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A construction worker stands outside a data centre being built in Sedenak Tech Park in Johor, Malaysia, on September 27, 2024. Emerging AI data centres are giving the region’s main data centre hubs, Japan and Singapore, a run for their money. 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.

27 Dec 2025 - 4:30PMvideocam

Banking & finance

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

26 Dec 2025 - 8:30PMvideocam

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

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

26 Dec 2025 - 4:30PMvideocam

Opinion | Seoul holds the key to US-North Korea denuclearisation talks

South Korea is taking steps to cool tensions – from moving to opening joint military drills to consultations to easing up on immediate denuclearisation demands.

25 Dec 2025 - 5:30AMvideocam

President Donald Trump with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at a dinner event in Gyeongju, South Korea, on October 29. Photo: AP

Opinion | Why China has moved to curb steel exports

China’s pivot to emerging markets has kept its export machine running. But frictions are growing and steel is the most visible flashpoint.

23 Dec 2025 - 7:49AM

Asian Angle | Sabah’s election proves Malaysians want results, not slogans

Local parties crying ‘Sabah First’ largely flopped as voters rejected empty identity rhetoric for proven service records.

21 Dec 2025 - 10:30AM

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Macroscope | Japan’s economic security push heralds rising protectionism in Asia

The emphasis on securing supply chains and stockpiling critical resources is no substitute for free and open trade and investment.

20 Dec 2025 - 4:30PMvideocam

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gestures as US President Donald Trump delivers a speech in front of US Navy personnel on board the USS George Washington aircraft carrier at the US naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, on October 28. Photo: AFP

The Philippines

Asian Angle | Greed and pork barrel politics fuel the Philippines’ fatal floods

Filipinos are paying the ultimate price for a system that favours corrupt lawmakers’ pet projects over scientifically sound flood control.

20 Dec 2025 - 12:00PMvideocam

Outside In | Six years on, are we better prepared for the next pandemic?

Preparedness plans remain a work in progress while health budgets have been sliced by urgent demands and US withdrawal weakens global coordination.

19 Dec 2025 - 8:58PMvideocam

Artificial intelligence

Macroscope | Fears of an AI bubble in Asian stock markets are misplaced

The concentration risk so prevalent elsewhere is mitigated in Asia by a diverse equity landscape and the unique strengths in China.

18 Dec 2025 - 4:30PMvideocam

An employee debugs the AI-powered live-streaming machines at a Rexso workshop on December 8 in Huangshan in China’s Anhui province. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

Asia housing and property

The View | After vitalising its property market, India must shore up its weaknesses

The sustainability of the real estate boom will depend on how well New Delhi can address lingering gaps in affordability and infrastructure.

15 Dec 2025 - 5:43PM

Buildings are seen under construction in Mumbai, India, on May 5. Photo: Reuters

The Philippines

Asian Angle | Is the new Philippines-Germany defence pact built to last?

Rising anxieties over Beijing and Moscow have united Berlin and Manila in an axis that must now be institutionalised to ensure it endures.

14 Dec 2025 - 10:30AM

Opinion | From Singapore to Taiwan, Japan must face its past for Asia’s future

Lasting peace in Asia demands that Tokyo abandons its historical revisionism and refusal to acknowledge past crimes.

13 Dec 2025 - 11:00AM

Chinese overseas

Being Chinese | The 30-word identity pitch of an overseas Chinese

To some, “Are you Chinese?” is a question about nationality. To others, it’s about ethnicity. To cover all bases, I’ve crafted a 30-word answer.

13 Dec 2025 - 11:18AM

A visitor views relics from China’s Bronze Age at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in 2024. Photo: Xinhua

War and conflict

Opinion | Only true repentance from Japan can resolve East Asia’s ‘memory wars’

It is important that Japan, China and South Korea collectively reckon with the legacy of military aggression and wartime atrocities.

13 Dec 2025 - 5:30AM

Illustration: Craig Stephens

Opinion | How Pakistan’s rising confidence could shape a cooperative South Asia

If Gulf investment, Chinese strategic interest and Pakistani willingness align, the region could shift from confrontation to collaboration.

12 Dec 2025 - 5:30AMvideocam

Opinion | Behind Russia’s show of strength in India lies a fragile partnership

Despite Russia’s display of defiance and India’s quest for autonomy, US policy shifts are pushing both into uncharted geopolitical territory.

12 Dec 2025 - 5:46AM

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Opinion | Why India can’t afford to let relations with Russia crumble

Partnering with Moscow brings New Delhi important leverage on Washington and Beijing as well as support for continued strategic autonomy.

11 Dec 2025 - 5:44AMvideocam

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speaks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi after making a press statement at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on December 5. Photo: AFP

China technology

Opinion | Why the Global South is embracing Chinese AI

The US champions AI as an autonomous agent, a content creator. China exports a vision of AI as a digital nervous system for the real economy.

10 Dec 2025 - 10:26AMvideocam

Asia housing and property

The View | Asia’s housing affordability squeeze shows no signs of slowing

Some of the sharpest increases in property values are in economies facing major headwinds or those suffering from an acute shortage of affordable housing.

8 Dec 2025 - 5:23PMvideocam

China-Russia relations

Opinion | Despite their strong ties, Russia and China are emotional opposites

Moscow is haunted by a longing for Western approval in contrast to Beijing, which focuses on borrowing what works and changing what doesn’t.

8 Dec 2025 - 11:41AM

Illustration: Craig Stephens

Asian Angle | Vietnam’s anti-drug police are speaking Gen Z, and it’s working

Ho Chi Minh City’s police have found a way to wrap dry state messaging in viral humour, mirroring China’s digital playbook.

7 Dec 2025 - 10:30AM

A viral social media post showing a faux wedding proposal created by an anti-drugs police unit photo in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Facebook/PC04.CATP

Opinion | Does AI’s rise have to mean job losses? East Asia tells a different story

Studies from Vietnam to South Korea show AI adoption has not cannibalised jobs. Instead of simple mechanisation, economies are synergising.

7 Dec 2025 - 9:30AMvideocam

Opinion | Fashion industry must tailor climate plans to Asian suppliers’ reality

Efforts to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions in the fashion industry will not work if they rest on a Western design paired with Eastern sacrifice.

7 Dec 2025 - 5:30AM

Asian Angle | The Thai influencer bringing viral warfare to Cambodia’s border

Gun Jompalang is a self-styled ‘justice crusader’ with over 9 million followers but no commander. He’s not a soldier, but he is waging war.

6 Dec 2025 - 11:00AM

Self-styled social media influencer Gun Jompalang with Thai officers. Photo: Handout

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