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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.
Shahed unmanned combat aerial vehicles are made by Iran's Shahed Aviation Industries. Photo: handout
War and conflict

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

Latest Global Peace Index reflects a world progressively less peaceful as AI enables armies to kill more people more quickly and more cheaply.

European Union

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

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United States

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

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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.

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A staff member collects data on a robot’s movements as it works in a simulated supermarket at the embodied intelligence robot data and training base of the Beijing Innovation Centre of Humanoid Robotics in Beijing on June 12. Photo: Xinhua
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.

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?

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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.

Workers take a break with the city skyline of Dubai seen in the background on March 11. Photo: AFP
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.

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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.

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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.

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Robots work on production lines at a mould and stamping company in Fuzhou, in China’s eastern Fujian province, on April 16. Photo: AFP
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.

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A Thai farmer fills an oil drum with diesel to harvest rice, at a petrol station in Ayutthaya on April 1. Thai farmers are struggling with shortages of diesel, fertiliser and insecticides, alongside rising production costs which threaten their crops. Photo: EPA
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.

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.

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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.

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US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 23. Photo: AFP
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.

A ship full of containers is seen at the port of Oakland, US on March 6, 2025. Photo: Reuters
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.

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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.

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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.

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A worker is seen on an LED production line at an electronics company in Zigui county, central China’s Hubei province, on January 27. Photo: Xinhua
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.

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.

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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.

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US President Donald Trump raises his fist after a “Board of Peace” meeting at the World Economic Forum annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22. Photo: AFP
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.

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US President Donald Trump speaks during a Board of Peace charter announcement at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22. Photo: AP
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.

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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.

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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.

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A couple kiss next to a Christmas tree in Kyiv, Ukraine, during celebrations before a curfew on December 31. Photo: Reuters
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.

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US President Donald Trump, left, and President Xi Jinping speak as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. Photo: Reuters
Diplomacy

Outside In | Six years on, are we better prepared for the next pandemic?

Preparedness plans remain a work in progress while health budgets have been sliced by urgent demands and US withdrawal weakens global coordination.

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United States

Outside In | It’s an expensive Christmas for Americans thanks to Trump’s tariffs

It’s been years since the US president extolled the virtues of trade wars: how much longer before he recognises tariffs harm the US economy?

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