In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

On April 9, Indonesian voters went to the polls for the third general elections since the country transitioned to democracy 10 years ago. The official results of the elections will not be known for possibly up to one month, but multiple quick counts indicate the big winner was the party of the current President – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, with Partai Demokrat (PD), taking 21 percent of the vote. There was a healthy gap between the lead party and the next two runners-up – Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) coming in at approximately 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively. Four main Islamic parties occupied the next level, with PKS, PAN, PPP, and PKB coming in between 5-8 percent. Finally, two new parties, Gerindra and Hanura, led by New Order era ex-generals, Prabowo and Wiranto, took between 3-4 percent of the vote. Only these 9 parties surpassed the threshold of 2.5 percent required to gain seats in Parliament – the remaining 29 parties will be unable to seat legislative candidates and be unable to contest the next elections in 2014.

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When the lights went off one night late last month at Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium (officially known as the National Stadium) and the Water Cube, it did not signal the end of the country’s glory surrounding all things Olympic. Rather, it signaled a commitment to protect the environment and combat new climate change. This was the first time ever that China participated in the March 28 Earth Hour activities that included switching off lights at landmark structures throughout the city. Besides Beijing, 18 other Chinese cities – including Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Wuhan – joined the effort. Turning the lights out reflects Chinese businesses’ and ordinary citizens’ increasing awareness of environmental issues.

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As The Asia Foundation’s Director for the Environment Program, I work on environment and sustainability issues. Recently as I was traveling to support rainwater harvesting and a safe drinking water law in Rajasthan, an arid western state of India, I thought about the geographic and climate parallels to the places I’ve lived in the American West. The parallels led me almost immediately to Wallace Stegner and the geography of hope.

Written in 1960, Wallace Stegner’s “Wilderness Letter” emphasized the importance of the relationship of people to land and nature. It also highlighted the hope that geography, especially America’s western landscapes, has given to people over time and throughout history. Stegner believed that we are shaped by the land – and that we shape the land. The geography of hope, as he summarized in his letter, identified the West itself as an especially important place for hope. As I met with people in Rajasthan, I saw a similar hope and similar relationships people had to their land.

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The recent confrontation between a U.S. naval vessel and five Chinese ships in international waters south of Hainan Island provides a timely reminder that managing our relationship with China will be one of the major challenges facing the Obama administration…read more.

J. Stapleton Roy is Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute and a former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence. He is a member of The Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Below is a link to his analysis for Woodrow Wilson Center’s April 2009 edition of Centerpoint.

North Korea’s efforts to exploit divisions among members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in its response to its April 5, 2009 test of a multi-stage rocket has proven to be a slightly harder political target than some in Pyongyang may have anticipated…read more.

Scott Snyder is The Asia Foundation’s Senior Associate and Director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy. He recently provided analysis on the UN Security Council Presidential Statement in an op-ed on Globalsecurity.org. He can be reached at ssnyder@asiafound-dc.org.

The Asia Foundation, in partnership with the University of Mumbai, sponsored a series of Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) events in Mumbai around the visit of the Climate Solutions Road Tour (CSRT). The Tour set off from Chennai earlier this year and ended in New Delhi, just before the Sustainable Development Summit. It visited 15 cities along the way, including Pune and Mumbai. At each city they organized events focusing on local initiatives for climate change. The cynosure of all eyes were the caravan of colorful REVA electrically-powered cars manufactured in Bangalore that run for 150 km on one hour electric charge.

The tour left from Pune for Mumbai in the early hours of January 17, reaching the amazing city well before noon.

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*The content of this blog article was updated on April 28, 2009

A paradigm shift is underway in Mongolia. The integration of “responsible mining” and ecological protection in government policy papers, public speeches by elected officials, and platforms of political parties, reflects Mongolia’s growing environmental awareness and commitment to developing the minerals sector in ways that will protect natural resources and benefit all Mongolians. This is the result of significant advocacy efforts on behalf of a committed group of representatives from industry, government, and civil society.

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Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is under the microscope this week for his handling of the volatile protests waging in the streets of Bangkok since March 26, and more recently in the seaside town of Pattaya, where Asian leaders were evacuated from a summit meeting. Fueled by nightly video broadcasts by fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the red-shirted protesters are proving to be Abhisit’s first real test in his 4-month-old administration.

While his actions on Friday were swift, in the past 48 hours, Abhisit has taken soft yet steady measures in responding to the red-shirted protesters.

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This is normally a time of celebration in Thailand. This week is Thailand’s New Year, known as “Songkran.” The holiday falls during the hottest time of the year, where people celebrate the spiritual aspects of water and renewal, but it is also a time to visit family and friends. Some people make New Year resolutions, such as doing good deeds or refraining from bad behavior. Unfortunately for Thailand, the supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra and the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD), also known as the “red shirts,” elected to do neither.

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Thailand was once Asia’s rising star, and its 1997 constitution was the standard for democratic development that other Asian nations sought to emulate. However, over the past eight years the country has become increasingly polarized, and its institutions politicized, beginning when Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai party ran for office in 2001 on a populist platform that appealed directly to the urban poor and rural mass, completely bypassing traditional power-brokers in the military, bureaucracy, and business. Unfortunately, the current Democrat-led coalition government, which assumed office through normal parliamentary procedures last year, also lacks democratic legitimacy; as it came to power not through popular elections, but because of the court-ordered dissolution of other political parties, and the banning of those party’s most popular politicians.

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