https://www.scmp.com/rss/323050/feed Our experts on Asia guide you through the big issues facing the region en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Dicky Yordan Dicky Yordan Somewhere in Manila, a journalist reported a scene where tricycle drivers queued since six in the morning for a government cash handout worth US$84 – compensation for fuel prices that have surged since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. The Philippines has also become the first country to declare a state of national energy emergency. In Hanoi, petrol stations are rationing by the hour and unleaded prices have climbed more than 20 per cent in a matter of weeks. In Jakarta, the government is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348970/hormuz-sending-southeast-asia-warning-and-we-can-no-longer-ignore-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348970/hormuz-sending-southeast-asia-warning-and-we-can-no-longer-ignore-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 04:00:27 +0000 Marianne Hanson Marianne Hanson Israel’s avowed goal in the Middle East war is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Yet the double standard associated with this is hardly sustainable in the long run. The worst-kept secret in the world of nuclear politics is that Israel possesses a formidable arsenal of nuclear weapons. It began developing these in the 1950s and reached a fully operational capability by the late 1960s. Although Israel refuses to confirm or deny this fact, arms control organisations have assessed that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348192/one-rule-israel-and-another-iran-risks-nuclear-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348192/one-rule-israel-and-another-iran-risks-nuclear-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 03:30:12 +0000 Francis C. Domingo Francis C. Domingo The Philippines has exerted tremendous effort in conducting internal security operations since it gained its independence from the United States. Given the country’s reliance on Washington’s security umbrella until the 1990s, its military never effectively developed the capabilities for territorial defence operations. Indeed, the Korean war of 1950-1953 is the only overseas conflict in which Philippine military forces were deployed in combat operations. This preoccupation with internal security... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348188/philippine-military-must-transform-not-just-modernise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348188/philippine-military-must-transform-not-just-modernise?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 03:00:10 +0000 Ian Storey Ian Storey If everything goes according to plan, Indonesia will be in possession of an aircraft carrier come Armed Forces Day on October 5. When that happens, it will become only the second country in Southeast Asia, after Thailand, to operate such a vessel. But this does not mean Indonesia’s maritime power will increase significantly. The issue here is prestige, not combat power. The warship in question is the Italian navy’s Giuseppe Garibaldi. The 14,000-tonne flat-top was commissioned in 1985 and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3347362/indonesias-new-aircraft-carrier-more-vanity-project-war-machine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3347362/indonesias-new-aircraft-carrier-more-vanity-project-war-machine?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 02:00:17 +0000 Syaza Shukri Syaza Shukri Malaysia’s recent enforcements and cancellations linked to LGBTQ-related activities have ignited debate about whether the government is backsliding on reform. Rather than reading these moves purely as contradicting past administrations’ policies, these government actions may be better understood as an attempt to balance two political imperatives. For the political establishment, appearing conservative – and being conservative – remains central to political survival in a context where... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3347361/malaysias-lgbtq-crackdowns-arent-hypocrisy-theyre-politics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3347361/malaysias-lgbtq-crackdowns-arent-hypocrisy-theyre-politics?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 03:30:15 +0000 Barbora Valockova Barbora Valockova What does the world’s digital economy rest on? Thousands of kilometres of fibre-optic cable lying on the ocean floor and, increasingly, in the crosshairs of great-power rivalry. The confluence of recent subsea cable disruptions, gaps in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and intensifying great-power competition has elevated this underwater infrastructure from a technical and commercial concern to a security issue – characterised as “this century’s hidden battleground”. It has... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346525/underwater-and-unprotected-why-asean-and-eu-must-secure-subsea-lifelines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346525/underwater-and-unprotected-why-asean-and-eu-must-secure-subsea-lifelines?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Ben Dunant Ben Dunant Myanmar’s new parliament will convene next week, following an election tightly stage-managed by the junta. The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will enjoy a commanding majority and the party of former generals can be expected to preserve the interests of the military and its associates. It’s unclear just how closely these broader interests align with the political ambitions of junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. He does not formally lead the USDP, whose majority means it can... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346527/myanmars-junta-staged-election-it-couldnt-stage-legitimacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346527/myanmars-junta-staged-election-it-couldnt-stage-legitimacy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 04:00:13 +0000 Napon Jatusripitak,Duncan McCargo Napon Jatusripitak,Duncan McCargo An iconic “Gang of Four” poster defined the Bhumjaithai Party’s 2026 rebrand. Tailored to project an image of professionalism, signal managerial competence and court the votes of Thailand’s urban middle class, the poster featured party leader and current Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul fronted by three recently recruited technocrats: Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas – all of whom Anutin pledged to reinstate... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345740/how-win-election-thailand-stage-rebrand-rely-rural-votes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345740/how-win-election-thailand-stage-rebrand-rely-rural-votes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Donald Rothwell Donald Rothwell The Iranian diaspora has been celebrating and governments around the world have generally not mourned the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in last weekend’s US and Israeli air strikes on Iran. While there has been much political justification for these attacks from Washington and Israel, neither has sought to legally justify their conduct. No real effort has been made to reference the acknowledged right of self-defence, most likely because the evidence did not exist. In other words, there was no... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345741/australia-needs-make-its-stance-iran-attacks-known?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345741/australia-needs-make-its-stance-iran-attacks-known?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 David Lam David Lam In late December, Grok – the AI model developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI – released a feature that allowed users to generate non-consensual sexualised images of women and children. Within a few weeks, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines took the unusual step of banning Grok after they deemed xAI’s initial mitigations insufficient. The ban was lifted only after xAI placed new restrictions on Grok’s image-generation capabilities. While this episode was resolved, it underscores the risk that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344912/southeast-asia-needs-ai-sovereignty-grok-scandal-proved-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344912/southeast-asia-needs-ai-sovereignty-grok-scandal-proved-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 04:00:16 +0000 Stephen Olson Stephen Olson The much-anticipated Supreme Court ruling on US President Donald Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to implement his tariff regime has been handed down. In a sharp rebuke to his administration, the nation’s highest court has ruled that Trump’s use of the IEEPA authority was unconstitutional. Other tariffs implemented under separate statutes, such as the sector-specific Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs, are unaffected. What are the broader implications... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344911/southeast-asia-do-not-mistake-trumps-tariff-defeat-reprieve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344911/southeast-asia-do-not-mistake-trumps-tariff-defeat-reprieve?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 04:00:10 +0000 Alex Capri Alex Capri 2026 has begun with a worsening trust deficit, as geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China ruptures the international system. Much of this mistrust stems from an escalating technology race. At centre stage is artificial intelligence – the foundational technology for virtually all industries, from hyper-scaled computer networks and data centres to self-learning “cognitive” machines and advanced semiconductor production. The US and China now face a prisoner’s dilemma in military... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344163/who-will-save-world-us-china-ai-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344163/who-will-save-world-us-china-ai-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Feb 2026 05:00:08 +0000 Ivan Franceschini,Charlotte Setijadi,Ling Li Ivan Franceschini,Charlotte Setijadi,Ling Li “I was running from the war, and I got to a war again.” This is how Eric, a young man from central Africa, described how he ended up at a scam compound in Cambodia – and then stranded in the country with no way out. His story is like that of many people deceived into the scamming world. After fleeing conflict in his home country and living in extreme deprivation, Eric – not his real name – received an email offering a US$2,000-per-month job in Cambodia. The recruiter quickly persuaded him to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343519/cambodias-scam-factory-survivors-find-no-escape-freedom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343519/cambodias-scam-factory-survivors-find-no-escape-freedom?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 04:00:18 +0000 Sharon Seah Sharon Seah Derided by most international observers and the Myanmar diaspora as a sham, the recently concluded three-phase elections in Myanmar have entrenched military rule under a new constitutional government. For Asean, the outcome throws into sharp relief an increasingly uncomfortable question: should it continue to marginalise the intransigent junta until it complies with the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus (5PC), or find a way to re-engage without betraying the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ own... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343518/how-asean-can-resolve-its-myanmar-dilemma-post-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343518/how-asean-can-resolve-its-myanmar-dilemma-post-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 04:30:18 +0000 Ian Storey Ian Storey Vietnam has ambitious plans to build a series of nuclear power plants to power its fast-developing economy, with several countries lined up to facilitate the transition. Still, the country’s nuclear power ambitions face immense challenges. At the recently concluded congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, General Secretary To Lam made a bold pledge to grow the economy by at least 10 per cent annually until 2030. To achieve that lofty goal, Vietnam will have to at least double its current... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342714/vietnams-renewed-nuclear-power-push-faces-formidable-hurdles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342714/vietnams-renewed-nuclear-power-push-faces-formidable-hurdles?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2026 03:30:12 +0000 Treethep Srisa-nga Treethep Srisa-nga On Sunday, Thai voters will do two things at once: elect a new House of Representatives and decide, via referendum, whether to begin drafting a new constitution. Yet Thailand’s recent politics rarely run in a straight line from ballots to a functioning government. The question is whether the next administration can loosen the unelected constraints that shape who governs and what elected leaders can do. Despite two elections since the 2019 transition from military rule, the pattern remains... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342708/thailands-election-will-pass-verdict-architecture-elite-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342708/thailands-election-will-pass-verdict-architecture-elite-control?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Feb 2026 03:00:24 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall It starts as a distant series of distorted notes, carried on the wind through Tokyo’s suburbs. Gradually, it comes closer and the noise builds. Eventually, the van rounds a corner and I am subjected to the full power of a sound system that would not be out of place at a rock concert. Flags flutter from the rear of the white van, which has its party affiliation emblazoned across the bonnet and down both sides. A man in a baseball cap declaring his political preference is behind the wheel and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342639/annoying-or-background-noise-japans-sound-trucks-full-blast-election-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342639/annoying-or-background-noise-japans-sound-trucks-full-blast-election-time?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 07:23:06 +0000 Lucio Blanco Pitlo III Lucio Blanco Pitlo III Escalating clashes in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China have not only raised the urgency of a regional Code of Conduct but have created a volatile environment where the threshold for war is lowering and red lines are vanishing. As diplomatic efforts stall, the fraught ties between Manila and Beijing are creating a complex crisis defined by six key risks, ranging from the normalisation of violent skirmishes to a dangerous entanglement with cross-strait tensions. First, there... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341871/south-china-sea-6-risks-facing-philippines-and-china-conflict-threshold-lowers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341871/south-china-sea-6-risks-facing-philippines-and-china-conflict-threshold-lowers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 03:00:32 +0000 Sophie Wushuang Yi Sophie Wushuang Yi For decades, the defining debate in international relations centred on whether China, as it developed into the world’s second-largest economy, would seek to revise the established world order. Would Beijing demand a greater share of global resources? Would it challenge American primacy? The non-Chinese speaking world watched anxiously for signs of Chinese revisionism, debating the “Thucydides Trap” – the theory that a rising power and an established hegemon are destined for conflict. Enormous... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341875/forget-china-threat-real-disruption-trumps-us-old-order-not-coming-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341875/forget-china-threat-real-disruption-trumps-us-old-order-not-coming-back?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 03:00:15 +0000 Alan Robles Alan Robles Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has revealed his struggle with an abdominal ailment all while grappling with a string of political woes that would churn even the strongest of stomachs – impeachment complaints, plunging ratings and simmering public anger over corruption. Yet he has assured Filipinos there is nothing to worry about on the health front. But on Wednesday, almost a week after his disclosure, the president missed an event at the palace: an awards ceremony for outstanding... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341584/whats-presidents-stomach-marcos-health-problems-call-mind-past-leaders-woes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341584/whats-presidents-stomach-marcos-health-problems-call-mind-past-leaders-woes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 02:00:16 +0000 Lee Hwok-Aun Lee Hwok-Aun Anwar Ibrahim started this year with a spring in his step. On January 5, his “new year mandate” speech announced a raft of economic relief measures for households and small and medium-sized enterprises, alongside a few institutional reforms. Quite saliently, he also announced legislation to limit the Malaysian prime minister’s term in office. While these plans for 2026 have been on the cards for some time, it is important to note that their roll-out follows Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) trouncing in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341040/malaysias-pm-term-limits-could-backfire-unless-election-cycles-are-set?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341040/malaysias-pm-term-limits-could-backfire-unless-election-cycles-are-set?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 02:00:32 +0000 William Choong,Joanne Lin William Choong,Joanne Lin The United States’ military operation in Venezuela, culminating in the capture and removal of President Nicolas Maduro, might at first have appeared distant to Southeast Asia. What should concern the region, however, is not geography but the logic underpinning Washington’s action: a growing willingness to act unilaterally, in this case undermining sovereignty and invoking presidential powers to justify the use of force against a perceived threat. More troubling still, it dusts off the old... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341041/what-us-china-grand-bargain-would-mean-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341041/what-us-china-grand-bargain-would-mean-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 02:00:19 +0000 Chandran Nair Chandran Nair Many around the world will recall the striking image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi standing side by side at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in September. It was there that China unveiled one of its most consequential diplomatic proposals in recent memory: the Global Governance Initiative (GGI). Yet a quick scan reveals how little coverage this moment received in mainstream Western media. Asking “why”... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3340205/china-has-worthy-blueprint-improve-un-system-why-west-ignoring-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3340205/china-has-worthy-blueprint-improve-un-system-why-west-ignoring-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jan 2026 02:30:10 +0000 Marco Kamiya Marco Kamiya How can developing economies in Asia raise productivity, create jobs and align growth with decarbonisation and energy efficiency? According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) latest report, the answer lies in more innovative and targeted industrial policies. The report offers timely lessons for Southeast Asia. UNIDO’s study lays out a comprehensive framework grounded in “foresight” and “megatrends” analysis, calling for an industrial push that could reshape... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3340198/win-future-southeast-asia-must-rewrite-its-industrial-rule-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3340198/win-future-southeast-asia-must-rewrite-its-industrial-rule-book?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jan 2026 02:30:08 +0000 I Gusti Bagus Dharma Agastia I Gusti Bagus Dharma Agastia Beneath the waves lies the infrastructure forming the backbone of global connectivity. Around 98 per cent of all international electronic communications travel through submarine cable systems laid across the world’s seabeds. Eleven more cable systems are currently being planned, including the trans-Pacific Bifrost network, which will connect Southeast Asian nations such as Singapore and Indonesia with the western United States. While most cable breakages stem from wear and tear, natural causes... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3339417/indonesias-digital-2045-ambition-rests-fragile-seabed-spine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3339417/indonesias-digital-2045-ambition-rests-fragile-seabed-spine?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 03:00:15 +0000 Amani Braa Amani Braa In 2025, youth-led protests erupted everywhere from Morocco to Nepal, Madagascar and Europe. A generation refused to remain silent in the face of economic precariousness, corruption and eroding democratic norms and institutions. Although they arose in different contexts, all the protests were met with the same playbook of responses: repression, contempt and suspicion towards youth dismissed as irresponsible. In Morocco, the #Gen212 movement, which originated on social media, denounced the high... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3339386/memes-streets-gen-zs-fight-back-against-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3339386/memes-streets-gen-zs-fight-back-against-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2026 08:00:21 +0000 Xu Peng Xu Peng Southeast Asia has become “ground zero” for the global online scamming industry, according to the UN, costing victims billions of US dollars each year. Scam operations are run by Chinese crime syndicates from fortified compounds in countries like Myanmar, which has been embroiled in a nationwide armed conflict since 2021. The size of the scam industry has led to sustained security crackdowns in recent years. This has included a number of joint operations involving police forces from multiple... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3338564/how-uneven-borders-fuel-myanmars-vast-and-resilient-scam-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3338564/how-uneven-borders-fuel-myanmars-vast-and-resilient-scam-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 05:00:25 +0000 Kamal Ahmad Kamal Ahmad Things had to change in Bangladesh. The brutality of an autocratic regime which tolerated little dissent gravely undermined its legitimacy. Its relentless kleptocracy exposed a capacity for private greed and theft that had no limits, turning it into a criminal state. The surrender of a proud nation’s sovereignty to a giant neighbour for its guarantee of an illicit political status quo ultimately proved untenable. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was the right man at the right hour to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3338565/bangladesh-needs-structural-change-how-will-it-get-there?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3338565/bangladesh-needs-structural-change-how-will-it-get-there?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2026 08:00:20 +0000 Arnold Puyok Arnold Puyok Malaysia’s long-anticipated 17th state election in Sabah concluded last month with results that were at once expected and surprising. Heightened calls for greater autonomy and more leadership by local-based parties proved less decisive than expected, with the “Sabah First” slogan belying the fact that the state’s divided politics will continue. With 1.7 million voters choosing from a record 22 parties and 596 candidates, the ballot resembled a democratic marketplace: rich in options but... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3337113/sabahs-election-proves-malaysians-want-results-not-slogans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3337113/sabahs-election-proves-malaysians-want-results-not-slogans?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Dec 2025 02:30:08 +0000 JC Punongbayan JC Punongbayan The fact that the Philippines is at the receiving end of countless typhoons every year is undeniable. But a miserable mix of corruption and the failure to execute and implement a slew of flood control projects has given the country the perfect storm. In the span of just one week, the Philippines was pummelled by two devastating typhoons. Typhoon Kalmaegi (known locally as Tino) made landfall on November 4, leaving a trail of destruction across the Visayas and Palawan, with at least 232 people... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3337111/greed-and-pork-barrel-politics-fuel-philippines-fatal-floods?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3337111/greed-and-pork-barrel-politics-fuel-philippines-fatal-floods?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Dec 2025 04:00:18 +0000 Frances Mangosing Frances Mangosing The Philippines and Germany have entered a new chapter in their bilateral relations this year, placing special emphasis on tightening security and defence ties. In May, Manila and Berlin committed themselves to advancing their security partnership by signing an agreement on defence cooperation. The deal increases collaboration between their military and defence establishments in logistics, cybersecurity, defensive weaponry and UN peacekeeping. It builds on a 1974 agreement that enabled the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3336267/new-philippines-germany-defence-pact-built-last?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3336267/new-philippines-germany-defence-pact-built-last?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Dec 2025 02:30:10 +0000 Walter Woon Walter Woon The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers Shigure, Isokaze, Hamakaze and Yukizake were assigned to escort duties when convoys were sent to Singapore to collect badly needed supplies for Japan during the second world war. The destroyers protected the light carrier Ryuho carrying a load of aircraft bound for the Japanese colony of Taiwan. This brief synopsis appears in episode six of the second series of the Japanese anime Kantai Collection (“Fleet Girls Collection”), also known as KanColle, in which... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3336265/singapore-taiwan-japan-must-face-its-past-asias-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3336265/singapore-taiwan-japan-must-face-its-past-asias-future?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2025 03:00:28 +0000 Dien Nguyen An Luong Dien Nguyen An Luong In Vietnam, saying “I’ll call the police on you” is a familiar tease, shorthand for the authority everyone instinctively understands. Thus, it was striking when a Ho Chi Minh City police unit’s Facebook page recently reinvented itself as a meme hub. Until October, the official Facebook page run by Ho Chi Minh City’s anti-drug police looked like any other official page feed, with routine updates, arrest photos and boilerplate warnings. Then, on October 5, it abruptly shifted into playful Gen Z... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3335394/vietnams-anti-drug-police-are-speaking-gen-z-and-its-working?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3335394/vietnams-anti-drug-police-are-speaking-gen-z-and-its-working?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Dec 2025 02:30:09 +0000 Surachanee Sriyai Surachanee Sriyai When Malaysia brokered a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia in July, many hoped the guns would finally fall silent along the border. Instead, new noises have filled the front lines: the hum of drones, the whirr of smartphones and, in one surreal moment, the wail of “ghost sounds” blasted across the Cambodian side. The source of these sonic bursts was not a military psychological operations unit, but someone who goes by “Gun Jompalang” – possibly Thailand’s most controversial self-styled... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3335393/thai-influencer-bringing-viral-warfare-cambodias-border?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3335393/thai-influencer-bringing-viral-warfare-cambodias-border?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2025 03:00:29 +0000 Jared Bissinger Jared Bissinger Over the past year, China has increasingly wielded its economic leverage in Myanmar to tilt the scales towards the military’s State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC), helping it retake territory and re-exert control over the economy. China has done so by combining its economic heft and proximity to Myanmar with a policy of fostering ties with both state and non-state actors, then leveraging these to its advantage. Western countries, by contrast, have imposed sanctions yet continue to trade... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3334563/why-china-succeeding-myanmar-while-west-has-been-sidelined?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3334563/why-china-succeeding-myanmar-while-west-has-been-sidelined?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Nov 2025 05:30:09 +0000 Nguyen Khac Giang Nguyen Khac Giang Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, has spent his first year on an unusually busy diplomatic circuit, but one visit has left analysts scratching their heads. In October, just two months after visiting Seoul, where Vietnam signed US$250 million in South Korean arms deals and deepened ties with its largest foreign investor, To Lam flew to Pyongyang to stand beside Kim Jong-un at a military parade, making him the first general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam since Nong Duc Manh in 2007 to set... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3334564/hidden-domestic-agenda-behind-vietnams-baffling-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3334564/hidden-domestic-agenda-behind-vietnams-baffling-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Nov 2025 05:30:14 +0000 Bill Hayton Bill Hayton A recent government reshuffle has reopened questions about the depth of Britain’s commitment to Asia. The role of minister for the Indo-Pacific is now a part-time job, held by an undersecretary of state who also serves as minister for equalities. While the change was being announced in September, British naval ships were steaming through the Sea of Japan for joint exercises with Japan and South Korea in a demonstration of the United Kingdom’s ability to project power and influence into Asia. But... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3333876/self-interest-now-main-driver-britains-asia-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3333876/self-interest-now-main-driver-britains-asia-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Nov 2025 01:16:33 +0000 Donald Low Donald Low Few cities have managed to shake off an industrial past as thoroughly as Kaohsiung. Once defined by its shipyards, heavy industry and petrochemicals, Taiwan’s third largest city has undergone a transformation that is nothing short of remarkable. In the last two decades, Kaohsiung has become a green, services-oriented cultural city. While it lacks the scale, resources and iconic urban attractions of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore or Dubai, the home of Taiwan’s second busiest airport exudes a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3333732/reinventing-kaohsiung-taiwans-port-city-transcends-its-industrial-past?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3333732/reinventing-kaohsiung-taiwans-port-city-transcends-its-industrial-past?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Nov 2025 05:30:09 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles The death of Juan Ponce Enrile has brought an end to one of the most complicated lives in Philippine politics – a man I covered for decades, whose brilliance, ruthlessness and endless reinventions shaped the country as much as they confounded those who tried to understand him. A central figure in the Philippines’ modern history, Enrile served as Ferdinand Marcos Snr’s defence minister during martial law, defected during the 1986 People Power revolt, and eventually reclaimed power as Senate... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3333147/philippines-political-chameleon-juan-ponce-enriles-complicated-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3333147/philippines-political-chameleon-juan-ponce-enriles-complicated-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Nov 2025 02:00:44 +0000 Eugene Mark,Panarat Anamwathana Eugene Mark,Panarat Anamwathana When two young lives ended in suicide in Thailand earlier this year it cast a spotlight on a swelling mental health crisis among the nation’s youth. The reasons for these tragedies range from heartbreak to mental health struggles, but together these deaths serve as a warning – evidence of a generation beset by anxiety, loneliness and despair. As traditional support systems falter, many young Thais are seeking solace in substances – alcohol, drugs and, increasingly, cannabis – reflecting a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3332862/thailands-youth-mental-health-crisis-fuelled-neglect-and-legalised-weed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3332862/thailands-youth-mental-health-crisis-fuelled-neglect-and-legalised-weed?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Nov 2025 02:00:16 +0000 Surachanee Sriyai Surachanee Sriyai When governments block or restrict access to social media, the backlash is often swift. Such actions rarely amount to mere censorship or content moderation; rather, they form part of a broader arsenal of digital repression. States now routinely deploy surveillance, disinformation, targeted arrests and disruptions to connectivity to shape the public information sphere and discourse. But the effectiveness of these measures hinges on the state’s ability to calibrate its actions, particularly in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3332863/nepal-found-out-what-thailand-already-knew-digital-repression-risky?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3332863/nepal-found-out-what-thailand-already-knew-digital-repression-risky?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2025 05:00:09 +0000 Afra Alatas,Mohd Faizal Musa Afra Alatas,Mohd Faizal Musa Comparing Malaysia to Palestine, as a Malaysian MP did recently, illustrates a reframing of the siege mentality with which segments of the nation’s Muslim community perceive their place in society. By equating a sovereign nation with a stateless territory whose people have suffered decades of occupation and displacement, this distortion of reality risks deepening existing ethnic and religious divides in Malaysia. On October 19, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) MP for... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331986/malaysia-not-palestine-false-equivalence-fuels-ethnic-polarisation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331986/malaysia-not-palestine-false-equivalence-fuels-ethnic-polarisation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Nov 2025 03:00:19 +0000 Donald Low,Thomas Lam Chun-kai Donald Low,Thomas Lam Chun-kai Thailand is often hailed as a poster child for the “China plus one” strategy, its industrial estates filled with new factories and its policymakers touting investment in electric vehicles and electronics. Thanks to its established industrial infrastructure, a domestic market of nearly 100 million people and its well-integrated presence in global automotive and electronics supply chains, Thailand is naturally positioned to attract advanced manufacturing firms seeking diversification away from... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331987/thailands-china-plus-one-successes-mask-middle-income-quagmire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331987/thailands-china-plus-one-successes-mask-middle-income-quagmire?