Asia Matters Podcast

This episode examines the responses of three of Asia’s most prominent nations to Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Japan, India, and Korea.
The war has not only brought dreadful suffering to the Ukrainian people, as well as heavy losses for the Russian army - it has also upended many of the assumptions that have guided international relations for decades. Indeed, it's arguably the biggest change to the geopolitical order since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Joining Andrew Peaple to discuss the topic are two familiar voices from the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Brussels School of Governance: Eva Pejsova, senior Japan fellow at CSDS, and Ramon Pacheco Pardo, who holds the Korea chair at the Centre.
And to discuss the implications for India, Garima Mohan joins the show. She is a fellow in the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, where she leads work on India.
As ever, you can find more information, including episode transcripts, on our website.
This episode was produced in conjunction with the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Brussels School of Governance.

Welcome to podcasting in a time of COVID-19...
The new coronavirus has run rampant throughout the world, and disrupted the global economy, transport and everyday life (including our studio access.)
But the show must go on - so joining Andrew and Vincent this week on a four-way Skype chat are Dr. Parag Khanna, managing director of strategic advisory firm FutureMap and the author 'The Future is Asian'; and Ian Johnson, China correspondent for The New York Times.

The topic, is of course, the coronavirus - specifically, as the epicentre has switched to Europe and parts of Asia seem almost ready to begin recovering, how Asian countries have differed in their approach to the virus. What can we learn from the various strategies they deployed, and what do they reveal about the different political systems themselves? And taking out our crystal balls - at this early stage are there any clues about how this epoch-defining pandemic will affect the region's geopolitical order?

In December last year, Narendra Modi's government passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. It's raised concerns that India's secular constitution is at risk, and critics say it discriminates against Muslims.
Last week, in Delhi, the hitherto peaceful protests against the law erupted into the worst violence the Indian capital has seen in decades. More than 40 people were killed, hundreds were wounded and some remain missing. There's also mounting evidence that Muslims were targeted in a planned manner. Parliamentary proceedings have been disrupted for three days straight as opposition MPs continue to protest the riots.
Madhav Kosla is a constitutional expert from Ashoka and Columbia universities. He joins us to discuss the protests, and the roots of rising Hindu nationalism in India. Drawing on Madhav's books, we also discuss the wider question of the challenges facing a modern Indian state, and its constitution.

China’s economy is facing its biggest challenges for years as growth slows and debt piled up. How worried should we be?
This week Andrew is joined by Stephen Roach, former Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs; and Dinny McMahon, author of the book ‘China’s Great Wall of Debt’, which chronicles the country’s growing debt problem.

A note to listeners - this episode was recorded before the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak was revealed.
As ever, get in touch if you have any comments at [email protected]. You can also follow us on Twitter: @AsiaMattersPod

There's only been one story in the region over the last few weeks: the coronavirus - or COVID-19 - and its spread from Wuhan to the rest of China, then Asia, now the world. There's still a lot we don't know about the virus itself; and even analysis of its handling by the Chinese authorities seems premature.
Instead, this week we're looking back into the past, to see what if anything we can learn from previous epidemics in China. Our guest this week is Professor Sian Griffiths, who co-chaired Hong Kong’s enquiry into the SARS epidemic in 2003.
As ever, get in touch if you have any comments at [email protected]. You can also follow us on Twitter: @AsiaMattersPod