China and India in the Global Quantum ‘Race’

By Manoj Harjani

For now, quantum technologies are less likely to become a key determinant shaping competition and the overall bilateral relationship between China and India. This is partly due to greater potential economic and strategic gain in other dual-use disruptive technologies such as AI and chips, as well as the perceived gap in quantum capabilities and technological advancement.

Can ASEAN Pave a Path to Peace in Myanmar Five Years After the Five-Point Consensus?

By Barbora Valockova

More than five years after the February 2021 coup, Myanmar has a new administration led by former military chief Min Aung Hlaing. The military-organised general election, held in three phases between December 2025 and January 2026, excluded major opposition parties, and voting did not take place in 67 of the country’s 330 townships, largely because of fighting. It delivered a landslide for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president on 10 April 2026. An April amnesty freed former president Win Myint, while successive amnesties reduced Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence. While Min Aung Hlaing presents the transition as progress towards democracy, International Crisis Group describes it as a consolidation of military rule under the 2008 constitution.

A Haven for Growth, But for Pollution Too? ASEAN and the Pollution Haven Debate

By Abigail E. Andrada

As production networks diversify away from China, ASEAN is increasingly emerging as the next major manufacturing hub, particularly for electronics and semiconductors, automotive and electric vehicles, machinery, textiles, and solar manufacturing. In 2023, roughly one-third of China’s 76 billion USD in outbound manufacturing FDI went to Southeast Asia. This shift brings significant economic benefits to ASEAN countries, as firms relocate their production to more cost-competitive destinations across the region. However, it may also create environmental risks if more pollution-intensive activities move into countries with weaker enforcement of environmental regulations.

Who Controls AI? Nationalising Trust in the Indo-Pacific and Beyond

By Max Cappuccio

Without transparency, contestability, and institutional checks, nationalisation may “accelerate the corporate-government fusion we’re already sliding toward,” promoting state monopolies that pursue surveillance and militarisation without factually reducing tech oligarchies’ influence. State ownership is not rewarding in itself but only insofar as it promotes publicly accountable technological sovereignty. Nationalising trust, not merely assets, will prove key to secure sovereign capability while ensuring that technological power remains politically legitimate, socially beneficial, and open to public scrutiny.