Asia’s Best Companies Poll 2025: Market winners | FinanceAsia

For a 25th year, FinanceAsia publishes its highly regarded benchmark of Asia’s best companies.

Based on nomination by Asia’s active community of influential investors and financial analysts, the poll evaluates the corporate behaviour and performance of Asian peers over the past 12 months.

The FA team is delighted to announce the 2025 winners below for the market categories.The industry winners can be found here

Once again, following positive market participation, we have decided to award up to three medals per category to reflect corporate achievements. Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists are detailed where applicable.

Congratulations to all the winners. Read on for the winning companies in the following markets:  

BEST MANAGED COMPANY

China
Gold – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd
Silver – China Telecom
Bronze – China Mobile

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd

Silver – Link REIT

Silver – Sino Land

Bronze – MTR Corporation Limited

 

India

Gold – Tata Motors

Silver – Axis Capital

Bronze – Bajaj Finance

 

Indonesia

Gold – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Silver – Astra International

Silver – PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk

Bronze – GoTo Gojek Tokopedia

 

Malaysia

Gold – Maybank

Silver – CIMB Bank Berhad

Bronze – AmFunds Investment Management Berhad

Bronze – YTL Corporation Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Ayala Corporation

Silver – Bank of the Philippine Islands

Silver – Megawide Construction Corporation

Bronze – Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation

 

Singapore

Gold – DBS Bank

Silver – Singapore Airlines

Bronze – CapitaLand

 

South Korea

Gold – SK Hynix

Silver – Samsung Electronics

Bronze – Hyundai Motor Co Ltd

 

Taiwan

Gold – Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd

Silver – CTBC Financial Holding

Silver – MediaTek Inc.

Bronze – Far Eastern New Century Corporation

Bronze – Sercomm Corporation

 

Thailand

Gold – B. Grimm Power PCL

Silver – Global Power Synergy PCL

Silver – Thai Oil Public Company Limited 

Bronze – Central Pattana

Bronze – Gulf Energy Development PCL

 

MOST COMMITTED TO ESG

 

China

Gold – Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

Silver – China Telecom

Bronze – China Mobile

Bronze – Trip.com

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd

Silver – Link REIT

Bronze – Hengan International Group Company, Ltd.

 

India

Gold – Axis Capital

Silver – Bajaj Finance

Bronze – Tata Consultancy Services Ltd

 

Indonesia

Gold – PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk

Silver – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Bronze – GoTo Gojek Tokopedia

 

Malaysia

Gold – Yinson Holdings Berhad

Silver – Maybank

Bronze – AmFunds Investment Management Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Ayala Corporation

Silver – Megawide Construction Corporation

Bronze – SM Investments Corporation

 

Singapore

Gold – OCBC Bank

Silver – City Developments Limited

Bronze – Seatrium

 

South Korea

Gold – Samsung Electronics

Silver – Hyundai Motor Co Ltd

Bronze – Hanwha Ocean

 

Taiwan

Gold – Wistron NeWeb Corporation

Silver – CTBC Financial Holding

Bronze – Sercomm Corporation

 

Thailand

Gold – Global Power Synergy PCL

Silver – B. Grimm Power PCL

Bronze – Gulf Energy Development PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vingroup

Silver – Masan Group

Bronze – THACO Group

 

BEST INVESTOR RELATIONS

China

Gold – China Telecom

Silver – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

Bronze – China Mobile

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd

Silver – Link REIT

Silver – MTR Corporation Limited

Bronze – Midea International Corp Co Ltd

 

India

Gold – ICICI Bank Ltd

Silver – HDFC Bank Ltd

 

Indonesia

Gold – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Silver – GoTo Gojek Tokopedia

Bronze – PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk

 

Malaysia

Gold – CIMB Bank Berhad

Silver – Maybank

Bronze – Yinson Holdings Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Bloomberry Resorts Corporation

Silver – Ayala Corporation

Silver – SM Investments Corporation

Bronze – Meralco

 

Singapore

Gold – CapitaLand

Silver – SATS Ltd

Bronze – Mapletree Investments

 

South Korea

Gold – Hanwha Ocean

Silver – LG Electronics

Bronze – SK Hynix

 

Taiwan

Gold – Wistron NeWeb Corporation

Silver – Far Eastern New Century Corporation

Bronze – Sercomm Corporation

 

Thailand

Gold – PTT Public Company Limited

Silver – B. Grimm Power PCL

Bronze – Global Power Synergy PCL

Bronze – Gulf Energy Development PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vingroup

Silver – Masan Group

Bronze – Mobile World Investment Corporation

 

BEST LARGE CAP COMPANY

 

China

Gold – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

Silver – China Telecom

Bronze – China Mobile

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Link REIT

Silver – Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd

Bronze – CLP Holdings Ltd

 

India

Gold – Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd

Silver – HDFC Bank Ltd

Bronze – Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd

Bronze – Tata Consultancy Services Ltd

 

Indonesia

Gold – PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk

Silver – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Bronze – Astra International

 

Malaysia

Gold – Maybank

 

Philippines

Gold – SM Investments Corporation

Silver – International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

Bronze – SM Prime Holdings, Inc.

 

South Korea

Gold – Hyundai Motor Co Ltd

Silver – Hanwha Ocean

Silver – POSCO

Bronze – Samsung Biologics

 

Taiwan

Gold – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd

Silver – MediaTek Inc.

Bronze – EVA Airways Corporation

Bronze – Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd

 

Thailand

Gold – Bangkok Dusit Medical Services PCL

Silver – PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP)

Bronze – Advanced Info Service PCL

 

BEST MID CAP COMPANY

China

Gold – AsiaInfo Technologies Limited

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – CIMC Enric Holdings Ltd

Silver – Fortune REIT

 

India

Gold – Prestige Estates Projects Ltd

Silver – ICICI Securities Ltd

 

Indonesia

Gold – GoTo Gojek Tokopedia

 

Malaysia

Gold – Sunway Berhad

Silver – YTL Corporation Berhad

Bronze – Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Manila Water Company, Inc.

Silver – Jollibee Foods Corporation

Bronze – Aboitiz Power

 

South Korea

Gold – LG Electronics

Silver – KIWOOM Securities

 

Taiwan

Gold – Far Eastern New Century Corporation

Silver – Arcadyan Technology Corporation

Bronze – Elite Material Co Ltd

 

Thailand

Gold – Minor International PCL

Silver – Global Power Synergy PCL

Bronze – WHA Corporation PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vingroup

Silver – Masan Group

Bronze – Mobile World Investment Corporation

 

BEST SMALL CAP COMPANY

 

China

Gold – Digital China Holdings

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Far East Consortium International Limited

Silver – Vitasoy International Holdings Limited

Bronze – SF REIT

 

India

Gold – Aavas Financiers

Silver – Indian Energy Exchange Ltd

 

Malaysia

Gold – Yinson Holdings Berhad

Silver – Top Glove Corporation Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation

Silver – Bloomberry Resorts Corporation

Silver – Megawide Construction Corporation

Bronze – D&L Industries Inc.

 

Taiwan

Gold – Sercomm Corporation

Silver – Fositek Corporation

Bronze – Merida Industry Co., Ltd

 

Thailand

Gold – Ratch Group PCL

Silver – Bangkok Chain Hospital PCL

Bronze – Central Plaza Hotel PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vinh Hoan Corporation

Silver – CMC Corporation

Silver – International Dairy Products JSC

Bronze – GELEX Group

 

BEST CEO

 

China

Gold – Zhongyue Chen – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

Silver – Jie Yang – China Mobile

Bronze – Xiaowei Luan – China Communications Services

Bronze – Biao He – China Mobile

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Raymond Kwok – Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd

Silver – George Hongchoy – Link REIT

Bronze – Shixian Lai  – ANTA Sports Products Ltd

 

India

Gold – Deepak C. Mehta – Deepak Nitrite Ltd

Silver – T.V. Narendran – Tata Steel

 

Indonesia

Gold – Sunarso – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Silver – Darmawan Junaidi – PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk

Silver – Royke Tumilaar  – PT BNI (Persero) Tbk

Bronze – Ali Rukmijah  – Bank Sahabat Sampoerna

 

Malaysia

Gold – Khairussaleh Ramli – Maybank

Silver – Tony Fernandes  – Capital A Berhad

Bronze – Novan, Amirudin – CIMB Bank Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Edgar B. Saavedra – Megawide Construction Corporation

Silver – Teresita Sy-Coson – BDO Unibank

Silver – Oliver Y. Tan – Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation

Bronze – Jeffrey Lim – SM Prime Holdings, Inc.

 

Singapore

Gold – Piyush Gupta – DBS Bank

Silver – Loh Boon Chye – Singapore Exchange

 

South Korea

Gold – Chey Tae-won – SK Group

Silver – Han Jong-hee – Samsung Electronics

Bronze – Kim Seung-youn – Hanwha Group

 

Taiwan

Gold – C. C. Wei – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd

Silver – Suming, Chen – Universal Microwave Technology, Inc.

Bronze – Vivian Ling – Caliway Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd

Bronze – Chee Ching – Far Eastone Telecommunications Co., Ltd

 

Thailand

Gold – Dr. Harald Link – B. Grimm Power PCL

Silver – Niwat Adirek – BCPG PCL

Silver – Sarath Ratanavadi – Gulf Energy Development PCL

Bronze – Dr. Chalerm Harnphanich – Bangkok Chain Hospital PCL

Bronze – Dr. Poramaporn Prasarttong-osoth – Bangkok Dusit Medical Services PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Danny Le – Masan Group

 

BEST CFO 

China

Gold – Yuzhuo Li – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

Silver – Ronghua Li – China Mobile

Bronze – Aqiang Shen – China Communications Services

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Toby Xu – Alibaba Group (HK)

Silver – Alexandre Jean Keisser – CLP Holdings Ltd

 

India

Gold – Samir Seksaria – Tata Consultancy Services Ltd

 

Indonesia

Gold – Sigit Prastowo – PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk

Silver – Viviana Dyah Ayu Retno Kumalasari – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Bronze – Henky Suryaputra – Bank Sahabat Sampoerna

 

Malaysia

Gold – Malique Firdauz Ahmad Sidique – Maybank

Silver – Joyce Tan  – Sunway Berhad

Bronze – Chek Wu Kong – Duopharma Biotech Berhad

Bronze – Guillaume François Jest – Yinson Holdings Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – John Nai Peng Ong – SM Prime Holdings, Inc.

