Asia Insight

A weekly politics and economy big read

Topic image
A farmer carries rice stocks in Lupao, in northern Philippines. This region is the main area where rice is farmed. (Photo by Ramon Royandoyan) 
Asia Insight

Marcos' price ceiling adds to Philippine rice farmers' insecurity

Industry fears official limits could create distortions and worsen food crisis

3 October 2023
In a few weeks, Australia votes on whether to amend its founding document to boost rights of communities who have inhabited the land for 65,000 years.
Asia Insight

Australia Indigenous 'Voice' vote sees hope collide with division

Oct. 14 referendum to decide on recognizing Indigenous peoples in constitution

26 September 2023
The Taipei government has kept all specifications and images of its homemade submarine, represented here by an artist's impression, under strict lock and key. That changes at the end of this month.
Asia Insight

Taiwan submarine dream surfaces as China tensions rise

Taipei to unveil island-made sub despite years of Beijing pressure on suppliers

19 September 2023
The prospect of deflation, after decades of rapid expansion, has loomed over the world's second-biggest economy since July's consumer prices reverse.
Asia Insight

China deflation dread stalks property trade, struggling firms

Summer CPI gloom leaves consumers, markets bracing for impact of weak demand

12 September 2023
Leaders of ASEAN and G20 nations gather this month with climate change, and how to finance tackling it, looming large after one of the hottest summers on record. Illustration by Hiroko Oshima
Asia Insight

Indonesia climate deal in $20bn gridlock as Vietnam, India on hold

'Breakthrough' funded by G7+ investors misses deadline; Hanoi's $15.5bn plan delayed

5 September 2023
New Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's Pheu Thai Party carried much of the fertile northeast in this year's election, but Move Forward's inroads raise the pressure to follow through on lofty economic promises. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Ken Kobayashi and Getty Images)
Asia Insight

Thai PM Srettha faces pivotal test over pledges to party heartland

Pheu Thai promised northeasterners hefty handouts and better days; can it deliver?

29 August 2023
While global leaders make the trek to Port Moresby to court PNG's leader, rising debt, inflation and sluggish growth could derail Prime Minister James Marape's plan to make his country the world's "richest Black Christian nation."
Asia Insight

Papua New Guinea's Marape: Pacific power broker or PM in peril?

Amid U.S.-China balancing act, PNG leader faces mounting pressure at home

22 August 2023
An Afghan woman walks past a banned beauty salon in Kabul on July 6. Despite international calls to do more to defend women's rights, there is little consensus on what "more" should be. 
Asia Insight

Afghanistan rulers win tacit acceptance as women face 'apartheid'

World struggles to give aid without helping Taliban as regime enters third year

15 August 2023
Some Bollywood insiders and opposition critics say more films are promoting the agenda of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. But an Information Ministry official said the BJP simply wants to "inculcate good cultural and social values through movies."
Asia Insight

Bollywood becomes political battleground as India's election looms

Some filmmakers find amplifying Modi government's message is good for business

8 August 2023
Japan's debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio is around 260% -- by far the highest among developed economies, exceeding the 204% seen during World War II in 1944.
Asia Insight

Japan's growing debt mountain: Crisis, what crisis?

Why the world's No. 3 economy stays afloat despite towering debt-GDP ratio

1 August 2023
As nearly 12 million Chinese graduates leave college this summer, they face doors slamming shut on job creation by private businesses after years of Beijing's mistrust and harsh regulatory scrutiny of the sector.
Asia Insight

China's jobless graduate army falls through cracks in economy

Record youth unemployment after Beijing clampdown on private sector, FDI slump

25 July 2023
Some 10 years after almost losing an election, Hun Sen, center, no longer tolerates competition from serious opponents as he maneuvers to transfer power to eldest son Hun Manet, left, in a reform-resistant, economically and politically fragile system.
Asia Insight

