Eastern and Southern Asia

Image generated by AI using ChatGPT Gen Zs on social media are “Becoming Chinese”. The term “Chinamaxxing“ has recently exploded across social media, describing young Westerners embracing Chinese habits – from morning routines and tai chi to speaking Mandarin and sipping hot water – as part of a newfound fascination with “the Chinese way of life.” On TikTok and Instagram, videos tagged #Chinamaxxing shows Gen Zers donning Chinese street-fashion, practicing baduanjin exercise

Photo Credit: KCNA/Yonhap North Korea is officially moving on. Details of the regime’s constitutional amendments adopted in March were disclosed this month by South Korea’s Ministry of Unification in Seoul. North Korea’s 15th Supreme People’s Assembly approved revisions that, for the first time in the country’s history, define its territory as “bordering the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation to the north and the Republic of Korea to the south.” The amendme

Photo Credit: Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) North Korea’s state media has released new photos showing the supreme leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter, Kim Ju Ae, aiming a rifle and riding a tank alongside her father. She has frequently accompanied him on visits to military-industrial sites, including facilities linked to missile production and nuclear weapons development. These appearances are unlikely to be accidental. In a system where imagery is tightly controlled, s

Photo Credit: AI The ability to anticipate an adversary’s next move has become an increasingly critical pillar of national security in a geopolitical environment marked by cyberattacks, military tensions, and strategic rivalry. As competition between states grows, governments are placing greater emphasis on the capacity to gather, process, and act upon strategic information faster than their adversaries. This is a domain where Japan has lagged behind many of its allies, but a

Following US-Israeli strikes against Iran, Tehran has threatened to attack vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global oil and liquefied gas flows in normal times. The threat has pushed oil prices upward and raised concerns about global supply chains. Most of these fossil fuel shipments are bound for Asia, particularly China, India, Japan and South Korea. An Iranian official has suggested that Tehran is considering allowing limited oil t

The fourth AI Impact Summit was held in New Delhi, India earlier this month with participation from governments, international organisations, global technology companies, start-ups, academia and civil society from over 80 countries. Some of the biggest names in Artificial Intelligence, like Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani, and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis were in attendance with world leade

The 2021 Coup led by Myanmar’s military junta is a turning point for the country’s relations with China. The junta had ousted the democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi that promised a better life for the citizens of Myanmar. Many South East Asian countries were benefitting from better relations with Western countries through trade and tourism, but all of that has been quashed by the junta. Without Western support to challenge the junta, the country is stuck in a stat

Introduction: Chinese leadership began 2026 with increased diplomatic engagement with Western states and multilateral institutions, at a time where U.S. commitment to multilateralism seems to be waning. In recent weeks, China met with Ireland, the U.K., Finland, and the African Union (A.U.), framing these meetings, particularly those with Finland and the African Union, around support for international law, multipolar governance, and the important role of the United Nations. W

Photo Credit: Screen captured from CCTV’s YouTube Channel 军迷天下 The U.S. president Donald Trump’s arrest of Venezuela's former leader Nicolás Maduro is a textbook example of potential attack by China to Taiwan’s leadership. Hints have been given by Chinese special forces’ ‘decapitation’ drill. Trump’s move has encouraged and justified China’s plan. Here are the explanations. China has released footage of Chinese special forces, showing a Venezuela-style tactical sniper operat

In early December 2025, one of Southeast Asia’s most persistent territorial disputes surged into intense armed conflict, as Thailand and Cambodia exchanged artillery fire, airstrikes and rocket attacks along their shared border. This renewed violence has killed dozens of soldiers and civilians, as well as displacing thousands of people, and drawn urgent calls from regional and global powers for a ceasefire. Despite ongoing talks meant to halt the hostilities, and a peace deal

On November 7, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responded to a question from an opposition lawmaker, stating that 'a contingency in Taiwan is a contingency for Japan.' Most importantly, she warned that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would pose an 'existential threat' to Japan. As a result, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces would need to conduct 'collective defense' operations alongside its allies. The speech enraged China and set off a chain of reactions. The strong rebuttal and

“ Ladies and gentlemen, Japan is back .” In a 2013 address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C., the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared as much. He refuted the paper published by 5 writers including Joseph Nye, to investigate whether Japan would end up becoming a Tier-two nation. Abe made a pledge that Japan will come back as a leader in the Indo-Pacific region and “Abeconomic” will prevail. 12 years count on, the then

Traditional great powers such as the United Kingdom and France dropped a bombshell by formally recognising Palestine , a move soon followed by announcements from Australia, Canada, and Portugal in September, “to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution”, as said by the UK’s PM Keir Starmer in a video statement on X. Similarly, some called the move a hypocrisy while comparing it to the struggle of Taiwan (ROC). This short article will examine the recogniti

Japan is set to hold a prime ministerial vote on the 20th, to determine if Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s leader Sanae Takaichi is to be the country’s first female prime minister. Even as this piece is being written, reports indicate that the Komeito Party (KM) has announced its 25-year coalition with LDP. With its 24 seats, Komeito has declared it will not back Takaichi, leaving the ruling party to rely on its own 196 votes. Still, with opposition groups—the Constitutional