Asia News Weekly: Meeting between Park, Abe and Li, Tensions in the South China Sea and all the news from the region.

They met in Seoul, but what are the take aways from the meetings between Park, Abe, and Li? Tension in the South China Sea has been brewing for some time, but now that The Hague is getting into the mix, will it escalate things at a faster pace? These stories and more from the region, this week.

What are the key take aways from the Seoul Summits?

This past weekend Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and South Korean President Park Guen-hye met in Seoul. You know by now, it was the first such meeting between the three countries and pundits placed the bar so low for the gathering, that they called it a success that they met. This week on the podcast Michael Cucek, Adjunct Professor Waseda University in Tokyo, unpacks the summit weekend.

Tension brews in the South China Sea

Beijing asserts the South China Sea is their sovereign territory, and while Vietnam and the Philippines have made small challenges to that claim, it wasn’t until the United States got into the game that the war of words between competing interests truly started to heat up. But even with these stronger words being wielded, has tension in the region truly escalated to palpable levels? Scott Harold, Deputy Director, of the RAND Corporation’s Center for the Asia Pacific Policy has the answer.

In China, one child is not enough

According to a statement from Communist Party leaders in Beijing, married couples will be afforded the opportunity to have a second child, if they so choose, once "a final plan for the policy change will be ratified by the annual session of China's top legislature,” which will take place in March 2016. But some argue, changing the policy might be too little too late... and prove ineffective at increasing population growth.

Muslims face uncertain future as Myanmar election looms

Sunday, November 8th, Myanmar will hold general elections as it moves away from brutal military rule to a more democratic society. While some call that vote, historic, not everyone is going to be able to vote. Rohingya Muslims, which the state does not claim are among the disenfranchised and say their future remains uncertain.

South Korean government gets into history books

South Korea's government on Tuesday said it would publish history textbooks for use in schools beginning in 2017, taking a step necessary to put an end to the spread of misinformation and "ideological bias”. The government says many private textbooks now used by middle and high schools try to glorify arch-rival North Korea by discrediting the achievements of the capitalistic South. However, fueled suspicion about President Park Geun-hye's motive behind the policy.

Beijing and Taipei hold historic meeting

This weekend in Singapore,Chinese President Xi jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou will meet. It would mark the first face-to-face meeting between the two heads of state since the nationalists lost the Chinese civil war and retreated to Taiwan in 1949.

Raping UBER driver sentenced to life

One of the chief criticisms of UBER, is that unsavory elements manage to sneak through the vetting process and end up hurting passengers in some way. The stories that typically surface the most, is when a driver sexually assaults a passenger. This week an Indian court handed down a life sentence to one driver who took things too far.

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