https://www.scmp.com/rss/323050/feed Our experts on Asia guide you through the big issues facing the region en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Francis E. Hutchinson Francis E. Hutchinson Eyebrows were raised and pulses quickened in Malaysia when the Negeri Sembilan state government teetered last month. Like several other states, Negeri Sembilan has been jointly run by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) – the two pillars of the national unity government. The state has since become the latest to call a local election, raising questions about the national coalition’s solidity and whether the country is heading towards a snap poll some 18 months before the next general... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3356133/can-malaysias-unity-government-survive-state-poll-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3356133/can-malaysias-unity-government-survive-state-poll-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jun 2026 04:00:12 +0000 Irna Nurlina Irna Nurlina Mass media commonly portrays Southeast Asia as an exciting, adventure-fuelled and culturally rich region – if often an exoticised one – for inhabitants and visitors alike. The final section of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s State of Southeast Asia 2026 Survey, based on respondents’ “relocation preference and travel choices”, adds to the already abundant evidence of the “soft power” of regional countries. Soft power, a term coined by American political scientist Joseph Nye in 1990, is widely... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3355340/where-southeast-asians-really-want-live-work-and-travel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3355340/where-southeast-asians-really-want-live-work-and-travel?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 May 2026 02:00:12 +0000 Syaza Shukri Syaza Shukri A recent controversy surrounding a surau (prayer hall) in Malaysia appeared straightforward at first. A resident of Taman Seraya, Selangor state, raised concerns about the noise and congestion, particularly during prayer times. Police subsequently investigated the complaint as an attempt to incite provocation and disrupt social harmony. The surau management’s escalation of the complaint to alleged harassment – and the subsequent police report – reflects the persistent challenge of managing... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3355339/malaysias-3r-catch-all-risks-turning-every-grievance-threat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3355339/malaysias-3r-catch-all-risks-turning-every-grievance-threat?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 May 2026 02:00:16 +0000 Donghyun Park,Kwanho Shin Donghyun Park,Kwanho Shin Population ageing is fast becoming a global phenomenon. Even regions currently enjoying youthful demographics will eventually undergo demographic transition – and this is increasingly relevant for developing countries too. Some Southeast Asian economies, Thailand and Vietnam among them, have already reached the intermediate stages of this transition. It has begun even in younger economies such as the Philippines, where the fertility rate has now fallen below replacement level. Conventional... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3354533/asias-silver-dividend-can-offset-ageings-economic-toll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3354533/asias-silver-dividend-can-offset-ageings-economic-toll?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 May 2026 04:00:11 +0000 Hoang Thi Ha Hoang Thi Ha When Xi Jinping and Donald Trump concluded their Beijing summit, the most consequential outcome – for China at least – may prove not material, but conceptual: the adoption of “constructive strategic stability” (CSS) as the guiding framework for managing their intensifying competition. For Southeast Asia, a region often caught in the rivalry between the two powers, understanding what this means will matter in the years ahead. The framework reflects a long-held Chinese strategic aspiration.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3354534/what-china-us-stability-pact-means-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3354534/what-china-us-stability-pact-means-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 May 2026 03:00:13 +0000 Zha Daojiong Zha Daojiong Southeast Asia stands at the threshold of a nuclear renaissance. Vietnam and Russia signed an agreement in March for the Ninh Thuan 1 Nuclear Power Plant. The Philippines and Indonesia aim to have operational reactors by the early 2030s. Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are studying small modular reactors. Given heightened energy insecurity, climate commitments and the imperative to meet surging electricity demand from industrial growth, data centres and AI development, nuclear energy is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3353742/china-offers-southeast-asia-clear-nuclear-power-advantages?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3353742/china-offers-southeast-asia-clear-nuclear-power-advantages?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2026 04:00:10 +0000 Kishore Mahbubani Kishore Mahbubani Western social science has made three metaphysical mistakes. The first was to assume that its laws and lessons were, like the physical sciences, universally applicable to all societies. Harvard Professor Theodore Levitt captured the prevailing zeitgeist well when he wrote in 1983: “The world’s needs and desires have been irrevocably homogenised.” That may have been true 40 years ago. It is no longer. One indirect consequence of this assumption – that the whole world was converging towards a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3353739/west-was-never-whole-world-its-time-move?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3353739/west-was-never-whole-world-its-time-move?