CSDS-Asia Matters Podcast CSDS-Asia Matters

Smartphone and telecom-equipment maker Huawei is one of China's most successful and controversial companies.  Despite efforts from the U.S. and other countries to restrict its access to cutting edge semiconductor technology, Huawei recently launched a new phone - the Mate 60 - featuring advanced made-in-China chips. The breakthrough has raised one question: Is America's effort to limit the rise of China's tech sector failing?

In this episode, CSDS-Asia Matters' Andrew Peaple analyzes Huawei's rise, fall, and apparent rise again, with guests Paul Triolo, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Dylan Patel, Chief Analyst at the semiconductor consulting firm SemiAnalysis.

Western governments, led by the U.S., have been taking a harder line on trade with China. At stake is global economic leadership, particularly in vital technologies from semiconductors to Artificial Intelligence to electric vehicles, as well as cooperation on climate goals. 
But how united are the U.S. and Europe on how to approach trade relations with China? What steps are big companies taking as tensions with Beijing rise, and how is Beijing responding?
In this episode, Asia Matters’ Andrew Peaple is joined by Emily Benson from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Alicia Garcia-Herrero at the European think-tank Bruegel.

A spy balloon and China’s presence in Cuba have put the spotlight on Beijing’s surveillance network around the globe this year, further fueling tensions with the U.S. But what do we know about China’s international intelligence operations? What are Beijing’s goals, and how is it using secret agents alongside satellites, TikTok and other hi-tech tools to monitor what happens in other countries?
To answer these questions, CSDS-Asia Matters’ Paolo Bosonin spoke with former Pentagon official Kari Bingen – director of the aerospace security project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies – alongside Professor Chong Ja Ian from the National University of Singapore, and Liza Lin, Wall Street Journal reporter and co-author of the book, “Surveillance State: China’s quest to build a new era of social control”.

Cambodia’s longtime leader Hun Sen emerged as the winner once again in the country’s recent general election, with his ruling Cambodian People’s Party winning 120 of the 125 seats in the country’s national assembly. 
But if the election result was hardly in doubt, there is some change in the air. 

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since the mid 1980s, has said he wants to pass his premiership on — though only as far as to his own son, Hun Manet. 

With that transition coming up later in August, this week we take a look at what it might mean for the South East Asian country. How much power will Hun Sen still hold? What do we know about Hun Manet? And what challenges lie ahead for the governance of Cambodia post-Covid, widely seen as the nation most tied to China in the region? 
To delve into these questions, our guest is Sophal Ear, associate professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and a long time commentator on Cambodian affairs. 

Cyberattacks are estimated to have caused trillions of dollars of damage to the world’s economy in recent years, and are now seen as a major national security threat by governments around the world. Some governments and private companies are looking to step up cooperation to fight the hackers, but nascent initiatives, such as a new pact between the EU and South Korea, face a number of hurdles. 
In this episode, CSDS Asia Matters’ Andrew Peaple speaks with three experts about the geopolitical forces – and rivalries – that are shaping the global cybersecurity landscape. His guests are Michael Reiterer, distinguished professor at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Brussels School of Governance, Prof. Seong-jong Song from the department of military science at Daejong University, in South Korea, and Wilhelm Vosse, from Japan’s International Christian University.

You can find further analysis in this book, 'Cybersecurity Policy in the EU and South Korea from Consultation to Action' which contains contributions from Michael and Song-jong.

The triumph of the Move Forward party in Thailand’s election has highlighted young voters’ desire for change and reform. But with the party’s popular leader, Pita Limjaroenrat scrambling to form a government and facing political roadblocks, questions are mounting over what may happen next in the Southeast Asian nation. What’s the likelihood of a military intervention? Can the next government reform laws that prohibit criticism of the monarchy? Could there be a coup? 

Andrew Peaple discusses the risks and scenarios with Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi, an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Rattaphol Onsanit, Thai politics reporter at Voice of America. After this podcast was recorded, the country’s Election Commission said that it would investigate whether Pita Limjaroenrat had violated rules over eligibility.