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October 7th, 2021

Leading by listening

Self-effacing and consensus building, Kishida offers a traditional model of leadership

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The Big Story

Leading by listening: Kishida offers Japan a traditional style of politics

New prime minister's election is a victory for the party machinery of previous decades

Japan's new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, hopes to use his listening skills and moderate approach toward leadership to get the nation back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Singapore hopes its vaccination rate above 80% will allow it to leave COVID-19 restrictions behind, but for now it is focused on keeping infections in check.
Asia Insight

Singapore 'soul searching' over economy as COVID surges

Even if vaccines help city-state 'live with' the virus, long-term questions loom

Cambodia's shift toward coal power puts it at odds with the global embrace of renewables. (Source photos by AP) 
Business Spotlight

Cambodia counts the cost of its push to expand coal-fired power

Soaring coal prices and opposition from foreign business stoke doubts over plan

Amazon and Flipkart, the top two online retailers in India, are expanding the market in the country with massive sales campaigns. (Source photo by Kosaku Mimura and Ken Kobayashi)
Retail

Flipkart-Amazon rivalry heats up Indian e-shopping season

Online retailers eye $9bn pie as COVID eases with net buying still popular

Numerous neophyte investors in the Indonesia Stock Exchange this year are discovering painfully that sound research beats the casino approach. 
Market Spotlight

Indonesia's novice investors get burned by frequent IPO reversals

One million people have started trading this year, causing dizzy share prices

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his retirement from politics on Oct. 3. (Photo courtesy of Presidential Communications Operations Office)
Philippine elections

Duterte says he is retiring from politics and won't run for VP

Analyst says move clears the way for daughter Sara to run for president

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects facilities in Wuhan in March 2020. Purchases of PCR tests from animal testing bureaus and universities in the region soared starting in May 2019.
Most read in 2021

China PCR test orders soared before first confirmed COVID case

Report on government contracts show surges in Wuhan-area purchases from May 2019

Work on the Sunshine Peninsula development in the Guangzhou suburbs has come to a halt. (Photo by Yusuke Hinata)
China debt crunch

Evergrande crisis leaves projects stalled and buyers angry

Developer's debt crisis exposes cracks in China's real estate myths

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is set to unveil the Biden administration's long-awaited China trade policy.
Trade war

U.S. trade rep vows to pressure China beyond 'phase one' deal

Katherine Tai to resume trade talks with Beijing 'in coming days'

China's power cuts are the result of several factors, from surging commodity prices and recovery from COVID-19 to Beijing's green initiatives. (Nikkei montage/AP/Reuters)
Economy

China's energy crunch: Five things to know

Curbs on electricity use add pressure on supply chains and the economy

Smoke rises from a coal-fired power plant in Datong in March 2018: China only pledges to peak carbon emissions before 2030.
Opinion

China should now outline how it will reduce domestic carbon emissions

No more domestic coal-fired power plants would show that Beijing is serious

USA is formed by lighting on the Taipei Grand Hotel to thank the U.S., which will give Taiwan 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on June 6: Taiwan should drop Daddy America patronage.
Opinion

Regional partners the key to Taiwan's long term security

Taipei should not keep all its eggs in Washington's basket

Fumio Kishida, center, is applauded after being elected as Japan's prime minister in the lower house of parliament on Oct. 4 in Tokyo.
The Nikkei View

Kishida's new government must chart course to revive Japan

Economic and security policies should be fleshed out while addressing pandemic

Rivals Skeletor, left, and He-Man from the "Masters of the Universe" comic-book and animation series are reimagined as wayang kulit traditional Malay shadow puppet characters by the Fusion Wayang Kulit puppeteer group. (Courtesy of Fusion Wayang Kulit)
Arts

He-Man joins fight to save Malay shadow puppets

Western and Japanese characters take traditional art form into 21st century and beyond

Then-Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, fourth left, French President France Emmanuel Macron, second left, stand on the submarine HMAS Waller in Sydney in May 2018. 
Tea Leaves

Reflections on the French connection down under

Submarine debacle takes Australia-France relations into troubled waters, despite cultural and historical ties