Showing 1 - 10 of 60
Is Takaichi Sanae the 'Iron Lady' of Japan?
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 10/11/2025
» For the first time in its history, Japan's parliament has selected a woman, Takaichi Sanae of the Liberal Democratic Party, to be prime minister. In this sense, Ms Takaichi has already followed in the footsteps of her political idol, Margaret Thatcher -- the UK's first female PM. But whether she is remembered as Japan's own "Iron Lady" will depend on her ability to manage three key challenges: inflation, low female labour-force participation and a fraught geopolitical environment.
Digesting Trump's trip through Asia
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/11/2025
» Storming through Asia last week, US President Donald Trump's first stop in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 26, before moving on to Japan and South Korea over the next four days, capped by his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping before returning to Washington, was the most consequential for Southeast Asian economies.
Lawless state capitalism no answer to China's rise
Oped, Curtis J Milhaupt & Angela Huyue Zhang, Published on 19/09/2025
» It is tempting to frame the Sino-American economic rivalry as a clash between engineering doers and lawyerly naysayers, as the Chinese-Canadian analyst Dan Wang does in his new book Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future. But this is a false dichotomy, because law is a crucial feature of US capitalism.
Rare earths are definitely China's trump card
Oped, Angela Huyue Zhang, Published on 15/08/2025
» China's weaponisation of rare earths has emerged as a major flash point in US-China trade negotiations. These critical materials, especially the high-performance magnets they make possible, are vital components in electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, industrial robotics, and advanced defence systems. In response to China's strict rare-earths export controls, the United States has quietly lowered tariffs, relaxed export controls on AI chips, and even softened visa restrictions for Chinese students.
Ishiba's summit absence shows lack of Nato faith
Oped, Sayuri Romei and Alice Dell'Era, Published on 21/07/2025
» Since a Japanese prime minister first attended a Nato summit in 2022, Japan has sent its highest-level representative to the event for three consecutive years. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a key catalyst for Tokyo's decision to attend that year, and the 2025 summit in The Hague would have marked the fourth consecutive appearance by a Japanese leader.
Bridge of fantasy
Oped, Postbag, Published on 15/07/2025
» Re: "Land Bridge falls flat", (BP, July 13).
US-China trade truce didn't solve rare earths riddle
Oped, Imran Khalid, Published on 27/06/2025
» Amid the swirl of headlines about a US-China trade breakthrough in London on June 11, it is reported that US President Donald Trump said the US and China had made a "great deal" -- with China agreeing to supply US companies with magnets and rare earth metals, while the US would walk back its threats to revoke visas of Chinese students.
US hard power must get harder
Oped, Todd G. Buchholz & Michael Mindlin, Published on 05/06/2025
» In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford gets his biggest laugh when a desert assassin twirls a scimitar with menacing bravado. Following this brief performance, Ford's character cracks a wry smile, takes out his pistol, and shoots the man dead. In a potential contest with China, the United States looks more like the medieval assassin, deploying young sailors and soldiers equipped with perilously outdated, vulnerable technology.
Breaking the silence over North Korea
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 29/05/2025
» Speaking out to break the information barrier inside the North Korean dictatorship is in itself nothing new, and usually quickly forgotten. North Korean exiles, friendly governments, and humanitarian organisations periodically raise the oft-forsaken banner of human rights, only to be confronted by realpolitik through another round of North Korean missile launches or nuclear proliferation.