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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 – China-Pakistan relations: "China Pakistan Economic Corridor" (CPEC) and beyond – Dr. Rifaat Hussain

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Pakistan

Asia Centre conference, 8 October 2019, with Dr. Rifaat Hussain, Professor of Government and Public Policy at the National University for Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, and member of Pakistan’s Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs; chaired by Jean-Luc Racine, Emeritus Senior CNRS Fellow, Centre for South Asian Studies, EHESS and Senior Fellow, Asia Centre. Discussant:  Jean-François di Meglio, President, Asia Centre.

Venue: Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris 75006

Synopsis

On the margin of the 2019 UN General Assembly, in a conversation with Pakistan Prime minister Imran Khan held at the Council for Foreign Relations, New York, Richard Haass, the Council’s President, pointed Pakistan as being « on the short list of countries receiving most Belt and Road Initiative investiments » and therefore addressed Prime Minister Imran Khan with two substantial questions: firstly, will this state of affairs not dramatically exacerbate Pakistan’s debt challenge, given the nature of Chinese support ? Furthermore, how does Pakistan claim to retain full sovereignety while inviting China to lead projects on such a scale?
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s answer simply outlined the great opportunity that China represents for Pakistan.

  • INTRODUCTION – CPEC IN THE BRI
  • BROAD OPPORTUNITIES FOR PAKISTAN
  • CHALLENGES AND APPREHENSIONS
  • CONCLUSION
  • THE DISCUSSANT’S OPENING

 

Note: The opinions expressed in this report belong solely to the speaker and do not represent Asia centre’s positions or engage any of our associated researchers.

 

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