https://www.scmp.com/rss/270341/feed Curtis S. Chin served as US Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank and as a member of the US Treasury Department international affairs teams under Republican and Democratic administrations. He now serves as managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group, LLC, assisting a range of start-up ventures, and as the inaugural Asia Fellow of the Milken Institute, a non-partisan, nonprofit economic think tank. While on the ADB board, Curtis was a leading advocate for institutional reform, and for... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The arrival of 2022 and the Year of the Tiger cannot come fast enough for Hong Kong, Asia, and no doubt the rest of the world. But who was up and who was down in a year in which the health and economic impacts of Covid-19 once again dominated the headlines? In our annual review of Asia’s winners and losers, we find even the good news was bad. Worst year: Afghan women and girls The chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August brought an era of liberalisation to an end, and one of Asia’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3161175/asias-year-review-who-came-out-top-2021?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3161175/asias-year-review-who-came-out-top-2021?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Dec 2021 06:30:19 +0000 The Oscars ceremony was not shown live on Monday morning in Hong Kong for the first time in decades. Concerns had probably been raised about what Beijing might have thought should there be a shout-out to Hong Kong protesters (there was) or an expression of solidarity with the Uygur people (there wasn’t). Many in Hong Kong who took to the streets in 2019 might also have been hoping that director Anders Hammer would win an Oscar for Do Not Split, a short documentary about the protests. (He did... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3131234/oscars-are-more-diverse-now-hollywood-still-has-work-do-stopping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3131234/oscars-are-more-diverse-now-hollywood-still-has-work-do-stopping?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Apr 2021 19:30:06 +0000 Sadly, in every war, there is collateral damage. Too often, that includes everyday people struggling to carry on with their lives amid conflict and disruption. That has certainly been the case as China’s war on the coronavirus has interrupted tens of thousands of international students hoping to begin or resume studies in China. Many are from elsewhere in Asia and have been unable to enter the country because of mainland Chinese student visa restrictions and policies that have prioritised... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3122741/covid-19-collateral-foreign-students-locked-out-china-deserve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3122741/covid-19-collateral-foreign-students-locked-out-china-deserve?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Feb 2021 00:45:06 +0000 The end of 2020 is upon us, followed by the Lunar New Year and the arrival of the Year of the Ox. Neither date could come fast enough. Hong Kong has not escaped unscathed as pandemic restrictions tighten once again. Local cases have surpassed 8,000 with more than 130 deaths. Globally, nearly 1.8 million are dead – including more than 333,000 in the United States and 145,000 in India. Yet, less than 12 months after the novel coronavirus spread with deadly effect worldwide, there lies hope for a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3115571/asias-covid-19-year-review-who-had-smashing-2020-who-had-rough-ride?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3115571/asias-covid-19-year-review-who-had-smashing-2020-who-had-rough-ride?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Dec 2020 20:00:08 +0000 Much has been made of the potential impact of the box office success in the United States of the film Crazy Rich Asians. From heartfelt social media posts by Asian-American celebrities and everyday people to widely watched appearances on news and entertainment programmes by the film’s cast, director and author, the hope is palpable the film could lead to broadening the representation of Asians and Asian-Americans in US films. In parts of Asia, including Singapore where I am now based, some of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/asia/article/2162359/changing-stereotypes-and-world-crazy-rich-asians?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/asia/article/2162359/changing-stereotypes-and-world-crazy-rich-asians?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Sep 2018 11:30:30 +0000 At the recently concluded Future of Finance round table co-hosted by the Bank of Thailand and the Milken Institute to help mark the Thai central bank’s 75th anniversary, a critical point emerged that remains particularly relevant at a time of growing inequality across the Asia-Pacific region, including in both China and the United States. That theme? In a word, “inclusivity”. Among the some 40 leaders in finance who had convened, there was no ignoring the importance of including inclusive... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2140941/fintechs-success-will-be-measured-how-wide-its-reach-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2140941/fintechs-success-will-be-measured-how-wide-its-reach-not?