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This Week in Asia /

Opinion

An official stands in front of a sign during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 13. Photo: Reuters
Thailand

Asian Angle | Thailand once had an economic miracle. It needs another

With growth stuck below 3 per cent and an ageing workforce, Thailand cannot rely on sector wish lists to revive growth.

Malaysia

Asian Angle | In Malaysia’s largest state, ‘Sarawak First’ faces a Dayak election test

Vietnam

Asian Angle | Can Vietnam sustain its high-growth ambitions amid capital constraints?

Japan

Asian Angle | Why Asean’s Myanmar peace push needs Japan’s ‘silent diplomacy’

Tokyo knows how to back an Asean-led process without taking ownership of it, as decades of regional mediation show.

Japanese parliamentarian Hiromichi Watanabe (left) meets U Khin Yi, speaker of Myanmar’s House of Representatives and the leader of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, in Naypyidaw last month. Photo: Handout
Smoke rises as fire burns following a Myanmar military air strike in Kyauktaw, Rakhine state, last month. Photo: Reuters
People walk through smoke and smouldering debris following a Myanmar military air strike on a market and adjacent bridge in Kyauktaw, Rakhine state, last month. Photo: AFP
Artificial intelligence

Opinion | Truth needs a treaty in this age of AI disinformation

When algorithmic lies threaten world peace, international law must step in to protect verified facts and defend reality.

Malaysia

Asian Angle | PAS wants urban Malaysia’s vote. Can it win over urban Malays?

The Islamist party has been working to prove it has a sound economic agenda and the ability to carry it out.

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US-China relations

Asian Angle | Southeast Asia faces a false binary in US-China mineral trade

The real question for rare earth exporters is how to turn global mineral competition into higher-value industries.

The Lynas Rare Earths processing plant in Gebeng, Malaysia. Photo: AFP
The Lynas Rare Earths processing plant in Gebeng, Malaysia. Photo: AFP
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

Hit dramas, trendy consumer brands and economic opportunity are drawing a new generation into China’s cultural orbit.

8
Nepal

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

Rebuilding devastated border villages means backing local support networks long after foreign aid money disappears.

Soldiers shovel mud away from a school that was swamped by the flood in Baireni Bazar, Nepal. Photo: EPA
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.

5
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.

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
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.

The Benjakitti Forest Park’s woodlands and wetlands serve as sponges to mitigate flooding. Photo: Donald Low
The Benjakitti Forest Park’s woodlands and wetlands serve as sponges to mitigate flooding. Photo: Donald Low
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.

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.

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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.

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.

7
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.

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