shake up the party leadership and impose term limits. But party elders rejected the reshuffl

Author: Nafis Alam, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation Digital banking is expanding globally and the Asia Pacific has emerged as a hotspot for digital banks. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted eight virtual banking licenses in 2019 while the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced four successful digital bank applicants in 2020. Following this trend, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysia’s central bank, issued its Licensing Framework for Digital Banks last year to kickstart digital banking in Malaysia. BNM received 29 applications for five digital banking licenses which are expected to be granted in the first quarter of 2022. The applicants included a diverse range of parties ranging from banks, technology firms, FinTech players, industrial conglomerates, cooperatives and even state governments. These licenses will hasten the diffusion of innovative banking technology and boost financial inclusion by targeting the unserved and underserved banking popul