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Apr 2018 03:27:42 +0000 Farewell, 2017. As 2018 dawns, we look back at what made headlines and – fitting in this day – lit up Facebook and other social media in Asia in the year that was. From a US presidential visit to Beijing to the 19th Communist Party congress to the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother at a Malaysian airport this past February, this past year’s news was all too real. Worst Year: Aung San Suu Kyi and the Rohingya people In 2013, Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2126117/best-and-worst-2017-asias-powerful-leaders-won-opposition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2126117/best-and-worst-2017-asias-powerful-leaders-won-opposition?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Dec 2017 03:33:14 +0000 Twenty years ago in Asia – as Hong Kong returned to China under the “one country, two systems” formula, there was hope that the former British colony would set an example for a freer, more progressive China. Those days, for now, seem past as China cracks down on dissent in the run-up to a landmark Communist Party congress, and as Hong Kong jails democracy campaigners over anti-China protests. Hong Kong may no longer be the role model it once was, should Beijing’s moves, unintentional or not,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2113409/hong-kong-dims-asia-can-learn-much-singapore-east-timor-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2113409/hong-kong-dims-asia-can-learn-much-singapore-east-timor-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Oct 2017 03:00:21 +0000 Seven months ago, the world’s attention turned to Hangzhou ( 杭州 ) as leaders representing the Group of 20 largest economies met that September, at what was Barack Obama’s final appearance at a G20 summit as US president. The Hangzhou meeting was also the first-ever G20 summit hosted by China. How long ago and far away that seems as a new US president has moved quickly to dismantle Obama’s initiatives and executive orders, to transform his own campaign promises into reality. For followers of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2085008/beyond-summits-what-evolution-chinas-cities-can-tell-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2085008/beyond-summits-what-evolution-chinas-cities-can-tell-us?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Apr 2017 09:23:30 +0000 Understanding begins with engagement. With that in mind, as 2017 unfolds, there is certainly more reason for greater US-China engagement, and, for that matter, engagement between Hong Kong and the mainland. This should include greater study abroad and student exchange programmes, as well as investments in evaluating and improving schools and teachers. Last year, we saw rising levels of both anti-China and anti-US rhetoric on opposite sides of the Pacific. As the US election year unfolded, China... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2061870/youth-china-and-us-theres-no-better-time-study-abroad-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2061870/youth-china-and-us-theres-no-better-time-study-abroad-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Jan 2017 02:01:46 +0000 Few in Thailand are talking about the ongoing mystery of Gui Minhai. That’s understandable, with the relatively little media attention given to the case of the mainland-born bookseller who is a Swedish citizen, and who went missing from his condominium in the city of Pattaya. As widely reported elsewhere, however, Gui and four colleagues disappeared – one from the streets of Hong Kong, the others in mainland China – over the past few months. READ MORE: Hong Kong’s political booksellers face... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1906401/did-bangkok-choose-look-other-way-abduction-gui-minhai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1906401/did-bangkok-choose-look-other-way-abduction-gui-minhai?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Jan 2016 03:45:30 +0000 Years since the October 2002 and October 2005 terrorist bombings devastated parts of Bali, killing hundreds of tourists and residents, and sending tourism receipts spiralling downwards, fears have returned about travel to Southeast Asia. Where once it might have been Indonesia, or the Philippines after the killing of Chinese tourists on a bus in Manila, this time it is Thailand. After the recent bombing of the Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok, which killed 20 people, Hong Kong quickly raised its... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1855024/can-southeast-asia-remain-top-draw-visitors-china-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1855024/can-southeast-asia-remain-top-draw-visitors-china-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2015 09:24:08 +0000 There's a new dynamic in Asia. From the turbulent Shanghai stock market and the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, to the Philippine challenge to China at a United Nations tribunal over disputed territory, it is not necessarily all going Beijing's way. This, however, need not be bad news, for either China or the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, if it marks the evolution towards more respectful and mature relations between Beijing and its many neighbours and trading partners in the region. Indeed,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1844794/china-can-benefit-if-it-treats-its-aiib-partners-fairness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1844794/china-can-benefit-if-it-treats-its-aiib-partners-fairness?