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Asia Opinion

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Hong Kong economy

Opinion | Hong Kong can play vital part in boosting crucial Sino-India relations

India is a vibrant, emerging and complex power with much to offer the city and China as a whole.

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US, Israel war on Iran

As I see it | Trump and Netanyahu’s Iran quagmire is wrecking the global economy

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War and conflict

Opinion | US-Israeli war on Iran makes a mockery of global governance rules

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Hong Kong housing

Opinion | When homes are small and costly, dreams of having a family shrink

In Asian cities, imagining family life has become the real work of adulthood – shaped by square footage, commute times and childcare options.

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Potential homebuyers visit a development sales office in Hong Kong on November 15, 2025. Photo: Dickson Lee
Potential homebuyers visit a development sales office in Hong Kong on November 15, 2025. Photo: Dickson Lee
Energy

Opinion | Why Asia’s future depends on breaking the shackles of fossil fuels

The choice facing Asia is clear: pay the large, one-time cost of transition or keep paying the unpredictable price of vulnerability.

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War and conflict

Opinion | Iran strikes are a wake-up call to regulate military AI

Amid a lack of regulations and binding agreements on the use of artificial intelligence in war, the risks to civilians will only increase.

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Asia housing and property

The View | 4 reasons Asia’s property will endure despite Iran war headwinds

Asian property’s sources of resilience are potent and multifaceted, with the drivers of sentiment distinct from those in financial markets.

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A view of residential and commercial buildings in Tokyo on August 18, 2025. Photo: dpa
A view of residential and commercial buildings in Tokyo on August 18, 2025. Photo: dpa
North Korea

Opinion | Under Kim Jong-un, North Korea is burying the dream of reunification

The Workers’ Party Congress signals a different form of “liberation” – securing regime survival through nuclear deterrence, not the liberation of the Korean peninsula.

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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.

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.

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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
China-Middle East relations

Opinion | US-Iran conflict puts China’s pragmatism to the test

For Beijing, the danger is less about losing Iran as a partner than losing stability in the energy-rich Middle East.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Illustration: Craig Stephens
War and conflict

Opinion | Pakistan’s forever war and the politics of exhaustion

What Pakistan needs is not war with Afghanistan but urgent efforts to fix its economy, security and divided society after disruptive decades.

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Asean

Opinion | Fatigue is rewriting the US-China soft power contest, starting in Asean

At a time when no one has bandwidth left, soft power is being won by being the partner that feels usable, steady and low-risk.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | US war on Iran isn’t likely to go as planned

US war planners have overlooked viewing their adversary through realpolitik in the past. They now face a far more organised opponent.

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US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on March 2, in Arlington, Virginia, the US. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
Diplomacy

Opinion | Kim Jong-un’s daughter may well become North Korea’s first female leader

The signs of succession are apparent, from Kim Ju-ae’s growing public appearances with her father to her reported appointment to a new leadership position.

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Kim Ju-ae with her father, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, watching a demonstration flight commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army Air Force at Kalma Airfield in Wonsan, Gangwon province, on November 28. Photo: KCNA via KNS/AFP
Kim Ju-ae with her father, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, watching a demonstration flight commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army Air Force at Kalma Airfield in Wonsan, Gangwon province, on November 28. Photo: KCNA via KNS/AFP
Disease

Opinion | Nipah and mpox expose Asia’s urgent need for stronger disease surveillance

Many Asian countries face barriers in building effective disease surveillance networks, including relying on shrinking external funding.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Attack on Iran normalises global descent into the ‘law of the jungle’

By waging war under the logic of pre-emptive defence, the US and Israel are hollowing out the foundations of international law.

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Afghanistan

Opinion | How the Taliban can end the cycle of violence with Pakistan

Working with neighbours to combat terror groups operating in Afghanistan will ensure peace and improve the Taliban’s international standing.

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People survey a house that was damaged in the cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in the Takhta-e-Pul district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on February 28. Photo: EPA
People survey a house that was damaged in the cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in the Takhta-e-Pul district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on February 28. Photo: EPA
Australia

The View | 5 reasons Australia’s physical retail is uniquely resilient

Several factors contribute to the outperformance of the Australian retail sector, including its relative insulation from digital disruption.

China-Japan relations

Opinion | Japan’s rightward shift puts it on a collision course with China

Any attempt by the Takaichi administration to revise the constitution and re-arm the country will ignite fierce opposition from Beijing.

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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.

A link to the Grok website is seen in a social media post. Grok released a feature in December that allowed users to generate non-consensual sexualised images of women and children. Photo: Getty Images
War and conflict

Opinion | US-Israeli strike on Iran signals new phase of global escalation

This is deterrence fatigue: escalation thresholds weakened by repeated testing and retaliation. The risk is not only war but systemic strain.

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People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on February 28. Photo: AP
People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on February 28. Photo: AP
Japan

Macroscope | Why Japan should push back on Trump’s investment demands

Trump’s use of tariff threats to strong-arm foreign governments, companies and investors into funding US projects should be resisted.

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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.

India

Opinion | How India can lead the charge for inclusive AI

The AI Impact summit showcased India’s commitment to placing human well-being at the heart of the global artificial intelligence conversation.

A visitor checks a Jio intelligence bot on display at Bharat Mandapam, one of the venues for the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, on February 17. Photo: Reuters
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