Silver – Jez G. dela Cruz – Megawide Construction Corporation

Bronze – Estella Tuason-Occeña – Bloomberry Resorts Corporation

Bronze – Richard Shin – Jollibee Foods Corporation

 

Singapore

Gold – Yuen Kuan Moon – Singtel

Silver – Koo Chung Chang  – AIA Group

Bronze – Lim Hock Chye – Keppel Corporation

 

Taiwan

Gold – Henry Hao Jen Wang – Fubon Bank

Silver – Wendell Huang  – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd

Bronze – David (Chien Cheng) Wang  – Far Eastern New Century Corporation

 

Thailand

Gold – Chanamas Sasnanand – PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP)

Silver – Yupapin Wangviwat – Gulf Energy Development PCL

Bronze – Siriwong Borvornboonrutai – B. Grimm Power PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Max Sunarcia – THACO Group

Silver – Do Thi Quynh Trang  – Masan Group

 

BEST COO

 

China

Gold – Jian Qin – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

Silver – Zhanwei Cui – China Communications Services

 

Malaysia

Gold – Ariff Azahar  – Maybank

 

Philippines

Gold – Carlos Cruz – International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

 

South Korea

Bronze – Nam Seok-Woo  – Samsung Electronics

 

Taiwan

Gold – Tungyi Wu – Universal Microwave Technology, Inc.

Silver – Ben Lin – Sercomm Corporation

Bronze – Jeffrey Gau – Wistron NeWeb Corporation

 

Thailand

Bronze – Nopadej Karnasuta – B. Grimm Power PCL

 

Vietnam

Silver – Metha Pingsuthiwong – Tisco Group

 

BEST CTO

China

Gold – Jun Zhi, Wang – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

 

Taiwan

Gold – Jyh-Shing Roger Jang – E-Sun

 

Thailand

Bronze – Woottichai Jarernpol  – Krungthai Card PCL

 

Indonesia

Gold – Arga M. Nugraha  – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

 

Thailand

Gold – Dennis Thorsten Trawnitschek – SCB X PCL

 

Taiwan

Silver – Chris Lin – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd

 

Thailand

Silver – Sutthikan Rungsrithong – TMBThanachart Bank Plc.

 

MOST COMMITTED TO DEI

 

China

Gold – China Telecom

Silver – China Mobile

Bronze – China Communications Services

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd

Silver – Henderson Land Development Co., Ltd

Bronze – Link REIT

 

India

Gold – Travelogy India Pvt Ltd

 

Indonesia

Gold – PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk

Silver – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Bronze – GoTo Gojek Tokopedia

 

Malaysia

Gold – CIMB Bank Berhad

Silver – Maybank

Bronze – Top Glove Corporation Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation

Silver – Ayala Corporation

Bronze – International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

 

South Korea

Gold – Hanwha Ocean

Silver – Samsung Electronics

Bronze – SK Hynix

 

Taiwan

Gold – Wistron NeWeb Corporation

Silver – CTBC Financial Holding

Bronze – Sercomm Corporation

 

Thailand

Gold – Gulf Energy Development PCL

Silver – Global Power Synergy PCL

Bronze – B. Grimm Power PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vingroup

Silver – Mobile World Investment Corporation

Bronze – Masan Group

 

BEST USE OF TECHNOLOGY

China

Gold – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

Silver – China Telecom

Bronze – China Mobile

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – CIMC Enric Holdings Ltd

Silver – Hongkong Land Holdings Limited

Bronze – Swire Properties

 

India

Gold – Dito Telecommunity Corporation

Silver – Sun Telecommunication

 

Indonesia

Gold – GoTo Gojek Tokopedia

Silver – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Bronze – Telkom

 

Malaysia

Gold – KPJ Healthcare Berhad

Silver – Yinson Holdings Berhad

Bronze – Uzma Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Bank of the Philippine Islands

Silver – Union Bank

Bronze – Globe Telecom, Inc.

 

South Korea

Gold – Samsung Biologics

Silver – Hanwha Ocean

Bronze – SK Hynix

 

Taiwan

Gold – Sercomm Corporation

Silver – MediaTek Inc.

Bronze – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd

 

Thailand

Gold – SCB X PCL

Silver – Advanced Info Service PCL

Bronze – TMBThanachart Bank Plc.

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vingroup

Silver – Masan Group

Bronze – FPT Corporation

 


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Asia’s Best Companies Poll 2025: Industry winners | FinanceAsia

For a 25th year, FinanceAsia has published its highly regarded benchmark of Asia’s best companies.

Based on nomination by Asia’s active community of influential investors and financial analysts, the poll evaluates the corporate behaviour and performance of Asian peers over the past 12 months.

The FA team is delighted to announce the 2025 winners below for the industry categories. The market winners can be found here

Following very positive market participation, we have decided to award up to three medals per category to reflect corporate achievements. Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists are detailed where applicable.

Congratulations to all our industry winners: 

AUTOMOTIVE & COMPONENTS

India

Gold – Tata Motors

 

Indonesia

Gold – Astra International

 

Malaysia

Gold – Perodua

 

Philippines

Gold – GT Capital

Silver – NWow 

 

Taiwan

Gold – Wistron NeWeb Corporation

 

Vietnam

Gold – THACO Group

Silver – Vingroup

Bronze – Dat Bike

 

 

BASIC MATERIALS

 

India

Gold – Tata Steel

 

Philippines

Gold – Semirara Mining

Silver – Nickel Asia

Bronze – Apex Mining

 

Vietnam

Gold – GELEX Group

Silver – Stavian Chemical

Bronze – Duc Giang Group

 

CONGLOMERATES

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd

Silver – Jardine Matheson

Bronze – Swire Pacific

 

Malaysia

Gold – YTL Corporation Berhad

Silver – Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad

Bronze – Berjaya Corp

 

Philippines

Gold – Ayala Corporation

Silver – SM Investments Corporation

Bronze – GT Capital

 

South Korea

Gold – Samsung Electronics

 

Taiwan

Gold – Sercomm Corporation

Silver – Yuanta

Bronze – Far Eastern New Century Corporation

 

Thailand

Gold – STECON TB

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vingroup

Silver – Masan Group

Bronze – THACO Group

 

CONSUMER DURABLES & APPAREL

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – ANTA Sports Products Ltd

 

Taiwan

Gold – Far Eastern New Century Corporation

 

CONSUMER SERVICES

 

India

Gold – ITC Ltd

 

Philippines

Gold – Bloomberry Resorts Corporation

Silver – Jollibee Foods Corporation

Bronze – Max’s Restaurant

 

South Korea

Gold – Lotte Group

Silver – Hanwha Resort

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vinpearl

Silver – Sun Group

Bronze – Golden Gate Group

 

CONSUMER STAPLES

 

Indonesia

Gold – Indofood Sukses Makmur

 

Philippines

Gold – Universal Robina

Silver – Century Pacific

Bronze – Puregold

 

South Korea

Gold – Lotte Wellfood

Silver – Samyang Foods

Bronze – Dongyang Confectionery

 

Taiwan

Gold – Uni-President Enterprises Corp

 

Vietnam

Gold – Masan Consumer

Silver – Nutifood

Bronze – Bach Hoa Xanh (Mobile World)

 

ENERGY

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – CLP Holdings Ltd

 

Malaysia

Gold – Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB)

Silver – Yinson Holdings Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Aboitiz Power

Silver – ACEN Corporation

Bronze – Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation

 

South Korea

Gold – POSCO

Silver – SK Group

Bronze – Hanwha Solutions

 

Thailand

Gold – PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP)

 

FINANCIALS

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – HSBC

Silver – Hang Seng Bank

 

India

Gold – Bajaj Capital

 

Indonesia

Gold – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

 

Malaysia

Gold – CIMB Bank Berhad

Silver – AmFunds Investment Management Berhad

Silver – Maybank

Bronze – Hong Leong Bank Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Bank of the Philippine Islands

Silver – BDO Unibank

Bronze – Security Bank

 

Thailand

Gold – Siam Commercial Bank

Silver – KBANK TB

Bronze – Krung Thai Bank

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vietcombank

Silver – BIDV

 

HEALTHCARE

 

China

Gold – Kelun-Biotech

 

Malaysia

Gold – IHH Healthcare

Silver – KPJ Healthcare Berhad

Bronze – Sunway Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Medilines

 

Taiwan

Gold – PharmaEssentia

Silver – Bora Pharmaceuticals

Bronze – Caliway Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd

 

Thailand

Gold – Bangkok Dusit Medical Services PCL

Silver – Bangkok Chain Hospital PCL

Bronze – Chularat Hospital (CHG)

Bronze – Praram 9 Hospital (PR9)

 

Vietnam

Gold – Hoan My Medical Corp

Silver – Buymed

Bronze – Long Chau (FPT Retail)

 

INDUSTRIALS

Malaysia

Gold – YTL Corporation Berhad

Silver – Malayan Cement

 

Philippines

Gold – Megawide Construction Corporation

Silver – DMCI

Bronze – EEI Corporation

 

South Korea

Gold – Samsung C&T Corporation

Silver – Hyundai Engineering & Construction

 

Thailand

Gold – CH. Karnchang (CK)

 

Vietnam

Gold – Hoa Phat Group

Silver – Hoa Sen Group

 

INFRASTRUCTURE

 

Malaysia

Gold – Yinson Holdings Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Ayala Corporation

Silver – San Miguel

Bronze – DMCI

 

Vietnam

Gold – Deo Ca Group

Silver – Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV)

 

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Malaysia

Gold – Astro

 

Philippines

Gold – ABS-CBN Corporation

Silver – GMA Network

Bronze – The Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC)

 

Thailand

Gold – The One Enterprise (Onee)

 

Vietnam

Gold – Dat Viet Group

 

REAL ESTATE

 

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd

Silver – Sino Land

Bronze – Hongkong Land Holdings Limited

 

India

Gold – Godrej

 

Indonesia

Gold – Ciputra

Silver – Pakuwon Jati

Bronze – Summarecon

 

Malaysia

Gold – Pavilion REIT

 

Philippines

Gold – Ayala Corporation

Silver – Bloomberry Resorts Corporation

Silver – SM Prime Holdings, Inc.

