We’ve removed the paywall from Asian Survey‘s annual year-in-review issue which looks back at the biggest stories concerning Asia in 2020, a year during which the COVID-19 pandemic and a trade dispute between the United States and China dominated the headlines. As the world continues to grapple with the ongoing global pandemic and representatives from China and the Biden administration conclude a contentious meeting in Alaska, Asian Survey‘s “Asia in 2020” issue provides invaluable perspective and important scholarly analysis of the recent history that led to this moment. As the 2021 conferences for the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and the International Studies Association (ISA) convene virtually over the next few weeks, we invite you to read the full issue—typically one of the journal’s most popular issues of the year—for free online.


Asia in 2020

Asian Survey, Volume 61, Issue 1, January/February 2021

Table of Contents

Asia in 2020: The COVID-19 Pandemic and the US-China Trade War

Northeast Asia

The United States and Asia in 2020: Free, Open, and Worried? 
Terence Roehrig

China in 2020: A Year of Converging Crises 
Min Ye

Hong Kong in 2020: National Security Law and Truncated Autonomy 
Sonny Lo

Mongolia in 2020: Less COVID, Lots of Problems 
Morris Rossabi

Japan in 2020: COVID-19 and the End of the Abe Era 
Adam P. Liff

South Korea in 2020: Successful Response to the Coronavirus Crisis; No Progress in Denuclearization of North Korea 
Sung Deuk Hahm

North Korea in 2020: In Search of Health and Power 
John Delury

Taiwan in 2020: Beyond the Pandemic 
Ching-hsin Yu

Southeast Asia

Vietnam in 2020: Controlling COVID and Dissent 
Paul Schuler

Malaysia in 2020: Fragile Coalitional Politics and Democratic Regression 
Azmil Tayeb

Indonesia in 2020: Pestilence and Incompetence 
Michael Buehler

Thailand in 2020: Politics, Protests, and a Pandemic 
James Ockey

Cambodia in 2020: Preventing a Color Revolution 
John D. Ciorciari

The Philippines in 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic Threatens Duterte’s Populist Legacy 
Julio C. Teehankee

Myanmar in 2020: Citizens Have Voted for the Democratic Transition to Continue, but Democracy Remains Far Ahead
Marie-Eve Reny

Laos in 2020: Reaping a Harvest of Unity and Debt
Holly High

Singapore in 2020: COVID-19 General Election and Advent of a One-and-a-Half Party System? 
Lam Peng Er

Timor-Leste in 2020: Counting the Costs of Coronavirus 
Geoffrey C. Gunn

Papua New Guinea in 2020: China Rising and Bougainville Independence 
James Chin

Brunei in 2020: Durable Social Compact in a Turbulent Year 
Mustafa Izzuddin

South Asia

India in 2020: A Year of Multiple Challenges 
Eswaran Sridharan

Pakistan in 2020: The Opposition Fights Back 
Sahar Shafqat

Bangladesh in 2020: Debating Social Distancing, Digital Money, and Climate Change Migration 
Annu Jalais

Nepal in 2020: External Tensions and Internal Challenges 
Kristine Eck

Bhutan in 2020: Controlling the Pandemic 
Richard W. Whitecross

Sri Lanka in 2020: Return to Rajapaksa Regnum 
Nira Wickramasinghe


This post is part of our blog series for AAS2021 and ISA2021.