Asia Pacific and South Asia

Author(s):  
Sarah Teitt

There is a tendency to view R2P diffusion in the Asia Pacific region as a function of ‘norm containment’, which explains endorsement of R2P as a result of the weakening, deconstruction, or dilution of R2P to render it more compatible with the region’s state-centred security norms and practices. This chapter demonstrates, however, that R2P has diffused in the Asia Pacific region through a dynamic process of negotiation and compromise between international R2P norm advocates and Asia Pacific actors, which has witnessed concession and accommodation on both sides. Through case study analysis of how the governments of Japan and India have engaged with R2P, the chapter argues that the Asia Pacific’s socialization to R2P is most aptly characterized as a balance of R2P norm containment and localization, witnessed in Asia Pacific actors shaping the contours of the R2P norm and accommodating its prescriptions through gradual, incremental normative and institutional change.

Author(s):  
María Cruz Berrocal ◽  
Cheng-Hwa Tsang

We briefly review the topics that our case studies in Vanuatu, Marianas, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, and Japan highlight, and note the value of these studies in framing a comparative approach to colonialism in the Asia-Pacific region. Each case study highlights different aspects in the colonial relationship. The chapters have been grouped following a geographical criterion, and the imbalance reflects the fact that some areas have been better studied than others (e.g. for Marianas), albeit with different perspectives. We express our hope that the book has gathered some previously little systematic or accessible evidence, offered comprehensive histories of some of the areas, and raised questions for the future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Savitri Taylor

The mission of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), as stated in its Constitution, is ‘to advance the rights of refugees and other people in need of protection in the Asia Pacific region’. This article describes and analyses APRRN’s internal governance and resourcing and the manner in which it is going about achieving its mission. It argues that APRRN’s organisational strength is inadequate to support all that it is trying to do. The article concludes by considering what APRRN could do to improve the likelihood of achieving success in the pursuit of its mission and reflecting on the lessons of the APRRN case study for wider civil society.


1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-60
Author(s):  
Maya F. Watters ◽  
Paul A. Watters

ABSTRACTThe Internet is a potentially non-coercive technology which has the capacity to facilitate the development and dissemination of locally-relevant and culturally-appropriate discourse. Many countries, especially those in Europe, have moved to utilise the Internet as a resource for expressing and revitalising their autochthonous languages, in response to cultural pressures from globalisation. However, there has been little evaluation of whether the Internet might give rise to a renaissance of indigenous language use in the postcolonial Asia-Pacific region. In this paper, we examine the case of the Philippines, which this year celebrates a centenary of independence from Spain, to determine whether introduction of the Internet has in fact enhanced the provision of indigenous language information services. We sampled 1% of the Internet sites listed in a popular search engine, in each second-level domain (educational, commercial, government and non-government organisations), and found very little evidence of indigenous language use in any of the sites in these categories. This suggests that the Internet has not yet realised its potential as a medium for indigenous language use in the Philippines, but that greater awareness of its capabilities in this arena might change the situation in the future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
David Robie

Media convergence within the news and current affairs landscape over the past two decades has opened opportunities for competing newspapers, television stations and online publishers to form alliances to approach digital and editorial challenges with innovative strategies. The partnerships have often enabled journalists to embrace multimedia platforms with flexibility and initiative. This has fostered a trend in ‘gatewatching’ and a citizen responsive and involved grassroots media rather than legacy mainstream gatekeeping, top-down models. Such committed media attempts in search of investigative journalism accompanied by ‘public’ and ‘civic’ journalism engagement initiatives have also been emulated by some journalism schools in the Asia-Pacific region. This has paralleled the evolution of journalism as a research methodology with academic application over the past decade. Selecting two New Zealand-based complementary and pioneering Pacific digital news and analysis publications, Pacific Scoop (founded 2009) and Asia-Pacific Report (2016), produced by a journalism school programme in partnership with established independent media as a combined case study, this article will demonstrate how academia-based gatewatching media can effectively challenge mainstream gatekeeping media. Pacific Scoop was established by an Auckland university in partnership with New Zealand’s largest independent publisher, Scoop Media Limited, and launched at the Māori Expo in 2009. The article also explores the transition of Pacific Scoop into Asia-Pacific Report, launched in partnership with an innovative web-based partner, Evening Report. The study analyses the strategic and innovation efforts in the context of continuing disruptions to New Zealand’s legacy media practices related to the Asia-Pacific region.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 14851-14866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taku Umezawa ◽  
Hidekazu Matsueda ◽  
Yousuke Sawa ◽  
Yosuke Niwa ◽  
Toshinobu Machida ◽  
...  

Abstract. Measurement of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is indispensable for top-down estimation of surface CO2 sources/sinks by an atmospheric transport model. Despite the growing importance of Asia in the global carbon budget, the region has only been sparsely monitored for atmospheric CO2 and our understanding of atmospheric CO2 variations in the region (and thereby that of the regional carbon budget) is still limited. In this study, we present climatological CO2 distributions over the Asia-Pacific region obtained from the CONTRAIL (Comprehensive Observation Network for TRace gases by AIrLiner) measurements. The high-frequency in-flight CO2 measurements over 10 years reveal a clear seasonal variation in CO2 in the upper troposphere (UT), with a maximum occurring in April–May and a minimum in August–September. The CO2 mole fraction in the UT north of 40∘ N is low and highly variable in June–August due to the arrival of air parcels with seasonally low CO2 caused by the summertime biospheric uptake in boreal Eurasia. For August–September in particular, the UT CO2 is noticeably low within the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone associated with the convective transport of strong biospheric CO2 uptake signal over South Asia. During September as the anticyclone decays, a spreading of this low-CO2 area in the UT is observed in the vertical profiles of CO2 over the Pacific Rim of continental East Asia. Simulation results identify the influence of anthropogenic and biospheric CO2 fluxes in the seasonal evolution of the spatial CO2 distribution over the Asia-Pacific region. It is inferred that a substantial contribution to the UT CO2 over the northwestern Pacific comes from continental East Asian emissions in spring; but in the summer monsoon season, the prominent air mass origin switches to South Asia and/or Southeast Asia with a distinct imprint of the biospheric CO2 uptake. The CONTRAIL CO2 data provide useful constraints to model estimates of surface fluxes and to the evaluation of the satellite observations, in particular for the Asia-Pacific region.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-67
Author(s):  
Damian Mellifont

Disclosure of neurodiversity in the workplace can attract unfavourable attention. The aim of this case study is to critically investigate the collective potential of specialized and generic mental health promotion guides to help prevent or treat the bullying of neurodiverse employees. Applying qualitative thematic analysis to eight of these guides originating from Australia, Canada and England, this research offers three key messages that should be of interest to policymakers and practitioners working in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere. First, guides as reviewed by this study collectively support anti-bullying themes across dimensions of policy/procedures, education, legal, leadership and monitoring/support. Second, evidence sourced from scholarly and grey literature raise challenges that if overlooked might reduce the effectiveness of guide endorsed anti-bullying measures. Finally, this study raises the prospect that anti-bullying measures to assist mentally diverse staff might be more effective when potential synergies between these are recognized and encouraged.


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