Economy

Vladimir Putin talks with Xi Jinping via video link in December 2021: China wants to reassure Moscow of its support without appearing to do so to the rest of the world. (Handout photo from Kremlin Press Office)
Opinion

China's long game has just gotten a lot harder

Putin's war against Ukraine has upended key assumptions

8 March 2022
A crude oil tanker at Qingdao Port. Crude is one of China's key imports from Russia.
Trade

Chinese trade with Russia jumps 38% in January-February

Beijing seen extending economic hand to Moscow before Ukraine invasion

8 March 2022
Migrant workers from Uzbekistan collect potatoes at a agrarian field in Beryozovka near Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk: their remittances to their families back home are a crucial source of income.
Opinion

Central Asia braces for economic catastrophe

Sanctions aimed at Russia will have serious knock-on effects

7 March 2022
A well head and drilling rig in the Yarakta oilfield in the Irkutsk region, Russia, pictured in March 2019: nowhere is the transformation in national fortunes more dramatic than in Russia.
Opinion

Ukraine war divides global markets

Commodity producers and more self-reliant nations will do better

7 March 2022
U.S. trade restrictions covering products made with American technology could create pitfalls for Asian companies. (Source photo by AP and Ken Kobayashi)
Ukraine war

From Samsung to Sony, Asia tech grapples with Russia sanctions

Complying with U.S. clampdown now could invite China repercussions later

4 March 2022
A cryptocurrency exchange point in Kyiv, pictured on Jan. 24: if the crypto world fails Ukraine, there may not be any future for crypto. 
Opinion

Ukraine war is crypto's biggest test yet

Essential for individuals to accept that freedom comes with accountability

4 March 2022
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Nikkei Asia that sanctions against Russia should include blocking its largest bank, Sberbank, and urged Japan to close its ports to Russian ships.
Interview

Russia's top bank must be hit with sanctions: Ukrainian minister

Kyiv seeks not NATO planes and pilots, but 'surface-to-air defense systems'

4 March 2022
President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
Ukraine war

Biden rebukes Russia in State of the Union with Cold War backdrop

Few mentions of China, as president touts battle between democracy and autocracy

2 March 2022
The ruble has collapsed against the dollar over the past several days amid tightening financial sanctions.
Finance

Russia's credit crunch raises specter of default

G-7 finance chiefs pledge more action as debt yields soar and liquidity tightens

2 March 2022
A mural of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Moscow-region town of Kashira. His decision to invade Ukraine is rupturing economic ties between his the country and the West.
Ukraine war

From BP to Daimler, rush of corporate exits isolate Russia further

Beijing can help soften the blow to Moscow -- but by how much?

1 March 2022
Ukraine Central Bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko is asking Visa and Mastercard to halt transactions of their credit cards issued in Russia to add further pressure to Putin's regime. 
Interview

Ukraine urges Visa and MasterCard to halt Russian cards

Asia should follow sanctions set by U.S. and Europe, central bank chief says

28 February 2022
A screen displays a warning message in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish that appeared on the official website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry after a massive cyberattack on Jan 14: Ukraine has already been a target for years now.
27 February 2022
The gas receiving station of the Nord Stream 2 near Lubmin, Germany, pictured on Jan 7: the new pipeline may stand empty.
Opinion

Vital energy revenues are the chink in Putin's armor

Ukraine conflict will have severe repercussions for Moscow

25 February 2022
ASEAN is caught between Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Opinions within the block vary, but the conflict's effects will be felt by all. (Source photos by AP)
Ukraine war

ASEAN faces fallout from Russian invasion of Ukraine

Conflict to increase food prices, experts warn; responses from bloc members vary

25 February 2022
Men hold weapons during a basic combat training for civilians in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine war

Ukraine conflict risks market fallout worse than Cuban missile crisis

Central banks fight inflation stoked by tensions, but overkill would prompt recession

15 February 2022
A wheat field in the Stavropol region of Russia, the world's top exporter of the grain.
Ukraine war

Ukraine crisis sends grain prices soaring, threatens food security

Wheat and corn costs approach levels seen during Arab Spring unrest

12 February 2022
An advertisement of Bitcoin in Hong Kong, pictured in November 2021: cryptocurrencies exist in a largely unregulated environment.
Opinion

Cryptocurrencies remain a gamble best avoided

Better regulation needed to protect investors and deter criminal abuse

5 February 2022
Russian S-400 missile air defense systems, pictured in Kaliningrad region, Russia, in August 2020: Delhi's arms deals with Moscow risk attracting sanctions of its ally in Washington.
Opinion

Buying more Russian weapons will not lift India's economy

Young people need high quality jobs, not increases in defense spending

23 January 2022
A port in the Kaliningrad region of Russia in October: China accounts for a significantly larger portion of Russia's trade than vice versa.
International relations

Ukraine crisis looms large as China-Russia trade tops record $140bn

Moscow relies more heavily on Beijing as it girds for new Western sanctions

22 January 2022
Air quality in Basra, Iraq is extremely poor as oil refineries continuously flare toxic gas.
Climate Change

Divestment in oil industry adding to global pollution problems

Transfer of green tech to sector slows as Chinese, Russian firms takeover

30 December 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a meeting in Moscow on Nov. 30.
Economy

Vietnam poised to resume nuclear project a decade after Fukushima

Hanoi greenlights building small research reactor, joining hands with Russia

19 December 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. 
Your Week in Asia

Modi-Putin meeting, Summit for Democracy, China WTO anniversary

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

5 December 2021
A screen displays leaders of the BRICS nations, clockwise from top left, Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping, Cyril Ramaphosa and Jair Bolsonaro attending the 13th BRICS summit via video link on Sept. 9: strongmen tend to be weak where it matters most.
Opinion

Why the BRICs nations have not turned the world upside down

Grouping was never ready for today's crop of leaders

24 November 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, talks to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in June 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
International relations

Russia warms to Pakistan after three decades of cold ties

Moscow seeks new energy markets and to reclaim turf in geostrategic backyard

20 July 2021
The volcanoes of the Kamchatka were registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996. (Photo courtesy of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy city government)
Economy

Russian Far East to woo Asian tourists with Kamchatka resort

$500m hotel and ski area to be sited near World Heritage-listed volcanos

26 November 2020