🌍 Peter’s Perspective Bi-weekly news blog

Grounded in the same four pillars as my book West meets East, this page brings you the stories shaping mainland China, Singapore and Taiwan. If you don’t speak Mandarin, but want a clear insider-informed view that complements Western perspectives – you’re in the right place. Every two weeks I scan trusted East Asian sources like SCMP, Caixin, Straits Times, Xinhua and Taipei Times but also Reuters to bring you the top 20 stories you need to know. Just like in my book, each edition is organized around four key themes: 

PEOPLE & CULTURE: From martial arts revivals and sports to Asia’s most creative cultural exports.
LEADERSHIP & ECONOMY Trade shifts, five-year plans and tech-powered policy transformations.
TECH & INNOVATION: Semiconductors, AI, and university spin-offs that are redefining global innovation.
CLIMATE , ENERGY & FOOD: From battery breakthroughs to sustainable change.

Stay curious – Bookmark, check every other Weekend for fresh insights and share this page! 

🌏 December 26, 2025 – January 8, 2026

  • Will the Taipei–Shanghai mayor forum keep cross-strait dialogue alive in 2026?
  • How far will China go to influence births, dating and family choices?
  • Will AI, Arctic energy routes and EU climate rules reshape the 2030s?

People & Culture news

  • ‘Ferryman of the souls’: the man who helps Taiwan’s dead return home — A Taiwanese volunteer helps repatriate remains of veterans who died far from home, showing how history still lives in today’s families. The story blends memory, identity and the long shadow of conflict into a deeply personal journey. 🕯️ | 2 Jan 2026 Taipei Times
  • Kunqu opera rejuvenation: centuries-old art reaches hearts of youth — Xinhua highlights how young performers and audiences are re-connecting with Kunqu, one of China’s oldest opera forms. The 600-year-old Kunqu Opera, an elegant fusion of poetry, music, intricate costumes and graceful performance, was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of World Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2001.🎭 | 26 Dec 2025 Xinhua News
  • China taxes condoms and contraceptive drugs to spur birth rate — Reuters reports Beijing removing long-standing tax exemptions as part of a wider push to lift births. It signals how serious the demographic crunch is — and how policy is now reaching into everyday life. 👶 | 2 Jan 2026 Reuters
  • China’s Gen Z consumers drive rise in homestay bookings to ring in the new year — China’s Gen Z travellers made up over half of homestay bookings for the 2026 New Year holiday period, pushing demand for private villas and “celebration-ready” stays. This shows Gen Z spending is shifting from “things” to “vibes + memories,” and tourism businesses are redesigning around that. 🏡 | 1 Jan 2026 South China Morning Post
  • China-Europe travel market’s resilience keeps Air France-KLM optimistic despite headwinds — Air France-KLM says China–Europe routes stayed strong in 2025, supported by two-way leisure and business demand even amid broader China-EU frictions. The airline pointed to China’s visa-free policy for many European travellers as a tailwind for route planning.
    ✈️ | 1 Jan 2026 South China Morning Post

Leadership & Economy news

  • Shanghai, Taipei mayors meet at Twin-City Forum (Taipei Mayor + Shanghai forum) — The Taipei Mayor and Shanghai Mayor meet as the Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum resumes, keeping city-level channels alive even when politics feels icy. Taipei Mayor Chiang said he is working toward a future where the Taiwan Strait calls to mind peace and prosperity, adding that when Taipei and Shanghai are doing well, so are cross-strait relations🤝 | 29 Dec 2025 Taipei Times
  • China’s central bank signals ‘moderately loose’ monetary policy — Xinhua says the PBOC will focus on supporting high-quality development and a reasonable rebound in prices while keeping the RMB broadly stable. It’s a ‘steady hands’ message: support growth, avoid shocks, and manage expectations. 🏦 | 6 Jan 2026 Xinhua News
  • Xi’s New Year speech: growth push + ‘unstoppable’ Taiwan reunification — SCMP summarises Xi signalling confidence in innovation while doubling down on Taiwan language. If you track risk, investment, or supply chains, this is the headline to watch. 🧭 | 31 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Year in Review: A welfare turn in Beijing’s growth playbook — Caixin describes a shift toward more welfare-style tools as part of the growth strategy. China has adopted ‘Invest in People’ as its defining mantra for 2025, marking a significant pivot from state spending on physical infrastructure to bolstering human capital.🧩 | 30 Dec 2025 Caixin Global
  • Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’ targets China — with Greenland + Venezuela in the frame — Reuters argues a Western Hemisphere power play is taking shape, explicitly aimed at China’s influence, and name-checks Greenland and Venezuela as symbols of this approach. That’s geopolitics bleeding into commodities, shipping lanes, and corporate risk.🧊 | 8 Jan 2026 Reuters

