Sri Lanka Elects Leftist President Dissanayake: Shift in India-China Relations?

By Rajni Gamage and Harindra B. Dassanayake

Like other small states in the region, Sri Lanka has had to navigate the competing political interests of India and China. The new president faces limited policy options, having to implement painful austerity measures led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and facilitated by India (and the West). However, Dissanayake’s perceived ideological and political proximity to China has cast uncertainty over his foreign policy direction.

Inside the Semiconductor Race: China’s Ambition vs. Taiwan’s Strategy

By Jassie Hsi Cheng

China’s push for semiconductor self-reliance and Taiwan’s quest to retain its chipmaking edge are opening new doors for Southeast Asia. To sustain momentum, the region must strengthen collaboration and ensure that geopolitical tensions do not spill over and disrupt growth.

The ASEAN Way Forward: Addressing Emerging Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific

By Mae Chow

Over the last weekend of May, the 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, brought together defence ministers, military chiefs, and strategic experts worldwide to discuss pertinent security issues in the region. Reflecting the emerging security concerns over the past year, key regional security discussions such as the political crisis in Myanmar and maritime law continued to dominate during the Shangri-La Dialogue this year. Yet, without clear headway in addressing these security challenges, significant doubts remain about the capability of the ASEAN states to remain as the  “main driving force” of the region. As ASEAN grapples with increasingly more complex security challenges and internal divisions that jeopardise its unity and centrality in the regional security architecture, it finds itself at a critical juncture, where it needs to balance its traditional diplomatic approach while navigating geopolitical shifts, including the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China in the Indo-Pacific, heightened tensions in the South China Sea, and the ongoing political turmoil in Myanmar, to maintain its centrality and strategic autonomy.