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AsiaCentre

Founded in 2005, Asia Centre is an independent research institute that holds debates and issues publications on matters relating to international, strategic, economic relations, as well as the political and social transformations underway in the Asia-Pacific region. At the crossroads of university research as well as public and private decision-making, Asia Centre researchers identify critical regional issues and analyse them in-depth, taking into consideration both local and global dimensions. Asia Centre’s programs are developed with a vast network of partners, companies and major specialist centres in Europe, North America and Asia. The Centre carries out joint operations with these groups, for a better interpretation of ideas and issues. The conclusions of these meetings, such as the results of the work carried out using original sources by our researchers, are widely distributed through the Centre’s publications as well as through international journals, books and media.

Other analyses

Taiwan cooking oil scandal: Why Isn’t Beijing Adding Fuel to the Fire? • Isabelle Feng

31 July 2026 No Comments

In this new piece, Isabelle Feng looks back at the tainted cooking oil scandal that has affected Taiwan for several weeks, and at Beijing’s measured response to the affair. She examines the protests held in Taipei on 25 July, the coverage of the event by Chinese state media, and reactions observed on Chinese social media. She puts this episode in perspective alongside the history of food safety scandals in mainland China and the question of freedom to protest on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

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Memo – Southeast Asia and the BRI – Annual Seminar

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South East Asia

Memo of the annual seminar of the Observatory, 21 January, 2019, in partnership with Irsem. With Prof. Jay Batongbacal (University of the Philippines, Institute for Maritime Affairs and law of the Sea), Dr Vannarith Chheang (ISEAS-NTU-AVI), Emmanuel Dubois de Prisque (Institut Thomas More), Dr Juliette Genevaz (IRSEM), Bruno Hellendorf (Egmont Institute & European Policy Centre), Dr Elsa Lafaye de Micheaux (University Rennes 2).

Compte-rendu par Tom Eisenchteter

Myth versus reality. Enthusiasm versus suspicion. Investment versus debt. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provokes mixed feelings among the Southeast Asian leaders and population. More importantly, it impacts national strategies as the Chinese initiative can be seen as a deus exmachina to eventually support old projects. Is it thus a true ‘win-win’ situation, as Xi Jinping stated? In every country, the reactions are far from being simple as they are at the crossroads of the military, political and business elites, laying between national and local interests and stretching from nationalism to the critical need for infrastructure.

  • Introduction
  • Malaysia on the Belt and Road again
  • ASEAN and Cambodia’s loose alignment with China
  • The Belt and Road Initiative and the Transforming International Order: a Philippine Perspective
  • Indonesia and the BRI
  • Concluding Remarks: France in all that
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