Asia Insight: News & Insights

Despite Taiwan's tech-fuelled economic boom, many people on the island struggle to make ends meet.

Asia Insight

Taiwan's tech boom masks a daily struggle for the masses

Quarter of island's workforce gets by on minimum wage and cheap food

2 November 2021

Russia has not rushed to formally recognize Taliban rule in Afghanistan, but President Vladimir Putin has called for gradually welcoming the group into "the civilized family of nations."

Asia Insight

Russia puts Taliban on 'probation' with Central Asia on knife edge

Moscow cautiously warms to once sworn enemy in light of other threats

26 October 2021

China has announced donations of 5.7 million Sinopharm doses to Vietnam, an important neighbor with which it is often at odds. (Nikkei montage/Nguyen Doc Lap/Reuters)

Asia Insight

Vietnam takes Sinopharm vaccines to ease Ho Chi Minh City's woes

Pandemic offers Beijing opportunity to firm ties with strategically important neighbor

19 October 2021

New Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has inherited the job of leading Japan's uphill battle to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

Asia Insight

Climate for change? Japan's net zero goal tests PM Kishida's will

Reticent industries and slow emissions cuts raise pressure on government to lead

12 October 2021

Singapore hopes its vaccination rate above 80% will allow it to leave COVID-19 restrictions behind, but for now it is focused on keeping infections in check.

Asia Insight

Singapore 'soul searching' over economy as COVID surges

Even if vaccines help city-state 'live with' the virus, long-term questions loom

5 October 2021

Asia Insight

Duterte's legacy on the line as Philippine elections loom

Drug war, infrastructure, China pivot define his presidency

28 September 2021

Some Southeast Asian countries have set ambitious targets for EV adoption, but they still have a ways to go to convince consumers.

Asia Insight

Slow charge: ASEAN aims to bring lofty EV goals within range

Uneven policies leave drivers wary as COP26 turns spotlight on green transport

21 September 2021

Asia Insight

Indonesia and Philippines face persistent anti-vax hurdle

Asian hesitancy weighs as inoculation drives make progress

14 September 2021

Siblings who arrived from Afghanistan with their families are seen in Pakistan on Sept. 1. Thousands, if not millions, of people are expected to attempt to escape Afghanistan, leaving nations in the region anxious about a flood of refugees coming in.

Asia Insight

Turkey, Iran and Pakistan raise entry bars for Afghan refugees

Nations across region worry influx could exacerbate political and social problems

7 September 2021

Japan is speaking up for Taiwan as it fights pressure from China. This is a dramatic shift in Tokyo's stance, which for decades avoided challenging Beijing because of its importance for Japan's economy.

Asia Insight

Taiwan grows ever closer to Japan over vaccines, China fears

Ties have blossomed since 2016 election of Beijing-skeptic Tsai

31 August 2021

Communities that live along Papua New Guinea's snaking Sepik River have a deep, even spiritual connection to the waterway. They say an ambitious mine project threatens the river.

Asia Insight

China-backed mining deepens Papua New Guinea's golden dilemma

COVID raises economic need but history of disputes and Beijing's rise fuel opposition

24 August 2021

Business has stalled for Thailand's famous tuk-tuks.

Asia Insight

Thailand's COVID crisis exposes the reality of '2% unemployment'

Official figure masks increasing woes that could add to premier's headaches

17 August 2021

Members of Japan's artistic swimming team watch fireworks during the closing ceremony to the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.

Asia Insight

Asia's Olympic star rises on record medal haul and viewership

But patchy investment and geopolitics cast doubt on continued success

10 August 2021

Asia Insight

Olympics and vaccine progress leave Japanese spending patchy

Tokyo's cautious approach over huge sporting event fails to secure broad public trust

3 August 2021

Asia Insight

Thailand and Malaysia new parties hope discontent will boost appeal

Youth-led party in Indonesia also takes aim at status quo under establishment

27 July 2021

India's monstrous second wave of COVID-19 caused most of its over 400,000 fatalities during the pandemic and derailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vaccine diplomacy.

Asia Insight

India's COVID second wave disrupts vaccine export plans

Asia faces shortage as world's biggest jab producer still battles outbreak at home

20 July 2021

Russia, the leading arms supplier to Southeast Asia, is also promising COVID-19 vaccines and pushing other cooperation.

Asia Insight

Guns and jabs: Russia courts ASEAN caught between US and China

Arms sales and COVID vaccines help Moscow punch above economic weight

13 July 2021

Singapore is home to at least 28 high-tech, indoor urban vegetable farms that a food resilience official said allow the city-state to "grow more with less."

Asia Insight

Singapore cultivates 'Silicon Valley of food' in a hungry Asia

Lab meat and indoor greens thrive as COVID highlights regional challenge

6 July 2021

The security law has produced a "chilling effect covering the entire Hong Kong society," says Toru Kurata, a politics and law professor at Rikkyo University.

Asia Insight

How the National Security Law transformed Hong Kong in one year

Legislation forces people to migrate, steer clear of politics in 'South Shenzhen'

29 June 2021

ASEAN's emblem, center, features stalks of rice that symbolize the 10 member countries' solidarity.

Asia Insight

ASEAN defends its Indo-Pacific 'centrality' between Quad and China

Myanmar and COVID crises threaten bloc's role in regional order

22 June 2021

Recent embarrassments have prompted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to launch an all-out government effort to go digital.

Asia Insight

COVID gives Japan 'last chance' to reverse digital defeat

PM Suga pins hope on new agency to overhaul bureaucracy after pandemic blunders

15 June 2021

The Yangtze River Delta plan was conceived in 2018 to complement two other megacity clusters -- the Greater Bay Area in the south and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Integration Plan in the northeast.

Asia Insight

China's Yangtze economic belt tests Xi's push for tech independence

Dual circulation and self-sufficiency plans create concerns for foreign investors

8 June 2021

Medical personnel tend to internally displaced people in Myanmar's Karen State following military air strikes in the area, in this handout image released on May 7.

Asia Insight

Myanmar violence, hunger and ruin risk deeper refugee crisis

Flaring conflicts between military and ethnic groups make bad situation worse

1 June 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison: If Canberra follows allies in adopting Magnitsky-style sanctions, it could create yet another flashpoint in the countries' tense ties.

Asia Insight

Australia pressed to dispense 'bitter pill' Xinjiang sanctions

Morrison faces calls to match allies' Magnitsky laws but risks China backlash

25 May 2021

The restaurants, izakaya pubs and bars that emerge from Japan's COVID crisis will have to make do with fewer revelers as Japanese demographic and cultural shifts spell more trouble ahead for the hospitality industry.

Asia Insight

Japan's 'izakaya' pubs buckle under COVID alcohol prohibition

Deprived of salarymen and tourists, worst is yet to come

18 May 2021