Indo-Pacific Insight #002
Japan & the EU, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Japan & Italy, India-France developments, Cambodia-Vietnam Mekong canal, floating nuclear in the SCS...
Obviously, the format for IndoPacific Insights is evolving. Whilst not our primary focus here, the technology sector is certainly worthy of coverage, given its integral presence in all regional issues. Separately, the at-a-glance format and pull-out quotes aim to make updates both as engaging and as accessible as possible for time-constrained readers.
• Italy & the Indo-Pacific: “…the IT CSG will visit about ten countries and call in the same number of ports during a deployment which will take it across the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to reach the Pacific basin and operate in the region for about two months before returning to Italy visiting the South East Asia, India and Middle East.” / read it here
• Japan and European Union reportedly to enter talks on cooperation in advanced materials for next-gen chips and batteries in moves to reduce reliance on China on supply and materials / read it here
• China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: “…the fresh wave of militant attacks in March targeting Chinese workers, investments, and sites of geostrategic significance has pushed Beijing into going public with its concerns over the lack of security in Pakistan.” / read it here
• “Japan and Italy are in final stages of talks to launch an action plan to boost their cooperation in seven areas such as diplomacy, defense and economic security amid China's growing influence and Russia's invasion of Ukraine…” / read it here
• “Despite the lack of a strong, overarching national strategy, engineers, scientists, academics and entrepreneurs across the continent have been busy developing Australia into a spacefaring nation…” / read it here
"With a collective exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of over sixteen million square kilometers, the Pacific Islands occupy nearly 10 percent of the world’s maritime space..." / read it here
• “After bolstering the Philippines’ military capabilities with the supply of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missiles, India has upped the ante in the South China Sea with its decision to deploy three frontline warships to Manila.” / read it here
• South Korea, New Zealand and Canada now under consideration for possible participation in advanced capability projects of the AUKUS security partnership, adding to consideration of Japan for inclusion / read it here
• Huawei and partner, SiCarrier, file patents for low-tech alternative way to make advanced semiconductors, potentially side-stepping the need for extreme ultraviolet lithography / read it here
• China: New space missions selected, featuring studies in lunar far-side astronomy, astrophysics, solar pole observation, exoplanets and gravitational wave research / read it here
• J-AUKUS: “Although Japan could contribute to these developments without being an AUKUS member, its inclusion could enhance alliance partnerships, capability integration and standardisation, as well as potentially rationalise export control and information security regulations among the four countries.” / read it here
"Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in India was USD40.84 billion. In 2023 alone, this figure was USD1.79 billion, making Japan the fifth-largest investor in India..." / read it here
• Indian Institute of Tech Madras partners Starburst, French aerospace and defense startup accelerator, to establish startup with backed by 100M Euros to boost India's aviation, space and defense ecosystems / read it here
• ‘Why Bangladesh’s China-Funded Pekua Submarine Base Will Prove To Be A Migraine For India’ / read it here
• EU Global Gateway Initiative: '...high-quality infrastructure and invest in environment, health, education and research, energy, and digital connectivity... [and] can offer SE Asia valuable alternatives to the BRI...' / read it here
• India and France partner for Indo-Pacific Triangular Cooperation Fund focused on climate solutions and UN Sustainable Development Goals outcomes in Western Indian Ocean and wider Indo-Pacific region / read it here
• Japan: Kaga Electronics’ proposed Mexico factory project has been selected by the JP gov’t for its Indo-Pacific & Central-South America Regional Supply Chain Involvement Support Project / read it here
"For the first time, over 33 nations worked and trained together in the space domain, as well as air and land, establishing a new standard for multinational space operations." / read it here
• Indo-France ‘Shakti’ Joint Military Exercise: “Troops from both sides will engage in rigorous training exercises within semi-urban and mountainous terrains, simulating real-world scenarios to hone their skills in diverse environments... Moreover, the joint exercise serves as a platform for fostering interoperability and strengthening bilateral relations between India and France.” / read it here
• China harbors ship tied to North Korea-Russia arms transfers, satellite images show / read it here
• In March, India opened a new naval base on its Indian Ocean island close to the Maldives, as ties with Male remain tense and New Delhi jostles anew with China for influence in the region / read it here
• India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: “…is more than just a grand economic project. It has a lot more to do with India’s geopolitical positioning than pure economic logic… It would give India a second route to Europe - one that would disentangle the current Suez Canal choke point… [Other activities] include, in the west, the IMEC initiative through the Arabian Peninsula and the International North-South Transport Corridor. And to the east, the Trilateral highway in Southeast Asia and the Chennai-Vladivostok route (that) also has polar implications.” / read it here
