Asia Times

In yet another remark that triggered alarm around the world, President Donald Trump said Friday that he planned to declare the Strait of Hormuz – which Iran has blockaded for much of the past five months over his and Israel’s illegal war – a US territory. Just two days after the latest inflation figures demonstrated, in the words of one […] The post Trump vows to declare Strait of Hormuz a US territory appeared first on Asia Times.

Kabul’s dispute with Islamabad over Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan sanctuaries is not a border quarrel. It is the clearest evidence yet that five years after seizing power, the Taliban has mastered control of Afghan territory without accepting what control is supposed to mean: responsibility for what happens within it. That distinction — between holding ground and holding […] The post Five years on, Taliban has territory but not sovereignty appeared first on Asia Times.

At their Beijing summit on May 14, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked US President Donald Trump whether China and the United States could avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” in which rivalry between a rising power and an established one ends in war. During the talks, Xi also warned that mishandling Taiwan could bring the two […] The post The West studies China’s power — but not its civilization appeared first on Asia Times.

US Space Command is putting offensive satellite-killing weapons at the top of its future requirements as China and Russia expand their ability to threaten satellites in orbit. This month, The War Zone (TWZ) reported that US Space Command (SPACECOM) Commander General Stephen Whiting announced that developing offensive kinetic and non-kinetic anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons is now […] The post US anti-satellite push revs up space arms race with China, Russia appeared first on Asia Times.

Vietnam’s first domestically designed anti-submarine frigate marks an ambitious attempt to leverage limited naval resources to achieve asymmetric deterrence while accelerating the country’s shift toward a more self-reliant and diversified defense-industrial base. This month, multiple media outlets reported that Vietnam has begun constructing its largest and most advanced domestically designed surface warship, launching the steel-cutting […] The post Vietnam launches homegrown anti-sub frigate to

Subscribe now with a one-month trial for only $1, then enjoy the first year at an exclusive rate of just $99. Germany’s spies get powers once reserved for policeDiego Faßnacht reports that Germany’s intelligence overhaul would blur the postwar separation between spies and police, giving domestic and foreign services new cyber, surveillance and intervention powers at […] The post Berlin expands the reach of the security state appeared first on Asia Times.

NEW YORK – US Treasury yields are pressing against their highest levels since 2007, and Asia’s policymakers know what that usually means: turbulence ahead. This week’s $42 billion auction of 10-year notes cleared at 4.683%, the richest yield since the eve of the global financial crisis. Investors are demanding higher yields to fund Washington’s borrowing as […] The post Rising US Treasury yields put Asia back on edge appeared first on Asia Times.

This week brought two Indonesia stories that sat side by side but pointed in different directions.  In Jakarta, US Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby met Indonesia’s defense minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, as part of a Southeast Asia tour that also took him to the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia. At almost the same time, […] The post China, Indonesia, Taiwan: the naval question Jakarta has to answer appeared first on Asia Times.

Nvidia’s newly unveiled plan to mobilize more than US$500 billion in third-party financing for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers is expected to deepen its global dominance and reduce the competitiveness of Chinese chips in global markets. The company said on Monday it had signed memoranda of understanding with six of the world’s largest financial institutions, […] The post Half-trillion Nvidia chip financing threatens China AI ambitions appeared first on Asia Times.

To Lam’s visit to Canberra on August 11 was the first state visit to Australia by a Vietnamese head of state since the 1975 reunification and the first meeting between the two leaders. Since taking the presidency in April, To Lam has visited China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, and the Australia […] The post Vietnam and Australia: steady delivery, familiar limits appeared first on Asia Times.

The West’s spree of “shadow fleet” seizures might finally be coming to an end after what Putin just told his Pacific Fleet commanders during his visit to the Russian Far East. As he phrased it, “We can see that the officials of some countries are attempting to restrict the movement by peaceful means of our economic […] The post Putin threatens tit-for-tat seizures of foreign vessels appeared first on Asia Times.

Hong Kong’s stablecoin experiment has entered its first controlled market test. On August 12, Anchorpoint began phase-one Beta Access for HKDAP, initially involving institutional distributors and professional investors. HashKey and OSL are among the first issuer-authorised distributors. HashKey has completed an initial client mint-and-redemption transaction with fiat on-ramps and off-ramps, while OSL provides distribution, liquidity, […] The post Hong Kong’s first regulated stablecoin faces its

For a fortnight beginning August 30, Tehran gets to feel wanted – first in Bishkek, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, then in New Delhi at the BRICS summit, Iran’s leadership will sit among presidents and prime ministers who need something from Tehran just as much as Tehran needs something from them: a reopened Strait […] The post Can Iran’s ‘Asian friends’ reopen Hormuz when the US cannot? appeared first on Asia Times.

This article was originally published by ProPublica, a Pulitzer-prizewinning investigative newsroom. A robot was on fire. Again. It was the summer of 2024, and the cutting-edge robots inside General Dynamics’ sweltering artillery factory near Dallas were catching fire with startling regularity, according to four former workers there. This wasn’t ideal, as the plant was supposed […] The post Pentatgon funded a $533 million artillery plant that made nothing appeared first on Asia Times.

   North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has doubled down on his military and strategic alliance with Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime, betting that this axis will strengthen his own position for now. However, Kim’s strategic calculus depends on the outcome of the war in Ukraine and its economic and political impact on Russia.  […] The post North Korea doubles down on its alliance with Russia, for now  appeared first on Asia Times.

Zhu Rongji, born on October 23, 1928, died on August 12, 2026. He had been a prime minister, and a great modernizer of China’s financial system. Yet his legacy seems to have faded. Premier Zhu was the man who pushed for China to join the World Trade Organization. He wanted China to be fully integrated […] The post Goodbye, Comrade Zhu Rongji appeared first on Asia Times.

China’s mystery weapon aboard its experimental stealth corvette points to a wider naval race to harness directed energy for everything from deniable gray-zone coercion to defeating the drone swarms that threaten to overwhelm conventional ship defenses. This month, Defense Blog reported that China has modified its experimental stealth corvette by replacing a previously fitted missile […] The post China’s new stealth corvette tests the future of naval warfare appeared first on Asia Times.

“No longer necessary.” That was Min Aung Hlaing’s foreign ministry on August 8, on the office of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Chair’s Special Envoy on Myanmar. He had flown home from a state visit to Thailand 48 hours earlier, which invited the easy reading: a man cashing in his winnings too fast. […] The post Myanmar’s junta wants to cancel the diplomatic test it can’t pass appeared first on Asia Times.

In the weeks since the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding collapsed, Washington and Tehran have used the time to strengthen their respective positions in the event negotiations resume. For the United States, this has largely taken the form of overt threats by President Donald Trump himself and hints that an even more comprehensive US bombing campaign against Iranian […] The post Why the Trump administration will have to accept a Hormuz toll appeared first on Asia Times.

One of the things that surprised this tourist in Oslo last February was the vast number of electric vehicles. EVs were everywhere. Every taxi I rode in was electric. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Norway has long been a leader in adopting electric cars. Last year, encouraged by government subsidies, EVs accounted for 95.9% of […] The post Detroit knows China’s eating its EV lunch but can’t change course appeared first on Asia Times.