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This Week in Asia /

Opinion

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A boy waves a flag at a rally attended by thousands of Indonesian Islamists in Jakarta in 2018. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

Asian Angle | Liberal Islam in Indonesia is sliding into irrelevance

Political entanglements and ideological schisms have left the pioneering Liberal Islam Network in disarray.

Asean

Asian Angle | Asean’s side deals in Myanmar risk missing where the power truly lies

South Korea

Asian Angle | Korean drama Teach You a Lesson serves up a reality check on education

Vietnam

Asian Angle | When the US comes for Cuba, what can Vietnam do?

Vietnam has stood by Cuba for 60 years. Now Washington is raising the price of that friendship – and Hanoi must decide what it’s worth.

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Vietnam’s To Lam (left) and Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel review a guard of honour during a welcoming ceremony in Hanoi on September 1, 2025. Photo: AFP
Vietnam’s To Lam (left) and Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel review a guard of honour during a welcoming ceremony in Hanoi on September 1, 2025. Photo: AFP
Asean

Asian Angle | China builds Southeast Asia expertise as the US lets it wither

Yet neither power will truly grasp this complex, diverse region if they continue to treat it merely as a geopolitical chessboard.

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Indonesia

Asian Angle | Indonesia’s nickel rule changes are spooking Chinese investors

A leaked grievance letter reveals how Jakarta’s resource nationalism risks driving essential Chinese capital away.

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Indonesia

Opinion | Indonesia’s labour movement is deeply divided over political patronage

Rival rallies reveal a fundamental clash between a co-opted union elite and an independent grass-roots movement.

Indonesian workers take part in a protest during a May Day rally marking International Workers’ Day in front of the East Java Governor’s Office in Surabaya on May 1. Photo: AFP
Indonesian workers take part in a protest during a May Day rally marking International Workers’ Day in front of the East Java Governor’s Office in Surabaya on May 1. Photo: AFP
Malaysia

Opinion | Can Malaysia’s unity government survive a state poll fight?

Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional might find it easier to compete locally and maintain a lukewarm federal alliance.

Asean

Asian Angle | Where Southeast Asians really want to live, work and travel

While Thailand leads for tourism, Singapore and Japan are the top draws for work, revealing uneven regional soft power dynamics.

Malaysia

Asian Angle | Malaysia’s 3R catch-all risks turning every grievance into a threat

Conflating local governance concerns with racial and religious slights threatens pluralism and stifles legitimate public policy debate.

Thousands of protesters rally near a mosque in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the Malaysian government’s withdrawal of plans to ratify a UN anti-discrimination convention in 2018. Photo: AP
Ageing society

Asian Angle | Asia’s silver dividend can offset ageing’s economic toll

Research shows demographic decline hits productivity, not workforce size. Keeping older workers active through technology is the solution.

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A street food hawker waits for customers by a roadside in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 12. Photo: EPA
A street food hawker waits for customers by a roadside in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 12. Photo: EPA
US-China relations

Asian Angle | What the China-US stability pact means for Southeast Asia

The real test of Beijing and Washington’s adoption of ‘constructive strategic stability’ will be how words translate into action.

China-Asean relations

Asian Angle | China offers Southeast Asia clear advantages in nuclear power

With its experience in exporting nuclear reactors, China can offer long-term energy security and technological upgrades.

History

Opinion | The West was never the whole world. It’s time to move on

As Asia reclaims its roots, the burden of reinvention now falls on the West. Its brief era of supremacy was a historical aberration.

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People walk past a television screen in Beijing broadcasting US President Donald Trump’s visit to China on Thursday. Photo: EPA
China-Philippines relations

Asian Angle | 3 reasons Marcos’ South China Sea energy gambit won’t work

The Philippine president has mooted the idea of joint oil and gas development. China is willing, but history shows this road leads nowhere.

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An aerial drone photo shows China’s Deep Sea No 1 energy station in the South China Sea off Hainan province in April last year. Photo: China National Offshore Oil Corporation/Xinhua
An aerial drone photo shows China’s Deep Sea No 1 energy station in the South China Sea off Hainan province in April last year. Photo: China National Offshore Oil Corporation/Xinhua
US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Trump’s threats against Iran are historically illiterate

The US president’s threats to end Iranian civilisation expose his ignorance of the country’s long history.

Japan

Asian Angle | Why Japan-China ties can benefit from promoting people-to-people exchanges

Filling the information gap through direct contact between the two peoples can help improve both countries’ public images and ease tensions.

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Thailand

Asian Angle | A year after corporal punishment ban, Thailand needs to curb resurgence

Two school incidents show corporal punishment remains prevalent, and Thai authorities must strengthen accountability to prevent a recurrence.

The World Health Organization asserts that corporal punishment increases behavioural problems, impairs socio-emotional development and, crucially, violates children’s rights to good health and physical integrity. Photo: Shutterstock
The World Health Organization asserts that corporal punishment increases behavioural problems, impairs socio-emotional development and, crucially, violates children’s rights to good health and physical integrity. Photo: Shutterstock
US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Trump’s oil crisis is accelerating the end of the fossil fuel era

Ironically for president ‘drill, baby, drill’, this crisis may prove an irreversible tipping point for clean energy.

War and conflict

Opinion | Blinding the world with lies makes peacemaking an impossible task

From Iran to the Horn of Africa, disinformation is killing diplomacy. Mediators need facts, not state-sponsored fictions.

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United States

Asian Angle | The Thucydides Trap is a lie created to justify a US-China war

Ancient Greece offers no lessons for Asia. The Global South must stop letting America’s war machine write history.

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Iranian women walk past a memorial in Tehran to a school that was targeted by a US air strike in February killing 165 children and staff. Photo: EPA
US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Passage through the Strait of Hormuz is a right in war and peace

Neutral ships have a legal right of passage, even in war. Singapore has defended international law, which provides for a stable world order.

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An illustration shows the Strait of Hormuz, which is bordered by Iran and Oman. Photo: Reuters
An illustration shows the Strait of Hormuz, which is bordered by Iran and Oman. Photo: Reuters
Asean

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

An increasingly unpredictable Washington is making the region’s traditional hedging strategy harder to sustain.

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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.

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
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