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Asia Opinion

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
North Korea

Opinion | After years of neglect, China emerges as North Korea’s ‘top priority’

In a world of shrinking options and rising risks, Pyongyang recognises its alliance with Beijing is too important to ignore.

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Diplomacy

Opinion | How Pakistan outmanoeuvred India in Iran war diplomacy with China’s help

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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Pakistan has the world’s attention. Now it must focus inwards

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Singapore

The View | Others in Asia would love to have Singapore’s housing market problems

The city state’s problems pale beside those in other Asia-Pacific markets facing supply shortages that drive up prices and rents.

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People walk through a park in Singapore, with high-rise public housing in the background. Photo: Shutterstock
People walk through a park in Singapore, with high-rise public housing in the background. Photo: Shutterstock
Central Asia

Opinion | Why China is looking to Central Asia as Middle East grows riskier

The region’s strategic value as a corridor of resilience is becoming harder to ignore.

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Technology

Opinion | AI pessimism is a luxury the Global South cannot afford

Young, developing states must ride the tech waves if they don’t want to fall further behind and learn from others’ mistakes.

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Asean

Asian Angle | Doubts about Trump strain Southeast Asia’s US-China balancing act

An increasingly unpredictable Washington is making the region’s traditional hedging strategy harder to sustain.

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US President Donald Trump (centre) stands for a group photo with Southeast Asian leaders at the 13th Asean-United States Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump (centre) stands for a group photo with Southeast Asian leaders at the 13th Asean-United States Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP
Renewable energy

Opinion | Hormuz crisis a chance to spur Asia’s shift to clean, secure energy

The US war on Iran should be a catalyst for governments and industries to accelerate the transition to renewables.

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Banking & finance

Macroscope | Can World Bank and IMF leaders rescue a global economy on the brink?

By attacking Iran, the US has put the global economic order in jeopardy.

Vietnam

Asian Angle | Who is Vietnam’s new Prime Minister Le Minh Hung?

The ex-central banker has the credentials to succeed. Whether he has the political capital remains to be seen.

Le Minh Hung (centre) attends a swearing-in ceremony in Hanoi on Tuesday after being elected as Vietnam’s new prime minister. Photo: Vietnam News Agency/Xinhua
Apple

Outside In | My love-hate relationship with Apple as an Android user

As Apple marks 50 years amid market and political pressures, the company has inspired jealousy but also admiration for what it has achieved.

Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, on June 16, 2020. Photo: AP
Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, on June 16, 2020. Photo: AP
US-China relations

Opinion | A stark clash of world views will overshadow Trump’s visit to China

As Xi and Trump prepare to meet, the divergence between their visions of global order has never been more acute.

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War and conflict

Opinion | For Asia, US-Iran ceasefire offers little relief – and much uncertainty

What may be coming is neither stable peace nor uninterrupted war, but something in between: a prolonged condition of managed instability.

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War and conflict

Opinion | China’s role in the Iran-US ceasefire reflects its strategic distance

In taking a back seat in de-escalation efforts with Pakistan, China is decoupling its influence from responsibility.

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning answers questions from journalists regarding US attacks on Iran, on March 2, in Beijing. Photo: dpa
India

Opinion | Asia’s flood of cheap Ozempic generics opens gates to weight-loss abuse

Cheaper semaglutides as patent ends is good news for diabetics. But lax regulation also means a risk of abuse by those desperate to lose weight.

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An advert for Eli Lilly’s obesity awareness campaign is seen on a building in Gurugram, India, on December 16. Photo: Reuters
An advert for Eli Lilly’s obesity awareness campaign is seen on a building in Gurugram, India, on December 16. Photo: Reuters
Cambodia

Opinion | To beat Cambodia’s scam gangs, US must work with China – not blame it

Taking down the deeply rooted, well-connected syndicates would require both Washington’s economic leverage and Beijing’s operational efforts.

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War and conflict

As I see it | Why Donald Trump now needs a ‘forever war’

The US president and America are starting to understand you can’t go fascist at home and imperialist abroad halfway.

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Technology

Opinion | In Asia-Pacific, the real maritime contest is over satellite surveillance

States’ ability to exercise territorial rights is increasingly mediated by their access to satellite data and analytics, but the tech is dominated by a powerful few.

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A J-15 fighter jet from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong making an unusual approach to a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force P-3C patrol aircraft conducting surveillance above the Pacific Ocean on June 8, 2025. Photo: Handout /Japan’s Ministry of Defence / AFP
A J-15 fighter jet from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong making an unusual approach to a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force P-3C patrol aircraft conducting surveillance above the Pacific Ocean on June 8, 2025. Photo: Handout /Japan’s Ministry of Defence / AFP
Technology

Opinion | The danger in the Global South’s pursuit of AI as a magical cure

Rushing in without local R&D, literacy or governance risks leaving countries as testing grounds and passive consumers of foreign tech.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Quirks of Asia’s energy markets work to the benefit of data centres

Asia’s unique energy markets, power sourcing strategies and vast digital infrastructure requirements underpin the sector’s resilience.

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Global South

Opinion | Global South nations are insulating themselves from the heat of US actions

The ‘Great Insulation’ is coming – not major powers decoupling top-down but small and middle powers building a firewall from the bottom up.

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A poster depicting US President Donald Trump with devil horns at a protest in defence of national sovereignty near the US consulate in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 1, 2025. Photo: AFP
US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Why the ‘Gate of Tears’ may yet make the whole world weep

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, any attacks on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait will pile further pressure on global supply chains.

A satellite image shows Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen on February 27. Photo: Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters
A satellite image shows Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen on February 27. Photo: Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters
US, Israel war on Iran

Asian Angle | Hormuz is sending Southeast Asia a warning – and we can no longer ignore it

The crisis has shown we must invest in renewables rather than staying in a fossil fuel comfort zone.

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Diplomacy

Opinion | How America’s stumble in Iran upends East Asia’s security calculus

A region where US allies lose faith in Washington won’t necessarily embrace Beijing; it is a region more likely to reach for its own guns.

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War and conflict

Opinion | Iran war is changing East Asia’s energy and strategic plays

States like China and Russia that can provide energy, industrial inputs, strategic reassurance or room for manoeuvre are gaining weight.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
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