East Asia
The world’s most advanced economies and its most contested flashpoint sit side by side here. Technology leadership, demographic decline, and a strait that could redraw the global order — all in the same neighborhood.
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Aug- 2026 -26 AugustEarth
A typhoon stalled over the China-Nepal border. Hundreds are missing.
Flash floods and a mudslide severed Tibet's main trade gateway on August 26, leaving 384 travelers unaccounted for, including 291 foreign nationals from Western countries.
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26 AugustTech & AI
China’s first private satellite export to Southeast Asia comes with hidden legal strings
GalaxySpace delivered Thailand's GISTDA a complete ground station and CubeSat system on August 25, but the infrastructure sits under China's National Intelligence Law, which legally obligates the company to assist…
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24 AugustTech & AI
China’s chip self-sufficiency stalls at 34 percent despite breakneck expansion
Goldman Sachs projects SMIC's advanced-node output will grow 46% annually through 2035, but export controls on EUV lithography from ASML will keep China dependent on foreign wafers for a third…
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24 AugustCapital
Chinese fintech is betting billions on AI payments before the market exists
Lianlian DigiTech's adjusted operating profit surged 147 per cent to RMB156 million in H1 2026, even as reported net income collapsed 99 per cent—a deliberate trade-off to fund an Agent…
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23 AugustCapital
Hong Kong’s $7.6 billion Indonesia bet masks a tariff evasion risk
Foreign direct investment from China and Hong Kong into Indonesia tripled to $11.5 billion in H1 2026, but the routing pattern raises questions about whether companies are circumventing US tariffs…
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23 AugustTech & AI
South Korea is building a $72 billion chip windfall fund for AI
The Future Response Fund, submitted to parliament on September 3, captures excess semiconductor tax revenue above a ten-year trend and redirects it into youth employment, housing, and AI infrastructure.
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23 AugustSociety
Hong Kong’s beauty counters are trapping elderly shoppers for hours
An 88-year-old woman spent HK$100,000 in three hours at a Sheung Wan counter, prompting Customs to arrest two managers and investigate six related complaints under consumer-protection law.
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22 AugustCapital
Asia’s shipping lines are racing toward the Arctic
China launched weekly Arctic container service in August 2026, South Korea's pilot departed Busan on August 22, and India announced its first Northern Sea Route cargo voyage for 2027, cutting…
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22 AugustPower
Southeast Asia faces binary choice as US and China weaponise AI blocs
A draft State Department letter warns 35 countries that joining China's WAICO while participating in Pax Silica will jeopardise access to advanced AI infrastructure, ending decades of diplomatic hedging.
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21 AugustTech & AI
China’s chip import ban is handing Baidu a captive market
Baidu's GPU cloud revenue surged 283% as Chinese buyers abandon Nvidia for domestic Kunlunxin chips, forced by US export curbs and Beijing's customs blockade.
