Tag - pacific

 
 

PACIFIC

A worker labors on a spinning machine at a factory in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia in September 2019. For Indonesia, China’s trade power means lost jobs and hard choices.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2025
Asia would welcome trade deals that exclude China
The real cost to developing countries of China’s trade practices runs deeper: lost jobs can be counted, but missed opportunities can’t.
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves upon his departure to Cambodia at the Bunga Raya VIP complex of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2025
Xi urges ‘Asian family’ unity as Trump seeks to confine China
The Chinese president seeks to keep countries from cutting deals with the U.S. at the expense of his nation.
Cargo is uploaded onto a China-Europe freight train at the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base in Lianyungang, China, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2025
Jolted by Trump, EU woos new partners from Asia to Latin America
The EU has embarked on a charm offensive to diversify its alliances, with summits lined up back-to-back and trade talks launched in all directions.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte meets with members of an explosives disposal team while inspecting equipment aboard the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Mogami frigate at the Yokosuka Base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2025
Japan and NATO strengthen links amid rising security fears
The starting point for the deepening ties is a shared view that security is indivisible and events that create instability in one part of the world will impact other regions.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington on Tuesday. Trump allowed new tariffs — including a 24% levy on Japan — to go into effect as scheduled on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 9, 2025
Trump's tariff gambit leaves Asia stunned and scrambling
Tariffs take time to actually affect prices and trade flows, but financial markets are already responding to the possibility of severe economic dislocation.
Hedge funds are trying to hire more in Japan, as traders look to power markets in the country with more green energy and uncertainties surrounding nuclear plant restarts.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 9, 2025
Hedge funds eye volatile Asia power markets with new hires
They are pushing into the region with the aim of offsetting declining profits from mainstay commodities.
Kwai Chung container ports in Hong Kong earlier this month
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 7, 2025
East Asia tries a mix of measures to counter U.S. tariffs as markets suffer
U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced a raft of tariffs, with almost every country affected.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte speaks during a news conference at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels last week.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 7, 2025
With focus on ‘projecting power,’ NATO eyes greater Indo-Pacific role
NATO chief Mark Rutte expects the alliance to ramp up its engagement in the strategically important region as threats become increasingly interconnected.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte plans to visit Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday — his first to the Indo-Pacific region since taking office in October, as he seeks to implement lessons from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2025
‘Let’s make it practical’: NATO chief eyes greater defense-industrial ties with Japan
Japan and NATO plan to take their partnership to the next level by stepping up information-sharing and defense-industrial cooperation, Secretary-General Mark Rutte said.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's contradictory statements on U.S. military strategy and alliances with Europe and Asia raise questions about his true stance, reflecting the chameleon-like nature of U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2025
Will the real Pete Hegseth please stand up?
The same fears remain in terms of security. Even if the Trump administration seeks to deter China, it is unlikely to shift its policy of so-called pacifism.
Asian countries can counter Donald Trump’s protectionism by deepening regional trade, financial cooperation and strategic alliances to reduce U.S. dependence.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2025
Asia must unite to survive Trump 2.0
Asian countries can counter Donald Trump’s protectionism by deepening regional trade, financial cooperation and strategic alliances to reduce U.S. dependence.
A Chinese Navy missile frigate. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to project power in the Indo-Pacific region.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 27, 2025
Xi tests U.S. allies in Indo-Pacific as Trump looks elsewhere
From sending warships off Australia’s coast to putting pressure on Thailand over human rights, Beijing is ramping up efforts to project power.
There is concern about a severe decline in democracy in Asia, with many former success stories now backsliding.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2025
An Asian democracy collapse amid the new world order
By the monitoring organization Freedom House's calculations, for 19 years, democracy has eroded around the world.
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.
The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / Longform
Mar 24, 2025
Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties
Amid rising tensions and possible changes to U.S. foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific, the relationship between Japan and the Philippines is even more crucial.
People protest as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely, in Washington on Feb. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 19, 2025
Powerful Asian countries will struggle to fill aid gap left by U.S.
China may be reluctant to fully fill the void, while South Korea and Japan could struggle to give enough.
Yields on Japanese government bonds have climbed to the highest since 2006 as traders expect the Bank of Japan to keep hiking interest rates this year while peers from the U.S. to Australia ease monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 18, 2025
Pimco takes profit on Japan bond trade as interest rates rise
The American investment management firm has turned "overall neutral” on Japanese government bonds.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump's attack on DEI is making waves at international companies in Europe, Asia and beyond — but quietly, many businesses are standing firm on diversity initiatives.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2025
Trump has companies in Europe and Asia walking a DEI tightrope
Outside of the United States, many businesses are quietly standing firm on diversity initiatives.
Japan, despite facing multiple territorial disputes, lacks a dedicated university program on the issue, unlike Western countries, and would benefit from an interdisciplinary academic initiative to foster expertise.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2025
Japan needs academic programs focused on territorial issues
While many countries have territorial disputes with their neighbors — in fact, there are at least 150 active disputes worldwide — Japan faces issues with nearly all its neighbors.
By promoting healthier aging through measures to extend workforce participation, increase social engagement and improve health care systems, Asia’s policymakers could create a “silver demographic dividend” that helps to sustain the region’s economic dynamism.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2025
Reaping Asia’s silver demographic dividend
Concerns that older workers are not as productive as their younger counterparts are overblown.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.