Letters | Southeast Asia must find its own path to sustainability, as China has
Readers discuss the different pathways to building energy resilience, the worth of investing in youth basketball, and the media hype over Trudeau and Perry dating
When I looked at the latest Our World in Data line chart on global electricity generation, one line shot up like the side of a mountain – China’s. At more than 10,000 terawatt-hours, its electricity generation towers over the United States and other countries. For those of us in Southeast Asia, it’s both awe-inspiring and unsettling.
Some say this proves China’s unmatched discipline and ambition. But from this side of Asia, I see something more complex. The story is not simply about hard work – it’s about planning, consistency and how different societies understand energy, growth and responsibility.
In places like Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, we are waking up to this reality in our own way. The rush towards renewable energy, the small coastal solar farms, the young engineers tinkering with micro-hydropower in remote villages – these are quiet revolutions, easily overlooked by the grand narratives of superpower rivalry. While China builds gigafactories, our regions build resilience from the ground up.
China’s rise in electricity generation and battery dominance reflects a system that knows how to mobilise state direction, industry and purpose. But Asia is not monolithic. Beyond the numbers, there is another story unfolding – one of decentralisation, innovation and community-driven adaptation. Climate leadership, after all, doesn’t always wear a suit or sit at a summit. Sometimes it wears rubber boots in a mangrove, somewhere in Java or Mindanao.
The challenge for the rest of us is not to compete with China in sheer scale, but to define what sustainable energy means in our own context. For Southeast Asia, it could mean smaller grids, fairer transitions, and partnerships that don’t repeat the old patterns of dependency – whether on fossil fuels or foreign technology.
China’s energy ascent should remind us of what’s possible when ambition meets direction. But it should also remind us that power – both electrical and geopolitical – can be shared. The region’s future won’t be written only in megawatts, but in how wisely we learn, adapt and work with our own diverse realities.