Features

Xi Jinping at the Chinese Communist Party's big agenda-setting meeting in 2013. China watchers, eagerly awaiting news on where the new president would take the country, failed to hone in on the key signals. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by AP and Yusuke Hinata)
China up close

Analysis: Don't misread Xi Jinping's intentions at his big meeting

Politics will come before economics as it always has in China's new era

20 June 2024
Couples celebrate the passing of Thailand's marriage equality bill during a ceremony at the Government House in Bangkok on June 18. (Photo by Shinya Sawai)
The Big Story

Thailand's marriage equality a rare win in Asia's fight for LGBTQ rights

From Singapore to Indonesia, new Thai bill gives hope to persecuted sexual minorities

19 June 2024
Tanegashima is Japan's answer to Cape Canaveral in the U.S., but with rocket launches few and far between, island businesspeople and officials say industries other than space need to be developed. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Mayumi Tsumita and Ultra-X)
Asia Insight

Japan's 'rocket island' revival rests on startups, tech jobs and immigrants

Small firms breathe life into town headed for extinction with space boom years away

18 June 2024
China Vanke, formerly a darling of China's stock market and real estate industry, has become a "fallen angel" -- a bond issuer whose credit ratings have been degraded to uninvestable status. (Source photo by Getty Images)
Market Spotlight

China Vanke: the poster child of a now-troubled property sector

'Fallen angel' struggles to stabilize sales as consumer and investor confidence fades

17 June 2024
Japan's local governments promoted development on low-lying land in the 2000s despite flood risks.
Datawatch

Japan's flood damage exacerbated by urban development

Water-related losses up by 3.5 times in 30 years as more businesses move to lowlands

16 June 2024
The Austin Fire Department in Texas demonstrates a DJI Inspire 1 drone. The use of drones by police, fire and other emergency response departments across the U.S. has skyrocketed.
14 June 2024
The excitement of Xi Jinping's Belt and Road, announced in 2013, convinced a developer to build an island and city off the coast of Malaysia. Now China's property sector woes have left investors in unbearable financial straits. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Yusuke Hinata and Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: Xi Jinping's Belt and Road leaves Malaysia with a 'ghost' island

Forest City project in Johor remains in limbo as Beijing prepares for key meeting

13 June 2024
AI-dedicated data centers will require 90 trillion watt-hours of electricity globally by 2026, over 10 times the amount they used in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. The environmental impact of that huge boom in energy demand is becoming more difficult to ignore.
The Big Story

AI's looming climate cost: Energy demand surges amid data center race

From Singapore to China, AI's appetite for electricity and water grows insatiable as models get larger

12 June 2024
As China steps up coast guard patrols in the South and East China seas, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines are wrestling with how to defend their territory and national interests -- without provoking a war.
Asia Insight

China's 3-pronged maritime threat rattles Japan, Philippines and Taiwan

Beijing 'gray zone' aggression focused on islands in strategic 'first island chain'

11 June 2024
Economists are divided over the course of the BOJ's balance sheet policy in the coming months and whether a reduction would constitute the start of quantitative tightening. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Kyodo and Yuji Murakami)
Market Spotlight

Market to scrutinize BOJ for signs of quantitative tightening

Japan's central bank is shifting away from decadelong expansion of balance sheet

10 June 2024
Demand for multiunit housing continues to flag in the U.S., but the supply of condos under construction has yet to peak in the Sun Belt.
Datawatch

Fears mount of a crash in the U.S. condo market

Multifamily housing prices drop 20% even as property loans soar

8 June 2024
Some 50 years after the first modern-day Japanese convenience store opened in Tokyo, players like 7-Eleven need expansion in countries such as Thailand, pictured above, as their domestic market is set to shrink.
Business Spotlight

Japan's convenience store chains chase elixir of growth across Asia

Indonesia, Thailand, China in focus as retailers face aging, shrinking home market

