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Around the world, more people are growing up as only children; marrying late, if at all; having children late, if at all; and living alone in old age. Photo: Shutterstock
China society

Outside In | Shrinking families have left us isolated and lonely in just a generation

The swarming sociability of family life is fading as one-person households and lonely deaths rise. Coping with loneliness is now a life skill.

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European Union

Opinion | An internally split Europe can never fully engage China and Asia

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Diplomacy

Opinion | High Seas Treaty will both boost China’s power and hold it accountable

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India

Opinion | Is India fuelling an arms race in Asia or closing a deterrence gap?

The challenge for New Delhi is to solve its deterrence shortfall without letting competition harden into permanent confrontation.

Indian soldiers take part in a military drill during a media tour ahead of India’s Independence Day, near the Line of Control that divides India and Pakistan at Sunderbani, Jammu and Kashmir, India, on August 12, 2025. Photo: AP
Indian soldiers take part in a military drill during a media tour ahead of India’s Independence Day, near the Line of Control that divides India and Pakistan at Sunderbani, Jammu and Kashmir, India, on August 12, 2025. Photo: AP
Diplomacy

Opinion | Why China now needs North Korea’s denuclearisation

As optimism grows over an end to the Ukraine war, a weakening of Moscow’s support for Pyongyang may give Beijing new leverage to stabilise the Korean peninsula.

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Asean

Opinion | Why US ops in Venezuela have shaken Asia-Pacific’s middle powers

Middle powers fear a return to ‘rules of the jungle’ geopolitics as rival powers carve out spheres of influence.

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Asia housing and property

The View | 3 factors Asia’s real estate investors must watch in 2026

Asia might have sidestepped the worst of Trump’s tariffs, but investors should focus on price growth, Japan’s resilience and the sustainability of the data centre boom.

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Residential and commercial buildings in Tokyo on August 18, 2025. Home prices rose 56 per cent year on year in the Japanese capital in 2025. Photo: dpa
Residential and commercial buildings in Tokyo on August 18, 2025. Home prices rose 56 per cent year on year in the Japanese capital in 2025. Photo: dpa
Indonesia

Asian Angle | Indonesia’s digital 2045 ambition rests on a fragile seabed spine

With few domestic repair ships and convoluted laws, Indonesia struggles to safeguard the 115,000km of cables powering its digital future.

Protests around the world

Opinion | From memes to the streets: Gen Z’s fight back against corruption

Youth-led movements are too often treated as fleeting emotional outbursts, even though they express structured political demands.

Legacy of war in Asia

Opinion | Amid historical tensions with Japan, Hong Kong must engage for the future

Remembering the pain of the Nanking massacre does not preclude engagement, but ensures lessons of the past strengthen our shared commitment to peace.

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Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and government officials at the ceremony of the Nanking massacre memorial held at the government’s headquarters on December 13. Photo: Jonathan Wong
North Korea nuclear crisis

Opinion | Maduro’s fate in Venezuela hardens North Korea’s nuclear resolve

It confirms Pyongyang’s belief that leaders seen as thorns in the US side who lack nuclear weapons ultimately fall victim to US intervention.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Illustration: Craig Stephens
China’s military

Opinion | How China’s history links military strength to fighting corruption

Lessons from the first Sino-Japanese War in 1895 shape Beijing’s drive to build a PLA defined by not just advanced weapons, but also institutional integrity.

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North Korea nuclear crisis

Opinion | As denuclearisation stalls, China will shape stability on Korean peninsula

South Korean leader’s Beijing visit makes clear need to manage inter-Korean tensions and establish stability en route to denuclearisation.

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Sustainability

Opinion | Why Shein doesn’t have to be the model for the fashion industry

Although the fast fashion label had a bumper 2025 while familiar brands faced collapse, the industry should not conclude that speed and scale are everything.

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Police secure the area as people queue to enter a department store, during the opening of Shein’s first physical outlet in Paris, France, on November 5, 2025. Photo: Reuters
South China Sea

Opinion | Why coastguards, not warships, are shaping future of South China Sea

The test is not claimants resolving their disputes but whether they preserve the infrastructure that keeps encounters from becoming a crisis.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Illustration: Craig Stephens
Bangladesh

Asian Angle | Bangladesh needs ‘structural’ change, but how will it get there?

As Bangladesh heads into elections next year, it must tread the challenge of political transition with more care and thoughtfulness.

Myanmar

As I see it | Why China is Myanmar’s only real hope

A general election won’t end the country’s brutal civil war, but regional coordination by key neighbouring countries without Western interference might.

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Australia

Opinion | Australia is losing its ability to engage Asia on its own terms

With security increasingly tied to regional developments, Australia’s eroding Asia literacy risks shutting Canberra out of crucial decisions.

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Chinatown in Melbourne, seen in 2020. Despite its strong trade and people-to-people links to Asia, reinforced by waves of migration, Australia’s Asia literacy has steadily declined. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinatown in Melbourne, seen in 2020. Despite its strong trade and people-to-people links to Asia, reinforced by waves of migration, Australia’s Asia literacy has steadily declined. Photo: Shutterstock
War and conflict

Opinion | If Trump wants a deal with China, he must rein in US allies in Asia

From Manila to Tokyo, domestic political dynamics are increasing the risks of a dangerous confrontation between Washington and Beijing.

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Environment

Opinion | Forest conservation must be long-term priority for Southeast Asia

The region’s challenges are primarily political as underfunding and business interests create fragmented institutions, weak enforcement and poor data.

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Asia housing and property

The View | How AI helped Asia’s real estate sector pass the tariff stress test

While multiple factors are at play, this year’s tech exuberance helped the region’s property markets stay afloat.

Tourists take photos at the Lotte World Tower’s observation deck in Seoul on September 5. Photo : Xinhua
Artificial intelligence

Opinion | Asia needs AI talent to fuel its future growth

As governments around the region take steps to upskill workers for an AI-driven world, companies must also do their part.

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An usher directs an attendee to a seat for a seminar at an AI Expo convention, in Tokyo on August 27. Photo: AP
An usher directs an attendee to a seat for a seminar at an AI Expo convention, in Tokyo on August 27. Photo: AP
Artificial intelligence

Macroscope | Can AI deliver the economic goods and high returns? Don’t count on it

The dash towards AI might become a rout as the public rebels against the environmental costs while investors worry about the returns.

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Banking & finance

Opinion | To harness crypto ingenuity, financial threat must first be neutralised

Future of money must be shaped by competition between private ingenuity and public purpose, not by rent seeking and speculative bubbles.

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Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Outside In | As the US pursues unilateralism, China faces challenging task as Apec host

China’s return as Apec chair is an opportunity to show that both the organisation and its message of multilateralism are as relevant as ever.

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US President Donald Trump, left, and President Xi Jinping speak as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. Photo: Reuters
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