Technology & Innovation news

  • China’s ‘artificial sun’ finds a way to break fusion plasma density limit — Xinhua highlights progress on fusion constraints, a key step toward longer, more stable high-performance plasmas. Fusion is still not ‘tomorrow’, but breakthroughs like this are how the impossible gets engineered into the possible. ☀️ | 2 Jan 2026 Xinhua News
  • China’s power edge brings mixed AI blessings — Reuters notes China’s huge electricity production can support AI growth, but also flags bottlenecks like transmission, utilisation, and high-end chip constraints. It’s the underrated story: AI isn’t just GPUs — it’s grid design, industrial policy, and operational efficiency. ⚡ | 6 Jan 2026 Reuters
  • China warns of battery industry overcapacity risks — Reuters says authorities are cautioning against unchecked expansion in the battery sector, echoing lessons from solar price collapses. This is what “innovation at scale” looks like when the market outruns coordination. 🔋 | 8 Jan 2026 Reuters
  • Need for speed: Chinese researchers unveil near-instant AI video creation technique — Researchers described ‘TurboDiffusion’, a technique claiming up to 200x faster AI video generation without major quality loss, cutting creation time from minutes to seconds in some tests. The work links Chinese labs, industry, and international research networks. 🎥 | 27 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China urges Netherlands to correct Nexperia ‘mistakes’ — China called on the Netherlands to reverse what it sees as improper state intervention related to chipmaker Nexperia, after Dutch actions aimed at preventing technology transfer. The dispute has already fed into supply-chain tension and export restrictions.
    🧩 | 31 Dec 2025 Reuters

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • China stresses climate cooperation with the EU and references carbon rules like CBAM — Xinhua highlights China positioning climate as a cooperation lane even amid trade tensions. The message: keep climate channels open, but don’t ignore competitiveness and standards. 🌍 | 1 Jan 2026 Xinhua News
  • Energy storage boom strengthens demand outlook for beaten-down lithium — Reuters explains how grid storage demand (and data-center buildouts) is changing lithium dynamics after years of oversupply. This connects directly to solar + wind scaling: storage is becoming the real bottleneck breaker.📈 | 4 Jan 2026 Reuters
  • US energy chief says the US and China can ‘balance roles’ in Venezuela — Reuters reports Washington signaling it can coexist commercially with China in Venezuela’s energy sector, while still trying to prevent dominance. It’s a reminder that the energy map is geopolitical — and Venezuela remains a strategic chessboard. 🛢️ | 8 Jan 2026 Reuters
  • Arctic LNG flows to China despite Western sanctions — Ship-tracking data shows China received 22 LNG shipments in 2025 from Russian projects sanctioned by the U.S. and EU, with most linked to Arctic LNG 2. Reuters notes Chinese state firms CNPC and CNOOC each hold 10% stakes in Arctic LNG 2, and cargoes went to the Beihai terminal in Guangxi. 🧊 | 2 Jan 2026 Reuters
  • Xi pushes higher grain output as food security hardens — Xi Jinping called for expanded grain production and further agricultural modernisation as China tries to shield its food supply from global volatility. The message frames food not just as economics, but as national resilience—especially when trade tensions can disrupt imports. 🌾 | 31 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post

🌏 December 12 – 25, 2025

  • Taiwan’s growth hits 7.25%; will AI prosperity reach services and households too? 📈
  • Can culture reshape influence, as Taiwan tours Europe and K-pop flows return to China? 🎭
  • Will AI accelerate decarbonization, even as data centers increase power demand and grid strain? 🌱

