Asia Insight

A weekly politics and economy big read

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As the race for talent heats up around the world, some experts argue the Albanese government will struggle to attract immigrants back to a country dubbed "Fortress Australia" throughout the pandemic for its hardline response to prevent the virus from hitting its shores.
Asia Insight

'Fortress Australia' seeks to become immigration nation again

COVID-induced labor shortages push Albanese to raise cap on migrants

18 October 2022
The image of a freewheeling Hong Kong has undergone a disturbing transformation over the past few years, one that government officials are scrambling to fix.
Asia Insight

Hard sell: Hong Kong polishes image tarnished by security law, COVID

Emissaries go abroad to tell 'good story,' win back business and investment

11 October 2022
A competition for the best of the best workers is heating up across Asia, as governments and companies seek the talent they need to accelerate growth in the wake of COVID-19.
Asia Insight

From Singapore to Thailand, Asia dangles visas to lure high-fliers

New programs kick off as companies struggle to find skilled workers

4 October 2022
Chinese efforts to develop suspected dual-use ports in countries surrounding India -- dubbed a "string of pearls" -- have attracted attention for years.
Asia Insight

Indian Ocean rivalry: China's naval maneuvers irk New Delhi

Submarine deals and ship deployment hint at Beijing's power projection

27 September 2022
A report by Freedom House says the Chinese Communist Party "and its proxies are using more sophisticated and coercive tactics to shape media narratives and suppress critical reporting" -- accusations Beijing rejects.
Asia Insight

China builds global media muscle to amplify its message

Study shows how country with dismal press freedom record sways reporting abroad

20 September 2022
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan on Aug. 2-3 resulted in more than 270 cases of misinformation attacks -- likely from China, according to Taiwan's National Defense Ministry.
Asia Insight

Cyber warfare: China attacks force Taiwan to bolster defenses

Power plants, hospitals and other essential facilities seen as possible targets

13 September 2022
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

6 September 2022
Some potential Nusantara investors are holding onto their money until Indonesian President Joko Widodo paints a "big picture" of what he envisions.
Asia Insight

Jokowi struggles to drum up investors for new Indonesia capital

As SoftBank withdraws, Japan Inc. takes wait-and-see approach to $30bn project

30 August 2022
Group of Seven countries and democratic allies like Australia are dangling infrastructure support in Southeast Asia as an alternative to China's Belt and Road.
Asia Insight

China's ASEAN Silk Road gets slippery as other powers move in

U.S., Europe, India join battle to build regional supply chains from Thailand to Vietnam

23 August 2022
In its latest Trafficking in Persons report, the U.S. State Department downgraded Vietnam and Cambodia to its bottom tier and put Indonesia on a watchlist.
Asia Insight

Cambodia holds back Vietnam and Thailand in trafficking prevention

Porous borders, corruption preclude collective progress

16 August 2022
From the Chinook helicopter to the F-35, the Stinger missile to the Patriot defense system, American defense contractors are expecting a surge in international demand. (Source photos by Reuters, Lockheed Martin, Getty Images and the U.S. Army)
Asia Insight

Taiwan tensions a boon for defense industry but supply clogs loom

Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon race against time to meet demand from U.S. allies

9 August 2022
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese condo buyers are joining mortgage strikes, some of whom have gone years paying down loans for homes that remain unfinished.
Asia Insight

China mortgage strikes threaten property sector's house of cards

As unfinished homes disrupt lives, pressure grows on developers and Beijing alike

2 August 2022
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

26 July 2022
Gulls fly over Kabushima Shrine in Hachinohe, in Japan's Aomori Prefecture, on July 13. A U.S. travel magazine called the city "woefully overlooked." (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Asia Insight

Japan tourism after COVID: Industry aims for more sustainable boom

After Abe-era surge overwhelmed some areas, can Kishida spread the wealth?

19 July 2022
VAT refunds are heaping pressure on local governments already forced to take on a bigger share of China's overall tax bill -- just as revenue from land-use rights is drying up.
Asia Insight

China's hefty tax rebates batter COVID-hit local governments

Property crunch and virus policy heap pressure amid severe structural imbalance

12 July 2022
A breast cancer patient smokes a joint in Bangkok after marijuana was decriminalized last month. Across Asia, cannabis policies remain broadly restrictive, with some inconsistencies and loopholes.
Asia Insight

Smoke signals: Thailand blazes trail for cannabis in wary Asia

Recreational use still far-off prospect as taboos persist from ASEAN to Japan

5 July 2022
Australia was widely criticized as a climate laggard during the Scott Morrison years. New Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is out to change that -- and realize the country's renewable power potential.
Asia Insight

Australia coal sector braces as Albanese tackles carbon demons

Export hub of Newcastle wonders how it can escape another 'BHP moment'

28 June 2022
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hopes his "new capitalism" initiatives will spur a "second founding period," following Japan's post-World War II period of business startups.
Asia Insight

Japan startups see Kishida's 'new capitalism' as road without map

Plan to increase the sector 10-fold spurs both hope and skepticism

21 June 2022
Nikkei Asia spoke to Hong Kong attorneys, diplomats and legal scholars who warn of a gradual erosion of judicial independence, which could have implications for the city's appeal as a business destination.
Asia Insight

Hong Kong judicial independence fears threaten city's business case

Under security law, doubts grow over finance hub's key selling point

14 June 2022
From a Maldives bond payment to India's central bank meeting and Pakistan's upcoming budget, South Asia's economic strain is in focus.
Asia Insight

Beyond Sri Lanka, economic cyclone bears down on South Asia

From Pakistan to Maldives, forex and debt risks grow as inflationary headwinds build

7 June 2022
As LGBT+ communities in Asia prepare to celebrate Pride Month in June, the picture of gains and regression in their battle for recognition and rights is mixed.
Asia Insight

LGBT+ rights in Asia: Small steps forward and big steps back

Biggest setback in Afghanistan, while Japan inches toward marriage equality

31 May 2022
A damaged bust of D.A. Rajapaksa, father of both the president and the former prime minister, lies amid wreckage at a museum in the family stronghold of Hambantota on May 11.
Asia Insight

Flight of the Rajapaksas: Sri Lankan dynasty faces reckoning

Accused of mismanagement and corruption, the nation's top clan is down but not out

24 May 2022
One challenge for countries like Australia is that Pacific states do not view relationships "as a choice or a swap," but rather additions to existing cooperation, said Lowy Institute research fellow Mihai Sora.
Asia Insight

Paradise lost? China, the Solomons and the battle for the Pacific

Security pact tests old benefactors like Australia amid vaccine diplomacy rush

17 May 2022
An MH-60R helicopter is seen aboard the USS Ralph Johnson, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer based in Yokosuka, during a sail through the South China Sea in January.
Asia Insight

U.S. Navy gathers best destroyers in Japan to hunt Chinese submarines

Adding helicopter hangars to ships expands area of operation across Indo-Pacific

10 May 2022
South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol faces growing concern at the state of the economy. In the background, the banners at an April protest in Seoul read "Secure better jobs and the right to work without discrimination."
Asia Insight

Yoon Suk-yeol: Self-styled crusader for justice vows South Korea shake-up

Prosecutor-turned-president's pious upbringing instilled sense of good versus evil

3 May 2022