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 May 2026 02:00:19 +0000 Ian Storey Ian Storey Due to its dependence on Middle Eastern oil, the Philippines has been hit harder than any other Southeast Asian nation by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But President Ferdinand Marcos’ suggestion that the crisis could rekindle talks with China on joint energy projects in the South China Sea faces three insurmountable challenges: the Philippine constitution, a trust deficit between Manila and Beijing, and Philippine nationalism. In a media interview on March 24, Marcos floated the idea that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3352927/3-reasons-marcos-south-china-sea-energy-gambit-wont-work?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3352927/3-reasons-marcos-south-china-sea-energy-gambit-wont-work?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 04:00:16 +0000 Amin Saikal,Amitav Acharya Amin Saikal,Amitav Acharya US President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran since the war began have targeted not just the country’s military capabilities, but its entire civilisation. In recent days, he has threatened that Iran would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if it attacks US ships trying to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He has previously pledged to send Iran back to the “Stone Age” and warned that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again”. These statements show not only extreme... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3352928/trumps-threats-against-iran-are-historically-illiterate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3352928/trumps-threats-against-iran-are-historically-illiterate?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 May 2026 07:30:06 +0000 Akio Takahara Akio Takahara Japan and China are Asian powerhouses that should collaborate responsibly for the peace and prosperity of the region. However, bilateral relations have experienced ups and downs since the start of the century and are now at their lowest point after normalisation in 1972. A major cause of this is the widening perception and information gap between the two nations that needs to be addressed through direct people-to-people contact. Some, perhaps many, misunderstand that Japan and China are always... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3352140/why-japan-china-ties-can-benefit-promoting-people-people-exchanges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3352140/why-japan-china-ties-can-benefit-promoting-people-people-exchanges?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 May 2026 01:00:22 +0000 Panarat Anamwathana Panarat Anamwathana An old Thai proverb says, “If you love your cow, tie it up; if you love your child, beat them”. It is meant to convey that a loving and responsible guardian should discipline their child and that corporal punishment is an act of care as sensible as tethering one’s cattle so that it does not wander off. For many generations, this proverb and traditional practices have normalised corporal punishment. This attitude is also displayed by teachers in schools. One year after Thailand legally banned... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3352136/year-after-corporal-punishment-ban-thailand-needs-curb-resurgence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3352136/year-after-corporal-punishment-ban-thailand-needs-curb-resurgence?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 May 2026 04:00:16 +0000 Wesley Morgan,Ben Newell Wesley Morgan,Ben Newell US President Donald Trump is a long-time climate denier and oil industry ally, who sums up his own energy policy as “drill, baby, drill”. Yet he is doing more than almost anyone to speed up the global shift from fossil fuels to clean energy and electric vehicles. After the US and Israel struck Iran in late February, Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz and triggered the largest disruption of oil supply in history. Ironically for Trump and his oil industry donors, this crisis may be an irreversible... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3351337/trumps-oil-crisis-accelerating-end-fossil-fuel-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3351337/trumps-oil-crisis-accelerating-end-fossil-fuel-era?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Apr 2026 07:00:09 +0000 Michael Vatikiotis Michael Vatikiotis The fog of war is getting thicker. The world is beset by conflicts, yet we are increasingly in the dark regarding their causes. Without this understanding, we lack the insight necessary to resolve them. Understanding conflict is a basic tool of mediation. It helps us define who the main actors are, the context in which they operate and the positions they hold. These data points are vital precursors to resolving conflict through mediation, of any kind. Yet in today’s world, the basic information... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3351339/blinding-world-lies-makes-peacemaking-impossible-task?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3351339/blinding-world-lies-makes-peacemaking-impossible-task?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 03:00:21 +0000 Chandran Nair Chandran Nair From Washington to Brussels and even Asia, policymakers have become obsessed with the “Thucydides Trap”, a concept born from Graham Allison’s Destined for War, published in 2017. We are endlessly warned that whenever a rising power challenges the hegemon, war is almost inevitable. This is convenient and lazy. It also ignores the history of peacemaking and the lesson of most wars, which are driven by conquest and control of resources – the creation of the United States being a war of conquest... