Asia-Pacific Report<\/a>, 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\u2019s regional implications, family-led political scandals in the Philippines, and the controversial rehabilitation of Indonesia\u2019s former leader.<\/p>\nChina\u2013Japan Strains at G20<\/h3>\n
Bello addressed rising tensions between China and Japan, notably China\u2019s refusal so far to hold a bilateral leader-level meeting with Japan at the G20 summit in South Africa. He linked this to Japan\u2019s increasingly explicit military posture toward Taiwan.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
For decades, Tokyo aligned itself with Washington\u2019s position\u2014recognising Beijing\u2019s sovereignty claim while maintaining an implicit security understanding with Taipei. But, he explained, this tacit arrangement has changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the current prime minister \u2026 has done is to make it explicit that Japan may deploy military force in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Philippines: Marcos Family Fallout<\/p>\n
Shifting to the Philippines, Bello described a political crisis with potentially far-reaching consequences.<\/p>\n
The accusations by Senator Imee Marcos that President Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr.\u2014her own brother\u2014is a longtime cocaine user have shaken public confidence and deepened concerns about governance.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He warned that the political system may struggle to sustain public trust if the president is implicated.<\/p>\n
He highlighted the depth of the crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no one guiding the ship of state in the Philippines because they\u2019re all \u2026 high on drugs.\u201d These revelations, he suggested, have inflamed public anger and cast doubt on whether existing investigative mechanisms can operate independently.<\/p>\n
Indonesia\u2019s Controversial Hero Title<\/p>\n
Bello also weighed in on Indonesia\u2019s decision to grant national hero status to former President Suharto \u2014 a move he calls \u201cvery, very controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suharto is a figure widely associated with mass human-rights abuses and entrenched corruption.<\/p>\n
Bello noted that many Indonesians view the move as an attempt to sanitise a violent past rather than reckon with it. Suharto\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Bello expressed deep concern about this trajectory, emphasising that it signals a dangerous normalisation of authoritarian nostalgia.<\/p>\n
\u201cDictators are getting rehabilitated. And I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Listen<\/strong> to the Asia Pacific Report<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Junaid Kharsany.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
20 November 2025 | 11:51 CAT 3-minute read During this week\u2019s 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\u2019s regional implications, family-led political scandals in the Philippines, and the controversial rehabilitation of Indonesia\u2019s former leader. China\u2013Japan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":90718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Asia-Pacific-Report.jpg?fit=2268%2C2268&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qD3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 12:06:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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