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September 8th, 2022

Pulling strings

The LDP's Unification Church problem reveals religion's role in gender policy

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The Big Story

Strings pulled: Dissecting Japan's Unification Church problem

LDP scandal exposes religion's potential role in gender policy and LGBTQ rights

The assassination of Shinzo Abe in July exposed an intricate maze of links between the former Unification Church and Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Flags fly outside a branch facility of the former Unification Church, known officially as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, in Seoul, South Korea. 
The Big Story

The Unification Church in South Korea: a cautionary tale for the LDP

In the church's birth place, politicians with links to the group have not fared well

Japan's video game industry is wary of turning off players by diving too aggressively into crypto, while gamers say they do not want the real world worry of having to earn money encroaching on their pastime. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
Business Spotlight

Japan's video game heavyweights tiptoe into blockchain

Square Enix aims to monetize NFT project while 'play-to-earn' games sour globally

With its top-notch schools and research institutions -- as well as a growing cluster of global tech giants -- Singapore is giving off a good impression and attracting talent from all over. 
Startups

Singapore wields its neutrality to attract Chinese talent

Expat entrepreneurs and engineers spark startup and fintech booms

Laos owes more than half its foreign debt to China, including "hidden obligations," and experts say the Southeast Asian country could end up bartering away land and resources for relief.
Asia Insight

Laos' debt pressure raises specter of a China vassal state

Echoes of Sri Lanka on the Mekong as muzzled public seethes over economic woes

The Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's embrace of China is worrying opposition leaders and regional bodies. (Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
Indo-Pacific

Solomon Islands lurch toward despotism as China debt deepens

U.S. Navy ships banned from port; Sogavare imposes media controls

The Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Maine at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington in June 2021. Nuclear-powered submarines provide the most survivable leg of America's nuclear triad.
Indo-Pacific

AUKUS submarines: A burden too big for overloaded U.S. shipyards

Rear admiral says more work would be 'detrimental' to overstretched industry

Taiwan is enduring frequent electricity outages this summer, exposing the vulnerability of the power supply in Asia's most important chipmaking hub. (File photo by Reuters)
Technology

Taiwan's frequent blackouts expose vulnerability of tech economy

Dozens of power outages in two months reveal creaking infrastructure

Gilda Banugan, left, and Kristine Philline Donque, right in red, are among the Southeast Asian migrant workers who contribute to Taiwan's economy. (Photos courtesy of Gilda Banugan and Kristine Philline Donque)
Taiwan tensions

Southeast Asian migrant workers in Taiwan sweat over China tensions

Overseas labor props up island's tech sector, and many hope to stay

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, center, with ASEAN foreign ministers in Phnom Penh on Aug. 4: The bloc is not going to give Beijing the support it is seeking on Taiwan.
Opinion

ASEAN is bound to disappoint China on Taiwan

Given members' own territorial disputes with Beijing, bloc will walk fine line

Xi Jinping, center, and other Politburo Standing Committee members meet the media in October 2017: Fifteen of its 25 members are typical apparatchiks, experienced in party administration, propaganda or organization.
Opinion

China's Communist Party needs to face its talent challenge

Congress appointments will show whether loyalty remains the top priority

Alvin Chau's Suncity Group handled travel and credit arrangements for high-roller gamblers mostly from mainland China. (Source photos by Getty Images and Ken Kobayashi)
Travel & Leisure

Macao's junket king Alvin Chau on trial: 4 things to know

Ex-Suncity Group boss and company executives accused of running criminal empire

The Thai Film Archive complex features a wax figure of Thai Indian producer and director R.D. Pestonji. (All photos courtesy of the Thai Film Archive)
Arts

Cutting-edge archives project Thailand's film history

In a remote Bangkok suburb, a museum and a preservation lab realize a movie dream

A woman checks her phone outside the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, in July. The author says that taking an "outsider approach" to travel, rather than trying hard to fit into the local culture, makes the experience more enjoyable for her. (Getty Images)
Tea Leaves

Asian, female and middle-aged equals a happy traveler

Globe-trotting with cultural identity in mind enriches the experience