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jul 2015 06:00:00 +0000 US President Barack Obama's recent visit to India may signify that South Asia is, like Southeast Asia, finally getting some well-deserved US attention as part of the so-called American rebalance - or what was once known as the "pivot" - to Asia. That's a welcome change as America wakes up to the fact that there is more to Asia than China, and that an Asian strategy is more than a grab bag of programmes seeking to match China's efforts. That said, the trip may well also have been intended as a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1700235/us-rebalance-must-strengthen-ties-whole-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1700235/us-rebalance-must-strengthen-ties-whole-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2015 04:00:15 +0000 As 2015 unfolds, it's time for one last look at the year we left behind, and who were the winners and losers in Asia. For us, the Rohingya had the worst year in Asia. Stateless, marginalised and persecuted: these are the words used to describe the plight of Myanmar's Muslim minority Rohingya, a people whose very identity Myanmar's leaders decline to recognise. Sectarian riots have killed hundreds. Thousands have fled, easy targets for human traffickers, and many have drowned, fleeing on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1672680/good-bad-and-ugly-side-asia-2014?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1672680/good-bad-and-ugly-side-asia-2014?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2015 07:37:21 +0000 From celebrations in united Germany marking the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall to those in the United States over midterm elections delivering a more evenly divided Washington, what a week it has been for division, past and present. The people of Hong Kong may well have looked at commemorations of Germany's unification with mixed feelings, given ongoing protests by students and others in the special administrative region over what some perceive as mainland China's heavy hand in Hong... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1637265/let-berlin-inspire-world-leaders-begin-breaking-down-walls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1637265/let-berlin-inspire-world-leaders-begin-breaking-down-walls?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Nov 2014 04:30:30 +0000 In recent months, Chinese consumers have seen US companies in China come in for government criticism, if not outright attack, for food safety, price fixing and other unsavoury practices. The not-so-subtle message to China's citizens could well be: don't go thinking that foreign brands, products or behaviour are better than those of China. That message could well be expanded to the behaviour of government leaders, as senior officials in both China and the US have been brought down by corruption... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1598616/win-war-against-corruption-xi-must-tackle-rot-within-system?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1598616/win-war-against-corruption-xi-must-tackle-rot-within-system?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Sep 2014 04:30:45 +0000 A small but powerful exhibition on Manhattan's Upper East Side is helping to mark the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the second world war - at least from a US perspective. But, like the best exhibits, the presentation of past events takes on new meaning in the context of an evolving world, and in this case, the growing economic and military assertiveness of China. In touring the exhibition of old words and images, a very modern, troubling question comes to mind: Does "New China" equal "Old... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1553414/xi-jinpings-asia-asians-mantra-evokes-imperial-japan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1553414/xi-jinpings-asia-asians-mantra-evokes-imperial-japan?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jul 2014 19:24:20 +0000 Having an "Asian" face with a "US ambassador" title, I have often been asked where I am really from. Or, perhaps more politely, just how many generations back did my family emigrate from Asia to the US? I am generally forgiving, even to the comments of how good my English is, as no ill will is intended. And often it reflects the speaker's, American or not, own experiences with immigration and immigrants. For numerous countries in the Asia-Pacific region, immigration remains a contentious issue.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1486776/us-should-make-better-use-its-skilled-asian-immigrants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1486776/us-should-make-better-use-its-skilled-asian-immigrants?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Apr 2014 11:30:15 +0000 When the Hong Kong government tersely announced this week that the central government had decided to change the location and timing of a key meeting of Apec finance ministers from Hong Kong to Beijing this September, the rumours began to fly. Beijing, some speculated, might have been worried about the potential for protests during the high-profile meeting. Others saw it as a sign of the ongoing gradual erosion of Hong Kong's special status and role as China's premier international financial hub.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1436202/apec-host-china-can-show-world-more-open-side?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1436202/apec-host-china-can-show-world-more-open-side?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2014 04:00:45 +0000 Frankly, it need not be moon versus mountains. As Asia looks skyward to the tremendous success of China's 20-year-old, multibillion-dollar space programme, much more needs to be done here on earth to bring business growth to some of the highest parts of Asia and the Pacific, a region still home to the vast majority of the world's poor. Poverty remains a persistent challenge among the people who continue to make their lives in some of the world's most remote mountain regions in Asia, whether in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1385216/private-sector-involvement-needed-end-poverty-asias?