Bronze – AREIT Inc.

 

Thailand

Gold – Central Pattana 

Silver – Land and Houses (LH)

Bronze – Pruksa Holding PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Vinhomes

Silver – Sun Group

Bronze – Nam Long

 

RENEWABLE ENERGY

 

Malaysia

Gold – Yinson Holdings Berhad

 

Philippines

Gold – Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation

Silver – ACEN Corporation

Bronze – Aboitiz Power

 

Thailand

Gold – Gulf Energy Development PCL

Silver – Global Power Synergy PCL

Bronze – B. Grimm Power PCL

Bronze – BCPG PCL

 

Vietnam

Gold – Bamboo Capital Group

Silver – Refrigeration Electrical

Bronze – The Green Solutions

 

 

RETAIL

 

Philippines

Gold – Robinson’s

 

South Korea

Gold – NAVER

Silver – Coupang

 

Taiwan

Gold – PCSC

Silver – Poya

Bronze – Great Tree

 

Thailand

Gold – Central Retail Corp (CRC)

Silver – Moshi Moshi Retail Corp

 

Vietnam

Gold – Imex Pan Pacific Group

 

TECHNOLOGY

China

Gold – Alibaba

Silver – Tencent

Bronze – Baidu

Bronze – Trip.com

 

Indonesia

Gold – GoTo Gojek Tokopedia

 

Philippines

Gold – IMI

Silver – NOW

 

Taiwan

Gold – Sercomm Corporation

Silver – Wistron NeWeb Corporation

Bronze – Arcadyan Technology Corporation

 

Thailand

Gold – Be8

Silver – Bbik

 

Vietnam

Gold – MoMo

Silver – FPT Corporation

 

 

TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES

 

China

Gold – China Mobile

Silver – China Telecom

Bronze – China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd

 

Indonesia

Gold – Telkom

Silver – Indosat

Bronze – Telkomsel

 

Malaysia

Gold – CelcomDigi

 

Philippines

Gold – Globe Telecom, Inc.

Silver – CNVRG

Bronze – PLDT

 

South Korea

Gold – SK Group

Silver – LG

Bronze – KT

 

Taiwan

Gold – Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd

Silver – Chunghwa Telecom

Silver – Taiwan Mobile

Bronze – Sercomm Corporation

 

Thailand

Gold – TRUE TB

Silver – AIS

 

Vietnam

Gold – Viettel

Silver – VNPT

 

TRANSPORTATION

Hong Kong SAR

Gold – Cathay Pacific Airways

 

Indonesia

Gold – Kereta Api Indonesia

 

Philippines

Gold – International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

Silver – Cebu Air

Bronze – Lorenzo

 

South Korea

Gold – Korean Air

 

Thailand

Gold – Bangkok Expressway & Metro (BEM)

Silver – Namyong Terminal (NYT)

Bronze – SJWD

 

Vietnam

Gold – ACV

Silver – Vietjet

 

UTILITY SERVICES

 

Indonesia

Gold – Perusahaan Listrik Negara

 

Philippines

Gold – Manila Water Company, Inc.

Silver – Meralco

Bronze – Aboitiz Power

 

Thailand

Gold – Gulf Energy Development PCL

Silver – Global Power Synergy PCL

Bronze – B. Grimm Power PCL

Bronze – CK Power (CKP)

 


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Bangladesh’s future stuck in an inescapable past – Asia Times

A senior of Bangladesh’s independence war said,” This was a loss not of a home but of our history, of our, of our, of our, of our history.” He was speaking to me of the&nbsp, death on February 5&nbsp, of the Dhaka house of Sheikh Mujib thy Rahman, Bangladesh’s first president. &nbsp, &nbsp,

The target, 32 Dhanmondi, is as well known in Bangladesh as 1600 Pennsylvania in the US. It is where, in March 1971, Mujib was apprehended by Muslim soldiers as they began their violent assault in East Pakistan that culminated in a murder, the second Pakistan-India warfare, and the beginning of a new country.

And it is where Bangladeshi men massacred Prime Minister Mujib and several of his family members on August 15, 1975, in the first military revolution the nation has ever conducted. That it now stands in remains is an indication of how much people rage had accumulated during the 15 years of the increasingly authoritarian rule under Mujib’s daughter, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, which ended drastically on August 5, 2024, after months of student-led demonstrations. &nbsp,

Hasina had turned 32 Dhanmondi into a memorial for her father. Now exiled in India, where she fled after her fall from power, Hasina is plotting a political comeback. She planned to deliver a speech on February 5 to condemn Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s interim government and declare her intentions to avenge her ouster, as planned for a gathering of her Awami League party.

The youth leaders warned that if she spoke they would destroy her father’s house. She continued to speak, and the leaders kept their word: The house was destroyed. For people like the liberation war veteran, who sacrificed so much and had seen his own father killed in that conflict, this was a case of a mob indulging in senseless, self-defeating violence against a symbol of their country’s founding.

But for the students who participated, it was another act of freedom in defiance not just of a “fascist” Awami League, but of a particular version of history that enabled Hasina to present herself and her family as the only legitimate custodians of Bangladesh’s independence. &nbsp,

The uprising began last June after a court order revived a quota system reserving a proportion of government jobs for 1971 war veterans and their descendants. This was essentially a spoils system for supporters of the Awami League, the party Mujib founded and Hasina has led since 1981, but it was draped in the memory of the liberation to make objectionable claims about its opponents.

This didn’t matter to a new generation eager for employment opportunities in an unfair economy. When Hasina&nbsp, implied&nbsp, that the protesters were&nbsp, razakars, a Persian word meaning “volunteer” but widely used for Bengalis who collaborated with the Pakistan army during the 1971 genocide, the resulting fury swelled the protesters ‘ ranks to an uncontrollable level. &nbsp,

Symbolism played a vital role in the events around the uprising. The most powerful was Abu Sayed’s body, a 23-year-old man who was fatally shot on July 16 while he was facing a barrage of bullets while he was standing in the middle of a road.

His death was a decisive turning point in the movement, prompting the respected photojournalist Shahidul Alam to declare, &nbsp,” the end is nigh” .&nbsp, Others replicated Sayed’s act of defiance, and a graphic of a young man with outstretched arms, a staff in one hand, has essentially become the youth movement’s logo. &nbsp,

This figure is intended to mock the trigger-happy police, which also forces Bangladesh to enter a new era. Yet for this new era to form, an older one must be settled. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Friend of Bengal&nbsp,

Fifty years later, the 1971 liberation war still serves as a court of appeal in which the main political players try to disenfranchise one another by litigating two unresolved issues: Who was the true custodian of Bangladesh’s independence? What kind of country was the birth of? A third, more essential question emerges from these two: Who stood for and who against the spirit of the liberation? &nbsp,

Outsiders can be forgiven for believing that Mujib’s status as the country’s founding father is as unquestioned as Jinnah’s in Pakistan or Gandhi’s and Nehru’s in India. At home, he is known as Bangabandhu, or Friend of Bengal.

In the first democratic election in Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party ( PPP ) won against the Pakistan army in 1970, when the Pakistan army agreed to transfer power to civilians.

But he was denied his mandate to form a government by a West Pakistan establishment that couldn’t abide being ruled by Bengalis. In the middle of March 1971, troops from West Pakistan arrived in Dhaka ready for a crackdown amid a stalemate between East and West Pakistan. Their first order of business was to apprehend the Bengalis ‘ &nbsp, leader, which they did on the first day of the operation, 25 March. &nbsp,

A large portion of the Awami League’s lore was based on Mujib’s own account after the war ended. According to him, Mujib, hearing of a West Pakistani plot to kill him and blame it on Bengali extremists ( therefore compelling the army to crush the rebellion in the East ) sent most of his children into hiding while preparing for martyrdom.

The key was for Mujib to be killed inside the residence to make it clear that soldiers, not bandits, were the ones who were to blame. Thus would his blood “purify my people”. Mujib dictated a final message to his people, recorded and later broadcast via secret transmitter, to fight the West Pakistan army for independence, regardless of his own fate.

To stop the bloodshed, he wisely ordered the paramilitary and party members who were defending him. And, most poetically, he recalled how as the soldiers took him away, having decided to arrest rather than kill him, he insisted on retrieving his pipe and tobacco. &nbsp,

If this was a profile of courage for Mujib’s admirers, for his opponents it was proof of something else: that Mujib, removed from the battlefield, was alive and safe in Rawalpindi amid the slaughter in Bengal.

