Asia Insight

A weekly politics and economy big read

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Who would U.S. President Joe Biden call first in a crisis? Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may be a leading candidate, thanks in part to ties forged under Tokyo's National Security Council.
Asia Insight

How Japan's National Security Council rewrote China strategy

As Kishida prepares for G-7, Tokyo has closer White House ties and a clearer global role

11 April 2023
Thailand goes to the polls on May 14, with a cast of leadership hopefuls aiming to unseat Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, right. 
Asia Insight

Thailand election becomes game of economic handouts, nostalgia

Prayuth, Pheu Thai and Move Forward eye escape from middle-income trap

4 April 2023
The grand military parade to mark Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, the capital, on March 27 was attended by representatives of only ten nations. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Asia Insight

Myanmar military's might fails to crush decades-old resistance

Armed forces face no external threats, accused of widespread atrocities at home

28 March 2023
Analysts say Chinese President Xi Jinping has been consolidating power and strengthening Communist Party control over a range of matters, including the country's vast trove of data.
Asia Insight

China's new power structure tightens grip on data, tech, finance

State and CCP overhaul aims to counter U.S., boost economy, curb dissent

21 March 2023
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is promoting the Maharlika Investment Fund with an eye on his legacy, some observers say.
Asia Insight

Maharlika Investment Fund provides 'make or break' test for Marcos

Amid opposition and historical baggage, president pushes sovereign wealth fund

14 March 2023
Sri Lankan port workers protest against an income tax increase in Colombo on March 1, 2023. About a year after economic frustration ignited a popular uprising that forced a change of government, citizens are still feeling the strain.
Asia Insight

Sri Lanka says IMF aid in reach after year of anger, hunger and fear

President hints new China letter will seal deal; local elections in focus

7 March 2023
Among the presidential candidates who criticize the policies of Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (right), former Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan currently leads in opinion polls.
Asia Insight

Indonesia pre-election jostling threatens Jokowi's economic agenda

From Nusantara to EV batteries, president faces uphill battle to secure legacy

28 February 2023
The militant Islamic State group's local branch claimed responsibility for an attack on this Chinese-owned hotel in Kabul in December.
Asia Insight

China risks militants' wrath in Afghanistan, Pakistan and beyond

Beijing reduces Islamabad presence as myriad groups find Asian giant a useful target

21 February 2023
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has vowed "unprecedented" measures to boost births, while experts say the challenge goes hand in hand with improving the overall economy. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Asia Insight

Japan readies 'last hope' measures to stop falling births

Experts say next 10 years are critical as Kishida eyes 'children first' society

14 February 2023
Yoo Choe-an crams himself into a steel cage in an attempt to win a pay raise from a South Korean shipyard in June 2022. The sign reads: "We can't live like this." (Photo by Byeon Baek-seon, Korean Metal Workers Union)
Asia Insight

South Korea cage match: President Yoon vs. the unions

Nation's leader pushes for drastic shake-up of the nation's labor system

7 February 2023
Sule Pagoda in Yangon on Jan. 30: Two years after the military takeover, Myanmar can still see no way out of the darkness.
Asia Insight

Myanmar economy hobbled by military rule despite garment boom

Reliance on fewer foreign partners limits economic recovery prospects

31 January 2023
As relations between Berlin and Beijing fray, the German city of Duisburg is getting less freight train traffic from China.
Asia Insight

China Belt and Road dreams fade in Germany's industrial heartland

Geopolitical tensions derail Duisburg's hopes of trade bonanza

24 January 2023
People walk past stores selling consumer goods in an alley in Dharavi, Mumbai. Asia's biggest slum has been earmarked for redevelopment against the wishes of many locals.
Asia Insight

Mumbai slum residents stand up against Adani's redevelopment plan

Contract to overhaul Asia's biggest slum bagged by subsidiary of conglomerate

17 January 2023
An unregistered Afghan refugee near the Torkham border crossing in Pakistan: Women have compelling reasons to flee a regime that is stripping away their rights but face an uncertain future in crisis-hit Pakistan. (Photo by Jamaima Afridi)
Asia Insight

Afghan women fleeing to Pakistan trade precarious life for another

U.N. seeks 'durable solutions' in 2023 as Islamabad's crises cloud outlook

10 January 2023
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Most read in 2023

Old Japan, young India and the risks of a world of 8bn people

From elder care to jobs and food, Asian nations race to avoid 'catastrophe'

3 January 2023
A Ukrainian helicopter's shadow on a wheat field: The conflict sent shock waves through commodities markets -- one of the many ways it affected Asia this year.
Asia Insight

How Ukraine war shook and shaped Asia in 2022

Myanmar relations, Japanese energy and Chinese battle capability all in flux

27 December 2022
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourist arrivals in Asia are expected to return to 2019 levels next year -- putting at risk once again the region's rich environmental and cultural heritage.
Asia Insight

Can ASEAN avoid overtourism as arrivals return to pre-COVID levels?

Governments struggle toward a more sustainable and equitable hospitality sector

20 December 2022
Casino financiers have been moving out of Macao in recent years, initially into Cambodia and later along Thailand's borders with Laos and Myanmar, creating countless unregulated operations beyond any rule of law. 
Asia Insight

Chinese underworld floods to Thailand-Myanmar river border

Macao squeeze spawns new gambling and trafficking hubs akin to 'penal colonies'

13 December 2022
Since protesters took to the streets of Shanghai and other Chinese cities on the last weekend in November, authorities have signaled a careful, gradual and uneven shift in their COVID-19 strategy.
Asia Insight

China recalibrates zero-COVID as patience runs thin

Low vaccinations, Xi's reputation and fear of the virus force a cautious shift

6 December 2022
With the North ramping up provocations, recent surveys show that around 70% of South Koreans support the country developing its own nuclear weapons.
Asia Insight

South Korea's nuclear option: Calls grow for weapon development

More lawmakers, voters see need for homegrown program as North's threat grows

29 November 2022
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's poll ratings are slumping, in part due to his government's handling of the Unification Church issue.
Asia Insight

Japan builds case to dissolve scandal-hit Unification Church

Victims speak up as government probe gets under way

22 November 2022
The symbiotic relationships between Central Asia's leaders and Vladimir Putin are rearranging themselves as the war in Ukraine weakens Russia.
Asia Insight

Central Asia looks beyond Russia's orbit to secure its future

Jittery over Ukraine war, Kazakhstan and neighbors seek alternative export routes

15 November 2022
Flaring, or burning off gas from oil production, is a key emitter of methane -- the second-most common greenhouse gas and the most powerful one.
Asia Insight

Soaring methane emissions raise stakes for Asia at COP27

Poor nations face astronomical cost as cycle of warming, thawing spins out of control

8 November 2022
Experts say China's Global Security Initiative is about reshaping the region's security architecture, spreading Beijing's brand of policing and surveillance, and exporting a vision that everything must be seen through "a securitized lens."
Asia Insight

China's Global Security Initiative: Xi's wedge in the U.S.-led order

Beijing's next big program ups pressure to take sides, rationalizes Ukraine war

1 November 2022
In possibly his last big diplomatic move before retiring, Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, presented Washington with a vision for relations "much like the Americans' understanding with South Korea."
Asia Insight

Pakistan's top gun seeks U.S.-China balance before retirement

Gen. Bajwa's diplomatic ambitions clash with domestic political tensions

25 October 2022