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July 28th, 2022

The resilience myth

Chip supply chains are getting more brittle, not more secure

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The Big Story

The resilience myth: Fatal flaws in the push to secure chip supply chains

From China to the U.S. to Europe, semiconductor makers are being showered with subsidies, but to what effect?

Chipmaking requires hundreds of machines, materials and chemicals. In this TSMC plant in Taiwan, an engineer in protective clothing holds a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) for transferring the wafers used in chips safely between machines.
"Made in China 2025" is aimed at transforming the country into a higher-tech manufacturing powerhouse by 2049, the centennial anniversary of the people's republic. (Source photos by AP, Reuters and Getty Images) 
Business Spotlight

'Made in China 2025' thrives with subsidies for tech, EV makers

Handouts go on but local government cash crunch adds new factor

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, right, shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, on July 18. (Official website of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan/Handout via Reuters) 
Energy

Azerbaijan eager to supply more gas to Europe in Russia's stead

Deal to double exports offers much-needed relief to South Europe and Balkans

Electric cars, such as this concept vehicle from Tata Motors, lie at the heart of India's push for greener transport.
Automobiles

Indian electric car makers charge up to head off overseas rivals

Global auto giants have been speeding into nation's fledgling EV sector

Pakistanis are being forced to make uncomfortable choices, including leaving the country.
Asia Insight

Pakistan's punishing inflation changes life as 225m people know it

Poor skimp on food while those better off carpool, buy solar, aim to emigrate

Former Taiwan Adm. Lee Hsi-min speaks to Nikkei Asia in Taipei. (Photo by Annabelle Chih)
Interview

Taiwan's ex-defense chief calls for sweeping military reforms

Adm. Lee Hsi-min says island must prioritize cheaper, asymmetric weapons

A Taliban fighter guards the site of an attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul on June 18. Many in the community question the rulers' ability to protect them.
Afghanistan turmoil

Afghanistan minorities fear for future despite Taliban assurances

For some, last month's attack on Sikh temple was last straw

Young voters were the core supporters of the LDP when the reform-minded late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in power, but many of them are now seeking change elsewhere.
Datawatch

Japan LDP's big win belies falling popularity among young voters

Less than 40% of voters below 30 back the party, down 3.5 points from 2019

G-7 finance ministers and central bank chiefs at Petersberg near Bonn, Germany, on May 19: All advanced economies were faced with the zero lower bound interest rates after the global financial crisis.
Demonstrators hold banners during a protest over the freezing of deposits by rural-based banks outside a People's Bank of China building in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, on July 10: The shuttered rural banks are minions in China's financial system.
Opinion

China's debt bomb looks ready to explode

Many warning signs suggesting that a debt reckoning is imminent

Stand-up paddleboarding is a popular pastime along the Chiba coast. (All photos by Stephen Mansfield)
Life

Hidden charms of neglected prefecture on Tokyo's doorstep

Much-maligned Chiba has more to offer than first meets the eye

The pandemic has emptied out Kyoto streets once packed with tourists, such as this one near the Yasaka Pagoda. (Getty Images)
Tea Leaves

In search of the authentic in Kyoto

In post-pandemic recovery mode, Japan's former capital is more like itself again