On my first visit to Dhaka many years ago, a retired government official asked me, rhetorically, why the army didn’t kill or disappear Mujib then, given that in the chaos of the moment the top brass could easily have feigned ignorance of what had happened to him. The West Pakistan leadership argued in my interlocutor’s theory that Mujib was still willing to keep Pakistan united and should be kept alive for a future negotiation. &nbsp,

Although it’s difficult to say whether this explanation is accurate, it does indicate a larger debate over the liberation narrative. For the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ), led by Hasina’s perennial rival Khaleda Zia, who has twice been prime minister, it was fighters and not politicians who won the country’s independence.

And it was army major Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda’s husband and the BNP’s founder, who&nbsp, declared Bangladesh’s independence&nbsp, over the radio on 27 March 1971, two days after Mujib was arrested. It is no longer taken into account that he did it at the directive and in the name of Mujib. &nbsp,

The BNP has long struggled to develop a brand of its own despite having a large coalition of anti-Awami League constituencies. This may explain why the party gives as much importance to a legitimizing myth around 1971 as it does. &nbsp,

Both narratives have depth in a society that is incredibly divided. For the Awami League, the BNP’s fidelity to an independent Bangladesh is questionable, given its pro-Pakistani sympathies and, above all, its long partnership with the Jamaat-i-Islami that explicitly&nbsp, opposed Bangladesh’s creation, on the grounds of Islamic unity.

Meanwhile, Jamaat supporters accuse Mujib and Hasina of giving India the right to renounce Bangladesh’s sovereignty. The Awami League holds Ziaur Rahman responsible for the assassination of Mujib and that of many of his family members, in the bloody 1975 coup that augured 15 years of military rule, the BNP blames Mujib’s extreme concentration of power in a one-party state for provoking the violent backlash of 15 August 1975.

And on it goes, a tooth for a tooth. &nbsp,

What kind of a nation?

The coup of 1975 also sparked debates about whether religion or geography had a bearing on the country’s fundamental character. Bengal was a major site of British divide-and-rule strategies and resistance to them. In a bid to suppress local resistance to colonial rule, the British partitioned Bengal in 1905 between a Hindu-majority West Bengal and a Muslim-majority East Bengal.

In his virtuoso account of the independence movement, &nbsp, Liberty or Death, the late Patrick French wrote,” Provoked an upsurge of nationalist protest, and the province had become the focus of both the constitutional and revolutionary faces of the freedom movement.”

While the protests forced the British to reunite Bengal in 1911, their effects didn’t stop there. A nationalist Bengali identity gained new strength and became the main threat to the British Empire. The repressive 1915 Defence of India Act was passed specifically in response to agitation in Bengal. &nbsp,

The Second Partition of Bengal is thus frequently referred to in Bangladesh as the 1947 partition. In June of that year, the Bengal Legislative Assembly voted for a united Bengal to join Pakistan. In the event of a provincial division, East Bengal legislators who were Muslim-majority, who still wanted a united province, voted that East Bengal would join Pakistan, where Bengalis would form the popular majority. Later, legislators from Hindu-majority West Bengal voted for the partitioning of Bengal and for West Bengal to become part of India. &nbsp,

Political power would, however, be concentrated in Karachi and, after the federal capital was moved, Islamabad. The predominately Urdu-speaking West Pakistan leadership opined blatantly, and it immediately saw the country’s ethnic and linguistic diversity as a threat. Tensions between the center and the provinces created either secessionist or ethnic nationalist movements in Balochistan, the Northwest Frontier Province, and Sindh—but most prominently in East Bengal.

The Second Partition came about as a result of Jinnah’s 1948 decision to make Urdu, the language of minority West Pakistanis, the sole national language, sparking a movement in 1952 for the promotion of Bangla as a national language. On the movement’s first day, 21 February, police killed four student demonstrators at Dhaka University ( for which a monument, Martyr Tower, was built in central Dhaka in 1963 ).

Although Bangla was ultimately recognized as a national language and enshrined in the 1956 constitution, these killings made reconciliation between the eastern and western wings of the country all but impossible. &nbsp,

The refusal to honor what a wide majority of Bengalis—indeed a majority of the country —voted for in the 1970 national election was the final indignity. Estimates of the number of Bengalis killed in the subsequent violence, which were carried out by West Pakistan, range widely from 30 000 to over 3 million, despite the efforts of many foreign observers and academics to arrive at a figure of around a million.

There is, as the respected journalist David Bergman has argued, &nbsp,” an academic consensus that this campaign of violence, particularly against the Hindu population, was a genocide” .&nbsp, It was only through India’s intervention in December 1971, and the third India-Pakistan war, that the massacre stopped and a new nation was born. &nbsp,

Thus, two independence struggles gave Bengali nationalism a rich history of resistance to colonial and West Pakistani rule. Liberation provided an opportunity to codify that nationalism. The 1972 constitution advocated nationalism and secularism as founding principles, in addition to democracy and socialism, while dissinguishing the new country from the one it had seceded from. It also banned Jamaat-i-Islami and any other religion-based party. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Following Mujib’s assassination, the Awami League’s emphasis on ethnic nationalism and secularism was openly contested when Ziaur Rahman stepped in and supported a different conception of Bangladeshi national identity, one that emphasised its religious and territorial makeup: a Bengali nation that was majority Bengali rather than a Bengali nation that was majority Muslim.

If Bangladesh was essentially Bengali, this argument went, then it would have reunited with West Bengal after 1971. The fact that it hadn’t was sufficient evidence that the two-nation theory, which demanded that South Asia’s Muslims establish a country, still existed. &nbsp,

Rahman’s constitutional amendments replaced” secularism” with “absolute trust and faith in the almighty Allah”, lifted the ban on religion-based parties, and called on the state to” to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic solidarity”. The Muslim salutation read,” In the Name of Allah, Beneficent, the Merciful,” as the preamble of the constitution’s preamble now begins with this phrase. Islamic studies became a compulsory subject for all Muslim schoolchildren.

A year after Rahman was killed in a mid-level coup, General Hussain Muhammad Ershad later inserted a constitutional provision declaring Islam the state religion. This Islamization drive ran in parallel to the one occurring in Pakistan under General Zia ul Haq’s military regime, albeit significantly more cautiously and gradually. &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

By no means has the Awami League’s ideological balance been harmonious with its adversaries ‘ religious politics. Political expediency and patronage have shaped policy choices at least as much as ideology, if not more. For instance, Hasina’s Awami League made a number of, frequently alarming concessions to Islamists, some of whom are still a powerful force despite her policies, including reintroducing secularism into the constitution in 2011 but keeping Islam as the state religion.

But 1971 remains a potent political weapon, one that Hasina flaunted against her rivals on returning to office in 2009, tapping a still deeply felt wound: the role of Bengalis who collaborated with the Pakistan army in that war. &nbsp,

Accountability and its problems&nbsp,

War crimes were destined to be a major issue. The International Crimes ( Tribunal ) Act of 1973 made it possible to prosecute members of “any armed, defense of auxiliary forces, irrespective of nationality, who commit or have committed crimes against humanity on the territory of Bangladesh.” The purpose was to prosecute Pakistani prisoners of war, some 93, 000 of whom had been captured by Indian troops and transported to India. &nbsp,

After the country’s dissolution, Pakistan’s government, under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s leadership, required that all prisoners of war be released in exchange for recognizing the new Bangladeshi state. Its ally China, acting on Islamabad’s behalf, wielded its first-ever UN Security Council veto to block Bangladesh’s admission to the UN.

Mujib and Indira Gandhi made a concession as Pakistan’s recognition increased: the Delhi Agreement of 1973 mandated the repatriation of all POWs in the three nations. As per the terms of the Simla Agreement between Islamabad and Delhi the year before, this repatriation deal triggered Islamabad’s recognition of Bangladesh. &nbsp,

However, it had to hold someone accountable for the genocide for the country to feel whole. But who? &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

If the Pakistan army was the main culprit, for many veterans of the civil war the Jamaat-e-Islami’s role was just as malevolent. Two of its armed wings, Al Shams and Al Badr ( the original&nbsp, razakars ), were&nbsp, widely accused&nbsp, of having committed atrocities like murder, rape, arson and looting alongside army soldiers. Little was done in its wake because Jamaat was prominent in politics during the democratic transition from 1990 to 2006.

By the 2009 election, however, which came after the army had suspended democracy in 2007, Sheikh Hasina promised accountability for 1971 at last. Her government reorganized the 1973 law to facilitate the prosecution of Jamaat’s leadership and established the International Crimes Tribunal ( ICT). The tribunal’s work began in earnest in 2010 to significant criticism at home and abroad for the absence of due process and the use of the death penalty. &nbsp,

As a legitimate demand for justice transformed into political theater, the trials quickly turned into the national story. The people convicted include the Jamaat party chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and several other senior party members and office bearers. Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a well-known BNP figure who was hanged in November 2015, was also present. &nbsp,

The ICT’s most consequential year was 2013. The Jamaat Vice President Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a well-known preacher, was sentenced to death in February for provoking violent demonstrations that resulted in the deaths of more than 40 people, including several police officers. The same month, another Jamaat leader, Abdul Quader Mollah, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Numerous young people in Dhaka’s Shahbagh Square pleaded for the death penalty for Mollah in exchange for a different form of protest. Their anger grew again that September, when the Supreme Court commuted Sayeedi’s sentence to life imprisonment. One report described the Shahbagh protests as&nbsp,” the biggest mass demonstration the country has seen in 20 years” .&nbsp,

In response, the government changed a law allowing the state to challenge ICT verdicts and successfully appealed the decision to increase Mollah’s death sentence. Mollah was hanged that December. &nbsp,

When I attended an ICT hearing in Dhaka on the invitation of one of the prosecutors in the immediate aftermath of these events, I was a strong critic of the whole process—and I remain one. But interviewing students who took part in the Shahbagh Square protests, I was also aware of how the trials had politicized a new generation of Bangladeshis and familiarized them with the atrocities of 1971. The concerns over the death penalty and due process sounded unrelated to them.

