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Russia's ASEAN summit in Kazan was a diplomatic coup for the Kremlin
The ASEAN summit held in Russia last week was one of the Kremlin’s biggest diplomatic successes since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
COMMENT: Iran war shows why Asia must quit fossil fuels
Across Asia, governments are now accelerating approvals for renewable projects and grid modernisation schemes. Battery storage investments are making headlines almost daily.
Asia welcomes Iran-US breakthrough, but caution remains
The tentative peace agreement between the United States and Iran has been greeted with a mixture of relief and caution across much of East and Southeast Asia, a region that has borne more than its fair share of the economic fallout of late.
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
Asia food inflation risks rise on fertiliser shock
Fitch Ratings has warned that emerging markets in Asia could face rising cost pressures across agribusiness sectors and food supply chains if a prolonged US-Iran conflict continues to disrupt fertiliser supplies further into the planting season.
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.
China quietly tightens its regional grip across Southeast Asia
Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region.
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.