20 November 2025 | 11:51 CAT
3-minute read

During this week’s Asia-Pacific Report, Walden Bello, an academic, human-rights campaigner and co-chairperson of a Bangkok-based Global South research institute, weighed in on major geopolitical developments including the G20 summit’s regional implications, family-led political scandals in the Philippines, and the controversial rehabilitation of Indonesia’s former leader.

China–Japan Strains at G20

Bello addressed rising tensions between China and Japan, notably China’s refusal so far to hold a bilateral leader-level meeting with Japan at the G20 summit in South Africa. He linked this to Japan’s increasingly explicit military posture toward Taiwan.

He noted that while Japan has long maintained a one-China policy, its strategic ambiguity over Taiwan has shifted dramatically under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

For decades, Tokyo aligned itself with Washington’s position—recognising Beijing’s sovereignty claim while maintaining an implicit security understanding with Taipei. But, he explained, this tacit arrangement has changed.

“What the current prime minister … has done is to make it explicit that Japan may deploy military force in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.”

According to Bello, this public shift is viewed in Beijing as a direct provocation, triggering a series of retaliatory economic and travel restrictions. He argued that China is unlikely to ease pressure unless Tokyo backs down or apologises, leaving bilateral diplomacy at an impasse during a moment when regional cooperation is urgently needed.

Philippines: Marcos Family Fallout

Shifting to the Philippines, Bello described a political crisis with potentially far-reaching consequences.

The accusations by Senator Imee Marcos that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.—her own brother—is a longtime cocaine user have shaken public confidence and deepened concerns about governance.

The comments, he said, validated long-circulating rumours and painted a picture of a dysfunctional leadership circle. Bello stressed that the implications go beyond personal scandal; the allegations intersect with a broader probe into corruption and the diversion of funds meant for flood-control infrastructure.

He warned that the political system may struggle to sustain public trust if the president is implicated.

He highlighted the depth of the crisis.

“There’s no one guiding the ship of state in the Philippines because they’re all … high on drugs.” These revelations, he suggested, have inflamed public anger and cast doubt on whether existing investigative mechanisms can operate independently.

Indonesia’s Controversial Hero Title

Bello also weighed in on Indonesia’s decision to grant national hero status to former President Suharto — a move he calls “very, very controversial.”

Suharto is a figure widely associated with mass human-rights abuses and entrenched corruption.

Bello noted that many Indonesians view the move as an attempt to sanitise a violent past rather than reckon with it. Suharto’s rule, which stretched over three decades, began with the 1965 mass killings that claimed up to a million lives. Despite this documented record, the official rehabilitation of his legacy fits a broader trend in Southeast Asia, where powerful families wield the political capital to reshape historical memory.

Bello expressed deep concern about this trajectory, emphasising that it signals a dangerous normalisation of authoritarian nostalgia.

“Dictators are getting rehabilitated. And I don’t think that’s a good sign.”

Listen to the Asia Pacific Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Junaid Kharsany.