7 June 2024
The Goddess of Democracy statue goes up in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on May 29, 1989. A replica of the statue would later stand in Hong Kong. Another replica appeared in Tokyo on June 3. 
China up close

Analysis: A new generation of Chinese democracy seekers gathers in Tokyo

'Goddess of Democracy' comes to Japan to mark 35th Tiananmen anniversary

6 June 2024
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi scored a victory in the country's elections on June 4, securing a third term in power. Unlike in previous elections, which focused on domestic issues, diplomacy featured heavily in Modi's campaign.
The Big Story

Modi's election setback follows campaign focused on India's foreign relations

Tough talk on Pakistan and China, but election tactics alienate the West

5 June 2024
Workers assemble electric vehicles at Li Auto's manufacturing base in Changzhou, in China's Jiangsu province, in December 2023.
Asia Insight

China's underutilized factories fan export dump fears in U.S. and Europe

As trade partners raise tariffs, Beijing faces pressure to keep workers on job

4 June 2024
Copper prices are widely expected remain elevated. Goldman Sachs expects the price to surge to $12,000 per tonne by the end of the year.
Market Spotlight

Copper prices stay firm after hitting all-time high on AI demand, China recovery

Asian output strong, supplies expected to remain tight for foreseeable future

3 June 2024
Global auction sales have risen 25 times in value terms over the past 20 years, thanks to strong demand for contemporary art in emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere.
Datawatch

Asian youth drive contemporary art market

Global sales rise 25 times in 20 years, led by young collectors, artists in Asia

2 June 2024
Southeast Asia is emerging as the latest battleground for tech suppliers serving Apple, Google and others. (Nikkei montage/Photo by AP and Takuya Fujiwara)
Business Spotlight

From Vietnam to Thailand, tech suppliers face tougher battle as China moves in

Taiwanese companies and others face stiff competition from deep-pocketed rivals

31 May 2024
To Xi Jinping, controlling Taiwan is the key to China gaining national prestige and to himself ensuring his political legacy. (Nikkei montage/Yusuke Hinata and Kyodo)
China up close

Analysis: A 1950 map foreshadows what Xi Jinping has in mind today

The Korean War and Battle of Lake Changjin hold lessons for U.S. and Chinese leaders

30 May 2024
Stream article image
The Big Story

Myanmar's Rohingya refugees signal despair and hope in overcrowded camp

Almost a million trapped by civil war amid xenophobia, donor fatigue in Bangladesh

29 May 2024
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis transits the South China Sea at sunset, on February 25, 2019. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Southeast Asian leaders would be better served largely ignoring China's competing claims to most of the South China Sea, rather than taking a confrontational approach.
Asia Insight

Leading Asia in an age of tension: Premiers urged to skirt U.S.-China duel

Anwar, Srettha, Mahathir weigh in on Myanmar, Taiwan and more at Future of Asia forum

28 May 2024
Three key indexes that foreign investors use to track China equities -- the CSI 300, Hang Seng Index and MSCI China -- are up since mid-April. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty images)
27 May 2024
Regulators have begun talks on creating international standards for measuring particulates from tires and other parts, a problem that has come to light as more EVs take to the road.
Datawatch

Heavier EVs exact an environmental toll

Tires kick up 30% more particulates when used on weighty cars, says OECD

25 May 2024
A worker walks past the Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) Vavouto site, near Kone on New Caledonia on Feb. 28, following the suspension of operations.
Business Spotlight

New Caledonia unrest deals further blow to nickel industry

Riots and questions over territory's stability buoy prices but market glut remains

24 May 2024
Lai Ching-te begins his presidency of Taiwan with little room to maneuver, pinned in by Xi Jinping and the Kuomintang, Taiwan's largest opposition party. (Source photos by AP and Yusuke Hinata)
China up close

Analysis: Xi Jinping weighs options as Taiwan inaugurates a new president

China can consider a blockade or hope the opposition KMT undermines Lai Ching-te

23 May 2024