The online discussions and comments are moderated by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. We are an independent think tank dedicated to the research, analysis and discussion of regional and international issues.

We want to make the discussion experience pleasant and useful for everyone, so we have created a few ground rules and best practices. By using the site, which includes posting and commenting in APV, you agree to abide by these ground rules. Breaking these rules may result in your comment being removed. We reserve the right to change these rules at any point in our efforts to keep the discussion clean, useful and productive.

1. Comments must be made by a person. Nicknames are allowed as long as they are appropriate, but please keep in mind that user nicknames may not be an email address or a URL.

2. Comments must be related to the article commented on. If you like to discuss a whole new topic, please contact the moderator.

3. For ease of international use, comments must be in English.

4. Comments must be easy for others to read. Subject lines may not be in ALL CAPS or contain excessive punctuation.

5. Comments may not contain unnecessary URLs. Please do not place any self-promotional URLs in your posts. They will be removed.

6. Comments must not exceed 500 words in length. This is an online discussion, which means we like your points to be brief and concise. Therefore, please keep your comments to a maximum of 500 words.

7. Comments must not have personal information. Never post personal information such as phone numbers, credit card numbers, addresses, etc. Messages containing personal information may be edited or removed from the discussion.

8. Comments must be free from profanity.

9. Comments must be original. Please do not post articles or comments that are not original. If you need to refer to an article for your comment, please attribute just a short paragraph and a URL to read more.

10. Comments must be constructive. Personal attacks and inappropriate conduct are not permitted. This behaviour may result in a warning or removal from the discussion.