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My Take
Macroscope
A man sits on the balcony of a sludge-ridden house in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on September 8. The August 26 glacial and mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border killed at least 1,398 people, with more than 5,500 missing, including around 800 foreigners. Photo: AFP
2026 China-Nepal flash floods

Opinion | What the China-Nepal floods teach us about crisis communication

In an unfolding disaster, families need quick, practical updates and journalists need access the moment safety allows.

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North Korea nuclear crisis

Opinion | A new Trump-Kim summit would be a nightmare for everyone but Pyongyang

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Banking & finance

Macroscope | Who’s in control of Japanese monetary policy? Tokyo or Washington?

Asean

Opinion | As the global order fragments, at least Asean is still talking

A modest lesson in a multipolar world is that sometimes the achievement is simply that disagreement does not end the conversation.

US President Donald Trump (third from left) gathers with Asean leaders for a group photo before the 13th Asean-US summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump (third from left) gathers with Asean leaders for a group photo before the 13th Asean-US summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP
United States

Opinion | The world is not so much embracing China as recoiling from Trump’s US

The US is haemorrhaging goodwill around the world, but China will have to build up its own trustworthiness and credibility to win hearts and minds.

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China economy

Opinion | Western businesses need to crack the new CIA: China, India and Asean

The businesses that adapt early to engage China, India and Asean will help draft Asia’s next chapter and profit from it.

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Education

Opinion | The classic Chinese parenting playbook won’t survive the AI age

Controlling and achievement-oriented parenting stifles creativity, autonomy and critical thinking – qualities that will be needed more than ever.

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Illustration: Mario Cameira
Illustration: Mario Cameira
China technology

Opinion | China’s J-10CE has foreign buyers, but not yet a market

In service in Pakistan and Uzbekistan and on Bangladesh’s radar, the fighter jet is not yet a threat to Western market dominance.

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Vietnam

Asian Angle | Politics aside, young Vietnamese are warming to China

Hit dramas, trendy consumer brands and economic opportunity are drawing a new generation into China’s cultural orbit.

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Urban planning

Opinion | Warming cities can’t afford to sacrifice their urban parks

Green spaces lower urban temperatures and boost quality of life. Cities may be short of space, but trading parks for concrete is a bad bargain.

Illustration: Huy Truong
G20

Macroscope | As US leadership proves unreliable, Asia needs to start focusing on itself

Asian policymakers should start laying the groundwork for a new organisation that has this region’s interests at its core.

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A miniature model of the White House is seen at the Omni Grove Park Hotel during the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on August 31. Finance leaders from the G20 major economies opened talks at the US-hosted gathering, with the Trump administration seeking to escalate economic pressure on Iran amid a renewed exchange of fire with Tehran. Photo: AFP
A miniature model of the White House is seen at the Omni Grove Park Hotel during the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on August 31. Finance leaders from the G20 major economies opened talks at the US-hosted gathering, with the Trump administration seeking to escalate economic pressure on Iran amid a renewed exchange of fire with Tehran. Photo: AFP
Diplomacy

Opinion | The Global South cannot afford to let its maritime border disputes fester

Cambodia’s compulsory conciliation with Thailand under UN sea law shows how international law can deliver peaceful outcomes before tensions boil over.

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Climate change

Opinion | Cop31: Forget climate pledges, countries like Nepal need actual cash

No payout from the loss and damage fund has reached vulnerable nations. Cop31 must focus on delivering the money already promised.

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Brics

Opinion | Delhi’s test: make Brics work without making it work against India

Success for India isn’t replacing the West or empowering China – it’s walking away with more strategic choices and leverage.

Passengers wait at a bus stop with a signboard featuring India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on September 3, ahead of the Brics summit this weekend. Photo: Reuters
India

The View | To match China’s economy, India must accept its investment

Border rivalries shouldn’t block Chinese capital, just as wartime history never stopped Japanese investment from powering East Asia.

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An Indian labourer works at a construction site in Mumbai on August 18. As a leading developer of green energy and high-speed rail around the world, there is no better partner for India to upgrade its infrastructure than China. Photo: EPA
An Indian labourer works at a construction site in Mumbai on August 18. As a leading developer of green energy and high-speed rail around the world, there is no better partner for India to upgrade its infrastructure than China. Photo: EPA
Japan

Opinion | A tension lies at the heart of Japan’s foreign labour policy

As Japan raises fees for residence permits and tightens the requirements for permanent residency, the effect on long-term settlement warrants attention.

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China's population

My Take | Why China’s shrinking population may be a blessing, not a curse

Research co-authored by Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu finds labour shortages can spur, rather than slow down, productivity and growth.

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Climate change

Opinion | Is air conditioning Hong Kong’s only weapon against hotter summers?

In Hong Kong, air conditioning is ubiquitous but conventional models harm the environment. More responsible solutions are needed.

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Illustration: Mario Rivera
Illustration: Mario Rivera
Nepal

Asian Angle | After Nepal-Tibet floods, recovery depends on grass-roots solidarity

Rebuilding devastated border villages means backing local support networks long after foreign aid money disappears.

Chinese overseas

Being Chinese | A Singaporean in Guangzhou wonders: why do I feel so at home here?

Guangzhou set me at ease in a way other cities didn’t. I began to understand what it means to be descended from early Chinese migrants.

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Global monetary policy

Macroscope | Asia is not on the edge of a new 1997-style financial crisis

While risks to Asia’s financial stability exist, they have nothing to do with the policy and structural weaknesses behind the 1997 crisis.

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A South Korean dealer looks at an electronic signboard showing the benchmark Kospi index at Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, on September 2. Photo: EPA
Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | 3 key belt and road connectivities that Hong Kong drives

Hong Kong’s Belt and Road Office is focusing on strengthening links related to infrastructure, rules and standards, and people-to-people connections.

Visitors take pictures with 2-metre-tall promoters at Kazakhstan booth at Hong Kong’s International Travel Expo on June 11. The Belt and Road Office has concluded memorandums with key institutions in Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, laying solid groundwork for collaboration. Photo: Nora Tam
Visitors take pictures with 2-metre-tall promoters at Kazakhstan booth at Hong Kong’s International Travel Expo on June 11. The Belt and Road Office has concluded memorandums with key institutions in Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, laying solid groundwork for collaboration. Photo: Nora Tam
2026 China-Nepal flash floods

Opinion | Nepal-China floods highlight a growing front of the climate change crisis

Rising sea levels, extreme weather and drought all remain concerns, but destabilised ice and snow at high altitudes is increasingly a threat.

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India

Opinion | India’s conflicted stance on China is unlikely to bear economic fruit

New Delhi’s approach has gone from welcoming economic engagement with Beijing to containment to the latest calibrated reopening.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Hong Kong and Singapore property shrug off fund tax breaks

While the two cities compete on wealth management incentives to draw talent and capital, the spillover into office and residential real estate remains negligible.

Tram cars traverse the streets of Hong Kong’s Central district on January 26. As the city competes harder with Singapore for investment talent, tax incentives for fund managers have emerged as the new battleground. Photo: Jelly Tse
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