Features

Masayoshi Son, a telecom magnate turned tech investor, is turning his attention to business-focused internet companies. (Source photos by screenshot from SoftBank's website and AFP/Jiji) 
Business Spotlight

SoftBank joins the hunt for the next software giant

Rise of enterprise software companies prompts surge of bets in sector

24 September 2021
Xi Jinping has found a new tool to help him gain leverage at the expense of the U.S. and Taiwan, the 11-member trade bloc known as the CPTPP. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Wataru Ito)
China up close

Analysis: China's TPP bid follows carefully scripted 300-day plan

Beijing's move aims to thwart possible U.S. return to pact, pressure Taiwan

23 September 2021
The world's population is on the precipice of decline and possible extinction.     
The Big Story

The new population bomb

For the first time, humanity is on the verge of long-term decline

22 September 2021
As the West pushes to decarbonize, a lack of investment in fossil fuel production and exploration threatens a supply squeeze, with alternative energy struggling to fill the gap.
Datawatch

Global energy shortage looms as investment in fossil fuels slides

Decarbonization push may cut oil output 73% by 2050 despite lack of alternatives

21 September 2021
Some Southeast Asian countries have set ambitious targets for EV adoption, but they still have a ways to go to convince consumers.
Asia Insight

Slow charge: ASEAN aims to bring lofty EV goals within range

Uneven policies leave drivers wary as COP26 turns spotlight on green transport

21 September 2021
Investors gather at Evergrande's headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to demand their money back. (Source photos by AFP/Jiji) 
Market Spotlight

China Evergrande: Investors assess risks of likely default

Crisis at Chinese property developer threatens the bond market, housing market and wider economy

20 September 2021
For the Philippines' outsourcing industry, the coronavirus pandemic poses as many challenges as it does opportunities. (Source photos by AP and Getty Images) 
Business Spotlight

How Philippine call centers are capitalizing on COVID crisis

Country's vital outsourcing industry sees windfall from turmoil in India

17 September 2021
Will there be a first in-person summit between Xi and Biden in the near future? (Source photos by AP, Reuters and Xinhua/Kyodo) 
China up close

Analysis: Wolf warriors fall silent as Xi ponders U.S. strategy

Biden wants summit but Chinese leader remains reluctant to leave Beijing

16 September 2021
A flash protest in Yangon on May 2. Opposition to Myanmar's military government continues to swell.  (Photo by Berry)
The Big Story

Myanmar, a violent tale of two governments

A failed state plunges toward civil war

15 September 2021
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Datawatch

U.S. freed from burden of high crude oil prices

Washington to reduce Middle East involvement even further

14 September 2021
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Asia Insight

Indonesia and Philippines face persistent anti-vax hurdle

Asian hesitancy weighs as inoculation drives make progress

14 September 2021
China is the world's largest producer and importer of thermal coal, and also its biggest user.
Market Spotlight

China and India send coal prices soaring amid green-energy push

Squeeze driven by short-term supply disruption and lack of long-term investment

13 September 2021
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Business Spotlight

Japan's chip industry squeezed as foreign governments boost investment

After shrinking for three decades, industry approaches moment of truth

10 September 2021
Xi Jinping is warning young party officials to "never tremble in the face of danger and never be spineless cowards."
China up close

Analysis: Xi's China floats dangerous trial balloon of 'revolution'

President's new 'common prosperity' slogan puts some Chinese on edge

9 September 2021
For three centuries, faraway empires have come to conquer Afghanistan -- the British in the 19th, the Soviets in the 20th and now the Americans in the 21st -- before retreating in humiliation.
8 September 2021
The distance of Japanese relocations is getting shorter, indicating that moves are not prompted by job transfers, but to change residence -- often for a bigger one.
Datawatch

Remote work lifts demand in Japan for bigger residences

Over half of relocations are to more spacious houses, prompted by COVID

7 September 2021
Siblings who arrived from Afghanistan with their families are seen in Pakistan on Sept. 1. Thousands, if not millions, of people are expected to attempt to escape Afghanistan, leaving nations in the region anxious about a flood of refugees coming in. 
Asia Insight

Turkey, Iran and Pakistan raise entry bars for Afghan refugees

Nations across region worry influx could exacerbate political and social problems

7 September 2021
The contrast in fortunes of China's and India's stock markets has offered foreign investors an opportunity to rotate their capital. Source photos by AP) 
Market Spotlight

Why China's stock market tumble is giving India's a lift

Investors find a haven in India from Beijing's clampdown on big companies

6 September 2021
Garuda's annual net loss of $2.4 billion last year was its biggest since at least 2005 and company executives said in June that it is still losing around $100 million a month. 
Business Spotlight

Indonesia's state airline Garuda hangs by a financial thread

With the government reluctant to stump up rescue funds, airline's restructuring is fraught with difficulty

3 September 2021
Huaibei Normal University students watch Xi Jinping speaking at the party's 19th National Congress in 2017. The president is maneuvering so Chinese will feel the president's era should continue for a while.
China up close

Analysis: A footnote on Cultural Revolution hints at Xi headwinds

President paints school text books in own color, but intra-party tug-of-war continues

2 September 2021
Criminal networks linked to online gambling and fraud are further burnishing Cambodia's reputation for endemic corruption. (Photo by Vann Soben)
The Big Story

Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs

Illicit industry traffics thousands of victims from China through Southeast Asia

1 September 2021
Japan is speaking up for Taiwan as it fights pressure from China. This is a dramatic shift in Tokyo's stance, which for decades avoided challenging Beijing because of its importance for Japan's economy.
Asia Insight

Taiwan grows ever closer to Japan over vaccines, China fears

Ties have blossomed since 2016 election of Beijing-skeptic Tsai

31 August 2021
A recent survey of new orders reveals faster growth in demand from companies outside Japan big cities, compared with their urban counterparts.
Datawatch

COVID pushes Japan's non-metropolitan companies to digitize

Business outsourcing from rural to urban rises 80% in two years

31 August 2021
A regulatory crackdown has hammered tech companies and the private education sector, casting doubts on whether Chinese companies can list overseas in the near future. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images)
Market Spotlight

China venture capital deals shrink amid regulatory concerns

Foreign investors rethink approach as Beijing cracks down on high tech

30 August 2021
When the Chinese sportswear maker Erke donated 50 million yuan ($7.7 million) for flood-devastated Henan Province, it was venerated by internet users as “the light of domestic products” and people flocked to its stores.
Business Spotlight

'Nationalist consumption' boosts Chinese fashion industry

Domestic brands lure novelty-seeking young as international rivals retreat

27 August 2021