Asia Insight

A weekly politics and economy big read

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Japan's efforts to battle the coronavirus have shown how young women are among those particularly vulnerable to social pressures deeply rooted in the country's emphasis on conformity.
Asia Insight

Japan's virus vigilantes underscore 'suffocating' society

Rising suicides show dark side of peer pressure behind COVID containment success

17 November 2020
King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida: Thailand's ancient monarchy has found itself badly out of step with the kingdom's modern youth.
Asia Insight

Thailand's untouchable monarchy comes under unusual scrutiny

King Maha Vajiralongkorn talks of compromise but calls for reform unlikely to go away

10 November 2020
Singapore had 1.35 million foreign workers as of June 2020, up from around 300,000 in 1991.
Asia Insight

Local jobs or global talent? Singapore faces COVID-era conundrum

Asian hub raises cost of hiring foreign workers it needs for growth

3 November 2020
Dogs are crammed into cages like this and transported to slaughterhouses in Cambodia -- one of several Asian countries where their meat is consumed. Experts say the trade exacerbates the danger of rabies.
Asia Insight

Cambodia cools on dog meat as COVID puts Asia on disease alert

Bans in Siem Reap, China and India raise hopes for healthier, more humane future

27 October 2020
The Asia-Pacific is wondering what a victory by Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden in the U.S. election on Nov. 3 would mean for American policy in the region after four years of President Donald Trump.
Asia Insight

What would a Biden presidency mean for Asia?

From tech and trade to Taiwan and North Korea, Trump's legacy will weigh heavily

20 October 2020
The global race for a coronavirus vaccine is on, but efforts in Asian countries are largely trailing those in the U.S. and Europe.
Asia Insight

Japan's COVID vaccine sprint becomes marathon ahead of Olympics

From India to Thailand, nations seek homegrown shots as global death toll mounts

13 October 2020
Climate change is altering Asia's seasonal monsoons, making rainfall more concentrated and exposing tens of millions to dangerous and economically damaging flooding.
Asia Insight

Flooded Asia: Climate change hits region the hardest

From China and India to Vietnam, millions face economic peril in coming years

6 October 2020
Last November, India announced it was pulling out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, mainly over fears that its agricultural sector would be swamped with imports. (Illustration by Hiroko Oshima)
Asia Insight

Japan and Australia wary of China as RCEP talks enter last stretch

Economic fallout from COVID-19 gives impetus to negotiations on trade megadeal

29 September 2020
Determined to snuff out such dissent, Cambodian authorities have targeted small demonstrations by youth activists, environmental campaigners and family members of imprisoned opposition politicians.
Asia Insight

Hun Sen cracks down on Cambodia's slow boiling pot of dissent

Authorities step up campaign of repression as economy reels from COVID fallout

22 September 2020
Precision or personalized medicine based on analysis of patients' genomes is beginning to catch on in Southeast Asia. (Nikkei illustration)
Asia Insight

Cracking ASEAN's code: Inside the push for genomic medicine

Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand doctors seek funds as COVID adds new hurdle

15 September 2020
Washington and Taipei have drawn closer under presidents Donald Trump and Tsai Ing-wen, pictured. Taiwan is now bracing for the outcome of the election between Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden in November. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by Getty Images)
Asia Insight

Taiwan pins hopes on US election winner staying tough on China

Trump's support welcomed as Biden fights perception Democrats are soft on Beijing

8 September 2020
A couple outside their home in New South Wales in January: A state inquiry found that climate change was "clearly" a factor in last season's devastating fires.
Asia Insight

As fire season looms, Australia fears recurring nightmare

Climate change spurs race for new strategy: 'We have to be better'

1 September 2020
Asian youth face the prospect of a bleak future as the effects of lost opportunity and social isolation resulting from policies to limit the spread of the novel  coronavirus harken the emergence of a "lockdown generation."
Asia Insight

Lockdown generation: COVID-19 upends Asian students' plans

With university experience on hold, traditional path to success gets a rethink

25 August 2020
Chinese are taking advantage of a Golden Visa program in Greece that offers residency in return for property investment.
Asia Insight

Silk Road Redux: Greece courts China money in crisis revival bid

Surface love fest between ancient cultures masks economic and geopolitical aims

18 August 2020
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Asia Insight

#BlackLivesMatter shines light on racism in Japan and across Asia

George Floyd's death finally gets Asians talking about inclusiveness

11 August 2020
© Illustration by Michael Tsang
Asia Insight

Indian apps soar after ban on China's TikTok, WeChat and Baidu

Relations soured by Ladakh clash force Modi to refocus economic struggle

4 August 2020
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, has named Workers' Party Secretary-General Pritam Singh, right, the "leader of the opposition" in a first for the city-state. © Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images
Asia Insight

Singapore's 'democratic dawn'? Parties adapt to new landscape

Ruling PAP under pressure to save economy while opposition faces test of ideas

28 July 2020
A hotel worker wearing a protective face mask and goggles is seen through a plastic partition at the reception desk of Mitsui Garden Hotel Nihonbashi Premier in Tokyo on June 26.
Asia Insight

Japan's Go To Travel plan spurs fears of 'man-made' COVID disaster

As Thailand and Taiwan seek to boost tourism, Tokyo residents barred from scheme

21 July 2020
A pandemic-induced economic downturn threatens to become a bigger issue for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte than his campaign against crime and drugs. © Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters
Asia Insight

Duterte's strongman popularity at risk from COVID-19 recession

Succession plans threatened as president muzzles dissent amid pandemic

14 July 2020
Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths have been lower in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps than in surrounding host communities. (Photo by Mohamad Hafiz Johari)
Asia Insight

Rohingya scapegoated as Bangladesh battles COVID-19

Pandemic threatens aid to both poor host communities and refugees

7 July 2020
Success in containing the first wave does not guarantee that tackling the second wave will be just as effective. © Illustration by Michael Tsang
Asia Insight

The next wave: Japan and Asian neighbors walk COVID 'tightrope'

Singapore tops safety ranking despite struggle with dormitory clusters

1 July 2020
The pandemic-induced slowdown may offer the Asia-Pacific region a prime opportunity not only to catch up on environmental targets, but also to lay the groundwork for a greener future. © Illustration by Hiroko Oshima
Asia Insight

Asia risks missing 'green' economic reset after coronavirus

Except in South Korea, experts see absence of environmental resolve in region

23 June 2020
Online bullying has become an Asiawide problem that governments' legal arsenals have so far been unable to tame. © Illustration by Hiroko Oshima
Asia Insight

Hana Kimura's death fuels debate over how to stop cyberbullying

'Terrace House' tragedy highlights delicate balance of regulation vs. free speech

16 June 2020
A migrant worker in Singapore waits to be taken to a medical facility. Coronavirus outbreaks in dorms for foreign laborers account for 93% of the city-state's cases.
Asia Insight

Singapore coronavirus clusters awaken Asia to migrants' plight

From Malaysia to Japan, crisis highlights need for support and social inclusion

9 June 2020
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Asia Insight

Coronavirus-torn Asia looks to reconnect with 'travel bubbles'

From Singapore to Taiwan to Australia, plans promise relief for shattered industry

2 June 2020