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September 23, 2025
 

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Karishma Vaswani
A woman passes a graffitied wall outside Nepal's torched Parliament in Kathmandu on Sunday. The country's new leader, Sushila Karki, vowed the same day to follow protesters' demands to "end corruption" as she began work as interim prime minister.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2025
Why Nepal’s new power brokers should worry India and China
If India and China continue treating Nepal primarily as a geopolitical pawn, they risk alienating future leaders.
Children walk past Nepal's Parliament house in Kathmandu Thursday, just days after it was set on fire by protesters angered by a social media ban and government corruption.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2025
Gen-Z protesters across Asia are challenging the old guard
On Tuesday, Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned after two days of demonstrations over a sweeping social-media ban.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends a military parade in Beijing on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2025
China’s military parade shows who’s calling the shots
Beijing is sending a signal on defense modernization and international clout.
Protesters wave a pirate flag from the Japanese anime "One Piece," an internet trend used to criticize government policies, during a demonstration in front of the Bali police station in Denpasar, Indonesia, on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2025
Indonesia’s protests may fade. The fury won’t.
Politicians and business tycoons from the previous era still have clout, through dynastic parties, family owned businesses and patronage networks.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has been weakened by domestic setbacks and uncertain U.S. support as he tries to balance pressure from Beijing and political opposition at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2025
Taiwan’s president is running out of options
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is battling internal strife while navigating an unpredictable trade war with Washington.
Donald Trump's attempt to bar international students from enrolling at Harvard, along with other actions, undercut America’s image as a land of opportunity, alienating future Asian leaders and diminishing U.S. influence in Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2025
America’s 'wolf warriors' are getting it all wrong in Asia
Trump's actions erode goodwill among future Asian leaders and weaken America's standing in a region once deeply aligned with it.
Urgent diplomacy and restraint are needed to prevent further escalation between India and Pakistan, as both sides risk being pulled into a dangerous conflict with potential global consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2025
Can India and Pakistan step back from the brink?
India and Pakistan on many occasions have been on the brink of major conflict, yet have successfully climbed down.
The trade war is ratcheting up tensions between Beijing and Washington. Taipei needs to be more prepared. 
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2025
Taiwan is under siege with or without tariffs
Taiwan must urgently strengthen defenses and unite politically to counter rising threats from China, despite Trump’s trade war.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is reasserting military influence in politics, pushing fiscal policies that challenge long-standing restraints and accelerating democratic backsliding — moves that are causing economic instability and political unease.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2025
Prabowo tries to remake Indonesia, but at what cost?
The economic and political pillars that emerged after the turmoil of 1998 are in peril. Markets are rightly apprehensive. 
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth addresses American service members assigned to Kane'ohe Bay, Hawaii, on Tuesday. Hegseth’s itinerary during his first visit to Asia in his new role will include visits to the Philippines and Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2025
Hegseth’s Asia tour won’t fix U.S. credibility crisis
The timing of Hegseth’s first Asian tour couldn’t be more awkward. U.S. President Donald Trump’s "America First” mantra is raising eyebrows.
Supporters of the impeached South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, protesting in Seoul on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2025
South Korea’s political drama is far from over
The potential for violence in the days ahead is still great. Still, that shouldn’t take away from the urgent and necessary reform of the political system.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's arrest on an ICC warrant for crimes against humanity related to his brutal drug war is a victory for affected families, but it may plunge the country into political chaos.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2025
The law finally caught up with Rodrigo Duterte
A reckoning for Duterte — the man they called "The Punisher” — is long overdue. The former Philippine president’s anti-drug crusade killed thousands of people.
Taiwan worries that Donald Trump’s dealmaking with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine signals uncertainty for its own security, and the island democracy is boosting efforts to strengthen U.S. ties and defense spending.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025
Trump’s phone call with Putin is causing a stir in Taiwan
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te’s government should consider what it can offer Trump to avoid becoming a pawn in the U.S.-China rivalry.
Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol protest in Seoul on Tuesday. The previous leaders of the U.S. and Japan, along with Yoon, focused on strengthening alliances and regional stability through cooperation whereas newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy may prioritize transactional relationships.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 24, 2025
Japan and South Korea were stable U.S. allies. Not anymore.
