Asian Insider: China’s keen to move forward on South China Sea code | The ‘indescribable bliss’ of a hot spring soak

Updated

Published

Feb 27, 2025, 04:08 PM

Dear ST reader,

We hope you’ve been keeping well.

A breakthrough in long-running talks between Asean and China for a code to manage conflicts in the South China Sea might be on the cards. In a Straits Times exclusive, Yew Lun Tian reports how this fresh momentum is driven by Beijing’s desire to constrain what other claimant states can do in the disputed waterway.

Is the enemy of your enemy really your friend? And must the friend of your enemy also be your enemy?

This adage sprang to mind this week, after Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their “no limits” partnership.

Both men have bonded over their common rival, the US. But US President Donald Trump made recent overtures to Russia over the Ukraine war, stirring speculation that he was trying to drive a wedge between Mr Xi and Mr Putin, who have previously described each other as their best friend. Read Lim Min Zhang and Joyce ZK Lim’s analysis of this three-way relationship.

For more Trump fallout analysis, read Bhavan Jaipragas’ piece on how US scrutiny over the Panama Canal masks deeper fears of China’s port power, and what that means for Asia.

Lastly, read Walter Sim’s account of his travels in the disaster-wrought Noto peninsula in Japan, and how he made peace with wallowing in a hot spring amid the ruins.