Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tiananmen Square on April 14: The Brazilian president was clearly out to capture economic opportunities. (Ricardo Stuckert/Brazil Presidency/Handout via Reuters)
Alicia Garcia-Herrero

Brazil is not a real middle power if it just takes China's side

Lula cannot show strategic autonomy by parroting Xi Jinping

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Alicia Garcia-Herrero
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Upcoming international meetings will give Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida an opportunity to bolster support against a reckless North Korea. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)
Nikkei Editorial

Stronger international cooperation needed to halt North Korea's recklessness

Japan must improve public safety in face of repeated missile launches

Nikkei Editorial
For Japan, getting additional buy-in from Warren Buffett, the most celebrated living investor, matters.  (Photo by Shinya Sawai) 

Kishida must seize the opening Buffett has given him

Getting investors to look past narrow sectors will take reform revival

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A coal-fired power plant in Cilegon, Indonesia: The country's emissions trading system launched in February with mandatory participation by coal power plant operators. 
Alistair Ritchie and Yi Chen

China's emissions trading system is in need of attention

Market development has stalled while other Asian nations accelerate efforts

Alistair Ritchie and Yi Chen
Japanese controllers instructed the H3 rocket to self-destruct after its second-stage engine failed to ignite after launch on March 7. (Photo by Tomoki Mera)
Kazuto Suzuki

Japan's rising space ambitions depend on getting H3 rocket to work

Reliable launch platform needed to achieve security and exploration goals

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Kazuto Suzuki
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on March 21: Moscow and Beijing cannot be split. (Sputnik/Vladimir Astapkovich/Kremlin via Reuters)
Justin Bassi and Bec Shrimpton

Macron is wrong to see China and Russia as separate concerns

Through partnerships, democracies can reinforce security in Europe and Asia

Justin Bassi and Bec Shrimpton
Shinsei Bank initially defended itself from takeover by SBI Holdings in 2021 with use of a poison pill. (Photo by Harue Matsushima)
Stephen Givens

Japan's M&A study groups wield uncanny power

METI-backed committees owe authority to a collective leap of faith

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Stephen Givens
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Kim Jong Un at a groundbreaking ceremony for Kangdong Greenhouse Farm, in Pyongyang, North Korea: With food supplies at a low ebb last year, Pyongyang launched a record 90 missiles. (KCNA via Reuters)
Joseph Yi

North Korean food crisis proves need to resume aid flows

Weapons programs will continue regardless of extent of public suffering

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Joseph Yi
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U.S. President Joe Biden tours a General Motors EV assembly plant in Detroit in 2021: Washington has embraced active industrial development with vigor.
William Bratton

U.S. and EU embrace of industrial policy puts Asia at risk

Drives to revive domestic manufacturing will have economic and political effects

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William Bratton
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The Burbo Bank offshore wind farm near New Brighton, Britain: Until recently, the U.K. had more offshore wind turbines installed than any other country.
Julia Longbottom

Japan can be a green energy superpower

Offshore wind can provide more electricity than country now uses

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Julia Longbottom
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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, left, with Xi Jinping in Beijing on March 31: The Chinese president raised the idea of reviving Japan's Asian Monetary Fund plan. (Sadiq Asyraf/Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia via AP)
Karan Mehrishi

Asian Monetary Fund's moment has come at last

Region needs a reserve currency not under thumb of single nation

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Karan Mehrishi
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Design, flight testing and certification issues repeatedly delayed the SpaceJet's entry-into-service timelines. (Photo courtesy of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)
Bradley Dailey and Yuichi Takayama

Why China's C919 is flying while Mitsubishi's SpaceJet isn't

Beijing's direct and indirect support carried COMAC through challenges

Bradley Dailey and Yuichi Takayama
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou on April 7.
Celine Pajon

France's Macron is sending China the wrong signals

More realistic posture would strengthen Paris' role in Indo-Pacific region

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Celine Pajon
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Supporters of the National League for Democracy gather outside the party's headquarters in Yangon after the general election in November 2020.
Nikkei Editorial

Dissolution of Suu Kyi's party deepens Myanmar's political disarray

Elections excluding pro-democracy NLD will be rejected at home and abroad

Nikkei Editorial
An electric arc furnace at a steel mill in Peine, Germany: EAF technology has proved to be an important way to produce steel with low emissions. (dpa via AP)
Kenta Kubokawa

G-7 summit is Kishida's best chance to move Japan to green steel

Domestic producers are lagging behind in shift to low-emissions production

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Kenta Kubokawa
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A CPTPP roundtable in London in 2020: Negotiations for the U.K.'s accession to the agreement took 21 months. (Photo courtesy of the U.K. Prime Minister's Office)
Wendy Cutler

CPTPP members now have to figure out what to do about China

Lessons from U.K. accession set ground for dealing with Beijing and Taipei

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Wendy Cutler
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A university job fair in Tokyo: The vast majority of fresh graduates from Japan's top colleges still dream about working for one of the country's major companies. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita) 
Benjamin Qiu

Now is the time for Japan to make a play for startups

Country could be appealing base for entrepreneurs from China and elsewhere

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Benjamin Qiu
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Philippine and U.S. troops at the opening ceremony of the Salaknib exercises on March 13:  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has doubled down on defense cooperation with Washington.

Marcos is bringing in more friends to help deter China

New multilateral security groupings link Philippines with Japan, Australia, U.S.

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Sri Lankan women protest against high living costs and taxes on March 8: The island nation and others in debt distress are in need of relief. 
Antonio Guterres

G-20 nations should commit $500bn a year to 'SDG Stimulus'

The world is running out of time to rescue the U.N. 2030 Agenda

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Antonio Guterres
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Japanese legislator Eiko Kimura, who has cerebral palsy, is brought into the Diet building in 2019: Many workplaces do not understand the needs of the disabled. 
Jun Sawada and Caroline Casey

Japan's company leaders can lead by example on disability inclusion

By acknowledging own impairments, corporate chiefs will foster mindset shift

Jun Sawada and Caroline Casey
The Shandong, China's first fully homebuilt aircraft carrier, in Sanya in 2019: Large carriers are a quintessential element of a blue-water navy. (Li Gang/Xinhua via AP)
Elbridge Colby

China's military buildup shows its ambitions go well beyond Taiwan

No one should believe that Beijing would be sated with the takeover of the island

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Elbridge Colby
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Then-incoming Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, in jacket, celebrates his election victory with allies in Suva on Dec. 20, 2022. 
Tess Newton Cain

Fiji is trying to move beyond 'coup culture'

Democratic transition is off to a bumpy start and many risks remain

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Tess Newton Cain
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Philippine and Chinese coast guard vessels cross paths in the South China Sea in March 2022. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
Tai-Heng Cheng and Hong Sim

Multilateral talks right way for China and ASEAN to manage disputes

Security hotline test will ensure that protocol to avoid escalation can work

Tai-Heng Cheng and Hong Sim
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is questioned at a U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on March 23. 
Wu Jianghao

U.S. deserves title as master of economic coercion

Undermining of WTO and free trade show Washington's true colors

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Wu Jianghao
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An oil tanker offloads its cargo in Yantai, China: As the world's top oil importer, China is bound to feel the impact of higher prices.(Imaginechina via AP)

OPEC+ output cut will add to Asia's economic stress

Region's central banks forced to consider more tightening

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