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August 20th, 2020

THE GREAT GAME

Anxiety over Hong Kong's future and the search for a new Asian financial center

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The Big Story

Hong Kong security law sparks race for Asia's next financial capital

Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo are already luring disaffected businesses

Publicly, companies deny that their confidence in Hong Kong has been shaken. In private, they are beginning to make backup plans to diversify elsewhere.
Luxshare and founder Grace Wang (second left) have won plaudits from Apple CEO Tim Cook (right). Now the Chinese company is poised to become an iPhone assembler. (Nikkei Montage/Source photos by AP, Apple and Creative Electron/iFixit)
Business Spotlight

Luxshare grows into China's iPhone champion with help from Apple

Assembly plant deal helps supplier known as 'Little Foxconn' hunt Taiwanese rivals

BTS, South Korea's most successful boy band, is the creation of entertainment agency Big Hit.
Media & Entertainment

'Father of BTS' tests investor appetite for K-pop with IPO plan

South Korean agency Big Hit eyes multibillion dollar valuation

Thai Airways' total shareholders' equity turned negative at minus 18.1 billion baht as of June due to a net loss of 28 billion baht in the first half of this year.
Transportation

Thai Airways begins rehab proceedings in bankruptcy court

Some creditors question legitimacy of process while investors sell off shares

A nurse administers China's Sinovac vaccine, a potential vaccine for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), to volunteer in Brazil.
Coronavirus

China's lead in coronavirus vaccines raises concern as well as hope

Government-led medical sparks worries over safety and diplomatic clout

Chinese are taking advantage of a Golden Visa program in Greece that offers residency in return for property investment.
Asia Insight

Silk Road Redux: Greece courts China money in crisis revival bid

Surface love fest between ancient cultures masks economic and geopolitical aims

Workers who crossed into Singapore from Malaysia on Aug. 17 board a bus prepared by their employer to take them to quarantine locations. (Photo by Kentaro Iwamoto)
Coronavirus

Singapore-Malaysia border reopening restores economic lifeline

Crossing quota filled as workers and employers rush to undo COVID damage

Japan's fractious relationship with South Korea has taken a clear turn for the worse over the past five years. (Source photo by Reuters) 
Japan-South Korea rift

Japan-South Korea clash over war legacy eclipses shared interests

Analysts say only top-level dialogue will enable the two neighbors to move on

Foreign workers on a construction site in Ahmadi, Kuwait, are threatened not only by COVID-19 but also potentially by unemployment in a draft law. 
International relations

Kuwaiti dream of cutting foreign workers threatens Indians most

Fewer jobs, cheaper oil and COVID-19 may reduce Filipinos and Pakistanis as well

Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center, pictured in December 2018: China's first priority should be the immediate release of all Muslims being held in those facilities.
Opinion

China needs an exit strategy from Xinjiang

Xi should release all Uighur Muslims, and pay compensation of up to $14,000 each

Xi Jinping waves next to Mahinda Rajapaksa, pictured in September 2014: there is a real possibility that Sri Lanka will rely on Chinese loans to avert a macroeconomic crisis.
Opinion

Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa restoration is complete. What comes next?

Government may have to rely on new Chinese loans to avert a macroeconomic crisis

Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bow at a memorial service marking the 75th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo on Aug. 15. The emperor pledged to reflect on the war's events and expressed hope that the tragedy would never be repeated.
The Nikkei View

Lessons of war Japan should pass on to next generation

Abe's 70th-anniversary statement lays clear the issues

Artist Jia Yang Dan Ba sits at his home studio in front of thangka scroll paintings he is still working on. (Photo by Kit Yeng Chan)
Arts

Tibetan artists preserve 'thangka' tradition in China

In remote Qinghai Province, Buddhist scrolls provide a living for some

A couple take a selfie after their ceremony at a marriage bureau in Bandra, a Mumbai suburb, on June 15. 
Tea Leaves

India embraces matchmaking on reality TV

Netflix documentary sparks a debate about arranged marriages