MEcon@MR Blog

The Nam Ao Dam collapse: a preview of things to come?

October 2, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

Image: Travelling down the Nam Ou between Muang Khua and Muang Ngoi Neua 2; Anne Roberts; CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 — Image: Travelling down the Nam Ou between Muang Khua and Muang Ngoi Neua 2; Anne Roberts; CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Yellow River is to China what the Mekong is to Southeast Asia: both the origin and the prop of civilisation, providing water and agricultural land to nurture a growing society. While the Mekong is thought of with affection and gratitude as the “Mother of Waters”, however, the Yellow River has always been feared and distrusted.

China Round-Up: The China-ASEAN Trade Fair, New Stats on China and the Electricity Market, and a Nice Gift from Zhejiang Province

September 20, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

Image: Fishing Village Dock Sihanoukville Cambodia; Sally, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 — Image: Fishing Village Dock Sihanoukville Cambodia; Sally, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

While wishing everyone the best for the Pchum Ben holiday - let's see what the Middle Kingdom has been up to in the Kingdom of Wonder as of late...

China in Cambodia: Weekly Round-Up

August 3, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

Image: Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng (L) hands over a plaque to Gao Hua, re-elected president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, July 10, 2015; News.cn — Image: Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng (L) hands over a plaque to Gao Hua, re-elected president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, July 10, 2015; News.cn

This week we kick things off with a link to an excellent piece by Elizabeth Economy, the foremost expert on Chinese environmental policy, on that very topic. We highly recommend her book on the issue, The River Runs Black.

Sino-Cambodian Relations and The "Bates" Aid Question

July 31, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

Image: China & Taiwan: 2 sisters, Large propaganda board with China and Taiwan depicted as two sisters, happily holding each other in Xiamen, PRC: 思归照统一，两岸一家亲, kattebelletje, CC BY-NC 2.0 — Image: China & Taiwan: 2 sisters, Large propaganda board with China and Taiwan depicted as two sisters, happily holding each other in Xiamen, PRC: 思归照统一，两岸一家亲, kattebelletje, CC BY-NC 2.0

Later this week we will be providing our usual round up of events in the world of Sino-Cambodian relations, but today we take a break to pose a question that my own research currently examines, what I call the "Bates Question."

Cambodia’s Porous Borders: An Impediment to Rule of Law and an Inducement to Corruption

July 30, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

Image: Poipet (Thai border), Cambodia. 2; James Antrobus; CC BY 2.0 — Image: Poipet (Thai border), Cambodia. 2; James Antrobus; CC BY 2.0

It is no secret that Cambodia’s borders are quite porous. Much of the illegal cross-border trade seems to be accomplished with a nod and a wink – there are established, though of course informal, understandings as to how to get people and goods across formal, legal border crossings, as well as informal border crossings which seem to be well known and accessible, as the author discovered in the course of her field work in Cambodia.

Japanese Law and Cambodian Justice: Beyond Legal Transplants in Contemporary Legal Reform

July 25, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

Image: An allegory of the New fighting the Old in early Meiji Japan, circa 1870; Source: Printing Museum News N36

The involvement of Japanese experts in the preparation of the new Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure and other requisite legal instruments (so as to ensure a fully functional infrastructure for the recognition of contracts, contract enforcement, the protection of property rights, the enshrining individual rights and the rule of law, into legal code) is reflective of a benign foreign policy adopted by Japan that is aimed at building symbiotic and synergistic relationships with her partners.

China in Cambodia This Week: Construction, Education, and Roads

July 23, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

Just a brief round-up of some of the events that caught my eye this week, more on Sino-Cambodian relations soon.

The Case for Competitive Authoritarianism in Cambodia or The Case Against Authoritarianism in Cambodia (Take Your Pick)

July 21, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen at the ASEAN-Russia Summit in Sochi May 2016; Image: Kremlin.ru

The question on everyone's mind since the communal elections in Cambodia is, naturally, what's going to happen in the national elections next year?

A curious relationship: Cambodia and North Korea

July 21, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

Norodom Sihanouk, former King of Cambodia (left) is welcomed on April 22, 1975, in Pyongyang by North Korean President and "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung (right). Photo: AFP

If you ever visit Phnom Penh or Siem Reap in Cambodia, you may have had the pleasure of looking at a curious chain of restaurants called “Pyongyang Restaurants”. These chains are found throughout China and Southeast Asia and are run the North Korean government, staffed by North Korean waitresses, serving North Korean cuisine.

Whither Southeast Asian Liberalism?

July 20, 2017 Anirudh Bhati

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and the visiting Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith on 15 May 2017 Photo: VNA

Francis Fukuyama's prediction of the "end of history" and the inevitability of the establishment of liberal democracy clearly took a hit after the third wave of democratization as we continued and continue to observe roll backs of individual rights across the globe. So, why has this been the case? What exactly do we know about democratization?