Asia Insight

A weekly politics and economy big read

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24 September 2024
Incumbent Indonesian President Joko Widodo, left, talks with President-elect Prabowo Subianto at the national parliament building in Jakarta, on Aug. 16. Prabowo is set to be sworn in next month amid growing concerns over the pair's combined influence over Southeast Asia's biggest democracy.
Expectations are rising that Japan's next prime minister will bring about political change, but doubt remains whether the ruling party will embrace reform.
Asia Insight

Japan's next prime minister: Old guard, young blood or first woman?

9 candidates line up to lead LDP, which has ruled country for 65 of last 69 years

17 September 2024
Signs are growing that the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be easing up on its controls on inbound Chinese investment.
Asia Insight

India edges warily toward accepting more Chinese investment

Despite security concerns, FDI seen as key to Modi's manufacturing drive

10 September 2024
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends a campaign event focused on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities on July 9 in Nevada, one of seven key states that could decide the outcome of November's presidential election.
Asia Insight

Once neglected, Asian Americans now courted in knife-edge election

Tiny margins in battleground states spotlight voters like Wisconsin's Hmong community

3 September 2024
Children from a kindergarten read at a public library in Yantai in eastern China's Shandong province. The number of children enrolled in preschool education fell by 5 million in 2023 to 40.92 million, the lowest figure since 2014. (FeatureChina via AP)
Asia Insight

China's kindergarten closures foreshadow economic hit from falling births

20,000 schools shut in two years; Beijing seeks urgent solutions as workforce shrinks

27 August 2024
Paetongtarn Shinawatra has risen to Thailand's prime ministerial post on the strength of her father Thaksin's influence, but with that influence weakening, tough challenges lie in store for the 37-year-old as she takes up her first role in government. (Photo by Shinya Sawai) 
Asia Insight

Thailand's latest Shinawatra PM walks the same economic, political tightrope

Paetongtarn takes office with growth the key issue as father Thaksin calls party shots

20 August 2024
Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin, center, swears in Muhammad Yunus, right, in Dhaka on Aug. 8: The interim government is a diverse, nonpartisan team of activists, academics and retired officials. 
Asia Insight

Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus carries hopes of economic change

Optimists look toward post-protest recovery from trade and business disruptions

13 August 2024
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te, left, and Defense Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung, center, attend a ceremony with new army recruits at a military camp in Taichung in June.
Asia Insight

Taiwan turns to own 'Iron Duke' Wellington Koo to deter China

Civilian defense minister aims to sharpen asymmetric warfare capabilities

6 August 2024
With To Lam, center, assuming interim leadership of the Vietnamese Communist Party after the death of Nguyen Phu Trong, right, observers wonder whether the former security chief may be more influenced by China than the U.S. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by AFP/Jiji, EPA/Jiji and AP) 
Asia Insight

Vietnam veers into unknown as career cop makes Communist Party power play

Death of party chief Trong brings fears of tilt toward China-style leadership

30 July 2024
Moscow and Kyiv have reached out for support to faraway Pyongyang and Seoul and upgraded military ties. 
Asia Insight

Korean tensions flare as Seoul, Pyongyang take opposing sides on Ukraine

Russia-North Korea military upgrade triggers deeper U.S.-South Korea nuclear alliance

23 July 2024
Staff from housekeeping services provider Bears. While a severe labor shortage in Japan means many companies are keen to hire from overseas, comparatively low wages and the historically weak yen are blunting the country's appeal. (Photos by Yuji Murakami and Ryosuke Matsui)
Asia Insight

Japan's new enemy in fight to lure immigrant workers: The tumbling yen

Visa rules eased, but currency weakness tarnishes Japan's appeal for overseas hires

16 July 2024
Technicians work on solar panels installed on the roof of a house in Karachi on June 8. Solar panels, mostly from China, are spreading across Pakistan as residents seek solutions to outages and hefty bills.
Asia Insight

Pakistan's rooftop solar boom shines spotlight on power crisis

Blackouts, soaring electricity bills spur urban, rural residents to install own panels

9 July 2024
Chinese Communist Party officials are expected to accelerate a push toward President Xi Jinping's goal of technological self-sufficiency by 2035 when they convene this month for a long-awaited meeting known as the third plenum.
Asia Insight

China's leaders to choose economic path at high-pressure third plenum

Historically pivotal policy gathering expected to focus on tech as property woes fester

2 July 2024
Rahul Gandhi, left, and the Indian National Congress party are taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling alliance in parliament. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters, AP and Suzu Takahashi)
Asia Insight

India's Congress party vows to fight 'fascist rule' of Modi's BJP

Stronger opposition creates 'ideal situation for democracy' in India, observers say

25 June 2024
Tanegashima is Japan's answer to Cape Canaveral in the U.S., but with rocket launches few and far between, island businesspeople and officials say industries other than space need to be developed. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Mayumi Tsumita and Ultra-X)
Asia Insight

Japan's 'rocket island' revival rests on startups, tech jobs and immigrants

Small firms breathe life into town headed for extinction with space boom years away

18 June 2024
As China steps up coast guard patrols in the South and East China seas, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines are wrestling with how to defend their territory and national interests -- without provoking a war.
Asia Insight