Political paralysis in the U.S., Japan and South Korea has left a leadership vacuum in the Indo-Pacific.
A North Korean soldier watches his South Korean counterparts at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone. South Korea's political crisis, with President Yoon's impeachment, threatens U.S. influence while boosting opportunities for China and North Korea to expand their influence.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024
Beijing and Pyongyang will exploit South Korea's turmoil
The geopolitical landscape in the region may soon become less friendly to the U.S.
The U.S.-China relationship will be better served by collaboration, not acrimony. The moment for better ties could come next year when President-elect Donald Trump assumes office.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2024
The Trump-Xi bromance has a chance in 2025
It was a smart move by the U.S. president-elect to invite Xi to his inauguration, but future attempts need to be more than just empty gestures to make a real difference.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2024
The global spy alliance should let Japan join
Tokyo’s inclusion in the club is long overdue, especially as the region combats China’s growing assertiveness and the unpredictability of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Members of the Maori community and their supporters take part in a protest about indigenous rights outside of New Zealand's parliament in Wellington on Nov. 19.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2024
Shadow of the British Empire hangs over New Zealand's treaty debate
The controversy over one of the nation’s founding documents touches a raw nerve. The agreement has two versions, one in English and the other in Maori.
People arrive with flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the Zhuhai Sports Center in the city of Zhuhai, in China's Guangdong province, on Nov. 13, two days after 35 people were killed when a man drove a car into a crowd.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2024
A mass killing tests China's crime narrative
A spate of random acts of violence is challenging the Communist Party's it-knows-best narrative.
Chinese police have signed cooperation agreements with countries across Asia, Latin America, the Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa, offering embedded officers, training, joint patrols and exporting security equipment, especially to developing economies.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2024
China’s cops are coming to a city near you
When asked about covert overseas police outposts, China either denies their existence or claims they are service centers for overseas citizens.
40 years after Plaza Accord, Japan still at mercy of forex swings
The Plaza Hotel in New York, where finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Five countries met and struck the Plaza Accord on Sept. 22, 1985.
As Japan keeps buying gas, Aboriginal Australians pay the price
Paulina “Jedda” Puruntatameri with Antonia Burke and Tiwi fisher Clinton offshore of Melville Island, one of the Tiwi Islands, in Australia's Northern Territory. Together with other Tiwi, Jedda has been campaigning for years to stop Australian company Santos and its backers, including Japanese investors, from drilling for natural gas at the Barossa gas field.
South Korea’s baby bust threatens its demographic future
Marriage is rapidly declining in South Korea as rising education and career aspirations collide with traditional gender norms.
Abuse of 'zombie cigarettes' among Okinawa youths raises alarm
A street in Naha in August. In entertainment districts in southern Okinawa, a drug known as "laughing gas vape" is being abused at nightclubs and bar. Now, some establishments have put up warning notices.
German companies choosing Japan as Asia manufacturing hub: survey
Japan has many positive qualities for German companies, but the market does face some challenges, such as talent acquisition and retention, particularly as demand for skilled workers grows, a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan showed.
Who’s who in the LDP presidential race?
(From left) Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi; former foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi; Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi; former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi; and former minister of state for economic security Sanae Takaichi, speaking at events in Tokyo.
Twice-a-year injection could make HIV prevention easier, developer argues
Jared Baeten, Gilead Sciences' senior vice president and virology therapeutic area head, hopes regulatory approval elsewhere for lenacapavir as a preexposure prophylaxis — for reducing the risk of contracting HIV — could lead to real discussions toward ending HIV in Japan.
Behold the glory of Japan’s fruit boxes
Otherwise common sights in Japan's supermarkets, the country's fruit and veggie boxes can hide surprising symbols of local pride.
YouTuber Gigguk shifts from talking anime to making anime
The process of making “Baan” was personal and enlightening for Maneetapho, who spent years talking about anime on his YouTube channel and podcast before making the jump to becoming an anime creator himself.
How Yuki Joseph Nakajima turned failures into breakout success at Tokyo worlds
Yuki Joseph Nakajima after finishing sixth in the men's 400-meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan
By Christoph Sponsel

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