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Volunteers from a neighborhood committee stand watch on a street in Beijing on April 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 27, 2024

Xi Jinping’s recipe for total control: An army of eyes and ears

The goal is no longer just to address specific threats, but to embed the Chinese Communist Party so deeply in daily life that no trouble can even arise.
Chinese President Xi Jinping at the first China-Arab States forum in Riyadh in 2022
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

Xi hosts Arab leaders as China-Mideast ties widen beyond trade

As the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden backs Israel in its war in Gaza, China sees eye-to-eye with Arab nations.
A woman cycles past the Beijing Stock Exchange building on Feb. 8.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 3, 2024

Red tape clogs China's offshore IPO pipeline even as markets recover

China company executives and their investors said they expect the offshore IPO drought to continue this year, weighing on firms' ability to raise capital in a slowing economy.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. More than half of the 50 economists surveyed predict the central bank will decide next week to slow the pace of bond buying.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 7, 2024

Majority of BOJ watchers expect cut in bond buying next week

Some 54% of 50 economists said the bank will slow the pace of bond buying from around ¥6 trillion per month at the policy board gathering.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivers the work report at the opening session of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 5. Li dropped the mention of "peaceful" from unification with Taiwan this year.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2024

The Taiwan question: 'Strategic ambiguity' and U.S. foreign policy

Chinese Premier Li Qiang in a government report delivered at the opening of the National People's Congress dropped the mention of "peaceful" for unification with Taiwan.
In 2023, 15.4% of China's population was over 65, a demographic milestone that typically slows economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2024

Is China too old to get rich?

By 2023, 15.4% of China's population was over 65, a demographic milestone that typically slows economic growth.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 26, 2024

A third of Bank of Japan watchers expect July interest rate hike

Whatever the outcome in July, the survey results show there will be intense interest with possible market volatility ahead of the policy board meeting.
A drum sits inside the Korea Exchange in Seoul on June 13. South Korea is extending a ban on stock short selling through March 30 next year and planning harsher penalties for illegal trades.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 30, 2024

High-speed traders and short sellers face growing Asia crackdown

Recent developments show the difficulty of keeping up with increasingly sophisticated trading strategies and their market impact — challenges set to grow further with AI.
The China World Office 2 building, which houses the headquarters of China International Capital Corp. (CICC), in Beijing May 6. One official gauge of foreign direct investment clocked its lowest monthly reading since mid-2018 in May, as investors show caution amid Chinese President Xi Jinping’s conflicting campaigns to bolster national security against foreign threats and further open up the economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 4, 2024

Xi’s China proves a hard sell at officials’ overseas roadshows

Their pitch to foreign investors is being met with doubt, partly due to the policies of their big boss.
Tens of thousands of young people have fled Myanmar since the military junta introduced conscription, rights groups say, to shore up its depleted ranks.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 5, 2024

'No safe place': Women flee conscription risk and hardship in Myanmar

Following the military junta's conscription, some have risked their lives to trek through jungles and ford rivers to escape.
A bull statue stands outside the Shenzhen Stock Exchange building in Shenzhen in September 2019.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 9, 2024

China’s plenum promises cues for commodity bulls and bears

China is the world’s biggest importer of commodities and its dominant supplier of clean energy, so decisions taken in Beijing ripple across the world.
The Chinese navy aircraft carrier the Shandong in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, on Tuesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 11, 2024

Taiwan monitors surge of Chinese warplanes headed to Pacific carrier drills

The Chinese military exercises coincide with a NATO summit in Washington, where a draft communique says Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to security.
Several people from Nomura Holdings in charge of Asia excluding Japan are leaving the company, according to an internal memo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024

Nomura reshuffles Asia investment banking team and cuts jobs in slump

A management change coincides with a new round of job cuts involving about 10 bankers this week, sources have said.
The U.S. and its allies have accused China of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, in part by exporting parts and equipment needed by Moscow's weapons makers, including semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 22, 2024

Illicit chip flows to Russia seen slowing in China

Both mainland China and Hong Kong are seen by the U.S. government as key global nodes for Russia to source materials for its military.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. A Bloomberg survey showed some 14 of 48 economists predict the BOJ will raise its policy rate at the next week’s meeting.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 24, 2024

Most BOJ watchers see July rate hike risk with bond-buying cut

Survey respondents also predicted the central bank will cut bond-buying to ¥5 trillion per month starting in August.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is stepping up efforts to position himself as a peacemaker in regards to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