China's 3-pronged maritime threat rattles Japan, Philippines and Taiwan

Beijing 'gray zone' aggression focused on islands in strategic 'first island chain'

11 June 2024
Workers assemble electric vehicles at Li Auto's manufacturing base in Changzhou, in China's Jiangsu province, in December 2023.
Asia Insight

China's underutilized factories fan export dump fears in U.S. and Europe

As trade partners raise tariffs, Beijing faces pressure to keep workers on job

4 June 2024
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis transits the South China Sea at sunset, on February 25, 2019. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Southeast Asian leaders would be better served largely ignoring China's competing claims to most of the South China Sea, rather than taking a confrontational approach.
Asia Insight

Leading Asia in an age of tension: Premiers urged to skirt U.S.-China duel

Anwar, Srettha, Mahathir weigh in on Myanmar, Taiwan and more at Future of Asia forum

28 May 2024
The IMF has told Pakistan it must stop subsidizing money-losing entities, such as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as a condition for loans to help prop up its faltering economy. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images)
Asia Insight

Pakistan moves to sell national airline in test case for privatization drive

Dozens of state enterprises on auction block as IMF calls for end of subsidies

21 May 2024
Lawrence Wong, left, will succeed Lee Hsien Loong as Singapore's prime minister on May 15. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by AP and Tomoki Mera)
Asia Insight

New Singapore PM Lawrence Wong's test: Change with continuity

Incoming leader expected to 'refresh' job support, 'listen' to diverse voices

14 May 2024
"Not enough time, not enough support": Uzbekistan, a landlocked country slightly bigger than California, is facing the consequences of a history of poor irrigation, with rising salinity slashing the size of usable growing areas.
Asia Insight

Uzbek farmers battle to save cotton, wheat crops from mortal enemy: salt

Growing salinization crisis bites as cotton exports to Bangladesh skid 80% in 5 years

7 May 2024
Taiwanese on March 18, 2024 commemorate the Sunflower Movement, which has left a deep impression on the island's political life that will be felt by President-elect Lai Ching-te, set to be inaugurated May 20. (Photo by EPA=Jiji)
Asia Insight

Taiwan's Sunflower protest legacy looms large for incoming president Lai

New generations build pressure for change 10 years after movement paved way for DPP wins

30 April 2024
Lawrence Wong, the 51-year-old deputy prime minister of Singapore, will succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on May 15. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Ken Kobayashi, Mayumi Tsumita and Reuters)
Asia Insight

Lawrence Wong, Singapore's next PM, seeks growth in 'troubled world'

From falling births to regional hub race, challenges will mount after May handover

23 April 2024
China's Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2009, makes up nearly one-fifth of the population and is key for policies aiming to spur spending.
Asia Insight

China's Gen Z turns frugal as economy doubts linger

Youth disillusionment raises alarm over 'degradation of consumption'

16 April 2024
With Expo 2025 in Osaka just over a year away, organizers face a host of issues, including a construction logjam. As of March 28, work on only 12 of about 50 country pavilions had begun. (Source photos by Yo Inoue)
Asia Insight

Japan's Expo 2025: Osaka triumph or billion-dollar folly?

World fair site on 'Dream Island' mired in construction delays and doubling of costs

9 April 2024
The No. 8146 bus carries dozens of cleaners and security guards from a working-class area of northern Seoul to the glitzy Gangnam district. Politicians' pledges are not striking a chord with many of these workers ahead of pivotal elections next week.
Asia Insight

South Korea's working class unmoved by election campaign 'lip service'

One early morning bus route provides a journey through inequality in Seoul

2 April 2024
Turbines silhouetted in the sunset at Noshiro Port, Akita, Japan, will form part of the country's biggest offshore wind farm as Japan seeks to allay fears of impacts on fishing communities while ramping up its wind power capacity fivefold by 2030. (Photo by Masayuki Kozono) 
Asia Insight

Japan sails close to offshore wind snags as fisheries, tech challenges lurk

Fishing co-ops must clear plan to connect turbines to central grid amid seabed doubts

26 March 2024
Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of India's main opposition Congress party, arrives in Mumbai on March 16, on the final leg of a nationwide march to connect with voters ahead of the country's general election.
Asia Insight

India opposition fights for relevance versus Modi election juggernaut

As Rahul Gandhi concludes march for 'unity,' his Congress party's coalition frays

19 March 2024
A ship transports containers down the Mekong River. Recently installed Cambodian PM Hun Manet said the $1.7 billion China-backed canal project would allow his country to "breathe through our own nose," diverting its goods for export directly to its own coast rather than via the Vietnam-controlled Mekong Delta. (Photo by Jack Brook)
Asia Insight

Cambodia to divert Mekong trade via China-built canal, vexing Vietnam

Planned Phnom Penh-coast link raises alarms amid regional influence tussle

12 March 2024
Sri Lanka's garment industry is striving to climb the value chain with a focus on sustainability, as the government seeks a green economic renaissance. 
Asia Insight

Sri Lanka cultivates sustainable fashion for an economic revival

Government and garment makers aim to catch green wave to boost competitiveness

5 March 2024