Showing 1 - 10 of 73
Waiting for China
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 23/05/2022
» Since China began to open up and reform its economy in 1978, growth has averaged almost 10% a year, and more than 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty. There have also been significant improvements in access to health, education and other services, with the mainland now an upper-middle-income country.
Building comfort
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 25/04/2022
» Micah Tamthai loves travelling. His most recent adventure was a three-week road trip through the western United States last September after travel restrictions were eased.
Will China's 'common prosperity' survive Putin's war?
Asia focus, George Magnus, Published on 18/04/2022
» Last month, as Russian forces shelled Ukrainian cities and Covid-19 infections soared, Communist Party of China (CPC) leaders gathered for their most important annual political meetings: the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Can Yoon heal South Korea?
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 21/03/2022
» In the run-up to the South Korean presidential election on March 9, most observers were focusing mainly on regional implications the poll might have and the regional agendas that the new leader of Asia's fourth-largest economy would pursue.
China's two traps
Asia focus, Keun Lee in Seoul, Published on 21/03/2022
» When Deng Xiaoping launched China's strategy of "reform and opening up" in 1978, economists in the West had their doubts. In their view, a vibrant market economy was fundamentally incompatible with China's authoritarian political system.
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.
Fragile, uneven recovery
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 24/01/2022
» The world has entered 2022 facing numerous uncertainties. After two years of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the emergence of the Omicron variant now poses challenges to economies even in countries where vaccination rates are high.
'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.
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.