People & Culture news

  • Ministry shows Taiwan’s art, culture across Europe – Taipei Times reports Taiwan’s “Culture in Europe 2025” program has staged 70+ festivals, fairs, and performances across 26 European countries, using music, dance, and exhibitions to make Taiwan more visible. It frames culture as diplomacy: showing openness and diversity through experiences people can actually feel. 🎭 | 21 Dec 2025 Taipei Times
  • As cultural confidence grows, Chinese brands highlight China’s heritage in storytelling – The Straits Times describes how brands are increasingly using Chinese landscapes, history, and aesthetics in campaigns to connect with younger consumers who want emotional resonance and identity. A sign that culture is now a core competitive asset in China’s consumer economy. 🧧 | 19 Dec 2025 The Straits Times
  • Craving art, music and theatre this Christmas? Here’s what to see in Hong Kong – SCMP spotlights festive-season culture picks, from classic performances to exhibitions and theatre, showing how Hong Kong sells December as a citywide cultural calendar. 🎄 | 24 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • K-Pop concert to be held in Hong Kong and aired in mainland China – Reuters reports a major K-pop event planned in Hong Kong that will also be broadcast into mainland China, signalling a thaw in cross-border pop-culture flows after years of restrictions. The story highlights how entertainment can reopen doors even when politics stays tense. 🎤 | 23 Dec 2025 Reuters
  • Sports Beats of 24 Solar Terms: Winter Solstice – Xinhua explains “Dongzhi” (Winter Solstice) as a major seasonal moment in Chinese culture, tied to family gatherings, food traditions, and the rhythm of the lunar calendar. It shows how climate, timekeeping, and community customs still shape daily life in modern China🥟 | 21 Dec 2025 Xinhua News

Leadership & Economy news

  • Taiwan think tank lifts growth outlook to 7.25% — Taipei Times reports an upgraded forecast, driven by exports tied to the AI supply chain and stronger-than-expected external demand. This growth model is expected to continue into next year, the think tank said, forecasting a 3.46 percent growth in the nation’s economy. 📈 | 24 Dec 2025 Taipei Times
  • China’s central bank signals ‘ample liquidity’ — Xinhua says the PBOC aims to keep liquidity reasonably sufficient to support growth and stable prices. The messaging suggests steadier support rather than dramatic stimulus headlines. 🏦 | 24 Dec 2025 Xinhua News
  • EU dairy gets hit by China’s tariffs — Reuters notes European dairy names react as China’s anti-dumping move lands, with currency moves softening some of the shock. For the Netherlands and Denmark—major dairy players like Friesland Campina and Arla—this could be a “watch the ripple effects” moment. 🥛 | 24 Dec 2025 Reuters
  • Hainan’s free-trade experiment levels up — SCMP covers Hainan’s push toward a more distinct customs and trade regime, designed to attract business and test reforms.  🌏 | 18 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China’s anti-graft drive reaches a top arts institution — Caixin Global reports the head of a premier drama academy surrendered to the anti-graft authority. For outsiders, it’s a reminder that institutional risk in China isn’t limited to finance or real estate. 🧭 | 19 Dec 2025 Caixin Global

