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Original perspectives and fresh thinking on issues of concern to Asia from around the region, plus editorials and letters to the editor. Please contact us if you would like to submit a letter to be considered for publication.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 24: The new membership fits into Teheran's policy of deepening ties with nonwestern nations. (Pool via Reuters)

Vali Kaleji

Iran's new club memberships still leave it out in the cold

Accession to BRICS, SCO will reduce isolation but not solve financial challenge

Vali Kaleji

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in South Africa on Aug. 22: New Delhi has pushed for the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G20. (Handout via Reuters)

Narendra Modi

As G20 president, India has made the global table larger

Promotion of inclusive technology is opening way to narrow inequalities

Narendra Modi

A job fair for university graduates in Anhui province, China on Sep. 4: Demand has been undermined by growing unemployment, especially among the young, and wage cuts. (China Daily via Reuters)

Henny Sender

Does Beijing care that China's economy is stagnating?

Policy interventions so far have not had positive impact

Henny Sender

Parliamentary voting in Male in 2019: The Maldives' electoral democracy is limited while rising religious intolerance has increased the stakes of the upcoming polls.

Azim Zahir

For the Maldives, this election season has only brought worries

Outcome could bring friction with India and pressure on democratic rights

Azim Zahir

The alert level has been raised at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing following malicious incidents targeting Japanese citizens and schools.

Nikkei Editorial

China must stop its citizens' irrational harassment of Japan

Claims against Fukushima water release add to residents' pain

Nikkei Editorial

Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat with supporters in Bangkok on July 9: The party and the new Thailand it stands for are seen as the greatest threats to the establishment.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak

Thaksin no longer scares Thailand's establishment

Ex-prime minister's return and pardon accepted as price of keeping reform at bay

Thitinan Pongsudhirak

ＡXiaomi store in Mumbai: The phone maker has seen its offices raided for alleged foreign exchange violations and some of its bank deposits seized by Indian authorities.

Ritesh Kumar Singh

Foreign investors just aren't sold on India

FDI is falling as companies still find competitors like Vietnam more attractive

Ritesh Kumar Singh

Tsuruha Holdings, Japan's second largest drugstore chain, is facing pressure from activist investor Oasis Management. (Photo by Keigo Yoshida)

Stephen Givens

Activist investors cannot force Japanese mergers with ideas alone

Shareholder rejection shows limitations of Oasis Management's strategy

Stephen Givens

The USS Carl Vinson paid call on Danang in 2018, the first port visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to Vietnam since 1975.

Tran Nguyen Quan and Jeffrey Ordaniel

U.S. and Vietnam have room to expand their defense cooperation

Washington must work with Hanoi's sensitivities toward China

Tran Nguyen Quan and Jeffrey Ordaniel

Sri Lankan port workers welcome Chinese research ship Yuan Wang 5 to Hambantota International Port in April 2022.

Wu Jianghao

The Belt and Road Initiative has many miles still to go

All participants are sharing in mutual benefits from economic cooperation

Wu Jianghao

Children at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing before a performance by the Bolshoi Ballet in July: Over 67 million people went to concerts and performances this summer.

Zhou Xin

China does not feel like an economy in crisis

Amid talk of high youth unemployment, trains, cinemas and concerts are full

Zhou Xin

Tourists at the popular Phu Chi Fa viewpoint in Chiang Rai, Thailand in 2020: Domestic tourists took advantage of government tourism promotions during the pandemic.

Caesar Indra

Domestic travel can power Southeast Asia's tourism rebound

Investments in infrastructure, training and marketing spread economic benefits

Caesar Indra

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the end of a news conference with U.S. President Joe Biden at Camp David on Aug. 18.

Haeyoon Kim

U.S., South Korea and Japan must give form to 3-way partnership

Standing consultative body could help tackle emerging challenges

Haeyoon Kim

Goldfish in Tokyo: Japanese companies should consider the "goldfish pond" model in which high-potential recruits are pooled and fast-tracked into managerial positions.

Nobuko Kobayashi

Japan Inc. is losing ground in the battle for new talent

More fresh graduates are drawn to consulting careers

Nobuko Kobayashi

A Philippine supply boat headed toward Second Thomas Shoal maneuvers as a China Coast Guard ship tries to block its way on Aug. 22.

Richard Heydarian

ASEAN's silence amid South China Sea confrontation is deafening

Indonesia should rally agreeable members into taking 'minilateral' action

Richard Heydarian

IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi, left, presents the agency's report on the Fukushima water release to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo in July. (Pool via Reuters)

Rahm Emanuel

Japan has been transparent and open about Fukushima

Handling of water release contrasts with Chinese handling of COVID-19

Rahm Emanuel

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year told Russian President Vladimir Putin that "this is not the era for war" but also declared the two countries' friendship to be "unbreakable."

Tristen Naylor

Modi needs more than personal clout to salvage the G20 summit

New Delhi summit communique highly unlikely due to Ukraine war divisions

Tristen Naylor

Sea urchin from Japan, front, is sold at a store in Beijing in July. China's ban on Japanese seafood products has dealt a major blow to its neighbor's fisheries industry.

Nikkei Editorial

China's ban on Japanese seafood is absurd

Malicious economic coercion will result in loss of trade partners

Nikkei Editorial

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's priorities offer little optimism about his chances of raising the country's competitive game. (Pool via Reuters)

Sinking exports are a sign of deeper problems for South Korea

Yoon must shed complacency and find ways to revive economic dynamism

Sandbanks in the Mekong River in Nakon Phanom province, Thailand surface due to unusually low water levels in 2019.

Titipol Phakdeewanich

New Thai government must show more responsibility with the Mekong

Power production has been prioritized without consideration of area residents

Titipol Phakdeewanich

An open air market in Ahmedabad, India: Food represents 27% of the overall Asian consumer price index, with its national contribution ranging from 14% in South Korea to 46% in India.

Priyanka Kishore

Rising food prices are clouding Asian rate cut outlook

Governments should review available policy tools to boost supplies

Priyanka Kishore

ASEAN leaders pose during a summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia in May: The bloc has lost its centrality and is struggling as an autonomous multilateral platform. (Pool via Reuters)

Michael Vatikiotis

ASEAN is quietly coming apart at the seams

Bloc leaders must seek to revive effective multilateral cooperation

Michael Vatikiotis

A printed circled board at the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute in Hsinchu: Taiwan's high-tech industry boasts the world's most advanced semiconductor cluster.

John Chen-chung Deng

Taiwan's admission would reaffirm the values of the CPTPP

Inclusion of island economy will boost regional stability and members' prosperity

John Chen-chung Deng

A middle school English class in Tokyo in April: Japan needs better English language skills urgently to reduce its linguistic isolation. (Photo by Yutaka Miyaguchi)

Nancy Snow

Better English is in Japan's security interest

China's greater fluency a factor in more successful international outreach

Nancy Snow

A Country Garden construction site in Tianjin on Aug.18: The impact of a bursting bubble will be significantly affected by how quickly policy authorities react.

Masaaki Shirakawa

China can avoid 'Japanification' with prompt action

Focus should be on fallout from bursting of asset bubbles and falling population

Masaaki Shirakawa