Asia Insight

A weekly politics and economy big read

Topic image
Turbines silhouetted in the sunset at Noshiro Port, Akita, Japan, will form part of the country's biggest offshore wind farm as Japan seeks to allay fears of impacts on fishing communities while ramping up its wind power capacity fivefold by 2030. (Photo by Masayuki Kozono) 
Asia Insight

Japan sails close to offshore wind snags as fisheries, tech challenges lurk

Fishing co-ops must clear plan to connect turbines to central grid amid seabed doubts

26 March 2024
Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of India's main opposition Congress party, arrives in Mumbai on March 16, on the final leg of a nationwide march to connect with voters ahead of the country's general election.
Asia Insight

India opposition fights for relevance versus Modi election juggernaut

As Rahul Gandhi concludes march for 'unity,' his Congress party's coalition frays

19 March 2024
A ship transports containers down the Mekong River. Recently installed Cambodian PM Hun Manet said the $1.7 billion China-backed canal project would allow his country to "breathe through our own nose," diverting its goods for export directly to its own coast rather than via the Vietnam-controlled Mekong Delta. (Photo by Jack Brook)
Asia Insight

Cambodia to divert Mekong trade via China-built canal, vexing Vietnam

Planned Phnom Penh-coast link raises alarms amid regional influence tussle

12 March 2024
Sri Lanka's garment industry is striving to climb the value chain with a focus on sustainability, as the government seeks a green economic renaissance. 
Asia Insight

Sri Lanka cultivates sustainable fashion for an economic revival

Government and garment makers aim to catch green wave to boost competitiveness

5 March 2024
While Australia has become home for tens of thousands of former Hong Kong residents in the wake of the city's draconian new security law, campaigners say Canberra should be doing more to recruit Hong Kong talent and accelerate asylum approvals.
Asia Insight

In China's shadow, Hong Kong escapees urge Australia to raise visa game

Amid Canberra-Beijing thaw, asylum seekers left in limbo as program for workers, graduates grows

27 February 2024
Despite Beijing's attempts to stifle LGBTQ advocacy, calls for fair treatment continue unabated in online, offline, group and solo events, according to China Dissent Monitor data.
Asia Insight

China LGBTQ community hangs tough in dissent amid repression

Study shows new protest channels used to urge rights progress as authorities circle

20 February 2024
 South Korean marines lock the entrance to a beach on Yeonpyeong island, near the 'northern limit line' sea boundary with North Korea on Jan. 8, 2024. 
Asia Insight

South Korean flashpoint island frets as war whispers grow louder

Kim Jong Un's weapons development sprint creates new level of threat, locals say

13 February 2024
The value of clean hydrogen markets is expected to soar around the world as governments and companies rush to tap the energy source.
Asia Insight

Japan's hydrogen prowess in peril as China, U.S. and EU poised to overtake

Policy action in coming months to determine whether green tech can avoid solar, battery missteps

6 February 2024
Yangon bustles as the regime attempts to make city life feel relatively "normal," while conflict between resistance and army forces has engulfed many other areas of Myanmar. (Source photos by Ken Kobayashi and Mauk Kham Wah)
Asia Insight

Myanmar, 3 years on: Resistance gains raise specter of splintered nation

Ahead of Feb. 1 army takeover anniversary, Yangon calm contrasts with intensifying war

30 January 2024
The main determiners of Indonesia's presidential election on Feb. 14 will be millennials and Generation Z, who make up 60% of voters. (Source photos by Ken Kobayashi)
Asia Insight

Indonesian election highlights young voters' employment concerns

Jokowi's successor faces reform challenge to create middle-class jobs

23 January 2024
Fishermen return from short expeditions in Ibrahim Hyderi, in Karachi. Animosity between Pakistan and India, disputed maritime boundaries, and the effects of pollution and climate change are all factors behind the arrests of seafarers, experts say. (Photo by Jamaima Afridi)
Asia Insight

Pawns in border clash, India and Pakistan fishermen desperate for change

Hundreds who were arrested for trespassing released by Islamabad as politics shift

