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March 19th, 2020

"The train will stop at Wuhan for you"

China's chipmakers defy quarantine in Beijing's battle for tech supremacy

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The Big Story

How China's chip industry defied the coronavirus lockdown

Beijing bent Wuhan quarantine rules in a high-stakes bid for tech self-sufficiency

Beijing has thrown billions of dollars at its chip industry, and created a nascent boom that not even a global pandemic could deflate. (Illustration by Nikkei)
A worker polishes a toilet bowl at a Toto factory in Kitakyushu. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Business Spotlight

Toilet maker Toto looks to become a global fixture

Bidet purveyor's mix of craft and technology has been slow to catch on outside Japan

Garuda Indonesia CEO Irfan Setiaputra is working on ways to refinance the carrier's nearly $800 million of debt. (Photo by Dimas Ardian)
Interview

Garuda flies tricky path through China and Saudi travel bans

COVID-19 threatens routes that contribute 20% of revenue, new CEO says

Bangkok opened its first urban railway in 1999, a relatively early mover in Southeast Asia, but frequent political upheavals and economic fluctuations delayed expansion. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Transportation

Bangkok hopes extended railway will ease traffic chaos

Subway system set to double with $9.5bn investment by 2023

Evergrande Group has developed an app called Hengfangtong on which to promote properties. 
Property

China's Evergrande and others promote properties online on virus fears

But outbreak has dampened appetite, with analysts seeing little respite for now

A worker at cable factory in Guiyang, China. Many employees have taken pay cuts in the virus-hit economy.
Economy

Wage cuts begin in China as coronavirus weakens companies

Government turns a blind eye preferring it to job losses

A screen broadcasts stock market news on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 11, 2020
Business deals

Coronavirus set to ravage new deals across Asia

Dealmaking plunged in 2019, but 2020 could be worse

Starbucks has projected that the COVID-19 outbreak will reduce its expected revenue from China in the quarter ending March 31 by $400 million to $430 million.
Food & Beverage

Starbucks raises bet on China despite coronavirus blow

Chain commits $130m to build largest overseas roaster near Shanghai

Chongqing Changan Automobile's UNI-T can operate without a driver holding the wheel under certain conditions.
Automobiles

China's Changan to start mass-producing autonomous car

UNI-T will be first mass-market Chinese auto to offer hands-free driving

Hong Kong's political protests caused damage to MTR equipment, like these ticket machines at Sha Tin Station.
Transportation

Hong Kong railway warns of tough 2020 after 26% profit drop

Coronavirus takes total on MTR, which called 2019 its 'worst' year

Thai Airways personnel disinfect the cabin of an aircraft to prevent the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Transportation

Thai Airways loses president as it combats coronavirus crisis

Eventual successor inherits difficult reform task as loss-making carrier

© Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters, Getty Images
Asia Insight

Thailand's economic 'death by a thousand cuts' sows desperation

Suicides rise as debts, drought and coronavirus hit the country hard

Malaysian former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks to Nikkei Asian Review in Putrajaya on March 12. (Photo by Wong Ying Xian)
Interview

Mahathir vows comeback if government goes wrong

Malaysia's two-time prime minister says Anwar's impatience cost them both

Ukedo elementary school in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture was devastated in Japan's 2011 tsunami disaster and remains standing but unused. (Photo by Kohnosuke Urata)
Society

Former Fukushima ghost town stirs with new business 9 years on

Namie has a 7-Eleven and world-class energy plant but still needs people

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong town, Bataan province, north of Manila. Southeast Asia’s only fully-constructed nuclear power plant was built there during the era of former President Ferdinand Marcos, but the government shuttered the facility before it ever came online.
Energy

Indonesia and Philippines move to revive nuclear ambitions

New regulations proposed amid surging energy demand and anti-coal backlash

A masked woman waits for the subway in New York in early March. There have been scattered reports of racist attacks targeting Asians over the coronavirus.
Coronavirus

Asians in US torn between safety and stigma over face masks

Clashing cultures and expert advice lead to discomfort and outright racism

Grab and Gojek realized that ride-hailing services were not the profitable long-term future of their businesses. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Opinion

Grab and Gojek must show flexibility to survive

Started as ride-hailers, superapps will need different routes to sustainability

A customer tries to look into a Yes Bank branch in Mumbai on Mar. 6: the Indian banking sector cannot afford poor corporate governance any more.
Opinion

Failure of Yes Bank shows rot in India's financial sector

Government needs to clean up industry riddled with bad loans and bad boards

An empty classroom at an elementary school in Osaka on Mar. 2.
Opinion

As a teacher, I believe Abe was right to close Japan's schools

Despite abrupt end to term, decision puts children's health first

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda speaks to the press in Tokyo on March 16. (Photo by Kai Fujii)
Lai Pin-yu, in full cosplay mode, campaigns with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in December just two weeks before becoming the island's youngest-ever legislator at 27. (Courtesy of the Office of Lai Pin-yu)   
Life

Taiwan narrowing gender gap, but patriarchy lives on

More women are winning political office, despite obstacles

The Secretariat Building at dusk: The Yangon landmark was farmed out to the private sector for renovation and commercial use to help cover the estimated $4 billion construction bill for the new capital, Naypyitaw. (Peter Janssen)
Life

Marketing Myanmar's heritage is a tough sell

Debate intensifies over new uses for iconic colonial buildings as tourism numbers wobble

People queue to buy face masks in Bangkok. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Tea Leaves

Unexpected upsides to coronavirus

From greenhouse gases to saving endangered wildlife, improbable winners emerge