This Month
Xi to bolster regional alliances in Trump’s trade war
The Chinese president is under pressure to shore up relationships with South-East Asian allies who are trying to appease Donald Trump and escape his tariffs.
March
Myanmar quake death toll hits 1700 as aid scramble intensifies
The devastation has piled more misery on Myanmar, already in chaos from a civil war that grew out of a nationwide uprising after a 2021 military coup.
Trump’s trade ‘Liberation Day’ explained
The US has said it wants to impose tariffs on a “country by country” basis, hitting any trading partners that have higher levies on the US than it imposes back.
December 2024
Former human rights barrister to lead Victorian Supreme Court
Court of Appeal judge Richard Niall, who is recognised for his administrative and constitutional law expertise, has been picked to be Victoria’s chief justice.
TikTok owner ByteDance takes early lead in race to capitalise on AI
The company has purchased enough cutting-edge Nvidia graphics processing units to build advanced AI models, according to numerous sources.
November 2024
In a Malaysian pop-up city, echoes of China’s housing crash
For years, Chinese developer Country Garden gorged on cheap money to sustain a build-and-they-will-come strategy. When it tried to take that model overseas, it ran into trouble.
October 2024
Property downturn nips into Walker Group profit
The empire founded by the late Lang Walker is powering on, with a $36 billion development pipeline and landmark projects stretching from Sydney to Malaysia.
Malaysia PM says he welcomes Najib’s 1MDB apology
Anwar Ibrahim said while his stance on 1MDB was well known, it was not fair to single out one person for the goings-on in the sovereign wealth fund.
Albanese to press China on trade
The Association of South-East Asian Nations leaders’ summit will take place in Vientiane, Laos this week, the latest international push by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
September 2024
City with too many skyscrapers now home to world’s second tallest
There are growing questions about the proliferation of skyscrapers in the Malaysian capital.
AirTrunk’s $23.5b AI pay day
Blackstone emerged as the winning bidder in the year’s biggest merger and acquisition deal, netting its founder Robin Khuda a $1 billion-plus payday.
How China’s coast guard is ‘trying to occupy the ocean’
In most countries, coast guards are there to do just that: guard domestic coasts and territorial waters. China’s, however, is more like a second navy.
Australia, US condemn China over ‘dangerous’ new South China Sea collision
The collision of the Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels was the fifth in a month, as tensions escalate between the two nations in the vital waterway.
August 2024
‘Obscenely greedy’ oil execs jailed over vast 1MDB fraud
A Swiss court found the former PetroSaudi executives responsible for embezzling $2.6 billion in what the court heard was the “fraud of the century”.
The power player who sparked a Melbourne Club feud
Those who regularly traverse the tricky world of club politics speak of it as a blood sport.
Philippines, China trade blame after vessels collide
China’s Coast Guard said a Philippine vessel that had ignored its repeated warnings “deliberately collided” with a Chinese vessel. Manila saw it differently.
Star’s Steve McCann and the Malay tycoon
Sources say McCann has been doing a range of work for the low-profile Malaysian businessman since leaving Crown Resorts.
Widespread boycotts in Muslim countries hammer Western brands
Consumers are shunning goods produced by companies such as Coca-Cola, KFC, Starbucks and Mondelez in protest against their perceived support for Israel in the war in Gaza.
July 2024
China and the Philippines sign deal to avert clashes at sea
The rare deal with the Philippines sparks hope that similar arrangements could be forged by Beijing with other countries to avoid clashes while thorny territorial issues remain unresolved.
June 2024
China’s ‘Summer Davos’ highlights corporate anxiety over tariffs
A surge of cheap exports and industrial production supported by the government has propelled China’s economy this year. That’s prompted a pushback from trading partners.