16 January 2024
Taipei's Ximending shopping district: Young people, who were previously less politically active in Taiwan, hold the potential to swing the next election. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Asia Insight

Taiwan's young voters fret over material and existential issues

Demographic is larger than that of the elderly and may swing presidential poll

9 January 2024
Workers hold a Chinese flag at Hambantota port in Sri Lanka on Aug. 16, 2022. Chinese President Xi Jinping wants his country to play a larger role in global affairs through Belt and Road Initiative projects such as this one.
Asia Insight

Sri Lanka's China 'debt trap' fears grow as Beijing keeps investing

New $4.5 bn Sinopec deal comes amid debt restructuring, BRI lending shift

2 January 2024
Bangladesh, Taiwan, South Korea and Sri Lanka are also set to go to the polls next year, while Asia's focus will shift to the U.S. Presidential race later in 2024. (Photo by Ken KobayashI)
Asia Insight

From India and Pakistan to Indonesia, Asia set for election-packed 2024

Over a billion people will be voting but democracy questions cloud some races

26 December 2023
The Hindu Kush Himalaya region, which stretches 3,500 kilometers and includes Earth's highest mountain range, is warming by 0.3 C per decade -- faster than the global average, according to the U.N.'s science body for climate change. (Illustration by Yoshiko Kawano)
Asia Insight

COP28 spotlights key climate battle: Saving Himalayan ice

From Afghanistan to China, vanishing glaciers risk floods and drought for billions

19 December 2023
Fisherman Rashep Valencia says Chinese sand dredging vessels tore apart his fishing nets. (Photo by Nick Aspinwall)
Asia Insight

U.S.-China rivalry hits home in this Philippine province

Cagayan among places caught up in moves to bring both growth and security

12 December 2023
Trucks line up in Osaka: New rules capping overtime hours for truck drivers in Japan are forecast to cut the country's cargo delivery capacity by more than a third by 2030. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura)
Asia Insight

Japan's 2024 problem? Trucker overtime curbs risk an economic pileup

Multiple industries brace for impact of move to tackle chronic driver shortage

5 December 2023
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin says that the country faces an economic crisis, and that the antidote is for citizens to "take pride in spending."
Asia Insight

Thailand PM Srettha faces hard sell in e-wallet plan to stoke economy

'Salesman' turns to domestic woes after foreign focus in first 100 days

28 November 2023
Anwar Ibrahim became Malaysia's 10th prime minister in November 2022. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Rie Ishii and Hiroki Endo)
Asia Insight

Anwar struggles to boost Malaysian economy a year after victory

Rising food prices and weak currency hamper prime minister's reform plans

21 November 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali in November 2022. They have not met since.
Asia Insight

U.S.-China: One summit, two different goals for Biden and Xi

APEC get-together may be last for leaders before 2024 U.S. presidential election

14 November 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2017. Questions surround China's aims to be a diplomatic power broker in the Middle East.
Asia Insight

Israel-Hamas war tests China's global diplomacy ambitions

Facing calls to influence Iran, Beijing eyes Indo-Pacific and growing U.S. burdens

7 November 2023
Through a joint venture, China's COSCO owns 40% of the cutting-edge Vado Port System, one of its many investments in Europe. (Photo ©︎ Andrea Botto)
Asia Insight

Italy's Belt and Road blues highlight hopes for India-Europe corridor

New route runs into questions over China's port footholds and Middle East war

31 October 2023
Tourists look toward North Korea from an observatory on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone, Oct. 18, 2023. (Photo by Steven Borowiec) 
Asia Insight

Hamas' Israel assault reverberates on tense Korean border

Experts see new security jitters in South, no obvious chance of DMZ escalation

24 October 2023
South Korea has more than doubled the maximum number of visas for migrant workers this year versus 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Asia Insight

South Korea turns to migrant labor to fuel growth

With falling birthrate, country widens range of jobs filled by foreign workers

17 October 2023
Bets are placed at a small gambling hall in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. (Photo by Alastair McCready)
Asia Insight

Will Laos' economic zones boost growth or bring in criminals?

Amid bold plans, experts say border hubs like Boten face uncertain prospects

10 October 2023