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 04:00:14 +0000 Michael Vatikiotis Michael Vatikiotis In a world where the tools of formal diplomacy have been cast aside in favour of interest-driven deal-making, interactions between states have assumed new and more flexible forms. Once dominated by elaborate formality and often generating empty positions and declarations, states are turning to more informal mechanisms that grant space for private diplomacy and create new opportunities for stability and peace, even if they do little to reinforce international law. This shift in modality partly... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331123/diplomacy-age-populism-fast-fickle-and-unbound-rules-old?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331123/diplomacy-age-populism-fast-fickle-and-unbound-rules-old?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Nov 2025 02:00:09 +0000 Alessandro Arduino Alessandro Arduino Early this month, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani is expected in Beijing for what both sides have billed as a “reset” in relations. The move reflects a wider trend across the Middle East, where governments wary of Western conditionality are increasingly seeking what they view as less encumbered partnerships with China. The winds of realpolitik are sweeping from the Middle East to Central and South Asia, bringing “hard resets” across entire regions. India’s quiet pivot towards the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331122/what-syrias-post-war-pivot-china-tells-us-about-new-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331122/what-syrias-post-war-pivot-china-tells-us-about-new-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2025 05:30:07 +0000 Lee Hwok-Aun Lee Hwok-Aun Malaysia’s Madani government has vowed to tackle its mounting budgetary pressures by phasing out blanket petrol subsidies. But despite initial signals of bold reform in 2023, the scope of the policy has since narrowed. Today, subsidised fuel remains available to the masses, while only the “ultra-rich” and foreigners will face higher costs. This retreat reflects the political and practical challenges of reforming a system deeply embedded in Malaysian society. Fuel subsidies have long been an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3330253/why-malaysias-fuel-subsidy-reform-stuck-slow-lane?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3330253/why-malaysias-fuel-subsidy-reform-stuck-slow-lane?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Oct 2025 04:00:08 +0000 Kevin Zongzhe Li Kevin Zongzhe Li China has a unique opportunity to cast itself as an anchor of stability for Southeast Asia now that the United States is retreating from its position as the rule maker of global trade. US President Donald Trump’s policies of “de-risking” from China and imposing unilateral tariffs, including on developing countries, are fragmenting production networks and pushing firms to reimagine their manufacturing and logistics chains. Asean has laid out a road map to manage such uncertainties in the form of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3330252/how-china-can-anchor-southeast-asias-future-uncertain-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3330252/how-china-can-anchor-southeast-asias-future-uncertain-world?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Oct 2025 03:00:22 +0000 Maria Monica Wihardja,Dennis Trinidad Maria Monica Wihardja,Dennis Trinidad The use of economic tools to serve national interests is hardly new. But in the 21st century, such instruments – ranging from unlawful economic coercion to lawful but harmful trade remedies – have become central to the strategic competition between the United States and China. Because the two countries are highly economically interdependent, the weaponisation of this interdependence is both essential and convenient, unlike during the Cold War rivalry between America and the Soviet Union. In some... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3329453/how-asean-can-survive-us-china-economic-cold-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3329453/how-asean-can-survive-us-china-economic-cold-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Oct 2025 02:30:09 +0000 David Lam David Lam One of the cryptocurrency industry’s most prominent figures, Zhao Changpeng, the former CEO of Binance, has claimed that crypto is safer than fiat currency. He made a powerful comparison: only 0.15 per cent of crypto volume is linked to illicit activity, which he said was 30 times less than the 5 per cent rate found in the traditional banking sector. But the reality is quite different and underscores the need for stricter regulation of crypto assets. Based on his claim, Zhao argued that global... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3329454/safer-cash-real-risks-cryptocurrency-poses-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3329454/safer-cash-real-risks-cryptocurrency-poses-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Oct 2025 02:30:09 +0000 Chris Ogden Chris Ogden With the old global order in a heightened state of flux, driven by US President Donald Trump’s attacks on free trade, international organisations and human rights, small states like New Zealand are having to adjust their foreign policies and hedge their bets. As long-term economic and diplomatic power shifts towards Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific, alternative multilateral groups are now growing in importance. Foremost among these is the grouping known as Brics, a maturing – and potentially... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3328581/why-new-zealand-joining-brics-makes-sense-trumps-america-first-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3328581/why-new-zealand-joining-brics-makes-sense-trumps-america-first-era?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Oct 2025 02:00:09 +0000