Academia
Given the new reality across policy sectors facing the world today, along with the securitization trend across the Asia-Pacific, there is no better time to revisit the work of Hadi Soesastro, whose analysis of Indonesia and the region’s response to great power economic competition remains strikingly relevant today.
Stagehands arrange microphones on May 8, 2026, prior to the opening ceremony of the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the Philippines. (AFP/Pool/Aaron Favila)
As of July 1, China’s regulation on outbound investment has effectively come into force. While it is every country’s right to have its own economic policy, this new instrument is notable, not only due to the magnitude of China’s economic power but also the substance in the regulation, which enables necessary and defensive measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese investors along with their outbound investment.Coming on the heels of the United States’ semiconductor export controls, the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and a wave of investment screening regimes across advanced economies, this regulation reflects a broader trend: the increasing use of economic policy and regulatory tools to pursue strategic and security objectives.
