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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
Vietnam

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.

Thailand

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

Myanmar

Opinion | Why China is succeeding in Myanmar while the West has been sidelined

Vietnam

Asian Angle | The hidden domestic agenda behind Vietnam’s baffling foreign policy

To Lam’s recent pilgrimages to North Korea and Cuba signal ideological loyalty, even as he pushes a hard-nosed reform agenda at home.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Vietnam’s To Lam (left) talk before a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, last month. Photo: VNA/AP
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Vietnam’s To Lam (left) talk before a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, last month. Photo: VNA/AP
Britain

Opinion | Self-interest is now the main driver of Britain’s Asia policy

There are a great many reasons why the UK government should pay more attention to the Asia-Pacific, but that does not mean that it will.

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Taiwan

Opinion | Reinventing Kaohsiung: Taiwan’s port city transcends its industrial past

From shipyards and smokestacks to a smart, green metropolis, Kaohsiung shows urban renewal can succeed in the unlikeliest of places.

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The Philippines

Opinion | The Philippines’ political chameleon: Juan Ponce Enrile’s complicated legacy

His journey from martial-law architect to defector reveals the shifting loyalties that shaped his career and the nation’s history.

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Philippine Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile delivers his opening remarks at the start of the impeachment trial for Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona in Manila in 2012. Photo: AP
Philippine Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile delivers his opening remarks at the start of the impeachment trial for Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona in Manila in 2012. Photo: AP
Thailand

Asian Angle | Thailand’s youth mental health crisis is fuelled by neglect and legalised weed

Young Thais are beset by anxiety and debt – and turning to readily available cannabis to self-medicate their isolation and despair.

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Nepal

Asian Angle | Nepal found out what Thailand already knew: digital repression is risky

The tactics vary, from Myanmar’s internet blackouts to Indonesia’s subtler control, but the results are the same: resentment and resistance.

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Malaysia

Asian Angle | Malaysia is not Palestine. False equivalence fuels ethnic polarisation

Such rhetoric paints Malays as the dispossessed natives of their own land and non-Malays as the occupiers.

Malaysia’s National Day celebrations held in Putrajaya on August 31. Photo: EPA
Thailand

Asian Angle | Thailand’s ‘China plus one’ successes mask a middle-income quagmire

FDI figures hide the painful truth: an ageing workforce, structural challenges and low-value assembly threaten economic stagnation.

Workers on an assembly line at the Great Wall Motors manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand. Photo: Xinhua
Workers on an assembly line at the Great Wall Motors manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand. Photo: Xinhua
Diplomacy

Opinion | Diplomacy in the age of populism is fast, fickle and unbound by the rules of old

Swift, informal deals can quickly defuse crises, but without a new rules-based order, global stability is being held hostage to chance.

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Diplomacy

Opinion | What Syria’s post-war pivot to China reveals about the new world order

Damascus views engagement with Beijing as a pathway to legitimacy, leverage – and the US$216 billion it needs to rebuild.

Malaysia

Asian Angle | Why Malaysia’s fuel subsidy reform is stuck in the slow lane

Fears of a 2008-style backlash and poor public transport are keeping Anwar’s government from slashing the huge, regressive fuel subsidy bill.

Fuel pump nozzles are seen at a petrol station in Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo: AFP
China-Asean relations

Asian Angle | How China can anchor Southeast Asia’s future in an uncertain world

The promise is simple: a trajectory of growth with fewer surprises, built on China’s pillars of capital, diplomacy and shared development.

China’s Premier Li Qiang (left) shakes hands with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the 2025 Asean chair, on the sidelines of an Asean summit in May. Photo: Handout
China’s Premier Li Qiang (left) shakes hands with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the 2025 Asean chair, on the sidelines of an Asean summit in May. Photo: Handout
Asean

Asian Angle | Caught in the crossfire: how Asean can survive a US-China economic cold war

Trapped between duelling trade wars and tech blockades, Asean must unite to avoid becoming a casualty of the US-China rivalry.

Asean

Asian Angle | Safer than cash? The real risks cryptocurrency poses to Southeast Asia

Crypto’s champions argue the technology offers unmatched transparency and security. But a closer look at the numbers tells a different story.

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Brics

Opinion | Why New Zealand joining Brics makes sense in Trump’s ‘America-first’ era

Brics is a maturing economic and diplomatic powerhouse. Joining could help New Zealand spread its diplomatic wings and secure its future.

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Brics leaders and other officials pose for a group photo during the latest summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 7. Photo: Xinhua
Brics leaders and other officials pose for a group photo during the latest summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 7. Photo: Xinhua
Asean

Opinion | Asean’s newest prospective member confronts a Chinese triad threat

A senior official’s claims, backed by a UN report, allege triad gangs from China and Southeast Asia are corrupting East Timor’s democracy.

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Israel-Gaza war

Opinion | Gaza, Trump and New Zealand’s moment of truth on Palestinian statehood

Trump’s Gaza peace plan offers hope, but also forces New Zealand to confront uncomfortable questions about its role.

Malaysia

Asian Angle | Malaysia’s politics is becoming an ageing ‘poster boy’ personality contest

As elderly political figures jostle for power, they risk missing what Malaysians actually want from the government.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is 78 years old. Photo: AFP
Vietnam

Asian Angle | False positive? Vietnam’s attempts to recruit influencers risk backfiring

Social media platforms value posts that spark outrage and emotional reactions over manufactured positivity.

A man watches a TikTok video on his smartphone in Hanoi. Photo: AFP
A man watches a TikTok video on his smartphone in Hanoi. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

Asian Angle | TikTok Live blackout in Indonesia exposes fragility of digital freedoms

The suspension shows how global platforms are intertwined with state power and digital infrastructure can be disabled in a political crisis.

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Thailand

Asian Angle | Thai politics is no longer orange, yellow and red. Anutin turned it blue

The political colours of 2023 have faded as Thailand’s progressive and dynastic parties embrace the new PM’s Bhumjaithai blue of compromise.

South China Sea

Asian Angle | Will China’s marine reserve gambit push the Philippines to breaking point?

The best path to de-escalation at Scarborough Shoal would be a joint stewardship agreement, not China’s unilateral marine park.

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A Filipino fisheman rows his boat near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, Photo: Reuters
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