China seizes chance to play peacemaker in Ukraine before U.S. vote

Xi is looking to forge a bigger diplomatic role at a time when Kyiv and the broader European region are bracing for a dramatic shift in foreign policy from the U.S.
Samsung has won the long-awaited approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia for a version of its high-bandwidth HBM3 memory chips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024

Samsung begins closing gap in making AI memory chips for Nvidia

The advances that include winning approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia come after months of stumbles for Samsung.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. A majority of the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg said this week’s rate hike by the central bank was appropriate, and nearly 70% expected the rate to be raised again by the end of this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2024

Most BOJ watchers rethink pace of hikes after Ueda’s hawkishness

Some 68% of 41 economists see the policy rate rising to 0.5% from 0.25% by the end of this year, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Supporters of badmington gold medalists Wang Chi-Lin and Lee Yang at the victory ceremony on Sunday in Paris
OLYMPICS / Badminton
Aug 5, 2024

Taiwan cheers Olympics badminton triumph over China in politically charged contest

Wang Chi-Lin and Lee Yang of Taiwan, the reigning champions from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, won a three-game thriller against China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.
As investors look for opportunities in the new environment created by the Bank of Japan and the resulting market turmoil, there is broad consensus that they will have to reevaluate what they thought they knew about the country.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 7, 2024

Japan morphs into the center of worry for global investors

In less than a week, Japan has completely upended the world’s expectations for its markets and economy.
Young divers taking part in strength training at Muxiyuan sport school in Beijing on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Diving
Aug 14, 2024

China's Olympic divers inspire next generation at Beijing pool

China completed a clean sweep of all eight Olympic diving gold medals in Paris on Saturday — a historic first. It didn't happen by accident.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnam's President To Lam shake hands after a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Xi meets Vietnam's new leaders and says Hanoi is 'diplomacy priority'

Vietnam's new leader To Lam is in Beijing on his first state visit since he took office.
A Ukrainian Humvee passes through the destroyed Russian border post at the Sudzha border crossing with Ukraine, on Aug. 12.
WORLD
Aug 22, 2024

Ukraine attacks Moscow in one of largest ever drone strikes on Russian capital

For months, Ukraine has fought an increasingly damaging drone war against the refineries and airfields of Russia.
A boy pushes a biped robot developed by LimX Dynamics at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 23, 2024

China's robot makers chase Tesla to deliver humanoid workers

The Asian giant's push into the emerging industry draws from the formula behind its initial electric vehicle drive more than a decade ago.
U.S. Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she arrives to speak on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 31, 2024

Harris isn’t looking to pick new fights with China, unlike Trump

The U.S. vice president is betting that Americans don’t want an all-out confrontation when they tell pollsters they’d like their leaders to get even tougher on China.
American Taylor Fritz celebrates after defeating Germany's Alexander Zverev in the U.S. Open quarterfinals on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Sep 4, 2024

Tiafoe, Fritz and Navarro boost American hopes of U.S. Open title sweep

The 12th-seeded Fritz won a big-hitting battle against fourth-seeded 2020 runner-up Alexander Zverev of Germany 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Global investors are expecting the yen may rise further since the Bank of Japan raised interest rates in July.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 10, 2024

Yen rally prompts an unwind of hedges in Japanese stocks but investors wary of earnings hit

Expectations that the yen may strengthen further have prompted strategists to recommend unwinding currency hedges on Japanese shares that have outperformed peers.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Some 53% of economists surveyed by Bloomberg said the earliest timing for a rate change would be in October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 13, 2024

Over half of BOJ watchers see next rate hike coming in December

The survey results show most analysts believe the market ructions after the July 31 rate hike didn't derail the BOJ from the normalization path.
A Tokyo Star Bank branch in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Tiny Japan bank looks to grow by lending to offshore homebuyers

Japan’s weak yen and low interest rates have drawn overseas interest in Japanese property and boosted prices.
Elderly people rest at a park in Fuyang in eastern China's Anhui province on Friday.  China said the same day that it would gradually raise its statutory retirement age, as the country grapples with a looming demographic crisis and an older population.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 14, 2024

China’s first retirement age hike since 1978 triggers discontent

The move could stem a decline in the labor force but risks angering workers already wrestling with a slowing economy.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic