Advertisement
Advertisement
This Week in Asia /

Opinion

Related Topics:
China Briefing
The View
Researchers inspect an alloy material sample used to build a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor at a laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics in October last year. Photo: EPA
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

videocam
28
China-Philippines relations

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

videocam
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.

Iranian women visit the ruins of Persepolis, ceremonial capital of the ancient Achaemenid empire of Persia, near Shiraz in Iran. Photo: AFP
Iranian women visit the ruins of Persepolis, ceremonial capital of the ancient Achaemenid empire of Persia, near Shiraz in Iran. Photo: AFP
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.

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.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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.

An oil tanker burns off the coast of Iraq after being hit by an Iranian strike last month amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Photo: AP
An oil tanker burns off the coast of Iraq after being hit by an Iranian strike last month amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Photo: AP
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.

4
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.

videocam
10
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.

videocam
5
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.

videocam
US President Donald Trump (centre) stands for a group photo with Southeast Asian leaders at the 13th Asean-United States Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump (centre) stands for a group photo with Southeast Asian leaders at the 13th Asean-United States Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP
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.

US, Israel war on Iran

Asian Angle | Hormuz is sending Southeast Asia a warning – and we can no longer ignore it

The crisis has shown we must invest in renewables rather than staying in a fossil fuel comfort zone.

videocam
People wait to refill their motorbikes at a petrol station in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Monday. Photo: EPA
US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | One rule for Israel and another for Iran risks nuclear disaster

Israel is believed to have some 80 to 90 nuclear weapons. Iran has none. Such double standards are unsustainable.

6
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points to a red line he has drawn on a graphic representing an Iranian nuclear bomb as he addresses the UN in 2012. Photo: Reuters
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points to a red line he has drawn on a graphic representing an Iranian nuclear bomb as he addresses the UN in 2012. Photo: Reuters
The Philippines

Asian Angle | The Philippine military must transform, not just modernise

Changes to doctrine and force structure are needed to realise the armed forces’ dream of becoming a 21st century military.

Indonesia

Opinion | Indonesia’s new aircraft carrier is more vanity project than war machine

The jet-less carrier might buy Jakarta a seat at the elite table, but it offers no advantage in modern naval warfare.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Malaysia

Asian Angle | Malaysia’s LGBTQ crackdowns aren’t hypocrisy, they’re politics

Anwar’s government isn’t failing its ideals. It’s navigating a reality where Malay-Muslim legitimacy dictates the limits of social change.

A man holds a rainbow flag, commonly used to signal LGBTQ pride. Photo: Shutterstock
A man holds a rainbow flag, commonly used to signal LGBTQ pride. Photo: Shutterstock
Asean

Opinion | Underwater and unprotected: why Asean and the EU must secure subsea lifelines

With global data at risk from hybrid threats, Southeast Asia and Europe need to look past declarations to secure our shared data arteries.

Myanmar

Opinion | Myanmar’s junta staged an election. It couldn’t stage legitimacy

A closer look at the vote raises doubts about whether the generals can hold the country hostage in the long term.

Thailand

Asian Angle | How to win an election in Thailand: stage a rebrand, rely on rural votes

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul put Bhumjaithai’s technocrats centre stage, while letting provincial barons run the real campaign.

The Bhumjaithai Party’‘s “Gang of Four” poster features Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas. Photo: Instagram.com/bhumjaithai_th
Australia

Opinion | Australia needs to make its stance on the Iran attacks known

By refusing to condemn these legally baseless strikes, the Albanese government risks choosing ‘might is right’ over the UN Charter.

videocam
Members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia celebrate US and Israeli military strikes on Iran outside Iranian embassy in Canberra on March 1. Photo: EPA
Members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia celebrate US and Israeli military strikes on Iran outside Iranian embassy in Canberra on March 1. Photo: EPA
Artificial intelligence

Asian Angle | Southeast Asia needs AI sovereignty – the Grok scandal proved it

From Singapore’s SEA-LION to Malaysia’s ILMU, Southeast Asian nations aim to build AI that reflects their own languages, cultures and values.

US-ally trade wars

Opinion | Southeast Asia, do not mistake Trump’s tariff defeat for a reprieve

One court loss won’t end the trade wars. But if ‘Peak Trump’ has arrived, the region’s negotiating hand may have just got stronger.

Artificial intelligence

Opinion | Who will save the world from a US-China AI arms race?

Unrestrained military AI could doom us all. The window for a global middle-power alliance to rein in the superpowers is closing fast.

videocam
The logo of the US AI company Anthropic. The US and China now face a prisoner’s dilemma in military AI. Photo: AFP
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW