Japan Inc’s China Angst
Japanese automakers’ long-dominant position in Southeast Asia is under threat from a new generation of Chinese rivals who made a bolder technology bet. Can they hold back the tide?
Articles
China’s Myanmar Problem
Myanmar’s civil war poses one of China’s biggest foreign policy challenges. As the country devolves back into rebel fiefdoms, Beijing has fallen back on a unique brand of Realpolitik.
Hidden Treasures
The battle for rare earths has reached the abyss. China thinks it can win there too, as it out-maneuvers the U.S. and New Zealand in the South Pacific.
Risky Business
Southeast Asia’s runaway gambling industry has created chaos — both to the detriment and advantage of China.
Cleaning Up
Chinese money laundering syndicates are the partners-of-choice for Latin American cartels who flood the U.S. with fentanyl. But despite Sino-American cooperation on the issue, the U.S. is just barely grasping what is at stake. Fentanyl, it turns out, is merely the deadliest chapter in a...
Going for Gold
Thanks to economic turbulence and geopolitics, China is buying up gold like never before — and it's looking to places like Papua New Guinea to supply it. But with aggressive tactics and irresponsible mining practices, China's 'gold rush' diplomacy is alarming locals and sparking concern...
Aging Opportunity
Beijing and Western financial giants have a mutual interest: Fixing China's pensions system. But can they figure out how to do it?
India’s Chance for Chips
India wants to capitalize on over concentrated supply chains and the Washington-Beijing chip war to burst onto the global semiconductor stage. Its great hope? Vedanta Resources, a mining firm.
Fentanyl’s New Flow
After years of U.S. pressure, Beijing finally banned fentanyl in 2019. Many celebrated the announcement, thinking it would help turn the tide in America's deadly opioid crisis. But today, there is more Chinese-made fentanyl flooding U.S. streets than ever before. Experts say it's because of...
Stalled Dreams
When China loaned Ethiopia more than $2.5 billion to build a railway, it was cultivating a unique relationship in Africa that it hoped would unlock enormous economic potential. But now, with the debts unpaid and Ethiopia on the brink of collapse, China's decades-old Africa strategy...
China’s Own Goal
In 2015, Xi Jinping decided that soccer, the world’s most popular sport, would improve China’s fitness, both on and off the field. But in the wake of his reforms and ambitious goals, China’s ultra-wealthy have poured more than $2.5 billion into the sport with very...
VW’s New Dynasty?
The People’s Car is attempting to remake itself in the People’s Republic. With massive new investments, VW is doubling down on China’s electric vehicle market like no one else. But even with China’s thirst for electric vehicles, can the 87-year-old giant transform itself?