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3350495/thucydides-trap-lie-created-justify-us-china-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3350495/thucydides-trap-lie-created-justify-us-china-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 05:30:08 +0000 Nilufer Oral Nilufer Oral On February 28, the United States and Israel bombed Iran. In response, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to the passage of all shipping. This has caused a crisis in energy supply chains, with serious economic consequences for countries, including Asian ones, that rely heavily on the strait for their energy supplies. To compound matters, US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping blockade of Iranian ports, which would impede the passage of all maritime traffic entering and exiting the strait.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3350493/passage-through-strait-hormuz-right-war-and-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3350493/passage-through-strait-hormuz-right-war-and-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2026 05:30:08 +0000 Joanne Lin Joanne Lin For years, Southeast Asian countries have preferred to avoid taking sides between China and the United States. This year’s State of Southeast Asia survey shows that this approach still holds, but a more contested geostrategic environment is making it harder to sustain. The region continues to feel uneasy about China’s entrenched influence, is increasingly troubled by US leadership under President Donald Trump and is more conscious of Asean’s institutional constraints. The weakening of confidence... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3349676/doubts-about-trump-strain-southeast-asias-us-china-balancing-act?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3349676/doubts-about-trump-strain-southeast-asias-us-china-balancing-act?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Nguyen Khac Giang Nguyen Khac Giang On Tuesday, Vietnam’s National Assembly elected a new prime minister. For once, the appointment looks less like a factional compromise than a deliberate bet on competence. Le Minh Hung, born in 1970, is the country’s youngest prime minister since 1955. In a system that often prizes seniority, that alone is striking. More striking still is Hung’s profile: he is not a provincial baron or a deal maker forged in the rough-and-tumble of local politics. Hung is a technocrat with economic training in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3349678/who-vietnams-new-prime-minister-le-minh-hung?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3349678/who-vietnams-new-prime-minister-le-minh-hung?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:00:16 +0000 Flavio Romero Macau Flavio Romero Macau If you had never heard of the Strait of Hormuz before, you probably have by now. Iran’s effective closure of the waterway, which usually carries about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas, has put severe pressure on the global economy. Now, some analysts are warning a new flashpoint could emerge: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. That’s because on March 28, the Houthis, a military group that controls large parts of northern Yemen and is aligned with Iran, entered the war, launching missiles towards... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348969/why-gate-tears-may-yet-make-whole-world-weep?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348969/why-gate-tears-may-yet-make-whole-world-weep?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Dicky Yordan Dicky Yordan Somewhere in Manila, a journalist reported a scene where tricycle drivers queued since six in the morning for a government cash handout worth US$84 – compensation for fuel prices that have surged since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. The Philippines has also become the first country to declare a state of national energy emergency. In Hanoi, petrol stations are rationing by the hour and unleaded prices have climbed more than 20 per cent in a matter of weeks. In Jakarta, the government is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348970/hormuz-sending-southeast-asia-warning-and-we-can-no-longer-ignore-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348970/hormuz-sending-southeast-asia-warning-and-we-can-no-longer-ignore-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 04:00:27 +0000 Marianne Hanson Marianne Hanson Israel’s avowed goal in the Middle East war is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Yet the double standard associated with this is hardly sustainable in the long run. The worst-kept secret in the world of nuclear politics is that Israel possesses a formidable arsenal of nuclear weapons. It began developing these in the 1950s and reached a fully operational capability by the late 1960s. Although Israel refuses to confirm or deny this fact, arms control organisations have assessed that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348192/one-rule-israel-and-another-iran-risks-nuclear-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348192/one-rule-israel-and-another-iran-risks-nuclear-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 03:30:12 +0000 Francis C. Domingo Francis C. Domingo The Philippines has exerted tremendous effort in conducting internal security operations since it gained its independence from the United States. Given the country’s reliance on Washington’s security umbrella until the 1990s, its military never effectively developed the capabilities for territorial defence operations. Indeed, the Korean war of 1950-1953 is the only overseas conflict in which Philippine military forces were deployed in combat operations. This preoccupation with internal security... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348188/philippine-military-must-transform-not-just-modernise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3348188/philippine-military-must-transform-not-just-modernise?