Politics

The Japan-U.K. economic partnership agreement "ensures continuity for Japanese and British companies," Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi says. (Nikkei montage)
Trade

Japan ratifies UK trade deal to take effect Jan. 1

Car companies and train makers to benefit from tariff cuts

5 December 2020
Jon Nicolaisen, deputy governor of Norges Bank, waits for the start of the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Aug. 22, 2014.
Politics

Norway's central bank deputy governor resigns over China ties

Jon Nicolaisen was overseeing the world's largest sovereign wealth fund

4 December 2020
Angela Merkel in Beijing, pictured in June 2016: diversification is a euphemism for reducing Germany's China dependency.
Opinion

Why German industry is looking past China to the rest of Asia

Berlin's interest in new partnerships is a blessing for ASEAN

1 December 2020
A Royal Navy helicopter flies alongside anti-air defense destroyer HMS Defender in the Indian Ocean to patrol against the flow of narcotics from the Makran Coast to East Africa, Yemen and Sri Lanka.(Photo courtesy of the U.K. Ministry of Defense)
South China Sea

Rejection of China's 'nine-dash line' spreads from Asia to Europe

Countries having no territorial dispute with Beijing turn up heat despite economic ties

1 December 2020
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a virtual meeting with police officers at the Chancellery in Berlin on Nov. 30.
Politics

Merkel says challenge with China is finding right balance

'There will always be trade-off between values and interests," chancellor notes

1 December 2020
 The Bundestag, Germany's federal parliament, has not formally investigated or debated the issue as yet, but its members are weighing the implications of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn feeling more at home in Bavaria than in his own kingdom. 
Turbulent Thailand

Germany floats asking Thai king to appoint regent for next visa

Bundestag divided as anti-monarchy protests rattle Berlin's hands-off approach

30 November 2020
India's Red Fort prepares for Independence Day celebrations. The country is considering legislation to strengthen control over data collected within its borders.
Century of Data

Asian countries build data fortresses to protect new national assets

Limits on cross-border flows hurt business and risk leaving countries poorer

26 November 2020
People view laptop computers from Chinese tech firm Huawei at an expo in Beijing. China has quickly become a data superpower.
Century of Data

China rises as world's data superpower as internet fractures

Asian 'data sphere' gives the country twice the information flows of the US

25 November 2020
Greece, Cyprus and Israel intend to connect their power grids in a way advocates say might foster the use of renewable energy. (Source photos by Reuters) 
International relations

Anti-Turkey alliance runs through Europe-Asia electricity link

Greece, Cyprus and Israel intend to plug in as China cash raises EU eyebrows

25 November 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visit the container terminal of Cosco in Piraeus in November 2019: has there ever really been such a thing as Chinese debt trap diplomacy?
Opinion

The myth of China's 'debt trap' diplomacy

Biden presidency likely to ease US-China acrimony over infrastructure

25 November 2020
A virtual meeting of the 4th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Summit, pictured on Nov. 15 in Hanoi: RCEP is the latest sign of a shift in economic power. eastward.
Opinion

Europe wakes up to the China challenge

But the search for 'strategic autonomy' faces obstacles

24 November 2020
British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in June 2017, before its maiden voyage: The vessel will be deployed to East Asia in 2021.
International relations

UK raises pressure on China with carrier deployment to Asia

Boris Johnson touts new space and cyber forces as security priorities shift

21 November 2020
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a news conference after their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Sept. 6, 2019.
Indo-Pacific

Germany walks tightrope between China and rest of Indo-Pacific

Berlin puts focus on 'shared values' while leaving door open for Beijing

15 November 2020
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who has led the Holy See’s talks with Beijing, attends an Oct. 3 commemoration in Milan of the 150th anniversary of a Catholic mission to China.
Interview

Renewed China-Vatican deal on bishops sets stage for official ties

Hong Kong's Cardinal Zen expects opening of diplomatic relations within 2 years

12 November 2020
The INS Kalvari is escorted by tugboats off the coast of Mumbai. Having already concluded a deal for six submarines, India is talking to France about purchasing another half dozen.
International relations

France and India talk submarines as Rafale fighters are delivered

European and South Asian nations share security concerns as China advances

5 November 2020
Toshiba will partner with a German virtual power plant operator, giving it the ability to manage many renewable energy facilities simultaneously. 
Environment

Toshiba aims to launch virtual power plants across Japan in 2022

Japanese conglomerate to set up unit with Germany's Next Kraftwerke this month

2 November 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office at the White House on May 13, 2019.
Comment

Authoritarian regimes prevailing over democracies across the world

Strongmen leaders take over as people fail to realize dream of becoming affluent

2 November 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly railed against alliances like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for the past four years.
Comment

Time for Japan and Europe to fill void left by US on world stage

A Biden win would not mean an immediate return as global leader

1 November 2020
Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, is preoccupied with the COVID-19 crisis -- but also mulling one of the longest visits of an uninvited head of state in history.  
International relations

Thailand king's visa comes under scrutiny of German Greens

Student inquisition collides with Berlin's official ambivalence over royal guest

30 October 2020
Mahathir Mohamad, the former Malaysian prime minister, called French President Emmanuel Macron "primitive" for blaming Islam in recent French slayings.
Islam in Asia

Mahathir on killings in France: Muslims have right to be angry

Three more people slain in Nice, as former Malaysian PM cites attack on teacher

30 October 2020
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha attended a special two-day joint session of parliament that looks unlikely to provide him any relief from Thailand's ongoing political crisis.
Turbulent Thailand

Thailand politicians squabble as protesters vow to continue

Opposition parliamentarian self-harms in chamber with concealed knife

27 October 2020
High school students and other protesters outside the German embassy in central Bangkok, Monday, Oct. 26.  
Turbulent Thailand

Thailand protesters query German embassy on absent king

Letter raises sovereignty and tax issues relating to monarch living in Europe

27 October 2020
Pakistan, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, left, and India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, have opened a new front in their long rivalry: basmati rice. (Source photos by Reuters) 
International relations

Basmati rice row marks latest front in India-Pakistan rivalry

Islamabad readies objection to New Delhi's geographical indication push in EU

21 October 2020
Tourists walk along a beach on Vihamanafushi Island in the Maldives in 2012.
Interview

Western tourists shrug off COVID fears to play in the Maldives

Sunseekers stay longer, unhappy with pandemic response at home, minister says

19 October 2020
Facebook is enhancing the encryption capabilities of its Messenger and Whatsapp services.
Technology

Five Eyes and Japan call for Facebook backdoor to monitor crime

Security alliance worries encrypted messaging apps can be used by bad actors

11 October 2020