Brunei
South China Sea tensions drive a quiet realignment against Beijing
The Philippines is not alone as other countries bordering the South China Sea are also starting to push back. Surprisingly given shared Communist ideals is Vietnam, which has become one of the region's most active challengers of Chinese claims.
Asia’s EV race speeds up as China’s champions challenge Tesla
As of mid-2026, China remains the centre of gravity in the EV world.
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Gulf War III squeezes tourism-dependent economies across Southeast Asia
War-driven fuel costs and ceasefire uncertainty are squeezing tourism across Southeast Asia, with Thailand's Middle Eastern arrivals down 57% and airlines raising surcharges sharply.
Asia’s coal comeback complicates energy transition across region
Taiwan has struggled to secure LNG supplies through May and finalised contracts covering roughly half of June demand, but additional procurement costs are expected to reach into the billions of US dollars to complete.
Fuel prices cast a dark shadow over Asia travel season
There will be no real winners in traditional tourism this summer – only airlines, tourist destinations and central banks left counting the cost.
ASEAN’s power gamble will shape the region’s economic future
Electricity demand across the wider ASEAN region is rising rapidly. Manufacturing expansion, electric vehicle adoption and the construction of energy-intensive data centres are driving consumption higher and higher every day.
Asian trade jitters spark fresh Malacca Strait monetisation push
The collapse of maritime stability in the Middle East has cast a long, overdue shadow over the busiest maritime chokepoint in Asia: the Strait of Malacca.
Asia-Pacific defence spending hits post-2009 high as China-Taiwan tensions drive regional build-up
Military expenditure the Asia-Pacific region increased sharply in the last year, reaching a total of $681bn - an increase of 8.1% year on year and the largest annual expansion in military spending since 2009
Trump’s Iran gambit leaves APAC region ‘Quad’ dead in the water
The European Union has already, for all intents and purposes broken away from the US. It is only a matter of time before the Quad either ceases to function or decides to go its own way, without the US.
ADB projects slower growth in all of Asia
According to an outlook forecast report by the Asian Development Bank, the broad Asia region including its many developing high growth economies are facing what can be best described as the most complex set of headwinds in years.
Southeast Asia’s energy squeeze
The war in Iran has delivered a systemic shock to global energy markets, but few regions have felt the strain as acutely, or quite as quickly, as Southeast Asia.
ASIA BLOG: China wins while Iran burns
The world needs a stable Asia – East and West – and would be better served by the removal of the current Iranian regime. Only in the removal of said regime will Beijing be forced back into a more constrained, less opportunistic global role.
Iran war is Asia's Ukraine moment, rapid green energy rollout will accelerate
Three quarters of the world's population live in fossil importing countries and bleed out at least 3% of GDP every year to import oil to run their cars and power plants.
Which countries in Europe and Asia have the most reserve coal-fired generating capacity in reserve?
Natural gas prices have already doubled since the start of the war in the Middle East and are expected to rise higher as the last of Qatar’s LNG exports arrive at their destinations. Now everyone is switching to coal.
Asia falls back on coal as LNG shortages drag on
From South Korea to Indonesia to Bangladesh, governments are increasingly turning back to coal-fired power generation to help offset a widening shortfall in LNG imports.
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Fuel shock in the fast lane: how Asia’s drivers are paying the price of war
The war involving the United States, Israel and Iran has sent a delayed shockwave through global energy markets and nowhere is the impact more acute than at petrol pumps across Asia.