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August 5th, 2021

Leave them kids alone

China rethinks its world-beating education system

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The Big Story

Leave them kids alone: Parents tire of China's world-beating education system

Cram schools and private tutoring curtailed to level the field and lower anxiety

Childhood for many Chinese children is an unending drumbeat of extracurricular classes that has become an expensive time management nightmare for parents and has put many off the idea of larger families.
Indian tech unicorns, such as the online food delivery company Zomato, are bringing about a turning point in the IPO scene in India. (Source photo by AFP/Jiji)
Business Spotlight

Zomato IPO shows foreign investors fueling India's tech battle

Stock market frenzy despite intense competition among cash-burning rivals

Huawei unveils its P50 and P50 Pro smartphones at a launch event on July 29. (Image courtesy of Huawei Technologies)
Huawei crackdown

Huawei drops 5G for new P50 phones as US sanctions grip

Embattled Chinese giant able to secure Qualcomm 4G chips for low-key launch

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Asia Insight

Olympics and vaccine progress leave Japanese spending patchy

Tokyo's cautious approach over huge sporting event fails to secure broad public trust

Philippine weightlifter and gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, center, Thailand's taekwondo gold medalist Panipak Wongpattanakit, left, and Indonesian weightlifter and silver medalist Eko Yuli Irawan are eligible for compensation worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Source photos by Reuters)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics

ASEAN nations offer huge rewards to Olympic medalists

Philippines' first gold medalist to receive homes and more

Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand, seen in this 2018 file photo, will compete in the women's over-87-kg weightlifting event on Aug. 2 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics

First trans Olympian spurs debate over inclusiveness vs. fairness

New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard makes history in women's weightlifting at Tokyo Games

Philippine weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz celebrates after a lift at the Tokyo Olympics. She won the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal.
Passengers take a selfie before departing to the U.K. at Hong Kong International Airport in late June.
Politics

Fears of Hong Kong 'exit ban' add to emigration wave

Law kicking in Sunday another factor driving exodus to countries with open arms

Myanmar's military government says it is looking to hold an election within two years, but many citizens, who faced violent crackdowns on protests against the takeover, may boycott a vote. (File photos by Reuters) 
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's anger simmers, six months after military takeover

Fate of promised shift to civil government remains uncertain

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, and his Philippine counterpart, Delfin Lorenzana, shake hands after their meeting in Quezon City, in Metro Manila, on July 30. 
The Nikkei View

US and Philippines must maintain alliance to avert power vacuum

Bilateral pact crucial in checking China's expansion in disputed South China Sea

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin attend a meeting at Villa La Grange in Geneva on June 16: when Putin sat down with Biden in Geneva, Biden kept things cordial.
Opinion

Biden is tougher on China and nicer to Russia than Trump

White House will focus on increasingly contentious relationship with Beijing

Soldiers take part in anti-invasion drill in Taoyuan, Taiwan, simulating People's Liberation Army invading the island, in October 2018: for China without a swift victory, the threat of an escalating conflict with the U.S. is real.
Opinion

Taiwan temptation keeps US guessing about Xi's true intention

Biden under pressure to change policy of 'strategic ambiguity'

“The Art of Thai Comics: A Century of Strips and Stripes,“ by Thailand-based academic Nicolas Verstappen, right, is a long-overdue tribute to a succession of dazzling yet little-known local comic artists. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by River Books and Sukanya Sompiboon, 2019)
Arts

For Belgian author, Thai comics are no laughing matter

History of graphic tales honors forgotten heroes of local pop culture

People line up for free food at a slum area following the COVID-19 outbreak, in Bangkok in April 2020.
Tea Leaves

Bangkok's streets expose Southeast Asia's new divides

Throughout the region, the pandemic is causing suicides, widening inequality and growing unrest