ASEAN remains ill-equipped to handle the fallout from the tensions in the South China Sea or the potentiality of a full-blown Taiwanese conflict.

AUKUS remains a symbol of a clear message to Beijing, and regional players, as a powerful deterrence to step up militarily if necessary; and remains a crucially needed counterbalancing measure that will bring assurances and guarantee that the West’s pivot and readiness to maintain its Indo-Pacific presence are here to stay.

The rest of the democratic world and the alliance of free nations need to stand in solidarity with Taiwan now more than ever, as Taiwan remains the last bastion against the growing autocratic forces, even surpassing Ukraine in terms of criticality and the costs at stake.

The balloon incident is a brazen willingness by Beijing to flex its power outside its region, and to challenge the US at its continental base, magnifying its continuous attempts to expand its influence across the world through intelligence efforts targeting businesses, universities and other institutions.

Indonesia sees Malaysia and Australia as key players, including Vietnam and the Philippines, in forming a stronger common cooperative platform in facing the challenges of China in the Indo-Pacific.

Domino effects seen in various countries at the receiving end of Beijing's political bearhug and economic penetration, from port takeovers to media influence, should warrant alarm bells in Kuala Lumpur. Policymakers here are in full awareness of this dilemma, but it takes more than political will to reimagine a new direction in Malaysia’s…

With the declining impact of deterrence measures, including dwindling effectiveness of confidence-building measures and a wide array of dialogue-building processes in trying to mitigate risks of conflicts, the question of a full-blown conflict stemming from the inevitability of Thucydides’ trapping would be a matter of when and where.

The rise of nationalist sentiments globally and in Europe, as seen in the premiership of Giorgia Meloni in Italy and Rishi Sunak in Britain, are conflating political circumstances for a global pushback against China’s actions where these countries are ready to call out China in a more forthright manner.

A forceful "unification" of Taiwan has been projected by most analysts as happening within the next five years of Xi’s new third term, as he will need this to cement a history-making legacy that will help him extend his rule for life

Taipei needs full regional support for its survival and in its efforts to repel a Chinese invasion;  it cannot afford to be distracted by other lingering issues with other neighbours, including Japan, which Beijing is happy to exploit to its advantage.