The Big Story

Chinese battery maker EVE Energy in December announced it will spend $422.3 million to build a cylindrical battery production base in the state of Kedah in Malaysia.
The Big Story

China's biggest green tech projects in Southeast Asia

From raw nickel to cars, joint ventures fuel EV boom across the region

4 October 2023
A Chinese-backed alumina refinery complex on Indonesia's Bintan Island is fouling the surrounding waters. It is just one of a growing number of "green tech" investments by China in the region. (Photo by Dimas Ardian)
The Big Story

China's green tech giants link supply chains to Southeast Asia

From Indonesia to Vietnam, 'clean energy' ties ASEAN more closely to Beijing despite South China Sea tensions

4 October 2023
The wife of the chairman of SK Group, which owns chipmaking giant SK Hynix, is going after half his stake in the company in an explosive divorce. 
The Big Story

SK Group's divorce drama forces courts to weigh breaking up chaebol

South Korea's 'wedding of the century' allied her political dynasty with his family conglomerate. Now she wants her share.

27 September 2023
The Global Combat Air Programme, a collaboration between Japan, Italy and the U.K., is tipped to be the future of Japan's air force as part of the government's more proactive approach to defense. 
The Big Story

Japan's new jet fighter alliance pushes limits of defense policy

Collaboration with U.K. and Italy forces Tokyo to reconsider constitutional restrictions on arms exports

20 September 2023
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his chairmanship of this year's G20 summit to showcase his government's policy of "multialignment," which seeks good relations with Russia, China and the U.S. simultaneously. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
The Big Story

G20 summit showcases India's fence-sitting foreign policy

Seeking leadership of the Global South, Modi hedges bets while economy benefits

13 September 2023
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The Big Story

Inside Malaysia's $15bn battle with the lost Sultanate of Sulu

Hereditary rulers of kingdom in the Philippines see court case as way back to former greatness

6 September 2023
Shenyang in China's northeastern Liaoning province, where half-finished luxury mansions lie empty and unsold, is a stark symbol of China's crippled housing market and the post-COVID economic boom that wasn't. 
The Big Story

China in charts: Missing economic boom points to slowing post-COVID growth

Economists say industrial model based on infrastructure and real estate is grinding to a halt

30 August 2023
Sri Lankan families are having to endure prolonged misery as their government, encouraged by global bodies to spend its way through the pandemic, instead plunged the country into an economic crisis. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
The Big Story

Sri Lanka enters a new era of post-pandemic austerity

Encouraged to borrow during lockdowns, many poor countries face harsh consequences as priorities change

23 August 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves to attendees of the ASEAN-China Special Summit via video link from Beijing in November 2021. 
The Big Story

China's grip on Southeast Asia tightens as U.S. influence wanes

From Vietnam to Indonesia, development aid and 'Asian values' drive Beijing's dominance

16 August 2023
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The Big Story

Coastal towns brace for Fukushima water release, from Japan to Jeju

Distrust of TEPCO and fear for small businesses fuel anxiety, despite IAEA approval

9 August 2023
Washington-Beijing tensions and COVID-induced uncertainty are driving Apple out of China and into India, where it hopes to move a significant chunk of its iPhone supply chain. 
The Big Story

Inside Apple's India dream

Tech giant aims to move at least 20% of iPhone production to India as it accelerates away from China

2 August 2023
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan exudes confidence that his PTI party will overcome opposition from the military and more established political parties to win the next general election, expected in the fall.
The Big Story

Imran Khan tells Pakistan's military to stay out of politics as election nears

Ousted last year, former PM seeks to tap unrivaled popularity in looming confrontation with generals

26 July 2023
At the NATO summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12, the alliance's cooperation with Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea was in the spotlight. 
The Big Story

Why is NATO edging into Asia?

Members still divided on Indo-Pacific mission, seen by some as key to U.S. interest in alliance

19 July 2023
Despite U.S. government efforts to decouple from China over the past five years, most American tech giants remain deeply reliant on the Chinese market. 
The Big Story

U.S. big tech won't shake its China addiction

For companies like Apple, Microsoft, Tesla and Qualcomm, decoupling has not dented Chinese market

12 July 2023
 The Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine in California is the U.S.'s only active rare-earth producer. (Photo courtesy of MP Materials)
The Big Story

The U.S.-China rare earths battle

How one mine in California is trying to challenge Beijing's dominance

5 July 2023
Human rights lawyer and patriotic pro-democracy activist Albert Ho, seen here speaking at a museum opening in 2019, is currently behind bars in Hong Kong on charges under the national security law. 
The Big Story

Hong Kong's persecuted patriot

Rights lawyer Albert Ho has loved China for decades. Now he may die in jail for it

28 June 2023
Afghan men smoke drugs on a street in Kabul in November 2022. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of heroin and opium, and domestic drug use is trapping millions there in poverty. 
The Big Story

Afghanistan's opium tragedy persists despite Taliban cultivation ban

Sanctions and loss of foreign aid puts treatment out of reach for many addicts

21 June 2023
As artificial intelligence grows smarter and more widespread, governments from the U.S. to China are grappling with how to, or whether to, control it. (Illustration by Yoshiko Kawano)
The Big Story

ChatGPT unleashed an AI race, now regulators are struggling to hold on

Artificial intelligence boom pits U.S.'s bottom-up approach against China's top-down take on regulation

14 June 2023
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat holds a "No. 1" victory pose at a news conference in Bangkok after winning the Thai general election on May 15. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
The Big Story

Thailand's moment of truth: Pita's struggle for new regime continues

Move Forward pressured to scrap proposed royal reforms as it seeks to govern

7 June 2023
Interdependence between Taiwan, China and the U.S., particularly in the tech industry, has deepened even as the prospect of cross-strait conflict rises.
The Big Story

How Taiwan became the indispensable economy

Tech companies fear war but struggle to leave the island

31 May 2023
Warren Buffett, the 92-year-old CEO of U.S. investment company Berkshire Hathaway, is increasing his stake in Japan and moving away from Chinese investments as Sino-American tensions mount. 
The Big Story

Warren Buffett's shifting Asian portfolio

Geopolitics push 'Oracle of Omaha' to move away from China and invest in Japan

24 May 2023
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida poses for a portrait before an exclusive pre-G-7 interview with Nikkei in Tokyo on May 10. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
The Big Story

Japan's G-7 test: Kishida pushes active foreign policy onto global stage

PM emphasizes importance of 'Global South' in maintaining international order

17 May 2023
Women in the southern Pakistani village of Molvi Suleman Jat gather to discuss their informal community savings program, which they use instead of formal bank accounts, in February. (Photo by Betsy Joles)
The Big Story

Pakistan's financial gender gap aggravates chronic poverty

With little access to bank accounts, women rely on one another to save

10 May 2023
HSBC Holdings, known for the two regal lion statues that sit outside its Asia head office in Hong Kong, will vote May 5 on a proposal to split its Asia operations from its London headquarters. 
The Big Story

HSBC battles shareholder revolt as breakup vote looms

Bank’s balancing act between U.K. and China appears increasingly untenable

3 May 2023
Top to bottom: Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries; Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group; and Ratan Tata, former chair of the Tata Group. India Inc.'s top players were spooked by a fall in Adani's share price following an explosive short-seller report in January.
The Big Story

Adani crisis puts India's winner-take-all economy on trial

Under new scrutiny as election nears, India Inc. pulls back on new investments

26 April 2023