Technology & Innovation news

  • China launches a communication-tech test satellite — Xinhua reports a Long March-5 launch carrying a satellite for multi-band, high-speed communications validation. It underlines how space infrastructure is becoming part of everyday digital competition. 🛰️ | 20 Dec 2025 Xinhua News
  • China’s ‘Manhattan Project’ for chips — Reuters describes a high-security effort to build a prototype of an EUV-style machine, reportedly involving former engineers from Dutch giant ASML. The story shows how export controls can accelerate domestic substitution drives. 💻 | 17 Dec 2025 Reuters
  • Nvidia’s H200 shipments to China could resume by mid-February — Reuters reports on expectations around advanced AI-chip shipments, highlighting how policy, supply chains, and demand are tightly entangled. For Europe’s AI ambitions, it’s a cautionary tale about dependency on a few chokepoints. 🧠 | 22 Dec 2025 Reuters
  • AI hardware gets pricier—and Singapore benefits — The Straits Times explains how soaring memory-chip demand could push up computer prices, while positioning Singapore as a key node thanks to investment like Micron’s advanced packaging.  💻 | 20 Dec 2025 The Straits Times
  • Fears of an AI bubble in Asia may be overdone — SCMP argues the market story is more nuanced, pointing to how AI exposure is concentrated in places like Taiwan’s index. The takeaway: hype and fundamentals can coexist, but concentration risk is real. 📊 | 18 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • Taiwan moves toward banning food-waste pig feed after African swine fever risks — Taipei Times explains how disease concerns and policy shifts are pushing Taiwan away from feeding pigs with food waste, with a nationwide ban planned from 2027.  🐖 | 16 Dec 2025 Taipei Times
  • China commercializes supercritical CO₂ power generation — Xinhua reports a milestone project using supercritical CO₂ to convert industrial waste heat into electricity, aiming for higher efficiency and smaller footprint. It positions ‘hard engineering’ as a real climate tool, not just pledges. ⚙️ | 20 Dec 2025 Xinhua News
  • China bets on AI to accelerate the green transition — Reuters shows how AI is being used to optimize renewables, grids, and even carbon-market administration, while also acknowledging the power hunger of data centers. The story frames AI as both solution and new demand problem. 🌱 | 22 Dec 2025 Reuters
  • China’s solar losses narrow as the sector tackles overcapacity — Reuters says industry losses eased as authorities pushed for consolidation and output restraint, even while exports face price pressure. It’s a messy but important phase of ‘industrial cleanup’ in the world’s biggest solar supply chain. ☀️ | 18 Dec 2025 Reuters
  • Is China becoming the ‘good guy’ in climate narratives? — SCMP opinion argues that China’s scale in clean-energy buildout and investment is reshaping global perceptions. The piece suggests the climate story is also a credibility contest, not just emissions math🌍 | 24 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post

🌏 November 28 – December 11, 2025

  • How is culture remixed from lantern festivals to gaming zones across Chinese-speaking societies?
  • What do trade surpluses, debt worries and EU tensions say about China’s future?
  • How do China and Taiwan lead in AI/chips and China in green technology?

People & Culture news

  • How fire shaped Chinese cities and fears – A SCMP column uses the deadly Tai Po housing fire in Hong Kong to look back at centuries of major fires in Chinese history. This story connects breaking news to long-term patterns in Chinese urban life.🔥 | 6 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Singapore’s Christmas market as a global playground –The Straits Times reports how the World Christmas Market returns to Marina Bay with nine themed zones, more than 40 food stalls, 60 retail booths, and an original musical. The event mixes European-style markets with Singapore’s love for design, lights and family-friendly attractions, doubling in size since 2024. 🎄 | 5 Dec 2025 The Straits Times
  • Chinese Cultural Week in Nepal builds soft-power bridges –Xinhua covers ‘Chinese Cultural Week’ in Kathmandu, celebrating 70 years of China–Nepal diplomatic ties with poetry, calligraphy, martial arts, food and language competitions. It shows how culture festivals quietly deepen China’s regional influence, far away from big-power headlines.  ┬─┬ | 29 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan Lantern Festival goes full Super Mario – Taipei Times reports that next year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi will include a two-hectare Super Mario zone, created with Nintendo. Visitors will be able to walk through game-inspired sets, meet characters and take photos, blending a traditional lantern event with 40 years of gaming culture.🍄 | 9 Dec 2025 Taipei Times
  • When ‘hell money’ meets temple etiquette in Japan – SCMP recounts how a Chinese tourist in Japan put joss-paper ‘hell money’ into a temple donation box, sparking online debate and criticism. The incident shows how rituals that feel normal in one culture can be misunderstood in another, especially when captured on social media. 😈 | 30 Nov 2025 South China Morning Post

Leadership & Economy news

  • Hainan free-trade port prepares for full customs separation – Xinhua reports that China is on track to launch island-wide “independent customs operations” in Hainan free-trade port by 2025. The move will streamline customs checks, lower tariffs and attract more foreign investment into tourism, services and high-tech sectors. 🚢 | 29 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • Factory slowdown shows China’s fragile recovery – Reuters says China’s manufacturing activity shrank again in November, while services also cooled, according to official PMI data. The numbers point to weak domestic demand and soft global orders, increasing pressure for more policy support. 📉 | 29 Nov 2025 Reuters
  • China leans on REITs as property worries deepen – Another Reuters piece explains that Beijing plans to broaden its real-estate investment trust (REIT) market just as the debt troubles of developer Vanke unsettle investors. This shows how China is experimenting with financial tools to stabilise a shaky property sector. 🏗️ | 28 Nov 2025 Reuters
  • China’s trade surplus blows past US$1 trillion – Caixin reports that China’s goods trade surplus reached about US$1.1 trillion in the first 11 months of 2025, despite falling exports to the US. Stronger shipments to the EU, Africa and other emerging markets helped offset the drop, underlining how China is re-orienting its trade map. 🌍 | 8 Dec 2025 Caixin Global
  • IMF warns China on imbalances as EU trade grows – Taipei Times summarises an IMF paper urging Beijing to boost household incomes and social safety nets as its huge trade surplus swells, including with the EU. The Fund links high savings, weak consumption and export-heavy growth to rising global tensions over trade. 💶 | 10 Dec 2025 Taipei Times

Technology & Innovation news

  • DeepSeek: China’s challenger to Google DeepMind and OpenAI – SCMP profiles DeepSeek, a Chinese AI start-up releasing an advanced reasoning model positioned as a direct rival to USA AI. It’s a clear snapshot of how China’s AI ecosystem is moving from fast follower to confident competitor. 🤖 | 2 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China builds a 2,000 km-wide AI computing corridor – Another SCMP article describes a vast ‘computing hub’ stretching across multiple Chinese provinces, linking data centres, power infrastructure and fibre networks. It shows how infrastructure, not just algorithms, is becoming a key battleground in the AI race. 🧠 | 9 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Alibaba pushes Qwen AI models into everyday consumer apps – SCMP reports that Alibaba is creating a new unit to drive the use of its Qwen large language models in e-commerce, payments and entertainment. The plan is to turn back-end AI infrastructure into visible, user-facing tools for shopping, search and customer service. This is a case study in how Chinese tech giants try to turn big AI promises into actual products. 📲 | 10 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • AI + design summit links China and Southeast Asia – Xinhua highlights the HONOR AI + Design Summit in Kuala Lumpur, where Chinese device makers, Malaysian officials and regional universities explore AI-driven design for phones, wearables and services. It shows how China’s AI hardware ecosystem is embedding itself in ASEAN’s innovation scene. 🎨 | 29 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • AI boom lifts global semiconductor outlook, with Taiwan central – Taipei Times cites IDC research predicting an 11% jump in the global chip market thanks to demand for AI accelerators and related hardware. It’s a compact explainer of why semiconductors sit at the intersection of tech, trade and security. 📈 | 6 Dec 2025 Taipei Times

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • China positions itself as ‘architect of green tech’ – In an opinion piece, SCMP argues that China is building not just more renewables, but an entire “electro-industrial order” centred on grids, batteries and critical minerals. This is essential context for anyone trying to understand China’s leverage in the global energy transition. ⚡ | 11 Dec 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China risks losing its LNG import crown – Reuters reports that China’s liquefied natural gas imports are set to fall this year as high spot prices push buyers back to pipeline gas and coal. While Europe keeps buying record amounts of LNG to replace Russian pipeline gas, Chinese utilities are more price-sensitive and cautious. ⛽ | 2 Dec 2025 Reuters
  • What COP30 means for Southeast Asia and Singapore – The Straits Times unpacks the COP30 outcome in Brazil, focusing on new adaptation indicators and plans to triple climate-adaptation finance by 2035. For Southeast Asia, with long coastlines and dense coastal cities, better tracking of resilience and more funding could literally be a survival issue. 🌧️ | 6 Dec 2025 The Straits Times
  • Taiwan’s geothermal push – with Danish know-how – Taipei Times reports that experts at an event hosted by Denmark’s Trade Council in Taipei urge Taiwan to scale up geothermal power. They argue geothermal can provide steady, import-free baseload to balance the country’s fast-growing but weather-dependent solar and wind capacity. 🌋 | 8 Dec 2025 Taipei Times
  • China’s ecological transition gains global weight – Xinhua highlights new data showing China’s green, low-carbon sector reaching roughly 11 trillion yuan, with the world’s largest renewable energy system and booming EV adoption. The article underlines how China is trying to brand itself as a ‘provider of solutions’ in climate politics. 🌱 | 5 Dec 2025 Xinhua News

🌏 November 14 – 27, 2025

  • How will the December 2025 Taipei–Shanghai Forum influence everyday ties between Taipei and Shanghai in 2026?
  • What happens to young jobseekers in China and Europe when AI factories in Taiwan, “AI Plus” in China, and Dutch worries over Nexperia all collide?
  • As COP30 puts pressure on climate laggards, can China’s renewables push, Taiwan’s climate dilemma and Singapore’s cooling pledge really add up to a serious climate partnership with the EU?

