APSNet 10 May 2010
- China navy ties ‘important’
- US winning sanctions push against Tehran
- East Timor accuses Woodside
- Critics question need for Malaysia’s nuclear power plan
- Nuclear Power in Singapore
- Exit Sri Mulyani: Corruption and reform in Indonesia
- India and Pakistan’s proxy war puts Afghanistan exit at risk
1. China navy ties ‘important’, Brendan Nicholson, Australian, 2010-05-10
Australian warships should carry out more joint exercises with the rapidly expanding Chinese navy to make the defence relationship closer and improve transparency, says Royal Australian Navy chief Rus Crane. Vice Admiral Crane said Australians should not fear China’s navy. “I think it’s natural that a country would seek to have the capability to be able to preserve its sea lines of communication,” he said.
2. US winning sanctions push against Tehran, Peter Hartcher, SMH, 2010-05-08
The US, on the brink of winning its fight for United Nations sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, is considering penalties beyond trade curbs and is seeking Australian help.
- Iran calls US a nuclear threat, Aljazeera, 2010-05-04
3. East Timor accuses Woodside, Lindsay Murdoch, SMH, 2010-05-07
The regulator of East Timor’s petroleum industry has accused Woodside of failing to comply with its legal obligations before announcing plans to build a floating liquefied natural gas platform above the Greater Sunrise field in the Timor Sea. East Timor’s leaders have repeatedly demanded the gas be piped to a processing plant in East Timor and say they will approve neither a floating platform nor piping the gas to Darwin, which the Woodside-led consortium also considered.
- Woodside chief slams East Timor’s veto threats, Lindsay Murdoch, SMH, 2010-05-08
4. Critics question need for Malaysia’s nuclear power plan, AFP, Nuclear Power Daily, 2010-05-05
Malaysia’s plan to build its first nuclear power plant ran into opposition from politicians and environmentalists who queried how necessary and safe it would be. The government said the country’s growing energy needs would be met by a nuclear power station that would be up and running in 2021.
- Malaysia, ASEAN nuclear power, Richard Tanter and Arabella Imhoff, Nautilus Institute, Australia, 2010-05-07
- Nuclear power in ASEAN, Nautilus Institute, Australia
5. Nuclear Power in Singapore, Andrew Palmer, Seeram Ramakrishna and Hassan Muzaffar Cheema, IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering, Volume 3, Number 1, 2010-05, [PDF, 498KB]
This essay examines the constraints of having a nuclear power station in Singapore and how these constraints might be resolved, in the light of successful nuclear developments elsewhere. It also considers different sites, including underground and offshore.
- Singapore, ASEAN nuclear power, Richard Tanter and Arabella Imhoff, Nautilus Institute, Australia, 2010-05-09
6. Exit Sri Mulyani: Corruption and reform in Indonesia, Donald K. Emmerson, East Asia Forum, 2010-05-09
Sri Mulyani waged unremitting war on graft. Under her stewardship of the finance ministry, more than 150 of its personnel were dishonorably discharged. Nearly 2,000 more were otherwise punished for infractions. She led a vigorous campaign against tax cheats. Among them were rich and influential people who had grown accustomed to absconding with funds they owed the government. For the time being it is impossible to rule out that she was sacrificed for the sake of a restoration of political comity between SBY and his opponents.
7. India and Pakistan’s proxy war puts Afghanistan exit at risk, Simon Tisdall, Guardian, 2010-05-07
Intent on filling a vacuum after the US withdraws from Afghanistan, India and Pakistan are engaged in what analysts warn is a dangerously escalating “proxy war”. That’s bad news for Britain and NATO – because, paradoxically, the two old foes’ intensifying machinations could delay or fatally undermine the western pull-out on which all current calculations are based.