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A street food hawker waits for customers by a roadside in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 12. Photo: EPA
Ageing society

Asian Angle | Asia’s silver dividend can offset ageing’s economic toll

Research shows demographic decline hits productivity, not workforce size. Keeping older workers active through technology is the solution.

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US-China relations

Asian Angle | What the China-US stability pact means for Southeast Asia

China-India relations

Outside In | India and China are cautiously getting closer, thanks to Trump

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Bonds

Macroscope | Bond market sell-off raises stakes for Asia’s tech-driven economies

Stakes are high for Asia’s tech-driven economies amid a global sell-off in bond markets that signals investor fears.

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A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index and the foreign exchange rate between the US dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on May 20. Photo: AP
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index and the foreign exchange rate between the US dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on May 20. Photo: AP
War and conflict

Opinion | Malacca Strait could be the next hinge point if Asia isn’t careful

Straits like Hormuz and Malacca are pressure points where commerce and power converge. What once defined success now defines vulnerability.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Japan no longer Asia’s only rental housing market attracting investors

While Japan remains the most developed market, property investors are finding new opportunities elsewhere in the region.

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China-Asean relations

Asian Angle | China offers Southeast Asia clear advantages in nuclear power

With its experience in exporting nuclear reactors, China can offer long-term energy security and technological upgrades.

Researchers inspect an alloy material sample used to build a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor at a laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics in October last year. Photo: EPA
Researchers inspect an alloy material sample used to build a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor at a laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics in October last year. Photo: EPA
Mainland China

Being Chinese | How to deal with this ‘very Chinese time’ in Western lives

The question is not whether outsiders are getting China or Chinese culture right, but what we choose to do with their attention.

Diplomacy

Opinion | North Korea is not Iran. The same pressure tactics won’t work

North Korea’s nuclear reality and the overlapping interests of the US, China and Russia make tension reduction a prerequisite.

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Climate change

Opinion | How bad water management is turning up the heat on South Asia

Regional governments should stop blaming shortages on the failure of treaties, diverting attention from much-needed internal reforms.

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A man walks across the dry riverbed of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, India, on May 8. Photo: AFP
Diplomacy

Opinion | Just because Brics isn’t a coherent bloc doesn’t mean it’s impotent

The grouping has a future, not as a binding structure demanding policy alignment but as a tool for members to enhance leverage and maximise options.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Illustration: Craig Stephens
US-China relations

Opinion | China shouldn’t view a tired US as signifying a Europe ready to pivot

As fractures within the US’ network of alliances deepen, China’s strategic window opens a little wider, with some key caveats.

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China-Philippines relations

Asian Angle | 3 reasons Marcos’ South China Sea energy gambit won’t work

The Philippine president has mooted the idea of joint oil and gas development. China is willing, but history shows this road leads nowhere.

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Japan

Macroscope | How Japan’s new economic model could inspire others to ‘look east’

As Tokyo seeks to boost its economic security, policymakers are tapping into household wealth and assets to advance industrial ambitions.

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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers a speech at a New Year’s reception hosted by three economic organisations in Tokyo on January 6. Photo: AFP
United States

Opinion | Thanks to Trump, the gloves are off. There may be no new global order

With the UN, IMF and World Bank mired in old power structures, universities could be the platform to shape how the global future unfolds.

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A South Korean protester wears a mask of US President Donald Trump during a protest against Trump’s request to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz, in front of the US embassy in Seoul on March 16. Photo: AFP
A South Korean protester wears a mask of US President Donald Trump during a protest against Trump’s request to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz, in front of the US embassy in Seoul on March 16. Photo: AFP
Asean

Opinion | Why China’s warning over military blocs is finding listeners in Asia

For regional governments, strategy is about preserving options. China has read this instinct carefully and given it a diplomatic vocabulary.

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Banking & finance

Macroscope | Australia’s interest rate rise signals growing hawkish stance in Asia

Reserve Bank of Australia is less an outlier than a harbinger of global monetary trends in the wake of war-induced supply shocks.

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The Philippines

Opinion | US allies in Asia are looking to build middle-power coalitions

Faced with the US’ unreliability and China’s ascent, countries such as the Philippines are creating new networks of partnerships.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Illustration: Craig Stephens
Diplomacy

Opinion | As power flows through submarine cables, law of the sea must evolve

The global commons of the seabed is in effect being governed by private actors with the capital and tech to build and maintain cable systems.

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Asean

Opinion | Asia must unite to avert an Iran war food crisis

The energy and fertiliser shocks come amid crucial planting windows for Asia’s farmers, exposing the region’s dire dependencies.

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Japan

Opinion | The domestic dynamics driving Japan’s remilitarisation

Sanctions, diplomatic warnings and aggressive rhetoric create a perilous loop, reinforcing the very domestic tendencies China seeks to deter.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Japan

Asian Angle | Why Japan-China ties can benefit from promoting people-to-people exchanges

Filling the information gap through direct contact between the two peoples can help improve both countries’ public images and ease tensions.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of their talks in Gyeongju, South Korea, on October 31, 2025. Photo: Kyodo
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of their talks in Gyeongju, South Korea, on October 31, 2025. Photo: Kyodo
Thailand

Asian Angle | A year after corporal punishment ban, Thailand needs to curb resurgence

Two school incidents show corporal punishment remains prevalent, and Thai authorities must strengthen accountability to prevent a recurrence.

United States

Opinion | Why US may regret pushing allies towards greater defence autonomy

The challenge for US policymakers in the aftermath of Trump’s presidency may be to restore US importance among like-minded countries.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Macroscope | How the AI boom is helping Asia weather the Iran war energy shock

The war in Iran might as well be over for investors as positive sentiment, strong corporate earnings and the AI boom lift Asian markets.

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Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index and the dollar-won exchange rate at the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on April 29. Photo: AP
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