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Sholto Byrnes

Sholto Byrnes

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Sholto Byrnes is an East Asian affairs columnist for The National. A commentator and consultant based in Kuala Lumpur, he previously held senior roles at the Independent and New Statesman in London, set up and edited a quarterly international affairs magazine in the Arabian Gulf, and was a senior fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2009 and a corresponding fellow of the Erasmus Historical and Cultural Forum in 2019.
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Articles

US President Joe Biden with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit, in California, last November. Many in the West seem reluctant to draw up a chair and do business with China. Reuters
CommentMuch of the world can see what China has to offer. Why can't the West?

In the Gulf, Africa, South-East Asia and beyond, many are more than happy to share the table with China

CommentOctober 16, 2024
US President Joe Biden on a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the Oval Office in Washington, on April 4. Reuters
Reagan put an end to Israel's bombing in 20 minutes. Biden could too

It strains credulity that Biden and Harris haven't they worked out by now that all they have to do – if they really want a ceasefire – is to cut off the supply of arms and money to Tel Aviv

CommentOctober 10, 2024
Anti-Netanyahu protesters gather outside his hotel ahead of his speech to the UN on September 27. Getty Images via AFP
Israel is losing ground badly in South-East Asia

Given recent developments, those wielding the pen in Kuala Lumpur may well draft far harsher Asean statements on Israel

CommentOctober 03, 2024
Russia's Pacific Fleet warships and submarines sail in the Peter the Great Gulf of the Sea of Japan during this month. AFP
Those fearful of a US-China war are overlooking a multipolar Asia-Pacific

Top analysts are spending too much time looking at the region through a western security lens

OpinionSeptember 26, 2024
A beach in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. Reuters
CommentTourists love Bali but South-East Asia has more to offer

South-East Asia, like other regions, has more to offer than what travellers see on the surface

CommentSeptember 19, 2024
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (2-L), Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng (2-R) at the 2024 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on September 5. EPA
It would be a mistake to not count Russia as part of the Asia-Pacific anymore
CommentSeptember 12, 2024
Keir Starmer’s Labour government says it will impose VAT on private school fees from the beginning of next year. Getty Images
CommentStarmer's proposed tax on private school fees could backfire

A VAT on private schools could end up costing the state

CommentSeptember 05, 2024
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump hold similar as well as contrasting views on America's approach towards East and South-East Asia. AP
CommentThe fate of the Far East depends on who the US voters pick

While both candidates appear to have similar trade policies, they couldn't be further apart on how to deal with China

CommentAugust 29, 2024
Vendors and buyers in a Bangkok market on Tuesday. Many young Thais are disproportionately suffering from unemployment and the country's low growth rate. EPA
Thai democracy needs to hear everyone's voice

Banning extremists is one thing but ending the cycle of dissolving popular parties would be good for the country

CommentAugust 22, 2024
Government regulators have long feared the polarising effects of social media on national politics. EPA
CommentSocial media needs regulation – and it's coming not a day too soon

Across the world, politicians have realised that the big tech companies are either unwilling or unable to protect society, and that governments must now step in

CommentAugust 14, 2024
The UK must address the deep divisions and rising Islamophobia that have been stoked by politicians on both the left and right in the country for years. Getty
Britain can learn from countries that overcame violent racism

Both multi-ethnic, multifaith former colonies endured devastating race riots

CommentAugust 08, 2024
Viktor Orban, right, has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several other leaders as part of his peace initiative for Ukraine. EPA
The EU should support Orban's Ukraine peace initiative, not condemn it
CommentAugust 01, 2024
A man reads a newspaper reporting on Friday's death of Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The results of Mr Trong’s approach might just be the envy of every foreign ministry in the Asia Pacific. AFP
Vietnam is the better for Nguyen Phu Trong's 'bamboo diplomacy'

The long-term leader's foreign policy led to country being courted by some of the world’s greatest powers

OpinionJuly 25, 2024
The Ganlanba railway station in China's Yunnan Province, a station along the China-Laos railway and part of the Belt and Road Initiative. AP
Is South-East Asia on track to become a single market?

Projects like the Asean Express are examples of the benefits of countries connecting more, contrary to all the self-defeating talk about taking sides

CommentJuly 18, 2024
Indian voters next to a cutout of Narendra Modi in Varanasi last month. Popular opinion was reflected to the degree that Modi lost his majority. AP
On democracy, the West isn't necessarily the best

The democracies in South and East Asia aren't perfect, but they have some lessons for those in Europe and North America

CommentJuly 12, 2024
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