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1385216/private-sector-involvement-needed-end-poverty-asias?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2013 13:15:45 +0000 Like so many others, I have seen the media reports of death and destruction that emerged from the Philippines in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan. The initial estimates of the damage were horrendous, but some figures, including the number of estimated fatalities, have mercifully gone down. The latest figures counted about 4,000 dead and over 10 million people affected by the storm known in the Philippines as Yolanda. No uncertainty exists, however, about the intensity of the typhoon and its... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1359392/now-lets-tend-first-needs-storm-shattered-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1359392/now-lets-tend-first-needs-storm-shattered-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Nov 2013 21:07:00 +0000 In English, it's "face". In Korean, it's chae myun. And, for those of us who work in China, we know it as mianzi. US President Barack Obama's cancellation of a planned trip to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum's summit in Indonesia and the East Asia Summit in Brunei got me thinking about diplomacy and the Chinese concept of "face". Contrast Obama's shrinking and now cancelled return trip to Asia with President Xi Jinping's ongoing first trip to Southeast Asia since taking... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1326464/its-all-about-face-obama-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1326464/its-all-about-face-obama-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Oct 2013 16:00:00 +0000 On my last trips to Hong Kong and Singapore, everyone seemed to have an anecdote or a complaint about mainland Chinese tourists. Subways were too crowded. Real estate prices were skyrocketing. Designer boutiques were ignoring local shoppers in favour of poorly behaving, but renminbi-wielding visitors. Some seemed to take on the status of urban myth. There is no question, though, that mainland Chinese tourists are making their presence felt as never before, including in the US. One new Washington... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1299857/carved-stone-martin-luther-kings-dream-will-be-heard-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1299857/carved-stone-martin-luther-kings-dream-will-be-heard-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 With natural gas flowing this month through a controversial Chinese-backed pipeline project connecting resource-rich Burma with energy-hungry China, there remains a clear message to the US and others seeking to expand business relations with the once pariah nation. Reducing attention on what has so far been a successful US "pivot on Burma" would be a mistake, despite continuing concerns over human rights violations and sectarian violence. Certainly, China has not paused. Even as one... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1298127/americas-pivot-asia-must-go-beyond-defence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1298127/americas-pivot-asia-must-go-beyond-defence?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Recent riots in Sweden - by some measures the most "equal" nation on earth - raise some interesting questions about the state of equality in Asia, including in Hong Kong. For several days, the Scandinavian nation was rocked by protests attributed mostly to young immigrants, some of whom set buildings and cars ablaze, perhaps testimony to the reality that inequality exists everywhere. The news also had me revisiting the latest rankings of inequality in Asia, as measured by the so-called Gini... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1255773/how-big-should-income-gap-be-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1255773/how-big-should-income-gap-be-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The resignation of Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda to be Japan's next central bank governor has raised the question of succession at the Manila-based institution. And once again, China seems to be playing the villain: there are persistent rumours of a Chinese challenge to Japan's leadership at the bank. Since the ADB's founding in 1966, Japan has retained a lock on the presidency of the multilateral development bank dedicated to fighting poverty. For 3½ years under presidents... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1177018/chinas-time-adb-helm-not-yet-come?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1177018/chinas-time-adb-helm-not-yet-come?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Certain dates resonate for years. June 4 and September 11 are two examples. Yet others pass by with their significance unnoticed until years later, if at all. With hindsight, the world may well look back at July 13, 2012 as another defining moment - the date of modern China's true emergence as a regional power and player, if not quite yet a superpower by traditional definition. That is the date the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers failed - for the first time in the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1033561/has-chinas-superpower-moment-arrived?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1033561/has-chinas-superpower-moment-arrived?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000