Advertisement
Advertisement
Opinion /

Asia Opinion

Related Topics:
My Take
Macroscope
An oil and gas industry worker operates a drilling rig at the Zhetybay field in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, on November 13, 2023. Photo: Reuters
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.

videocam
Technology

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

Asean

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

videocam
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.

videocam
Cars and motorbikes sit in a long queue to refuel at a petrol station in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 6. Photo: Reuters
Cars and motorbikes sit in a long queue to refuel at a petrol station in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 6. Photo: Reuters
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.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
4
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
24
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
A woman takes an iris scan to link her Aadhar card with the National Register of Citizens at a passport service centre in Barpeta district in India’s north-eastern state of Assam in 2019. Without data governance mechanisms, Global South data could end up being extracted and monetised by foreign platforms for their own gains. Photo: AFP
A woman takes an iris scan to link her Aadhar card with the National Register of Citizens at a passport service centre in Barpeta district in India’s north-eastern state of Assam in 2019. Without data governance mechanisms, Global South data could end up being extracted and monetised by foreign platforms for their own gains. Photo: AFP
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
4
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
Illustration: Craig Stephens
Central banks

Macroscope | Asian central banks largely powerless in face of Iran war energy shock

Central banks cannot pump oil into the global economy in the same way they can flood the financial system with liquidity.

videocam
Workers change the price of fuel at a petrol station in Manila on March 17. Photo: AFP
Workers change the price of fuel at a petrol station in Manila on March 17. Photo: AFP
Taiwan

Opinion | What the Iran war reveals about Nato’s appetite for conflict over Taiwan

Resistance to a war started without European consent makes clear the alliance’s limits. The US can’t count on Nato support for a war in Asia.

videocam
War and conflict

Opinion | How selective outrage over Iran war exposes the limits of realpolitik

From Iran to Afghanistan, the cold logic of ruthless pragmatism ensures human life and welfare are always the biggest casualties.

The Philippines

Opinion | How US war in Iran is pushing Philippines closer to China

Frustration at Washington among Philippine leaders and the public reflects a rapidly shifting balance of power in Asia.

videocam
Illustration: Craig Stephens
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW