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This Week in Asia /

Opinion

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Russian President Vladimir Putin waves while boarding a plane upon his departure from India on September 13. Photo: Kremlin/Sputnik/EPA
Vladimir Putin

Opinion | Why the Global South keeps its doors wide open to Russia

Far from being isolated, Moscow’s relationships across the non-Western world are a geopolitical constant the West cannot break.

Vietnam

Asian Angle | Politics aside, young Vietnamese are warming to China

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Nepal

Asian Angle | After Nepal-Tibet floods, recovery depends on grass-roots solidarity

Singapore

Opinion | Singapore’s blueprint for economic success: plan, but be prepared to adapt

External shocks and changing domestic conditions often render plans unfeasible, so being agile is a better policy.

A city view of Singapore on Tuesday. About 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in public housing. Photo: Xinhua
A city view of Singapore on Tuesday. About 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in public housing. Photo: Xinhua
China-India relations

Asian Angle | India-China ties are warming, the time to capitalise is now

The post-Galwan freeze is over. Rebuilding economic dialogue offers both nations a win-win path forward.

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Myanmar

Asian Angle | SpaceX’s Starlink blackout punishes Myanmar civilians, not just cybercriminals

An estimated 13 million people – nearly a quarter of Myanmar’s population – rely on Starlink for internet access.

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Vietnam

Asian Angle | How Vietnam’s ‘streamlining revolution’ may lead to uneven success

The most sweeping administrative overhaul in decades is expected to encounter hurdles ranging from staff shortages to resource mismatch.

A woman uses her phone next to Vietnamese national flags and Communist Party of Vietnam flags in Hanoi. Photo: AFP
Honour guards walk past a billboard advertising the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi in January. Photo: AFP
A worker installs a billboard advertising the 14th Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party in Hanoi in January. Photo: AFP
Thailand

Asian Angle | Bangkok branches out: how Thai capital moved from concrete to real jungle

Bangkok’s urban greenery playbook contains lessons that other cities, including Hong Kong, should pay attention to.

2025 Cambodia-Thailand conflict

Asian Angle | Cambodia and Thailand must define the border to achieve lasting peace

Without boundary demarcation, all Cambodia-Thailand ceasefires are on borrowed time.

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Artificial intelligence

Opinion | America and China can be allies against AI catastrophe

Rival powers have contained nuclear and cyber threats before. AI safeguards demand the same instinct for survival.

AI safety activists take part in a "Stop the AI Race" protest march in San Francisco on July 11. Photo: AFP
Asean

Asian Angle | Decades of talk, zero barrels stored: why can’t Asean stockpile oil?

The Iran war energy crisis revived Asean’s joint reserve plans. To avoid another shelved ambition, the bloc needs swift, binding action.

Southeast Asia is projected to account for one-fifth of global energy demand growth through 2035. Photo: Reuters
Southeast Asia is projected to account for one-fifth of global energy demand growth through 2035. Photo: Reuters
Malaysia

Asian Angle | Southeast Asia must embrace reforms for ‘China plus one’ to succeed

The region needs to build strong institutions, pursue industrial policies that allow local firms to compete and upgrade its supply chains.

Cambodia

Asian Angle | Cambodia’s war on scammers needs a blueprint built to last

Rounding up foot soldiers is easy. The hard part is tracing cash, exposing high-level enablers and protecting coerced victims.

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Vietnam

Asian Angle | Vietnam’s economic miracle has a made-elsewhere problem

The numbers dazzle, but Vietnamese companies are losing ground in their own export boom as the middle-income trap looms.

A Vietnamese scrap collector walks past a Chinese-language sign in Bac Ninh province, Vietnam. Photo: AFP
Asean

Opinion | Southeast Asia must write its own trade rules for China’s ‘flying geese’

As Chinese manufacturers migrate south, Asean has the leverage to dictate terms on local sourcing and skills training.

A worker inspects fruit at a Chinese-financed mango processing factory in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province last year. Photo: Xinhua
A worker inspects fruit at a Chinese-financed mango processing factory in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province last year. Photo: Xinhua
China-Asean relations

Asian Angle | Why a second ‘China shock’ is good for Southeast Asia

Fear of Chinese imports is misplaced. Roughly 90 per cent of what the region buys is inputs and machinery driving local manufacturing.

Pacific nations

Opinion | Panic over China’s missile test is born of Western bias

Every nuclear power routinely tests its arsenal. The outcry over Beijing’s launch reveals a glaring double standard.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Oman and China: the real winners of Trump’s Iran deal?

Behind the triumphalism, an eerily familiar agreement hands Muscat a privileged position that Beijing hasn’t missed.

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US President Donald Trump gesticulates during an event in the White House on June 22. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
US President Donald Trump gesticulates during an event in the White House on June 22. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
Singapore

Asian Angle | Singapore’s trade pacts prove small states can shape global rules

While major powers employ coercion, Singapore is using flexible, legally binding templates to keep trade open.

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Indonesia

Asian Angle | Liberal Islam in Indonesia is sliding into irrelevance

Political entanglements and ideological schisms have left the pioneering Liberal Islam Network in disarray.

Asean

Asian Angle | Asean’s side deals in Myanmar risk missing where the power truly lies

Trading collective leverage for isolated bargains blinds the bloc to changing realities on the ground.

Myanmar’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs U Hau Khan Sum (left) with other Southeast Asian leaders at the Asean summit in Cebu, the Philippines, on May 8. Photo: Pool via Reuters
South Korea

Asian Angle | Korean drama Teach You a Lesson serves up a reality check on education

The hit Netflix series uses a vigilante classroom fantasy to expose deep, real-world anxieties about school violence.

Kim Mu-yeol stars as Na Hwa-jin in “Teach You a Lesson”, the K-drama making waves across Asia. Photo: Handout
Kim Mu-yeol stars as Na Hwa-jin in “Teach You a Lesson”, the K-drama making waves across Asia. Photo: Handout
Vietnam

Asian Angle | When the US comes for Cuba, what can Vietnam do?

Vietnam has stood by Cuba for 60 years. Now Washington is raising the price of that friendship – and Hanoi must decide what it’s worth.

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Asean

Asian Angle | China builds Southeast Asia expertise as the US lets it wither

Yet neither power will truly grasp this complex, diverse region if they continue to treat it merely as a geopolitical chessboard.

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Indonesia

Asian Angle | Indonesia’s nickel rule changes are spooking Chinese investors

A leaked grievance letter reveals how Jakarta’s resource nationalism risks driving essential Chinese capital away.

A worker processes nickel at plant in Sorowako, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo: EPA
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