In the News

June 2, 2020

TAG Partner Amb. Kurt Tong Shares Insights on "Washington's Self-Defeating Hong Kong Strategy"

Foreign Policy

The relationship between Washington and Hong Kong has long benefited both societies and helped the city retain its autonomy from the mainland. Now, the United States stands poised to tear apart the legal fabric of that once close relationship. The decoupling will hurt the people of Hong Kong and damage U.S. business and foreign policy interests—and it will do so without punishing China much at all.

June 1, 2020

TAG Vice Chair Amb. Rich Verma and ORF President Samir Saran Co-Author Joint Report on the Future of U.S.-India Climate Cooperation

Observer Research Foundation

The Asia Group (TAG) and The Observer Research Foundation (ORF) convened a joint roundtable in October 2019 to advance recommendations to strengthen the US–India partnership for a green future with a special focus on climate mitigation, renewable energy, and climate financing. Across these topics, it is clear that both countries face a number of complex and overlapping challenges and opportunities. Even as recent policy efforts have strengthened each country’s capacity to tackle these challenges, this report seeks to identify policy recommendations to support this progress.

May 26, 2020

Tea Leaves Podcast: Tanvi Madan

In this Tea Leaves episode, Rich talks with Tanvi Madan from Brookings Institute about the roots of India’s complex relationship with China and its role in shaping U.S.-India relations during the Cold War. Tanvi and Rich also talk about the implications of China-Russia and China-Pakistan defense relations on Indian foreign policy and Indian perceptions of U.S. reliability and the renewed rise in U.S.-China tensions.

May 10, 2020

Kurt and Rich: A Kickoff Conversation

In the first of a series of Tea Leaves’ remote recording sessions as The Asia Group practices social distancing, Kurt and Rich discuss the latest on the coronavirus outbreak. Kurt shares some of his thoughts on how COVID-19 could be a “Suez Moment” for U.S. leadership on the world stage, while Rich assesses Washington’s economic and political response to the crisis and shares his thoughts on India’s response to date.

April 28, 2020

TAG VP John Lichtefeld and Courtney Weatherby on How COVID-19 Will Impact Food Security in Drought-Stricken Cambodia

Foreign Policy

Over the past year, severe drought exacerbated by upstream hydropower dams has throttled agricultural productivity, devastated fisheries, and threatened the livelihoods of millions of people in the Mekong River Basin. The coronavirus pandemic is compounding this situation, disrupting supply chains and increasing price volatility for rice and other staples. While Mekong governments have assured their populations of secure food supplies, concerns are growing around the affordability and accessibility of food for the region’s most vulnerable populations. Nowhere are these risks of growing food insecurity more evident than in Cambodia.