Advertisement
Advertisement
TOPIC

Inside Out & Outside In

Inside Out & Outside In
In wide-ranging columns appearing twice a week, David Dodwell, executive director of the Hong Kong-Apec Trade Policy Group, strives to understand and describe the distinctive characteristics at the heart of Hong Kong's continuing competitive advantages. It promises to be a fascinating journey as he seeks to understand and describe the forces that have shaped and are changing Hong Kong, and the role it is playing for China and in the region as we move steadily closer to 2047.
Demonstrators participate in a nationwide protest against data centers in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on July 18. Photo: Reuters
Artificial intelligence

Outside In | Why Asia need not match West’s fear over data centre buildout

The spread of data centres in Asia does not seem to have sparked the kind of protests it has in the West, but good policies are needed to ensure that remains the case.

videocam
China economy

Outside In | China’s export success is a by-product of self-reliance

videocam
7
War and conflict

Outside In | How AI is changing the nature of war and conflict

European Union

Outside In | Hot and bothered Europeans finally warm to air con

People are buying air conditioners despite the political awkwardness of relying on Chinese imports and worsening global warming.

videocam
4
A woman shields her face with a fan in the Trocadero square near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on June 20, during a heatwave affecting a large part of France. Photo: Reuters
United States

Outside In | US the ultimate loser as Iran war ushers in global power upheaval

Defeated by asymmetric warfare and spurned by allies, the US has ended up boosting China’s economy and standing instead.

videocam
14
Artificial intelligence

Outside In | AI’s looming impact on jobs warrants some brakes on development

Just as drugs can’t go to market without thorough testing, the uncertainty surrounding the effect of AI means it must face globally agreed regulations.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Diplomacy

Outside In | Central Asia is finally coming into its own

The region’s five countries, inadvertent beneficiaries of Chinese infrastructure investment, then wars and tariffs elsewhere, are finding their feet.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (second left) visits the Centre for Islamic Civilisation in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on June 5. Photo: Handout
China-EU relations

Outside In | Europe blaming China for trade imbalance ignores its own policy failures

How are Beijing’s successful industrial policies any different from those used by Europe, the US or the ‘Asian tigers’ in the past?

videocam
6
Middle East

Outside In | How Trump’s war on Iran is jeopardising Asia’s remittance lifeline

In Gulf economies, lost migrant jobs and remittances risk plunging millions across Asia into crisis.

Diplomacy

Outside In | Xi-Trump summit aside, 2 meetings in Asia matter for global trade

As Trump travelled to Beijing for the kind of bilateral dealmaking he prefers, two groups have continued their multilateral efforts.

videocam
US tech bosses and officials attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14 as US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrive. Photo: AP
China economy

Outside In | Prepare for ‘China shock 3.0’ to the global food economy

Imagine China applying the same industry policy playbook for electric cars, solar panels and AI to agriculture and food self-sufficiency.

videocam
A worker checks rice seedlings on vertical racks at an intelligent rice seedling factory on April 2 in Changsha, Hunan province. Photo: China News Service via Getty Images
China economy

Outside In | China’s manufacturing rise is here to stay. The West must recalibrate

The changes are structural and protectionism will only weaken long-term growth.

videocam
Food and agriculture

Outside In | The Iran war is brewing a food crisis we must avert

The world’s focus has been on energy shortages but famine and widening food insecurity are faces of the same coin.

videocam
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
US-China relations

Opinion | 3 reasons Xi-Trump summit won’t be a waste of time for China

Despite current tensions and dim prospects for meaningful progress, Beijing should still roll out the red carpet.

videocam
US President Donald Trump, left, and President Xi Jinping pose for a photo at the Forbidden City in Beijing on November 8, 2017. Photo: AFP
Trade

Opinion | As Trump wrecks trade, WTO meeting in Cameroon is a show of defiance

Trade ministerial conference shows that most nations still value multilateral cooperation over the chaotic whims of a hegemon.

videocam
Trade

Outside In | As Iran war escalates, the US ramps up its trade war

The White House’s Section 301 investigations may be less dramatic than war, but they risk retaliation and trade breakdowns.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
China economy

Opinion | China’s energy transition proves a boon in the Iran crisis

China is expected to face no significant disruption but as the ‘two sessions’ open in Beijing, energy security is staying a top focus.

videocam
Fire and smoke rise from the Fujairah oil industry zone, caused by debris from an intercepted drone, according to the Fujairah media office, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on March 4, as Iran launched retaliatory attacks across the region. Photo: EPA
Artificial intelligence

Outside In | Everyone agrees that AI is big. No one agrees on what comes next

Job fears, environmental strain and security threats are fuelling the botlash, yet experts remain divided over its net impact – and our ability to contain the risks.

videocam
Trade

Outside In | Try as it might, the US alone can’t reverse the tide of globalisation

Accounting for a significant share of world trade, Europe and Asia are far more decisive players in the fast-changing globalised economy.

videocam
United States

Outside In | Will tourism slump force Trump to rethink his unilateral approach?

The US president’s policies have antagonised many the world over and may hit attendance at mega-events like the Fifa World Cup, with political repercussions.

People enjoy the beach as well as the Hollywood Beach boardwalk on February 10 in Hollywood, Florida. Hollywood, also known as the “Quebec of the South,” has seen fewer French-Canadian tourists in 2026 due to recent tensions between the US and Canada. Photo: Getty Images / AFP
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Outside In | Apec’s quiet cooperation still matters in a noisy, divided world

Year-round, multiple intensive working meetings keep the forum an ‘engine room’ of cooperation, reflecting its commitment to multilateralism.

videocam
A group photo at the Apec informal senior officials’ meeting in Shenzhen, China on December 12, 2025. Photo: Xinhua
United States

Outside In | Gradually, then suddenly, the world is waking up to the US threat

Middle powers are pivoting to Beijing and hedging with new partners as China’s economic displacement of the US rapidly expands.

videocam
10
United States

Outside In | Why Trump’s Davos farce may come to be seen as a watershed

Whatever his motivations, he’s alarmed allies and made clear the old order based on a benign US is gone, even as his popularity slips at home.

videocam
5
China society

Outside In | We are speeding towards a demography of loneliness

The swarming sociability of family life is fading as one-person households and lonely deaths rise. Coping with loneliness is now a life skill.

videocam
Around the world, more people are growing up as only children; marrying late, if at all; having children late, if at all; and living alone in old age. Photo: Shutterstock
Hong Kong politics

Outside In | To root out corruption, Hong Kong fire probe must go beyond scapegoats

Public procurement failures often reflect government responsibility, and Hong Kong’s fire investigation must confront that reality.

videocam
Members of the independent investigation committee of the Wang Fuk Court fire, wearing protective suits, inspect the fire scene on December 23. Photo: Jelly Tse
War and conflict

Outside In | 2025 was the year of denial. What now?

Despite the threat of wars, tariffs, climate change and AI, normality has persisted. But it can only be a matter of time before such contradictions explode.

videocam
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Outside In | As the US pursues unilateralism, China faces challenging task as Apec host

China’s return as Apec chair is an opportunity to show that both the organisation and its message of multilateralism are as relevant as ever.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement