Let’s talk… About Asia by looking deep into the stories unfolding on the world’s most populous continent. Each episode showcases the reportage of SCMP’s journalists across Asia and in-depth interviews with experts, putting context and analysis to current affairs.
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‘Anti-woke’ movement recruits teen boys across Asia (00:17:50)
More Asian internet users are influenced by far-right causes including white supremacism in the digital age. Listen to Post reporter Kimberly Lim explain more about the ‘anti-woke’ movement’s slow creep in the region, while experts Munira Mustaffa, Jo Krishnakumar and Rizky Rahadianto provide context on how the internet has become so divisive.
Read more: https://sc.mp/h43aw
Anwar Ibrahim on navigating Malaysia through China-US tensions (00:28:02)
How does a country deepen its relationship and do business with China without risking retaliation by the US and its allies? How can a nation protect its territorial claims in the South China Sea yet maintain a delicate balancing act with its neighbours with their own views and claims? Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim discusses these issues and more, including his deep anguish over the Israel-Gaza war, in this extended version of Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo.
Why Japan’s Harajuku is enjoying a surprising fashion revival (00:19:57)
Harajuku, a neighbourhood in the Japanese capital Tokyo, has long been known as the birthplace of some incredibly colourful and unique fashion subcultures. The district had gone relatively quiet for years, but now one of its best-known styles called decora is staging a surprise comeback. In this episode of About Asia, we chart the rise, fall and rebirth of Harajuku’s fashion scene.
Read more: https://sc.mp/cdeb24
Unravelling China and India’s roles in the US fentanyl crisis (00:20:14)
The US has been grappling with an opioid crisis for decades, but the problem has been exacerbated by the arrival of fentanyl – a synthetic drug 50 times more potent than heroin. What roles do China and India play in the global illicit fentanyl trade? Post correspondent Khushboo Razdan and independent investigative journalist Ben Westhoff walk us through their reporting.
For more on this: https://sc.mp/8c9626
Will Japan give Oppenheimer a chance? (00:28:08)
Oppenheimer will finally make its Japan premier on March 29, 2024, eight months after the film’s world debut. How will the only country to suffer wartime atomic bombings react to a biopic about the American physicist who led efforts to build the first such weapons of mass destruction? Yuki Miyamoto, a nuclear ethics professor at DePaul University who has seen Oppenheimer three times, discusses her reservations about the film.
Read more: https://sc.mp/92s0
Why India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is so controversial (00:27:27)
Protests continue in India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which many say is a Hindu nationalist campaign targeting Muslims, spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Post spoke with independent journalist Angad Singh for more.
Read more on this: https://sc.mp/5396d3
Why Japan’s yakuza crime groups are on the verge of disappearing (00:28:08)
The yakuza are seeing a pop cultural renaissance with hit TV shows like Tokyo Vice and video games such as Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. In reality, however, the Japanese organised crime groups are in serious decline. But do their shrinking numbers tell the whole story? To learn more, the Post’s Jonathan Vit spoke with Dr Martina Baradel, a criminologist at the University of Oxford.
Read more on this: https://sc.mp/r6law
Inside China: What if Trump wins? (00:37:04)
How might a second Trump presidency affect US relations with China, North Korea, Japan, Asean, India and more? Post US bureau chief Robert Delaney compares and analyses the foreign policies of incumbent President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump and explores whether Beijing prefers one over the other.
Read the latest on the US presidential 2024 elections: https://sc.mp/0d0073
Ageing and fertility: why Asian women are freezing their eggs (00:22:08)
A growing number of women are freezing their eggs as a means of prolonging their fertility, but what are the economic and social barriers they face along the way? The Post spoke with Dr Geetha Venkat to learn more.
Read more on this: https://sc.mp/3hse
Why the Philippines’ Duterte-Marcos alliance is disintegrating (00:18:03)
The political marriage of the Philippines’ two most powerful families appears to be crumbling. Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, explains the history behind the apparent feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, and its potential implication to the country’s political future.
For the latest on the Philippines: https://sc.mp/ca9d66
How Indonesia’s ‘TikTok general’ Prabowo won the presidential race (00:22:00)
Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s current defence minister, has won the presidential election by a wide margin, according to unofficial, but historically accurate quick count results. But there are lingering concerns about Prabowo related to past allegations of human rights abuses. In this episode of About Asia, we speak with Jacqui Baker of Murdoch University about the president-elect’s successful shift from fiery populist to a grandfatherly figure.
Taylor Swift, Coldplay spark concert tourism boom in Southeast Asia (00:16:28)
Taylor Swift is one of the biggest musical acts in the world – and she’s coming to Singapore in 2024, along with Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Coldplay. For decades, so-called “world tours” have skipped much of Asia, but how has the tide of concert tourism changed? We sat down with Post reporter Kimberly Lim to discuss more.
Read more on this: https://sc.mp/oh50b
Is North Korea preparing for war? (00:21:55)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made the South its “principal enemy” in proposed changes to the country’s constitution. He has also ended hopes of reunification, while intensifying missile tests. Is the Korean peninsula on the brink of war? Former CIA analyst and North Korean expert Soo Kim has more.
Read the full story: https://sc.mp/u6mb
Coming soon: China and the Russia-Ukraine War, one year on (00:01:58)
One year after Russia's disastrous attempt to invade Ukraine and overthrow its government, Vladimir Putin finds his military bogged down in a stalemate, and his nation economically and diplomatically isolated. Yet one ally stands with Russia: one year after declaring a "no limits" friendship, Xi Jinping is about to announce a 'peace plan'. But how has China's reticence to condemn Russia's war changed its relationship with Europe? And what is Beijing getting out of the Sino-Russian relationship…
‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomacy defanged; Tokyo, Seoul join the US tech war; is China easing Australia sanctions? (00:51:12)
Kinling Lo analyses a change of tone amid a staff change for Beijing’s senior diplomats; Rob Delaney on the future of US-China relations with Kevin McCarthy as Speaker; Zhou Xin reveals the deeper complexity of South Korean and Japanese involvement in US chip sanctions; Kandy Wong reports on a series of moves showing China might be ending its sanctions on Australian coal, barley, wine and lobsters; and a Chinese-Australian partnership in lithium mining and processing.
Analysing China’s ties with the US, EU, UK, and Philippines in 2023 (00:46:27)
Brussels-based SCMP correspondent Finbarr Bermingham recaps how Russia’s Ukraine invasion changed Europe’s relationship with China, and previews how the EU may change its tact to Chinese investment and trade; London-based correspondent Chad Bray analyses UK PM Rishi Sunak’s changing tone on China and the year ahead for HSBC; Lucio Blanco Pitlo III looks at Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s visit to Beijing and the dawn of “durian diplomacy”. as he balances US security and Chinese…
Xi’s Arab-China summit; Biden’s TSMC pivot in Arizona and EU EV diplomacy (00:30:45)
Post reporter Jack Lau analyses the energy and weapons deals signed by Saudi Arabia and China during Xi Jinping’s visit to Riyadh; hear about the historic Arab-China summit, and China’s push to expand the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; New York-based reporter Khushboo Razdan discusses Joe Biden’s “America first” push, in a week where Taiwan’s TSMC opened its first US semiconductor plant and the EU agreed to subsidise its own vehicle industry to compete with Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. …
Europe juggles China-US relations amid rising anger over Biden’s policies; analysing Jiang Zemin’s legacy (00:35:32)
How has the death of China’s former president Jiang Zemin inspired nostalgic memories of a different era of Beijing-Washington ties? Post North America bureau chief Rob Delaney gives his analysis on that, and reports on the spread of zero-Covid protests by Chinese students at US college campuses. Europe correspondent Finbarr Bermingham reports in increasing friction among European allies over the Biden administration’s efforts to curb China’s access to semiconductors and its role in the global…
Xi at G20: the optics and politics of China post-Covid as Ukraine war rages (00:38:54)
Kinling Lo reports from Bali after three days of speeches and sideline meetings, including the first face-to-face talks of presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden since China-US ties worsened. Shi Jiangtao looks at the optics of Xi’s mask-free public appearance; what China watchers are saying was achieved in Xi’s meetings with Biden and other world leaders; and whether they signal a change in the US-China narrative or merely a ray of light in the storm.
Asean preview: Myanmar crisis and US-China rivalry; China expands private security firms overseas (00:29:16)
Asia desk editor Bhavan Jaipragas previews a crucial Asean summit that will include US President Joe Biden sparring for relevance amid soaring Chinese investment in Southeast Asia, the ongoing Myanmar crisis, and tumultuous Malaysian elections. Political economy reporter Kandy Wong reports on China’s plan to expand private security forces overseas to protect its Belt and Road investments, and a special meeting in Beijing encouraging US multinationals to invest in China.
New US tech sanctions hit China, South Korea, Taiwan; Germany's port in a storm (00:41:16)
A week on from the harshest US sanctions yet on China’s access to semiconductor technology, Post tech-desk editor Zhou Xin unpacks the effect on China’s economy, the implications for American manufacturers and the dilemma faced by South Korean tech firms with big investments in China. Europe correspondent Finbarr Bermingham analyses the European Commission’s leaders meeting, where the focus is on Germany’s decision to allow Chinese shipping giant Cosco to invest in its biggest port and…
Is the US preparing for war over Taiwan? Why the historic Japan-Australia defence, energy deal matters (00:32:20)
When the head of the US Navy declares his forces must be ready to “fight tonight” over the Taiwan Strait, is he referring to intelligence reports or the seasonal fight for funding? Hear from North America bureau chief Rob Delaney about this and on an unconfirmed report of a US-Taiwan weapons production deal as US midterm elections approach. Senior Asia correspondent Maria Siow analyses the historic Japan-Australia defence and energy deal announced over the weekend, and what it means for East…
US names China ‘biggest threat’, announces global bans on tech; Philippines and US-China rivalry (00:43:15)
Washington-based Post journalist Kinling Lo analyses the latest US national security strategy, which focuses on China and climate change as the biggest threats. New York-based deputy bureau chief Mark Magnier unpacks new sanctions on China’s access to US technology and their global reach, and to claims they are aimed at stifling China’s economic development. Post columnist Lucio Blanco Pitlo III analyses how Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr must carefully balance US and China interests…
China’s UN victory over Xinjiang report; US plans more tech sanctions; Taiwan’s new ‘red line’ (00:25:51)
Post journalist and North America deputy bureau chief Mark Magnier details the rejection of a proposed vote at the UN Human Rights Council to debate the High Commissioner for Human Rights report into alleged abuses in Xinjiang and what that says about China's influence inside the United Nations. Also, analysis of Washington’s escalating sanctions on Chinese tech companies and US companies doing business with them, and a review of Henry Kissinger's statements about Xi Jinping at the latest Asia…
China reacts to US Pacific deal; beyond US-China geopolitics binary logic (00:36:08)
The US announced a historic US$810 million-aid package for 14 Pacific nations after a two-day conference in Washington. Post China desk reporter Kawala Xie reports on the reaction from China watchers and analysts, and recaps Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's bid to get nations on board a similar deal in early 2022. Brian YS Wong, founding editor-in-chief of the Oxford Political Review and Rhodes scholar from Hong Kong, discusses reports that US businesses are making exit plans from China if…