• “Across Oceania, but especially in the FAS [Freely Associated States of The Pacific], the United States is at imminent risk of having the relationships it long has taken for granted severely weakened, with the PRC using political warfare to “island-hop” east and south to set up what are effectively forward operating locations able to push the United States back to Hawaii.” / read here (pdf link)
Video: 'Indo-Pacific economic security - Issues and strategies' from The Atlantic Council
• Cambodia, Vietnam & Mekong trade: “Cambodia’s economic interests remain tightly intertwined with Vietnam, which considers the kingdom a ‘special strategic partner.’ Vietnam is Cambodia’s second-largest trade partner behind China, and trade between the two neighbours exceeded $6bn in 2023. Yet the canal could become a fault line between the two countries amid increasing regional polarity.” / read it here
• Floating nuclear plants in the South China Sea?: “Despite over a decade of research and development and safety concerns from Chinese regulators, US officials believe China is poised to proceed with the plans, with no established international standards for the safe operation of floating reactors.” / read it here
• Australia-ASEAN Summit saw Prime Minister Albanese unveil a $2BN fund to boost Australian trade and investment in South-East Asia, focusing particularly on clean energy and infrastructure / read it here
• Solomon Islands: “He needs to explain to the people: Where did he get all this money from?” said Ruth Liloqula, who heads the Solomon Islands chapter of Transparency International. / read it here
• “Before the end of the year, the AUKUS nations will field a new “trilateral algorithm” allowing them to share information from P-8 sonobuoys between each other, the first piece of tangible AUKUS Pillar II technology to hit the field.” / read it here
"...minilateral arrangements, typically involving small groups of 3 to 6 members, have increasingly come to occupy an in-between layer in the [Indo-Pacific] region’s security architecture." / read it here
• Late in 2023, Beijing approved GMO seeds: “China’s food consumption has already outpaced domestic supply due to factors including increased urbanisation. Also, global warming has affected farm output due to extreme weather. Rising geopolitical tensions with the US add urgency. The two largest US agricultural exports to China by value in 2022 were soyabeans at $18bn and corn at $5.3bn.” / read it here
• The Quad Must Tackle Nuclear Threats in the Indo-Pacific: “Relationships between the region’s eight nuclear-armed states are mostly troubled. Countries are either abandoning former nuclear arms control confidence building measures (NCBMs), or never had those mechanisms in the first place.” / read it here
• North Korean submarine construction: “On September 6, 2023, North Korea unveiled a new type of ballistic missile submarine (SSB), a ‘Sinpo-C’ class SSB named the Hero Kim Kun Ok… Recent commercial satellite imagery… indicates that a new submarine construction campaign has begun. Hull components and equipment have appeared in the parts yard servicing the shipyard’s construction halls.” / read it here
How Much Trade Transits the South China Sea?: '...roughly 80% of global trade by volume and 70% by value is transported by sea. Of that volume, 60% of maritime trade passes through Asia...' / read it here
The Indo-Pacific & technology
• “OpenHarmony, an open-source version of Huawei’s HarmonyOS, is widely used in critical infrastructure (such as the energy grid and ports), public security, and the military in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Some of these are projects that support the PRC’s military-civil fusion development strategy.” / read it here
• Download: 'Europe and the Indo-Pacific - Convergence and Divergence in the Digital Order' from the International Institute for Strategic Studies / read it here
• India and Germany resolve to collaborate on hi-tech for military use, with joint miltary exercises also under discussion / read it here
"North Korean hackers breached at least two South Korean microchip equipment companies in recent months, stealing product design drawings and facility site photos..." / read it here
• Japan's recent cybersecurity outreach to Pacific Islands nations, connecting gov't officials and comms providers from Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Kiribati / read it here
• Critical technologies, quarterly: Q1 2024 emerging tech news summary now online, drawn across Asia & the Indo-Pacific and featuring wider-world items / read it here
Video: Full coverage of the 2024 Pacific Technology Policy Conference from the National Bureau of Asian Research
• The Indo-Pacific, A Complex Chessboard for Cyber Capabilities: "Comprising approximately 40 economies, the Indo-Pacific is set to represent over 50% of the world’s GDP by 2040, with China, Japan, India, South Korea and Australia’s combined GDPs already totalling more than the whole of the EU put together." / read it here
• Quantum & tech security in Australia: “…Thirdly, Australia is fast becoming the frontline in Indo-Pacific espionage. Threats of espionage and technological theft from China have been described as being at an “industrial scale”, but they aren’t the only players in the market…”
"The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) North Korea Missile Test Database is the first database to record flight tests of all missiles launched by North Korea capable of delivering a payload of at least 500 kilograms (1102.31 pounds) a distance of at least 300 kilometers (186.4 miles). / view it here
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