Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Video game competitions should be in Olympics
News, Adam Minter, Published on 30/09/2023
» The hottest sports ticket in the Asia-Pacific right now isn't for a soccer match, an NBA exhibition game or even a swim meet. It's for the medal event debut of competitive video gaming, or esports.
How India could help in the transformation of Africa
News, Adam Minter, Published on 09/10/2018
» Over the last two decades, China has invested more than US$125 billion in Africa to build ports, highways, airports, railways and other infrastructure. Chinese President Xi Jinping says funds, to the tune of $60 billion, will continue to flow because "inadequate infrastructure is believed to be the biggest bottleneck to Africa's development".
Solution to chronic marine plastic crisis starts in Asia
News, Adam Minter, Published on 27/06/2018
» Since Jan 1, when China stopped accepting the rich world's recyclable plastic waste, it's gotten a load of criticism for worsening the already deep crisis of ocean plastic pollution. But China isn't the only culprit here. This is a crisis made -- and growing worse -- throughout developing Asia.
Malaysia grows sceptical about Chinese investment
News, Adam Minter, Published on 09/05/2018
» Chinese President Xi Jinping won't be on the ballot when Malaysians vote for a new government today. But he is on election billboards. Although it's probably not a role that Mr Xi would've chosen for himself, China's influence on Malaysia's economy has become one of the most bitterly contested issues in a bruising campaign.
Xi paves the way for later retirement
News, Adam Minter, Published on 01/03/2018
» Chinese President Xi Jinping can hold off on retirement planning for a few more years, now that China's Communist Party has announced a proposal to eliminate a 10-year, two-term limit for the coveted job. That sets up the powerful 64-year-old to remain in office well into his golden years. He shouldn't be the only one.
China trashes its recycling industry
News, Adam Minter, Published on 10/10/2017
» For 30 years China has recycled more cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and old computers than any other nation. By doing so, it's saved millions of tonnes of resources and indirectly funded thousands of recycling programmes and companies globally. But now it wants to stop. In July, China notified the World Trade Organisation that it will soon prohibit the import of many types of recyclables. As a result, recycling programmes and companies around the world are scrambling to find new destinations for the junk they once sent to China. In an increasing number of cases, that destination is a landfill.
China's hidden pollution oozes its way to the surface
News, Adam Minter, Published on 12/05/2017
» Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping directed his government to build a new city for the "millennium to come". It would rise on rural land about 100km south of Beijing, guided by the principles of "ecological protection and green development". And it would become a model for a new kind of urban expansion.
China's 220 million seniors may reshape the world
News, Adam Minter, Published on 31/05/2017
» For decades, Nestle SA has tried to get its infant milk powder into the hands of China's new mothers with promises of brighter, healthier babies. Now it's trying to do the same for the elderly. Last week, the company launched "Nestle YIYANG Fuel for brainTM senior milk powder", a formula designed to help China's seniors "refuel their brains and start a new smart life".
China masters ballpoint pen at last
News, Adam Minter, Published on 17/01/2017
» Last week, China announced it had mastered the art of making ballpoint pens. Don't laugh: It was a years-long effort that cost millions of dollars and required the leadership of a state-run corporate colossus. It was front-page news, widely discussed on talk shows and celebrated on social media.
Why China's glass ceiling is harder than Taiwan's
News, Adam Minter, Published on 14/01/2016
» If, as many expect, the Democratic Progressive Party's Tsai Ing-wen is elected as Taiwan's next president this weekend, she'll become the island's first female leader. Given that Taiwan granted suffrage to women less than a decade before the 59-year-old Ms Tsai was born, that in itself would be a remarkable achievement. What's equally striking is the contrast to mainland China, which regards the island as a renegade province. Not only has modern China never had a female leader, but unless deeply ingrained cultural and bureaucratic barriers are lifted, it's also unlikely ever to do so.