Cambodia democracy dream fades as Hun Sen eyes election walkover

Strongman to coast to July 23 victory, signaling start of handover to eldest son

18 July 2023
China's Xi Jinping government has been sharply critical of Japan's plan to release treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Hong Kong, a key market for Japanese food, has adopted a similar line. (Source photos by Hirofumi Yamamoto, Getty Images and Reuters) 
Asia Insight

Hong Kong becomes China's 'wolf warrior' in Fukushima water fight

City's vocal opposition to Japan's plan contrasts with past pragmatism

11 July 2023
A year into the job, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has shaken off some of the most pessimistic predictions that greeted his historic election victory. But the spiraling cost of living is still a huge concern for many Filipinos. (Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images)
Asia Insight

Philippines' Marcos Jr. defies skeptics but challenges persist

As president enters second year in power, Filipinos fed up with inflation

4 July 2023
From Tehran to Tokyo and beyond, trans people throughout Asia continue to face violence, discrimination and exclusion from society.
Asia Insight

Trans rights progress in Asia hits barricade of tradition, legal maze

Gradual LGBTQ advances in some countries shrouded by stigma, safety concerns

27 June 2023
China has emerged from COVID-enforced isolation with grand plans to boost its influence among countries around the world.
Asia Insight

China targets sea change in global diplomacy race with West

As Blinken calls, Beijing wields 'Xivilization' to promote China worldview

20 June 2023
For Japan to attract the best from abroad, experts say, it needs better pay and a welcoming culture. 
Asia Insight

Aging Japan wants foreign workers, but will they come?

Stagnant wages and old culture loom over Kishida's restructured policies

13 June 2023
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan claims the "military establishment" is trying to crush his party, while the army has criticized him for making "baseless allegations."
Asia Insight

Pakistan's Imran Khan takes on powerful military establishment

Allies break from embattled former PM in aftermath of May 9 violence

6 June 2023
(Screenshot from Pinglu Canal Group footage)
Asia Insight

China's massive new canal aims for closer ASEAN connectivity

G-7 nations are not the only ones 'de-risking' as global trade tensions mount

30 May 2023
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo hopes banning exports of raw bauxite and other minerals will draw investment to the country.
Asia Insight

Indonesia bets on critical mineral export bans as deadline nears

History of policy flip-flops could hamper climb up resource value-chain

23 May 2023
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has entered his second year as president. The question is whether he can spur growth in a sputtering economy.
Asia Insight

South Korea's weak growth tests Yoon's resolve to cut spending

Subsidy and patronage habits keep economy tied to inefficient old ways

16 May 2023
The Philippines and the U.S. are expanding maritime cooperation, including joint patrols, with one analyst saying Manila's newfound assertiveness could "encourage other Southeast Asian claimants to be more confident in protecting their rights in the South China Sea."
Asia Insight

Philippines' Marcos muscles up ASEAN's South China Sea posture

China tensions loom over bloc summit as Malaysia asserts gas rights, Vietnam hones defense

9 May 2023
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, center, has worked assiduously to maintain his family's grip on power, grooming his eldest son, Manet, left, to succeed him.
Asia Insight

Cambodia's Hun Sen plans power succession to son, allies' children

Strongman prime minister mulling when to hand over to his eldest child, Hun Manet

2 May 2023
Outreach efforts toward developing nations cannot be easily separated from the politics of power, with countries such as Japan and India vying for prominence with China.
Asia Insight

India pushes 'Global South' goals on to G-20 agenda

Grouping of less industrialized countries remains loosely defined

25 April 2023
ASEAN leaders including Myanmar's top general, Min Aung Hlaing, agreed in April 2021 on five steps toward resolving the crisis in the war-torn member state. Only one has been accomplished, and the bloc's unity and credibility are on the line.
Asia Insight

Myanmar tests Indonesia's resolve as ASEAN fissures deepen

Bloc's 2023 chair works quietly to overcome two years of Five Point Consensus failure

19 April 2023