An older activist who had participated in the liberation war informed me that he still believed the Jamaat collaborators deserved whatever the maximum sentence on the books meant, if that meant execution. To be sure, many other rights activists opposed the death penalty and the ICT itself, and they argued that the” Shahbaghis” had undermined the quest for justice and lit a dangerous fuse. &nbsp,

How dangerous quickly became clear. Shahbagh had inspired a counter-movement led by the Hefazat-e-Islam, hitherto a marginal Islamist coalition supported by the Jamaat and others, and fed by a large&nbsp, qaumi&nbsp, ( privately run ) madrasa sector.

An organization that had been focusing on limiting women’s rights to employment and other freedoms was given new life by the ICT. In April 2013, barely two months after Shahbagh began, Hefazat held massive rallies in Dhaka around 13 demands, the third of which was &nbsp,” stringent punishment against self-declared atheists and bloggers”.

Secular bloggers had been the prime organizers of the Shahbagh movement. Ahmed Rajib Haider, a member of an extremist group known as the Ansarullah Bangla Team, who advocated Al Qaeda’s ideology, was killed on February 15th, 2013.

At Hefazat rallies, clerics explicitly called for the bloggers ‘ hanging. Soon, a list of 84 “atheist” bloggers began to appear in the press and elsewhere, with no one claiming authorship at the time. On February 26, 2015, the blogger Avijit Roy was hacked to death outside a book fair in Dhaka. Ansarullah again claimed responsibility. In a similar way, four other secular bloggers, publishers, and commentators were killed the same year. &nbsp,

In recent years, the politics of 1971 have been bloody. Hefazat remains an influential force ( as does Jamaat ), bolstered by concessions Hasina made to appease it, including yielding to the group’s demand in 2018 for qaumi madrasa diplomas to be recognized as the equivalent of a Master’s degree. And now, after several years of dormancy, the ICT has been revived—to prosecute Hasina in absentia for&nbsp, her&nbsp, crimes. &nbsp,

A New Era? &nbsp,

In November 2023, Hasina inaugurated a new site of murals and a large golden statue of her father to honor his role in Bangladesh’s freedom struggle. On the day her government collapsed, protesters demolished it. In the days that followed, Mujib’s sculptures and images were mostly destroyed.

In January, the interim government changed the national curriculum to reflect the BNP version of events, replacing Mujib with Rahman as the recognized founding father—a bid, officials said, to rectify historical inaccuracies. The ending of 32 Dhanmondi seems almost logical, if unsettling, in terms of climax. The youth movement’s more revolutionary elements are also calling for scrapping ( rather than amending ) Mujib’s 1972 constitution and&nbsp, permanently banning the Awami League. &nbsp,

However, within the youth leadership there are other more forward-thinking rumors. It’s worth recalling that student demonstrations over the quota system first occurred in April 2018 and that in July, young people again took the streets after two students were killed in a road accident. What started out as a plea for better road safety turned into a massive outcry against more severe government failures.

These events augured an emergent force in the polity: Organized youth who weren’t allied with a party ideology or a 1971 narrative, as their predecessors in Shahbagh Square had been, but who were focused on bread-and-butter issues. And they clearly rattled the government, which after initial attempts at appeasement&nbsp, cracked down harshly, &nbsp, in a precursor to the events of 2024. &nbsp,

In their engagement with the student leadership, one can clearly see a new generation of activists and political leaders less inclined to fight in the name of old myths. The politics of the nation may be influenced by an open discussion about the allegations that emerged over the year 1971 because they have sown the country’s politics to a certain degree.

But the more compelling struggle ahead may not be between different accounts of the country’s birth, but between those who want a new politics focused on justice, equity, and democratic governance and those who want to stake their claim on high office by summoning the ghosts of liberation past.

Repeating the cycle of vengeance and delegitimizing one’s opponents again may be tempting in a deeply traumatized nation, but it will likely have a bitter afterlife. The past frequently exists.


Shehryar Fazli&nbsp, is a program manager for the Inclusive Democracy in South Asia Opportunity at Open Society Foundations. He has spent more than 20 years covering South Asia in various capacities. He is also author of the novel, &nbsp, Invitation&nbsp, ( 2011 ), which was runner-up in the Edinburgh Book Festival’s 2011 First Book Award. This essay is republished with permission.

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Govt ‘still pursuing’ Land Bridge project

An artist's interpretation of a deep-sea port in the land bridge project. (Photo supplied)
The area gate project’s deep-sea interface is interpreted by an artist. ( Photo provided )

Suriya Jungrangreangkit, the secretary of travel, confirms that China and other Middle Eastern nations are interested in the Land Bridge venture that connects the Gulf of Thailand to the Andaman Sea.

Mr. Suriya, who is also a deputy prime minister, stated on Monday that the state is still working toward the 1 trillion-baht premier project.

The minister recently held an international show to show potential investors how the venture is being promoted.

Middle Eastern and Chinese firms have expressed interest in the region. Dubai Port World, according to him, was just one of them, and it clearly indicated a willingness to bid.

A Southern Special Economic Development Zone ( SEC ) Bill has been created in accordance with Mr. Suriya’s Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning ( OTP).

Prior to a public hearing and established conference involving stakeholders scheduled for next month in Bangkok and Surat Thani, the costs was posted on the OTP site for 30 days as required by law.

The Ministry of Transportation will receive the SEC act for evaluation once all the feedback has been compiled. &nbsp,

The state anticipates submitting the invoice to the case for consideration in May before passing it to parliament.

Mr. Suriya is assured that the SEC Bill may be approved and put into effect this year, opening the door to the buying process the following year.

According to him, conversations have already taken place between the state and buyers.

According to Mr. Suriya, this will help determine the Terms of Reference ( TOR ) needed to ensure that both foreign and Thai investors are drawn to the bidding process.

The state is committed to implementing the Land Bridge, which will connect two seaports, modernize maritime transportation, and boost Thailand’s profitability in the world economy.

It will follow a PPP ( Public-Private Partnership ) model, allowing the private sector to make investments in management and construction during a 50-year concession.

The whole project will be under the control of the exclusive market, including turning Chumphon Port into a contemporary deep-sea interface to bridge the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.

In addition, it involves upgrading Ranong Port to a cargo vessel dock and creating a business hub for the Andaman-centric South Asian ships through the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ( Bimstec) model, as well as with the Middle East and Africa.

The SEC Bill is crucial, in the opinion of the OTP, for establishing the principal body responsible for growth planning, land use management, and professional zoning.

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Trump tariffs: Will import duty war push India to open its markets?

13 minutes ago
Soutik Biswas
Getty Images US President Donald Trump with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington DC, United States, on February 13, 2025.Getty Images

India has usually turned to economic reforms in times of distress, with the most famous example being 1991, when the country embraced liberalisation in the face of a deep financial crisis.

Now, with US President Donald Trump’s tit-for-tat tariff wars and the global trade upheaval that has followed, many believe that India finds itself at another crossroad.

Could this be a major opportunity for the world’s fifth largest economy to shed its protectionism and further open up its economy? Will India seize the moment, just as it did more than three decades ago, or will it retreat further?

Trump has repeatedly branded India a “tariff king” and a “big abuser” of trade ties. The problem is that India’s trade-weighted import duties – the average duty rate per imported product – are among the highest in the world. The US average tariff is 2.2%, China’s is 3% and Japan’s is 1.7%. India’s stands at a whopping 12%, according to data from the World Trade Organization.

High tariffs increase costs for companies dependent on global value chains, hindering their ability to compete in international markets. They also mean that Indians pay more on imported goods than foreign consumers. Despite growing exports – primarily driven by services – India runs a significant trade deficit. However, with India’s share of global exports at a mere 1.5%, the challenge becomes even more urgent.

The jury is out on whether Trump’s tariff war will help India break free or double down on protectionism. Narendra Modi’s government, often criticised for its protectionist stance, seems to have shifted gears in recent years.

Getty Images India portGetty Images

Last month, ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with Trump in Washington, India unilaterally lowered tariffs on Bourbon whiskey, motorcycles and some other US products.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has made two trips to the US to discuss a potential trade deal, following Trump’s threatened retaliatory tariffs, looming on 2 April. (Citi Research analysts estimate India could lose up to $7bn annually from reciprocal tariffs, primarily affecting sectors like metals, chemicals and jewellery, with pharmaceuticals, automobiles and food products also at risk.)

Last week, Goyal urged Indian exporters to “come out of their protectionist mindset and encouraged them to be bold and ready to deal with the world from a position of strength and self-confidence”, according to a statement from his ministry.

India is also actively pursuing free trade deals with several countries, including the UK and New Zealand, and the European Union.

In an interesting turn of events, homegrown telecoms giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have teamed up with Trump ally Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch satellite internet services via Starlink in India. The move surprised analysts, especially after Musk’s recent clashes with both companies, and came as US and Indian officials negotiate the trade deal.

India’s rapid growth from the late 1990s to the 2000s – 8.1% between 2004-2009 and 7.46% from 2009-2014 – was in large part driven by its gradual integration into global markets, particularly in pharmaceuticals, software, autos, textiles and garments, alongside a steady reduction in tariffs. Since then, India has turned inwards.

Many economists believe that protectionist policies over the past decade have undermined Modi’s Make in India initiative, which prioritised capital- and technology-intensive sectors over labour-intensive ones like textiles. As a result, it has struggled to boost manufacturing and exports.

High tariffs have also fostered protectionism in several Indian industries, discouraging investments in efficiency, according to Viral Acharya, a professor of economics at New York University Stern School of Business.

This has allowed “cosy incumbents” to gain market power by consolidating their positions without facing much competition. As Mr Acharya, a former central banker, noted in a paper by Brookings Institution, restoring industrial balance in India requires “reducing tariffs to increase the country’s share of global goods trade and reduce protectionism”.

With India’s tariffs already higher than those of most countries, further increases could be especially damaging.

“We need to boost exports and a tit-for-tat tariff war won’t help us. China can afford this strategy due to its massive export base, but we can’t, as we hold only a small share of the global market, Rajeshwari Sengupta, an associate professor of economics at Mumbai-based Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, said. A trade conflict could hurt us more than others,” she added.

Getty Images Workers walk in front of an Apple iPhone 16 billboard along an under-construction flyover in Bengaluru on January 6, 2025Getty Images

In light of this, India finds itself at a crossroad. As the world undergoes a major shift, India has a “unique opportunity to shape a new vision” for global trade, says Aseema Sinha, a trade expert at Claremont McKenna College.

By lowering protectionist barriers in South Asia and strengthening ties with Southeast Asia and the Middle East, India has the chance to lead in shaping a new trade vision, positioning itself as a key player in a “re-globalised” world, Ms Sinha, author of Globalising India, says.

“By reducing tariffs, India could become the regional and cross-regional magnet for trade and economic activity, drawing in varied powers in its orbit,” she adds.

That could help India create the jobs it desperately needs at home. Agriculture, which makes up 15% of its GDP, accounts for a whopping 40% of employment, reflecting extremely low productivity. Construction remains the second-largest employer, absorbing casual daily workers.

India’s challenge isn’t in expanding its thriving service sector, which already makes up nearly half of total exports, but in dealing with the large pool of unskilled workers who lack the basic skills needed for service jobs.

“While high-end services are thriving, the majority of the workforce remains uneducated and underemployed, often relegated to construction or informal jobs. To provide meaningful employment to millions entering the workforce each year, India must ramp up its manufacturing exports, as relying solely on services won’t address the needs of the unskilled labour force,” says Ms Sengupta.

Reuters Indian farmer in UPReuters

One concern is that reducing tariffs could lead to dumping, where foreign companies flood the market with cheap goods, potentially harming domestic industries.

According to Ms Sengupta, India’s ideal approach to trade would involve a “universal reduction” in import tariffs, as it currently has some of the highest tariffs among its trading partners.

However, there is a caveat: China’s trade struggles, particularly with the US due to the ongoing trade war, could lead to Chinese dumping in India in the “short run”.

“To protect against this, India can use non-tariff barriers against China but only against this one country and only in cases of proven dumping. Barring that, it is in India’s interest to do a wholesale slashing of tariffs,” she says.

There’s also a growing concern that India may be overcompensating in its efforts to flatter the US.

Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), believes that India’s tendency to soften trade policies “based on rhetoric rather than economic pressure” shows a lack of assertiveness in global trade talks.

If this trend continues, he says, India may end up making even more compromises in its trade deal with the US, further “eroding its bargaining power”.

“In comparison to other major economies, India’s pre-emptive surrender on multiple trade fronts – without the US imposing a single country-specific tariff – makes it appear exceptionally vulnerable to pressure tactics.”

The broader consensus seems to be that India should capitalise on what could be the unintended consequences of Trump’s tariff wars. Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC, believes that “potential US tariffs may have become a catalyst for reforms.“.

“If supply chains are rejigged again during the second Trump presidency due to higher tariffs on large exporters, and the world looks for new producers, India may get a second chance,” she writes.

Creating jobs that manufacture goods for the world won’t be easy. India has largely missed the bus on low-end, unskilled factory work – jobs China dominated for decades. Automation is taking over. Without deeper reforms, India risks being left behind.

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PM paves way for royal visit to Bhutan

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra shakes hands with Bhutanese Ambassador to Thailand Kinzang Dorji at Government House on Friday before their discussion about preparations for an upcoming state visit to Bhutan by Their Majesties the King and Queen. (Photo: Government House)
Before their conversation about preparation for an impending state visit to Bhutan by Their Excellency the King and Queen, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra hands palms with Bhutanese Ambassador to Thailand Kinzang Dorji at Government House on Friday. ( Photo: Government House )

On Friday, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the Bhutanese Ambassador to Thailand met to talk about how to prepare for the upcoming position attend of Their Majesties the King and Queen to Bhutan.

Following His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, King of Bhutan ,’s offer, His Excellency will make their first position visit.

His Excellency Kinzang Dorji, the Bhutanese Ambassador to Thailand, was met by Ms. Paetongtarn. Maris Sangiampongsa, the prime minister’s secretary-general, Prommin Lertsuridej, and other officials who were present at the meeting were likewise provide.

According to Deputy Government Spokesperson Sasikarn Watthanachan, the visit to Bhutan may be King Rama X’s first state visit, and it will strengthen ties between the two countries as well as foster social exchanges.

The Thai government, according to the prime minister, was ready to support the royal explore fully and that organizations from both nations would work together to integrate operations.

Thailand, according to the Bhutanese adviser, is a significant trading partner and that the nation continues to be a popular destination for Bhutanese seeking health care, education, and travel.

Ms. Sasikarn noted that economic cooperation was also being discussed, with particular attention on a free trade agreement (FTA ) between the two nations. She also noted that a recent fourth round of negotiations for a deal was praised as a success.

The Bhutanese prime minister is also expected to attend the sixth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ( Bimstec) Summit in Thailand in May, where the two countries ‘ heads of state are scheduled to meet.

Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City ( GMC) was another topic of conversation. The new wise area has the potential to become a new financial hub for the nation, according to the Bhutanese ambassador, who said it was a natural connection between South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Ms. Paetongtarn stated that Thailand was interested in potential expense in the GMC in places where it has knowledge and was interested in learning more about its policies and regulations in the future.

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USAID kept Kajol alive – but after the cuts she’s struggling

6 hours ago
Samira Ali

BBC South Asia Correspondent

BBC A girl wearing a headscarf looks at the cameraBBC

When Kajol contracted tuberculosis in January, USAID kept her alive. Now she and her family are in danger again after the Trump administration ordered most US aid spending to end.

Tuberculosis can be fatal if left untreated. The very contagious fungal disease, which typically infects the breathing, is not common in rich countries, because treatment is relatively inexpensive. But in Bangladesh, it is a plague.

That’s especially so in towns such as Mohammadpur, a tenement in the investment Dhaka where Kajol, 17, life.

” We are weak people”, she says. She is the single father for herself, her mother and little nephew. Her job in a garment shop keeps them all upright.

But when she fell poor in January, it could have been fatal.

Otherwise, support arrived through Dipa Halder. For the last three decades, she has been canvassing the inhabitants of Mohammadpur about TB and getting people the care they so desperately need, free of cost.

The program is run by a native help company, Nari Maitree. It was funded by the US Agency for International Aid ( USAID ) until February, when it received a letter from the US government saying the funds had been terminated.

That brought Kajol’s care, only half completed, to an abrupt conclusion.

” Then I have to go get the healthcare myself”, she says. ” I am struggling a bunch”.

Cutting off treatments mid-treatment makes the chances of TB becoming drug-resistant substantially greater. It makes the illness significantly more difficult to combat and puts people at greater risk of severe illness and death.

” The people here are quite vulnerable”, says Dipa, 21. ” I can tell them to go to a certain physician, which may help them save some money.

” Or I try to provide them with some economic aid from our company so that they can continue their care.”

 A nurse is seen working at Hossainpur Upazila Health Complex in Kishoreganj

According to a US government efficiency record seen by the BBC, support by USAID in 2023 resulted directly in the identifying and reporting of more than a third of a million new cases of TB in Bangladesh. In the same year, there were 296, 487 novel or illness cases of TB which were cured or successfully completed as a result of USAID.

The organization was seen as essential to the government’s fight against tuberculosis.

” You ask people on the street, they may say yeah, it’s the US, they are the ones that are keeping it]tuberculosis ] in manage,” said a director of a USAID initiative in Bangladesh, who is not authorised to speak publicly and did not want to be named.

” Bangladesh was USAID’s largest project in Asia,” says Asif Saleh, senior director of the non-profit BRAC company”. In terms of its impact, especially in the medical field, it has been enormous.

” Mainly around vaccination, reducing infant mortality and maternal deaths, USAID has played a large role in this region”.

In 2024, Bangladesh received$ 500m in foreign aid. This time, that number has cratered to$ 71m. To put that number into context, in the three-year period from 2021-2023, USAID committed an average of$ 83m annually in Bangladesh for health initiatives alone, including combating TB.

Cuts to USAID have meant Nari Maitree can no longer sell its Stop TB Program, but it also means Dipa is out of job. She supports her old kids and her younger sister.

” I am totally shattered then that I lost my job. I am carrying the burden of the community. Being unemployed is a destructive condition”, she told the BBC.

In a report seen by the BBC, 113 programs that were funded immediately by the USAID company in Bangladesh have stopped. The listing does not include the various programs that are funded straight by US companies in Washington.

” The NGO sector] In Bangladesh ] employs 500, 000 people at least”, says Mr Saleh. ” It’s great. Thousands and thousands of work are going to be eliminated”.

Refugee camp at Cox's Bazar

It’s not just the United States that is moving away from international support. The UK has announced breaks to its international aid programs, while has Switzerland. It is likely that other states may follow match.

It’s a disturbing truth for Bangladesh. The government’s government was overthrown last year and the market is weak, with inflation near 10 % and a work problems, particularly among young people.

Interim chief Muhammad Yunus says Bangladesh will come up with a fresh strategy on how to live following the help cuts – but doesn’t suggest how.

When pressed in a BBC interview on how the country will cover the shortfall from USAID, Yunus said:” It was a small part, not a big deal. It doesn’t mean Bangladesh does disappear from the map”.

Asif Saleh says the way the breaks have been implemented has been dramatic and disorganized. The effects on a state like Bangladesh is enormous.