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 03:00:10 +0000 Ian Storey Ian Storey If everything goes according to plan, Indonesia will be in possession of an aircraft carrier come Armed Forces Day on October 5. When that happens, it will become only the second country in Southeast Asia, after Thailand, to operate such a vessel. But this does not mean Indonesia’s maritime power will increase significantly. The issue here is prestige, not combat power. The warship in question is the Italian navy’s Giuseppe Garibaldi. The 14,000-tonne flat-top was commissioned in 1985 and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3347362/indonesias-new-aircraft-carrier-more-vanity-project-war-machine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3347362/indonesias-new-aircraft-carrier-more-vanity-project-war-machine?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 02:00:17 +0000 Syaza Shukri Syaza Shukri Malaysia’s recent enforcements and cancellations linked to LGBTQ-related activities have ignited debate about whether the government is backsliding on reform. Rather than reading these moves purely as contradicting past administrations’ policies, these government actions may be better understood as an attempt to balance two political imperatives. For the political establishment, appearing conservative – and being conservative – remains central to political survival in a context where... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3347361/malaysias-lgbtq-crackdowns-arent-hypocrisy-theyre-politics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3347361/malaysias-lgbtq-crackdowns-arent-hypocrisy-theyre-politics?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 03:30:15 +0000 Barbora Valockova Barbora Valockova What does the world’s digital economy rest on? Thousands of kilometres of fibre-optic cable lying on the ocean floor and, increasingly, in the crosshairs of great-power rivalry. The confluence of recent subsea cable disruptions, gaps in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and intensifying great-power competition has elevated this underwater infrastructure from a technical and commercial concern to a security issue – characterised as “this century’s hidden battleground”. It has... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346525/underwater-and-unprotected-why-asean-and-eu-must-secure-subsea-lifelines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346525/underwater-and-unprotected-why-asean-and-eu-must-secure-subsea-lifelines?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Ben Dunant Ben Dunant Myanmar’s new parliament will convene next week, following an election tightly stage-managed by the junta. The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will enjoy a commanding majority and the party of former generals can be expected to preserve the interests of the military and its associates. It’s unclear just how closely these broader interests align with the political ambitions of junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. He does not formally lead the USDP, whose majority means it can... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346527/myanmars-junta-staged-election-it-couldnt-stage-legitimacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3346527/myanmars-junta-staged-election-it-couldnt-stage-legitimacy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 04:00:13 +0000 Napon Jatusripitak,Duncan McCargo Napon Jatusripitak,Duncan McCargo An iconic “Gang of Four” poster defined the Bhumjaithai Party’s 2026 rebrand. Tailored to project an image of professionalism, signal managerial competence and court the votes of Thailand’s urban middle class, the poster featured party leader and current Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul fronted by three recently recruited technocrats: Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas – all of whom Anutin pledged to reinstate... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345740/how-win-election-thailand-stage-rebrand-rely-rural-votes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345740/how-win-election-thailand-stage-rebrand-rely-rural-votes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Donald Rothwell Donald Rothwell The Iranian diaspora has been celebrating and governments around the world have generally not mourned the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in last weekend’s US and Israeli air strikes on Iran. While there has been much political justification for these attacks from Washington and Israel, neither has sought to legally justify their conduct. No real effort has been made to reference the acknowledged right of self-defence, most likely because the evidence did not exist. In other words, there was no... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345741/australia-needs-make-its-stance-iran-attacks-known?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345741/australia-needs-make-its-stance-iran-attacks-known?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 David Lam David Lam In late December, Grok – the AI model developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI – released a feature that allowed users to generate non-consensual sexualised images of women and children. Within a few weeks, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines took the unusual step of banning Grok after they deemed xAI’s initial mitigations insufficient. The ban was lifted only after xAI placed new restrictions on Grok’s image-generation capabilities. While this episode was resolved, it underscores the risk that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344912/southeast-asia-needs-ai-sovereignty-grok-scandal-proved-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344912/southeast-asia-needs-ai-sovereignty-grok-scandal-proved-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 04:00:16 +0000 Stephen Olson Stephen Olson The much-anticipated Supreme Court ruling on US President Donald Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to implement his tariff regime has been handed down. In a sharp rebuke to his administration, the nation’s highest court has ruled that Trump’s use of the IEEPA authority was unconstitutional. Other tariffs implemented under separate statutes, such as the sector-specific Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs, are unaffected. What are the broader implications... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344911/southeast-asia-do-not-mistake-trumps-tariff-defeat-reprieve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344911/southeast-asia-do-not-mistake-trumps-tariff-defeat-reprieve?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 04:00:10 +0000 Alex Capri Alex Capri 2026 has begun with a worsening trust deficit, as geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China ruptures the international system. Much of this mistrust stems from an escalating technology race. At centre stage is artificial intelligence – the foundational technology for virtually all industries, from hyper-scaled computer networks and data centres to self-learning “cognitive” machines and advanced semiconductor production. The US and China now face a prisoner’s dilemma in military... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344163/who-will-save-world-us-china-ai-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3344163/who-will-save-world-us-china-ai-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Feb 2026 05:00:08 +0000 Ivan Franceschini,Charlotte Setijadi,Ling Li Ivan Franceschini,Charlotte Setijadi,Ling Li “I was running from the war, and I got to a war again.” This is how Eric, a young man from central Africa, described how he ended up at a scam compound in Cambodia – and then stranded in the country with no way out. His story is like that of many people deceived into the scamming world. After fleeing conflict in his home country and living in extreme deprivation, Eric – not his real name – received an email offering a US$2,000-per-month job in Cambodia. The recruiter quickly persuaded him to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343519/cambodias-scam-factory-survivors-find-no-escape-freedom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343519/cambodias-scam-factory-survivors-find-no-escape-freedom?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 04:00:18 +0000 Sharon Seah Sharon Seah Derided by most international observers and the Myanmar diaspora as a sham, the recently concluded three-phase elections in Myanmar have entrenched military rule under a new constitutional government. For Asean, the outcome throws into sharp relief an increasingly uncomfortable question: should it continue to marginalise the intransigent junta until it complies with the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus (5PC), or find a way to re-engage without betraying the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ own... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343518/how-asean-can-resolve-its-myanmar-dilemma-post-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3343518/how-asean-can-resolve-its-myanmar-dilemma-post-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 04:30:18 +0000 Ian Storey Ian Storey Vietnam has ambitious plans to build a series of nuclear power plants to power its fast-developing economy, with several countries lined up to facilitate the transition. Still, the country’s nuclear power ambitions face immense challenges. At the recently concluded congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, General Secretary To Lam made a bold pledge to grow the economy by at least 10 per cent annually until 2030. To achieve that lofty goal, Vietnam will have to at least double its current... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342714/vietnams-renewed-nuclear-power-push-faces-formidable-hurdles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342714/vietnams-renewed-nuclear-power-push-faces-formidable-hurdles?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2026 03:30:12 +0000 Treethep Srisa-nga Treethep Srisa-nga On Sunday, Thai voters will do two things at once: elect a new House of Representatives and decide, via referendum, whether to begin drafting a new constitution. Yet Thailand’s recent politics rarely run in a straight line from ballots to a functioning government. The question is whether the next administration can loosen the unelected constraints that shape who governs and what elected leaders can do. Despite two elections since the 2019 transition from military rule, the pattern remains... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342708/thailands-election-will-pass-verdict-architecture-elite-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342708/thailands-election-will-pass-verdict-architecture-elite-control?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Feb 2026 03:00:24 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall It starts as a distant series of distorted notes, carried on the wind through Tokyo’s suburbs. Gradually, it comes closer and the noise builds. Eventually, the van rounds a corner and I am subjected to the full power of a sound system that would not be out of place at a rock concert. Flags flutter from the rear of the white van, which has its party affiliation emblazoned across the bonnet and down both sides. A man in a baseball cap declaring his political preference is behind the wheel and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342639/annoying-or-background-noise-japans-sound-trucks-full-blast-election-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3342639/annoying-or-background-noise-japans-sound-trucks-full-blast-election-time?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 07:23:06 +0000 Lucio Blanco Pitlo III Lucio Blanco Pitlo III Escalating clashes in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China have not only raised the urgency of a regional Code of Conduct but have created a volatile environment where the threshold for war is lowering and red lines are vanishing. As diplomatic efforts stall, the fraught ties between Manila and Beijing are creating a complex crisis defined by six key risks, ranging from the normalisation of violent skirmishes to a dangerous entanglement with cross-strait tensions. First, there... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341871/south-china-sea-6-risks-facing-philippines-and-china-conflict-threshold-lowers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341871/south-china-sea-6-risks-facing-philippines-and-china-conflict-threshold-lowers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 03:00:32 +0000 Sophie Wushuang Yi Sophie Wushuang Yi For decades, the defining debate in international relations centred on whether China, as it developed into the world’s second-largest economy, would seek to revise the established world order. Would Beijing demand a greater share of global resources? Would it challenge American primacy? The non-Chinese speaking world watched anxiously for signs of Chinese revisionism, debating the “Thucydides Trap” – the theory that a rising power and an established hegemon are destined for conflict. Enormous... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341875/forget-china-threat-real-disruption-trumps-us-old-order-not-coming-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341875/forget-china-threat-real-disruption-trumps-us-old-order-not-coming-back?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 03:00:15 +0000 Alan Robles Alan Robles Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has revealed his struggle with an abdominal ailment all while grappling with a string of political woes that would churn even the strongest of stomachs – impeachment complaints, plunging ratings and simmering public anger over corruption. Yet he has assured Filipinos there is nothing to worry about on the health front. But on Wednesday, almost a week after his disclosure, the president missed an event at the palace: an awards ceremony for outstanding... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341584/whats-presidents-stomach-marcos-health-problems-call-mind-past-leaders-woes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341584/whats-presidents-stomach-marcos-health-problems-call-mind-past-leaders-woes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 02:00:16 +0000 Lee Hwok-Aun Lee Hwok-Aun Anwar Ibrahim started this year with a spring in his step. On January 5, his “new year mandate” speech announced a raft of economic relief measures for households and small and medium-sized enterprises, alongside a few institutional reforms. Quite saliently, he also announced legislation to limit the Malaysian prime minister’s term in office. While these plans for 2026 have been on the cards for some time, it is important to note that their roll-out follows Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) trouncing in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341040/malaysias-pm-term-limits-could-backfire-unless-election-cycles-are-set?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341040/malaysias-pm-term-limits-could-backfire-unless-election-cycles-are-set?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 02:00:32 +0000 William Choong,Joanne Lin William Choong,Joanne Lin The United States’ military operation in Venezuela, culminating in the capture and removal of President Nicolas Maduro, might at first have appeared distant to Southeast Asia. What should concern the region, however, is not geography but the logic underpinning Washington’s action: a growing willingness to act unilaterally, in this case undermining sovereignty and invoking presidential powers to justify the use of force against a perceived threat. More troubling still, it dusts off the old... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341041/what-us-china-grand-bargain-would-mean-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3341041/what-us-china-grand-bargain-would-mean-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 02:00:19 +0000 Chandran Nair Chandran Nair Many around the world will recall the striking image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi standing side by side at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in September. It was there that China unveiled one of its most consequential diplomatic proposals in recent memory: the Global Governance Initiative (GGI). Yet a quick scan reveals how little coverage this moment received in mainstream Western media. Asking “why”... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3340205/china-has-worthy-blueprint-improve-un-system-why-west-ignoring-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3340205/china-has-worthy-blueprint-improve-un-system-why-west-ignoring-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jan 2026 02:30:10 +0000 Marco Kamiya Marco Kamiya How can developing economies in Asia raise productivity, create jobs and align growth with decarbonisation and energy efficiency? According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) latest report, the answer lies in more innovative and targeted industrial policies. The report offers timely lessons for Southeast Asia. UNIDO’s study lays out a comprehensive framework grounded in “foresight” and “megatrends” analysis, calling for an industrial push that could reshape... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3340198/win-future-southeast-asia-must-rewrite-its-industrial-rule-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3340198/win-future-southeast-asia-must-rewrite-its-industrial-rule-book?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jan 2026 02:30:08 +0000 I Gusti Bagus Dharma Agastia I Gusti Bagus Dharma Agastia Beneath the waves lies the infrastructure forming the backbone of global connectivity. Around 98 per cent of all international electronic communications travel through submarine cable systems laid across the world’s seabeds. Eleven more cable systems are currently being planned, including the trans-Pacific Bifrost network, which will connect Southeast Asian nations such as Singapore and Indonesia with the western United States. While most cable breakages stem from wear and tear, natural causes... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3339417/indonesias-digital-2045-ambition-rests-fragile-seabed-spine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3339417/indonesias-digital-2045-ambition-rests-fragile-seabed-spine?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 03:00:15 +0000 Amani Braa Amani Braa In 2025, youth-led protests erupted everywhere from Morocco to Nepal, Madagascar and Europe. A generation refused to remain silent in the face of economic precariousness, corruption and eroding democratic norms and institutions. Although they arose in different contexts, all the protests were met with the same playbook of responses: repression, contempt and suspicion towards youth dismissed as irresponsible. In Morocco, the #Gen212 movement, which originated on social media, denounced the high... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3339386/memes-streets-gen-zs-fight-back-against-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3339386/memes-streets-gen-zs-fight-back-against-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2026 08:00:21 +0000 Xu Peng Xu Peng Southeast Asia has become “ground zero” for the global online scamming industry, according to the UN, costing victims billions of US dollars each year. Scam operations are run by Chinese crime syndicates from fortified compounds in countries like Myanmar, which has been embroiled in a nationwide armed conflict since 2021. The size of the scam industry has led to sustained security crackdowns in recent years. This has included a number of joint operations involving police forces from multiple... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3338564/how-uneven-borders-fuel-myanmars-vast-and-resilient-scam-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3338564/how-uneven-borders-fuel-myanmars-vast-and-resilient-scam-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 05:00:25 +0000 Kamal Ahmad Kamal Ahmad Things had to change in Bangladesh. The brutality of an autocratic regime which tolerated little dissent gravely undermined its legitimacy. Its relentless kleptocracy exposed a capacity for private greed and theft that had no limits, turning it into a criminal state. The surrender of a proud nation’s sovereignty to a giant neighbour for its guarantee of an illicit political status quo ultimately proved untenable. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was the right man at the right hour to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3338565/bangladesh-needs-structural-change-how-will-it-get-there?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3338565/bangladesh-needs-structural-change-how-will-it-get-there?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2026 08:00:20 +0000 Arnold Puyok Arnold Puyok Malaysia’s long-anticipated 17th state election in Sabah concluded last month with results that were at once expected and surprising. Heightened calls for greater autonomy and more leadership by local-based parties proved less decisive than expected, with the “Sabah First” slogan belying the fact that the state’s divided politics will continue. With 1.7 million voters choosing from a record 22 parties and 596 candidates, the ballot resembled a democratic marketplace: rich in options but... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3337113/sabahs-election-proves-malaysians-want-results-not-slogans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3337113/sabahs-election-proves-malaysians-want-results-not-slogans?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Dec 2025 02:30:08 +0000 JC Punongbayan JC Punongbayan The fact that the Philippines is at the receiving end of countless typhoons every year is undeniable. But a miserable mix of corruption and the failure to execute and implement a slew of flood control projects has given the country the perfect storm. In the span of just one week, the Philippines was pummelled by two devastating typhoons. Typhoon Kalmaegi (known locally as Tino) made landfall on November 4, leaving a trail of destruction across the Visayas and Palawan, with at least 232 people... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3337111/greed-and-pork-barrel-politics-fuel-philippines-fatal-floods?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3337111/greed-and-pork-barrel-politics-fuel-philippines-fatal-floods?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Dec 2025 04:00:18 +0000 Frances Mangosing Frances Mangosing The Philippines and Germany have entered a new chapter in their bilateral relations this year, placing special emphasis on tightening security and defence ties. In May, Manila and Berlin committed themselves to advancing their security partnership by signing an agreement on defence cooperation. The deal increases collaboration between their military and defence establishments in logistics, cybersecurity, defensive weaponry and UN peacekeeping. It builds on a 1974 agreement that enabled the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3336267/new-philippines-germany-defence-pact-built-last?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3336267/new-philippines-germany-defence-pact-built-last?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Dec 2025 02:30:10 +0000 Walter Woon Walter Woon The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers Shigure, Isokaze, Hamakaze and Yukizake were assigned to escort duties when convoys were sent to Singapore to collect badly needed supplies for Japan during the second world war. The destroyers protected the light carrier Ryuho carrying a load of aircraft bound for the Japanese colony of Taiwan. This brief synopsis appears in episode six of the second series of the Japanese anime Kantai Collection (“Fleet Girls Collection”), also known as KanColle, in which... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3336265/singapore-taiwan-japan-must-face-its-past-asias-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3336265/singapore-taiwan-japan-must-face-its-past-asias-future?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2025 03:00:28 +0000