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Zachary Abuza
SCMP Contributor
Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington, DC, where he focuses on Southeast Asian politics and security issues. The views are his own and do not reflect those of the National War College or Department of Defense.
Vietnam’s new general secretary has methodically placed loyalists in positions of influence and wielded the security apparatus to eliminate challenges to his authority.
Saigon Commercial Bank’s losses could cause the national treasury to dry up, as the government injects ‘special loans’ to keep the bank afloat.
The multibillion dollar scandal involving Than’s Saigon Commercial Bank and Van Thinh Phat property company shows that regulators are overwhelmed – and on the take – in a country where the banking system remains fragile and corruption is endemic.
Myanmar military rulers are facing pressures on multiple fronts and the global community should do its part to help the opposition prevail.
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Hanoi’s Communist leaders would not have agreed to meeting President Biden if not confident that Beijing would not punish Vietnam for doing so.
VinFast has been getting lots of hype, but it has many underlying problems – including poor finances. The US market should be its lifeline, but it may sink the EV maker.
The junta’s move to shut public access to an online corporate registry will shield the senior leadership’s shareholdings, and those of their families, and help establish front companies to evade international sanctions.
Thai politics remains a dangerous mix of a very unpopular leader, from an unpopular party, who is likely to hold onto power, with insufficient pressure for the royalist-military establishment to make any meaningful reforms.
Vietnam has issued a series of regulations aimed at ensuring social media firms’ maximum compliance with government dictates.
Beijing’s success in stopping the spread of Covid-19 is a source of soft power, while Washington has earned no capital in its approach to vaccine diplomacy.
Thailand’s military seized power, refuses to accept an electoral mandate and thwarts political reforms, all in the name of defending the monarchy.
US special forces may have bagged his body, but the virulent ideology of the Islamic State leader lives on in the disparate groups of militants – men and women – he inspired in Southeast Asia.
