Asia’s coming great demographic divide

The trend of Asian populations growing and moving to cities — providing cheap labor, demand for modern infrastructure and high economic growth — has reached a turning point with China now joining countries with shrinking populations in the region. Still, the aging and shrinking countries of Northeast Asia are likely to continue to be Asia’s […]Continue Reading

US fumbling to close hypersonic gap with China, Russia

The US plans to test a hypersonic weapon from a Zumwalt-class destroyer in 2025, a move that likely aims to plug a growing deterrence gap vis-à-vis China in the Pacific.  This month, Naval News reported that the US Navy will conduct a test launch of a hypersonic weapon from the USS Zumwalt in December 2025, with […]Continue Reading

How India’s scandal-hit Adani Group hushes critics

The short-seller’s report alleged the conglomerate had artificially inflated its market value using related-party transactions conducted through tax havens. The stock market reaction sent the firm’s billionaire founder, until then Asia’s richest man, tumbling down the ranks of global rich-listers, though shares in the group’s listed entities have since stabilised.Continue Reading

Mideast countries don’t want to choose between US, China

The warm welcome for Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia in December was interpreted by many as a sign of Chinese resurgence in the Middle East and a growing crisis in US-Saudi relations. China has become increasingly active in the Middle East both economically and politically over the past decade. Its approach to the region […]Continue Reading

Japan, South Korea foreign ministers meet on sidelines of Munich Security Conference

TOKYO: Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi met his South Korean counterpart Park Jin on Saturday (Feb 18) and reiterated the need for continued communications between the two countries to return to a “healthy relationship”. Meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the two foreign ministers agreed to “closeContinue Reading

North Korea ICBM launch part of a ‘surprise drill’: KCNA

SEOUL: North Korea’s most recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, its first in seven weeks, was of a Hwasong-15 launched as part of a surprise drill, state media KCNA reported Sunday (Feb 19). The Saturday afternoon launch quickly received condemnation from South Korea, the United States and Japan – which said itContinue Reading