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The Dzungarian Alatau mountain range in Kazakhstan. Photo: Central Asia
Climate change

Opinion | Why China and Europe should care about Central Asia’s water crisis

Central Asian rivers shape Eurasian trade flows, affect global food markets and contribute to geopolitical instability across the region.

Artificial intelligence

Opinion | How ‘ghost workers’ stand at the crossroads of AI development

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China-Philippines relations

Asian Angle | South China Sea: 6 risks facing Philippines, China as conflict threshold lowers

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Trade

Opinion | The India-EU trade pact is a rebuke of US economic coercion

Beyond trade liberalisation, the partnership will weaken Washington’s ability to use tariffs as leverage and dictate the rules of global economic engagement.

From the left, European Council President Antonio Costa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen raise their joined hands at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on January 27. Photo: Handout via dpa
From the left, European Council President Antonio Costa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen raise their joined hands at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on January 27. Photo: Handout via dpa
Japan

Macroscope | Could Japan stop being the ballast of the bond market?

A lower house election victory would give flight to Prime Minister Takaichi’s fiscal expansionism – and introduce upheaval far beyond Japan.

Asean

Asian Angle | ‘Old order is not coming back’: Trump’s US, not China, threatens status quo

American unpredictability is pushing countries to hedge more proactively – and, ironically, soften existing tensions with China.

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United States

Outside In | Gradually, then suddenly, the world is waking up to the US threat

Middle powers are pivoting to Beijing and hedging with new partners as China’s economic displacement of the US rapidly expands.

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US President Donald Trump raises his fist after a “Board of Peace” meeting at the World Economic Forum annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22. Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump raises his fist after a “Board of Peace” meeting at the World Economic Forum annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

Opinion | Trump’s power politics is paving the way to a G2 world order with China

Trump’s actions signal an openness to G2, give China leverage with US allies and open the door for other powers to use coercive force.

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China economy

Opinion | How a rising China is becoming a provider of global public goods

When China provides the hi-tech, low-cost hardware of development and multilateral banks provide regulatory oversight, the Global South wins.

Asia housing and property

The View | Why Thailand, India and Japan’s hotel sectors deserve a closer look

Thailand’s resilience in the face of an eventful 2025, India’s uneven boom in branded hotel supply and Japan’s record visitor numbers amid a row with China are deserving of attention.

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Tourists dressed in traditional Thai attire visit the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun) in Bangkok, Thailand, on January 19. Despite the multiple challenges it faced, the land of smiles still managed to welcome 33 million tourists last year. Photo: EPA
Malaysia

Asian Angle | Malaysia’s PM term limits could backfire unless election cycles are set

To secure his legacy, Anwar Ibrahim must ensure his reform doesn’t accidentally encourage the very political instability he seeks to prevent.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during an event in October 2025. Photo: AFP
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during an event in October 2025. Photo: AFP
United States

Macroscope | Distracted at Davos, leaders are ignoring one critical issue

More attention needs to be paid to the state of US and global finances.

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Asean

Asian Angle | What a US-China ‘grand bargain’ would mean for Southeast Asia

Washington’s Venezuela raid has resurrected old fears about ‘spheres of influence’, sounding alarm bells for Southeast Asian autonomy.

Chinese overseas

Being Chinese | A Chinese Singaporean’s dilemma: should I change my surname?

My grandparents lost their original surnames by force of circumstance. Now that I have the luxury of choice, do I restore my family name?

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Door gods glower at Thian Hock Keng, Singapore’s oldest Hokkien temple, in 2022. Now a national monument, the temple was built and dedicated to Ma Zu, the protector of seafarers, in the 1840s, an era when long journeys could only be made by sea. Photo: Shutterstock
United States

Opinion | From Venezuela to Greenland, Trump is using US power to rewrite the rules

What troubles many is the inconsistency emanating from Washington. When power underwrites rules, principles become negotiable.

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US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on January 19. Photo: AP
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on January 19. Photo: AP
Diplomacy

Opinion | Why so many states reject bloc rivalry to choose partnership with China

It’s a calculated choice to keep growth, infrastructure momentum and policy space alive in a world that punishes the economically exposed.

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Middle East

Opinion | Will Iran’s instability force China to rethink its Middle East strategy?

The assumption that domestic unrest can be treated as background noise, unlikely to disrupt energy flows, is becoming increasingly untenable.

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Energy

Opinion | Clean energy works at scale. Now it must be coordinated

The next decade will be defined not only by new clean energy capacity, but by how well grids, storage and demand systems are connected and optimised.

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Staff members of the State Grid Yantai electric power supply company work at an offshore photovoltaic power project in the waters of Zhaoyuan city, eastern China’s Shandong province on November 15, 2024. Photo: Xinhua
Staff members of the State Grid Yantai electric power supply company work at an offshore photovoltaic power project in the waters of Zhaoyuan city, eastern China’s Shandong province on November 15, 2024. Photo: Xinhua
Greenland

Opinion | Greenland’s stress test of Nato will ripple beyond the Arctic

Greenland is a test case for how alliances handle sovereignty and trust amid great power rivalry, with important consequences for Asia.

US-Venezuela conflict

Opinion | Why the US really wants Venezuela’s oil

To win the geopolitical contest, a country needs ample resources, a self-sustaining production system – and the backing of a wider economic bloc.

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Diplomacy

Asian Angle | China has a worthy blueprint to improve the UN. Why is the West ignoring it?

China’s Global Governance Initiative seeks to end ‘might is right’, but the West insists on viewing it through a dusty Cold War lens.

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(From right) Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. Photo: EPA
Asean

Asian Angle | To win the future, Southeast Asia must rewrite its industrial rule book

Success relies on five key pillars, including deeper regional coordination and targeted industrial upgrading.

A semiconductor chip with “Made in Malaysia” on it. Electrical and electronics now account for 40 per cent of Malaysia’s exports. Photo: Shutterstock
A semiconductor chip with “Made in Malaysia” on it. Electrical and electronics now account for 40 per cent of Malaysia’s exports. Photo: Shutterstock
China society

Outside In | We are speeding towards a demography of loneliness

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

The Brussels effect is real but so is Europe’s strategic subordination to the US. For China, and Asia, this means proceeding with pragmatism.

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Diplomacy

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

Beijing realises that maritime leadership will be measured not just by fleets and bases but also by who protects the planet’s last great commons.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
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