Nowhere is that more evident than in Cox’s Bazar, a seaside town in south-eastern Bangladesh, house to the nation’s largest refugee station. More than one million Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority group that the United Nations calls subjects of ethnic cleansing, fled violent massacres in their home state, neighbouring Myanmar.

Unable to go back home and unable to operate outside the refugee camp, the Rohingya depend on foreign help for their success.

The United States contributed about third of all help to Rohingya immigrants.

” We have run out of soap”, says Rana Flowers, state representative for the UN family’s company Unicef. ” We are now having to truck water into the tents. It’s an totally crucial moment. There is an epidemic of typhoid with over 580 situations, along with a scabies outbreak”.

Water hygiene jobs in the tents used to be funded by USAID.

Since the order to stop labor went into effect at the end of January, institutions such as the International Red Cross hospital in Cox’s Bazar are reduced to providing emergency aid only. Any trust the funds would be reinstated was crushed this year, when the Trump administration cancelled more than 80 % of all the programs at USAID.

A woman wears a black loose garment, covering her face except for her eyes

People like Hamida Begum, who was getting standard treatment for hypotension, are left with some alternatives.

” I’m older and I don’t have anyone to assist me”, she says. Her father died last month, leaving her to care for her four kids alone, including her 12-year-old child who cannot move.

” I cannot go to another doctor far from home because of my girl”.

At a local UN food supply center, Rehana Begum is standing beside two huge sacks.

Outside, she says, are six gallons of cooking oil and 13kg of corn, along with principles such as garlic, onion and dried peppers. These rations, given to her by the World Food Programme ( WFP), need to last her and her family a month.

I ask how she will handle now that her meals will become cut in half beginning next month.

She looked shocked. Finally she started to cry.

” How may we probably survive with for a small amount”? asks Rehana, 47, who shares one room with her father and five kids. ” Yet today, it is difficult to control”.

The WFP says it was forced to make the major minimize because of” a crucial funding gap for its crisis response businesses”.

The meals then being allotted to the Rohingya group will merely meet their basic regular dietary needs, igniting doubts they will be left with just enough to survive and not much more.

” This is an utter devastation in the making”, says Rana Flowers of Unicef. ” Hungry frustrated people within the tents may lead to safety concerns. If that escalates to the level it was, we won’t be able to go into the tents to support”.

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Commentary: Watching India’s approach to navigating Trump 2.0

AN ASIAN MODEL OF DEALING WITH DONALD TRUMP

Asia says may see, with curiosity, India’s approach to managing the problems posed by a subsequent Trump presidency.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue ( Quad ) could be one area where India could possibly be asked to do more in the security domain, as a key initiative to counter China.

While Southeast Asia had been tepid to this four-power system ( which also includes US, Australia and Japan ), a reinvigorated Quad could be seen as a positive development, contributing to a stable balance of power within East Asia. Southeast Asia was possibly expect a more noticeable role for India in the region, with the possibility of the joint India-Russia sonic BrahMos weapon finding buyers beyond the Philippines, especially since the US has signalled the need for countries to do more for their own safety. &nbsp,

In making bargains, downplaying variations and turning on the charm, India may offer an intriguing Eastern model of how to deal with the Trump presidency.

Dr Sinderpal Singh is&nbsp, Assistant Director and&nbsp, Coordinator of the South Asia Programme and Regional Security Architecture Programme, at the&nbsp, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, &nbsp, Nanyang Technological University.

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Trump no champ of ‘strong gods’ of faith, family and community – Asia Times

” People don’t care what’s on Television. They merely care what else is on TV”. — Jerry Seinfeld

N S Lyons is a popular author in the “national liberal” history. His Substack, &nbsp, The Upheaval, is recommended studying, even though I agree with less than half of what he writes.

He is well-read and well-informed, he integrates info from across many regions, and he isn’t afraid to think seriously about the great issues of background in real time. Reading him does help you better understand the values of the current Right. On many issues, for as&nbsp, the risk of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, his information is one that people in the Mag world urgently need to learn.

In a recent article entitled” American Solid Gods”, Lyons identifies what in my opinion is a profound truth about our existing historical moment. He writes of the close of the” Long Twentieth Century”, a time that was defined by democracy ( social, political, and economic ), and anchored by refusal of Adolf Hitler:

I believe that what we’re seeing now really is the end of an era, an epic upholding of the world as we knew it, and that the whole import and relevance of this haven’t actually struck us already.

More precisely, I believe Donald Trump marks the premature end of the Long Twentieth Century…

Our Long Twentieth Century had a late stop, fully solidifying only in 1945, but in the 80 years since its heart has dominated our civilization’s full understanding of how the world is and if be… In the wake of the horrors inflicted by WWII, the leadership classes of America and Europe rightly made “never again” the core of their conceptual universe. They collectively resolved that authoritarianism, war, and murder had never again be allowed to threaten society…

The anti-fascism of the twentieth century morphed into a&nbsp, great crusade…By making “never again” its ultimate priority, the ideology of the open society put a&nbsp, summum malum&nbsp, ( greatest evil ) at its core rather than any&nbsp, summum bonum&nbsp, ( highest good ). The singular figure of Hitler didn’t just lurk in the back of the 20th century mind, he dominated its subconscious, becoming a sort of secular Satan…This” second career of Adolf Hitler”, as&nbsp, Renaud Camus&nbsp, jokingly calls it, provided the parareligious&nbsp, raison d’etre&nbsp, for the open society consensus and the whole post-war liberal order: to prevent the resurrection of the undead&nbsp, Führer…

The Long Twentieth Century has been characterized by these three interlinked post-war projects: the progressive opening of societies through the deconstruction of norms and borders, the consolidation of the managerial state, and the hegemony of the liberal international order. The hope was that together they could form the foundation for a world that would finally achieve peace on earth and goodwill between all mankind.

Like all good essays, this overstates its case. The American-led liberalism of the postwar order was not a purely defensive project. The UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were not motivated by fear of Hitler’s return, but by a desire to expand the boundaries of human freedom and dignity beyond anything seen in the prewar period. Ronald Reagan didn’t need Hitler as a bogeyman to&nbsp, proselytize his vision of American freedoms&nbsp, as a universal ideal.

And yet there is an important sense in which Lyons is right. The spectacular horrors and the spectacular failure of Hitler’s regime provided a moral anchor that liberals could always use to argue for greater liberalism. Advocates of the Civil Rights Act and other liberalizing laws in the US and Europe often used Nazi Germany as a rhetorical foil.

Anticommunism provided the Right with an alternative Satan for a while, but it never quite had the same power, because America had been Stalin’s ally in World War 2, after the Soviet Union fell, anticommunism was quickly forgotten, but Hitler and the Nazis were not.

Lyons is right that the Trump Era marks the end of Hitler as the&nbsp, summum malum&nbsp, of Western culture— at least in the United States. &nbsp, Joe Rogan&nbsp, and&nbsp, Tucker Carlson, the two most popular media figures on the American Right, have invited Darryl Cooper — a revisionist historian who&nbsp, downplays Nazi atrocities&nbsp, and views Winston Churchill as the true villain of World War 2— to speak on their shows. Here is one of Cooper’s ( since deleted ) tweets, just to give you an idea:

This tweet, I think, is illustrative of the thinking on the American right. It would be wrong to say that the Trump movement, or modern National Conservatism, represents a wholehearted endorsement of Nazism. But it should be uncontroversial to say that the American Right views wokeness as a greater threat than the potential return of Hitler.

Why has the legend of Hitler lost its terror? There are several reasons. The generation that fought and defeated the Nazis has largely passed away, meaning that for most Americans, Hitler only exists as a character in movies and books, as with Tamerlane or Genghis Khan, the fear of a mass murderer fades as the centuries pass.

The Palestine movement has effectively removed Jews from the Left’s list of protected minority groups whose rights might be defended with riots. Social media has led to the overuse of the Nazi label, leading to the popular phrase” Everyone I don’t like is Hitler”.

Lyons is far more sanguine about this shift than I am. Personally, I think it was a&nbsp, good&nbsp, idea to vilify Hitler. As a general moral principle, “don’t be Hitler” honestly seems pretty solid. And even if your only concern is the might of Western civilization, a man whose ideologically-motivated military campaigns led to the end of European global empires1, slaughtered over 20 million Slavs, ended Germany’s status as a great power, and cemented Soviet rule over half of Europe seems like he&nbsp, should &nbsp, probably serve as an example to avoid.

But Lyons believes that the end of anti-Nazism as the West’s guiding principle will pave the way for the return of morality, community, rootedness, faith, and civilizational pride — the kind of things conservatives like:

Hugely influential liberal thinkers like Karl Popper and Theodor Adorno helped convince an ideologically amenable post-war establishment that the fundamental source of authoritarianism and conflict in the world was the” closed society”. Such a society is marked by what Reno dubs” strong gods”: strong beliefs and strong truth claims, strong moral codes, strong relational bonds, strong communal identities and connections to place and past – ultimately, all those “objects of men’s love and devotion, the sources of the passions and loyalties that unite societies”.

Now the unifying power of the strong gods came to be seen as dangerous, an infernal wellspring of fanaticism, oppression, hatred, and violence. Meaningful bonds of faith, family, and above all the nation were now seen as suspect, as alarmingly retrograde temptations to fascism …

Instead of producing a utopian world of peace and progress, the open society consensus and its soft, weak gods led to civilizational dissolution and despair. As intended, the strong gods of history were banished, religious traditions and moral norms debunked, communal bonds and loyalties weakened, distinctions and borders torn down, and the disciplines of self-governance surrendered to top-down technocratic management. Unsurprisingly, this led to nation-states and a broader civilization that lack the strength to hold themselves together, let alone defend against external threats from non-open, non-delusional societies. In short, the campaign of radical self-negation pursued by the post-war open society consensus functionally became a collective suicide pact by the liberal democracies of the Western world.

I’m not quite so sure about Lyons ‘ reading of history here. After all, as Robert Putnam chronicled in his book&nbsp,” The Upswing“, the postwar decades in America saw the greatest surge in church attendance, civic participation, family formation, and social solidarity since the early days of the Republic. Here’s church attendance, which surged after World War 2 and remained high for people over 40 until the 2010s:

Source: Pew

And here’s Putnam’s index of social solidarity, which combines measures of civic and religious participation and family formation:

Source: Robert Putnam via&nbsp, Jefferson Educational Society

The New Deal and the postwar period even saw a huge upswing in the use of the word “we” instead of the word” I” in American books:

Source: Robert Putnam via&nbsp, Peace Corps

The” strong gods” were never stronger than they were among the generation of Americans who grew up listening to FDR preach liberalism on the radio and who went on to crush Adolf Hitler into the dust. Nor is it difficult to draw a causal line between the unifying struggle of the Second World War and the great American unity that followed.

The Greatest Generation believed with all their hearts that Hitler was Satan on Earth. But they did&nbsp, not&nbsp, believe that family, community and tradition were little Hitlers that needed to be crushed in order to uphold the open society.

Indeed, their society was both open&nbsp, and&nbsp, deeply rooted. My grandparents knew the names and the life stories of every one of their neighbors until the day they died, how many “national conservative” intellectuals and diehard Trump fans can say the same?

But in any case, the” strong gods” did eventually wane in America. Lyons believes that Trump is bringing them back:

Mary Harrington recently&nbsp, observed&nbsp, that the Trumpian revolution seems as much archetypal as political, noting that the generally “exultant male response to recent work by Elon Musk and his ‘ warband’ of young tech-bros” in dismantling the entrenched bureaucracy is a reflection of what can be “understood archetypally as]their ] doing battle against a vast, miasmic foe whose aim is the destruction of masculine heroism as such”. This masculine-inflected spirit of thumotic vitalism was suppressed throughout the Long Twentieth Century, but now it’s back…

Today’s populism is…a deep, suppressed thumotic desire for long-delayed&nbsp, action, to break free from the smothering lethargy imposed by proceduralist managerialism and fight passionately for collective survival and self-interest. It is the return of the political to politics. This demands a restoration of old virtues, including a vital sense of national and civilizational self-worth …

This is what Trump, in all his brashness, represents: the strong gods have escaped from exile and returned to America…Trump himself is a man of action, not rumination… He is…an embodiment of the whole rebellious new&nbsp, world spirit&nbsp, that’s now overturning the old order…The very boldness of]Trump’s ] action reflects more than just partisan political gamesmanship – in itself it represents the stasis of the old paradigm being upended, now “you can just do things” again.

The word” thumotic” here refers to Harvey Mansfield’s use of the Greek word” thumos” to mean a sort of political passion and drive. Francis Fukuyama spelled it” thymos”, and even&nbsp, predicted in 1992 &nbsp, that Donald Trump might be the perfect embodiment of Americans ‘ thymotic urge to tear down the liberal establishment.

Lyons thus sees Trumpism as a sort of&nbsp,” Fight Club”-style reassertion of wild, unapologetic, masculine drive — only instead of directing it toward anarchism like Tyler Durden, Lyons sees Trump and Musk indulging their manly passion in the dismantling of the civil service.

But Lyons never explains exactly how this destructive impulse will bring back the return of the” strong gods” he yearns for. He sees the civil service and other American postwar institutions as&nbsp, obstacles&nbsp, to the revitalization of rootedness, family, community, and faith, but he doesn’t really look beyond the smashing of those supposed obstacles toward the actual rebuilding. He just sort of assumes it will happen, or that it’s a problem for another day.

I believe he’s headed for disappointment. Trump’s movement has been around for a decade now, and in all that time it has built absolutely nothing. There is no Trump Youth League. There are no Trump community centers or neighborhood Trump associations or Trump business clubs.

Nor are Trump supporters flocking to traditional religion, Christianity has &nbsp, stopped declining&nbsp, since the pandemic, but both Christian affiliation and church attendance remain&nbsp, well below&nbsp, their levels at the turn of the century. Republicans still&nbsp, have more children&nbsp, than Democrats, but&nbsp, births in red states have fallen&nbsp, too.

In Trump’s first term, the attempts at organized civic participation on the Right were almost laughably paltry. A few hundred Proud Boys got together and went to brawl with antifa in the streets of Berkeley and Portland.

There were a handful of smallish right-wing anti-lockdown protests in 2020. About 2, 000 people rioted on January 6th — mostly people&nbsp, in their 40s and 50s. And none of these ever crystallized into long-term grassroots organizations of the type that were the norm in the 1950s.

For a very few people, the first Trump term was a live-action role-playing game, for everyone else, it was a YouTube channel.

And in Trump’s second term so far? Nothing. Even&nbsp, the rally numbers are way down. National conservatives who might have gone out to meet each other in 2017 are hunkering at home alone in their living rooms, swiping back and forth between X and OnlyFans and DraftKings, pumping their fists in the air as they read about how Elon Musk and his band of computer nerds are firing people or Trump is cutting off aid to Ukraine.

” You can just do things”, except almost zero of Trump’s supporters are actually doing anything except passively cheering for their notional team. Unless you’re one of the tiny group of nerds helping Elon Musk dismantle the bureaucracy, the thumos is all secondhand.

The MAGA movement, you see, is an&nbsp, internet thing. It’s another&nbsp, vertical online community&nbsp, — a bunch of deracinated, atomized individuals, thinly connected across vast distances by the notional bonds of ideology and identity. There is nothing in it of family, community, or rootedness to a place. It’s a digital consumption good. It’s a subreddit. It is a&nbsp, fandom.

N S Lyons and the national conservatives have entirely misapprehended the cause of America’s abandonment of rootedness, community, family and faith. We didn’t abandon those” strong gods” because liberals went too hard on old Adolf. We abandoned them because of&nbsp, technology.

The 1920s saw the beginning of mass affluence in America, along with the creation of technologies that gave individual human beings unprecedented autonomy and control over their physical location and their information diet.

Car ownership allowed Americans to go anywhere, any time, freeing them from their ties to a specific place. Telephone ownership let people communicate over vast distances. Television and radio exposed them to new ideas and cultures, and the internet exposed them to even more.

Then came social media and the smartphone. Suddenly,” society” didn’t mean the people in the physical space around you — your neighbors, coworkers, workout buddies, etc. First and foremost,” society” became a collection of avatars writing text to you on a little glass screen in your pocket. Your phone was where you met and conversed with friends and lovers, where you argued about politics and ideas. People’s roots changed from physical space to digital space.

There is a slowly building mountain of evidence connecting phone-enabled social media to&nbsp, feelings of isolation and alienation, to&nbsp, solitude and loneliness, to&nbsp, declining religiosity, to reduced family formation and&nbsp, lower birth rates.

American society became somewhat disconnected by the introduction of the 20th century technologies of the car, the telephone, the TV, and the internet, but it managed to partially resist and preserve some remnant of rootedness.

But phone-enabled social media broke through those last walls of resistance and turned us into free particles floating in a disembodied space of memes and identities and distractions. The strong gods turned out to be weaker than the new gods made of silicon.

The people who did this were more or less the same people N S Lyons is now cheering on. It wasn’t Elon Musk himself, of course, he just made cars and rockets. But it was Steve Jobs, Jack Dorsey, Zhang Yiming and a bunch of other entrepreneurs who followed their thumos toward vast riches by building the virtual world that has become our truest home.

I am not saying they were evil to do this. Technology has a way of progressing, especially in advanced societies, if it&nbsp, can&nbsp, be done, it probably&nbsp, will&nbsp, be done. And no one could have known about the downsides ahead of time. But it is a bit ironic that the class of people whom N S Lyons now believes will usher in a new age of rootedness and community is the exact same class of people who destroyed the old one.

But anyway, yes, this thing will fail, because nothing is being built. Yes, every ideological movement assures us that after the old order is completely torn down, a utopia will arise in its place. Somehow the utopia never seems to arrive. Instead, the supposedly temporary period of pain and sacrifice stretches on longer and longer, and the ideologues running the show become ever more zealous about blaming their enemies and rooting out the enemies of the revolution.

At some point it becomes clear that the promises of utopia were just an excuse for the rooting out of enemies — thumos as an end in and of itself.

Already, Trump’s Treasury Secretary is telling us that the economic pain Trump is causing is&nbsp, just a “de-tox period”, Trump is&nbsp, blaming “globalists” &nbsp, for the fall in the stock market, and Trump’s Justice Department is&nbsp, blaming egg prices&nbsp, on hoarders and speculators. If you don’t recognize this plot line, you must not read much news or much history.

Smashing the old order does not, in itself, create anything at all. The Visigoths and the Vandals built nothing on top of the ruins of Rome. They indulged their thumos and scampered away to feast for a while on the wealth they looted, and then they disappeared into myth and memory.

Over the past decade and a half I’ve watched in dismay as the real-world communities and families I knew in my youth got ripped up and replaced with a collection of imaginary online identity movements. I’m still waiting for someone to figure out how to put society back together again — how to do what FDR and the Greatest Generation did a century ago. Looking at the Trump movement, I’m pretty sure this isn’t it.

Notes:

1 The fact that Hitler effectively brought down the British Empire explains his&nbsp, strangely enduring popularity&nbsp, in parts of South Asia.

This&nbsp, article was first published on Noah Smith’s Noahpinion&nbsp, Substack under a different headline and is republished with kind permission. Become a Noahopinion&nbsp, subscriber&nbsp, here.

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