Showing 1 - 10 of 30
Time to tone down Taiwan tensions
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 08/08/2022
» It was a picture-perfect shot, really. That was my thought when I saw US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi standing side by side with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei last Wednesday. But the one-day visit to the self-ruled island by the 82-year-old American politician has created no end of tension, not only for the US and China but also many of their allies across the Asia Pacific region.
Blind spot in Indo-Pacific vision
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 21/02/2022
» While many people are keeping their eyes on how the Russia-Ukraine standoff could play out, America is making news in Asia as well with the launch of a new Indo-Pacific strategy.
Ancient brew has retro appeal in South Korea
Asia focus, Chang W Lee and Mike Ives of the New York Times, Published on 07/02/2022
» SEOUL: Jeong Mi-hee used to buy a lot of whisky in airports. When the coronavirus pandemic brought her business travel to halt, she started paying more attention to local drinks she had overlooked.
Myanmar soldiers collecting bills at gunpoint
Asia focus, By Richard C Paddock of the New York Times, Published on 31/01/2022
» The schoolteacher had just got out of bed when four Myanmar army soldiers pounded on her door. Her electricity payment was overdue, they said, and ordered her to pay it immediately at the government power company office.
Chinese policies hold back growth
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 24/01/2022
» When I first heard a Moody's economist discuss the cooling Chinese economy late last year, it caught my interest but not much. As we have been living with a pandemic for two years, an economic slowdown seems unavoidable, even in the country that has been the world's engine of growth for years.
'Out with man haters', cry Korean anti-feminists
Asia focus, Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times, Published on 17/01/2022
» SEOUL: They have shown up whenever women rallied against sexual violence and gender bias in South Korea. Dozens of young men, mostly dressed in black, taunted the protesters, squealing and chanting, "Thud! Thud!" to imitate the noise they said the "ugly feminist pigs" made when they walked.
Asean needs a Middle Path
Asia focus, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 17/01/2022
» Despite the economic downturn during the Covid-19 pandemic, China-sponsored infrastructure, trade and cooperation initiatives with Southeast Asian nations have been moving forward consistently -- amplifying the presence of Beijing in one of the world's fastest growing regions.
Pakistan a hub for South-Central Asian integration
Asia focus, Bilal Khan, Published on 10/01/2022
» Kyrgyzstan has become the latest country to formally express its desire to join the multi-billion-dollar China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) linking Western China with the Pakistani deep seaport of Gwadar at the mouth of Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
Year of Turbulence
Asia focus, Asia Focus Team, Published on 27/12/2021
» Pandemic drags on recovery: In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, many Asian countries had enviable success, avoiding large-scale outbreaks and mass deaths. But the arrival of the more transmissible Delta variant this year and sluggish vaccine rollouts compounded by low availability sent cases surging. Combined with poor monitoring and easy movement among countries, often unofficially, Southeast Asia became a virus hotspot. The ballooning health crisis collided with churning political discontent in the case of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Economically, the new wave of infections, and attendant restrictions imposed to curb the spread, stalled recoveries. After nearly two years of strict border controls, many countries started to loosen up and live with Covid. But the rise of the Omicron variant now threatens to scuttle those tentative reopening plans and usher in a third year of economic anxiety.
Xi-Biden summit a hopeful sign
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 15/11/2021
» As the US and China stake out rival security strategies in the Asia-Pacific region, notably on Taiwan, the world takes heart from comments by Chinese President Xi Jinping that Beijing is ready to manage differences with Washington as the leaders of the two superpowers prepare to meet virtually today, the first since US President Joe Biden took office in January.