People & Culture news

  • Promotion week for cultural heritage brands in Dali – In Dali, Yunnan, over 120 traditional craft brands joined a promotion week to showcase tie-dye, embroidery and other local skills, turning an old trading town into a live design lab. It shows how old crafts are being repackaged with drone photo’s for social-media-first audiences. 🧵 | 24 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • How Chinese culture has been shaped by China’s dynasties – This long-read walks through how different dynasties shaped Chinese language, food, Confucian values and even today’s social rules, from family hierarchy to exam pressure. It’s useful if you want deeper cultural context than TikTok explainers when you deal with Chinese classmates, colleagues, customers or suppliers. 🐉 | 19 Nov 2025 South China Morning Post
  • SG Culture Pass boosts Singapore Writers Festival – Singapore’s government-funded SG Culture Pass, which gives adults credits to spend on arts events, drove a 30% jump in attendance at the Singapore Writers Festival 2025. It’s a reminder that smart public funding can make literature feel as alive as a K-pop concert. 📚 | 19 Nov 2025 The Straits Times
  • Jacky Cheung’s 300th concert in Singapore – Cantopop legend Jacky Cheung hit the 300-show milestone of his “60+” world tour at Singapore Indoor Stadium, performing a full 2½-hour set despite feeling unwell earlier in the day. The show featured a 53-piece band, a ballet ensemble and his signature on-stage split, proving that a 64-year-old can still own the stage. 🎤 | 23 Nov 2025 The Straits Times
  • Taipei mayor stresses importance of Taipei-Shanghai Forum – Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), grandson of Chiang Kai-Sjek emphasized the significance of the Taipei-Shanghai Forum, a vital communication channel between Taiwan and China, during a special report at the Taipei City Council. The city government is actively working to ensure the forum takes place by the end of the year. 🤝 | 6 Nov 2025 TVBS

Leadership & Economy news

  • Taiwan economy emerging from hardest phase, group says – Trade group Third Wednesday Club (三 三會) says the island’s economy seems to be past the worst hit from US tariffs and global supply-chain shocks, with AI-related exports helping to stabilise growth. At the same time, it warns about over-reliance on a few sectors, slow green-energy rollout and rapid ageing. 📈 | 20 Nov 2025 Taipei Times
  • China braces for record 12.7 million graduates entering tight job market – China is preparing for a record wave of 12.7 million university graduates in 2026, even as the job market is still digesting past cohorts and a weak property sector. It’s a powerful parallel to youth job struggles in Europe, just scaled up to “China size.” 🎓 | 21 Nov 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China unveils plan to boost consumption in trillion-yuan markets – Beijing has rolled out a plan to stimulate spending in several “trillion-yuan” markets, including elderly care, green home upgrades and cultural tourism, aiming to shift growth away from debt-heavy real estate. For anyone watching China as an export or investment market, it signals a long-term pivot toward services and domestic demand. 🛒 | 27 Nov 2025 Caixin Global
  • Singapore calls for deeper cooperation with China – In speeches around Chinese leader visits and regional forums, Singaporean leaders argued that their country’s relevance to China depends on deeply understanding Beijing’s shifting priorities and social pressures. This is a clear example of a small, smart state trying to stay useful to a superpower instead of being squeezed between blocs. 🤝 | 18 Nov 2025 The Straits Times
  • EU to toughen trade stance on China as Germany pivots – EU ministers agreed to step up anti-subsidy and security scrutiny of Chinese imports, with Germany signalling a harder line after years of being the bloc’s “China dove.” The story highlights how Berlin is rebalancing from export-driven engagement toward risk management in critical sectors like EVs and green tech. 🧭 | 20 Nov 2025 Reuters

Technology & Innovation news

  • AI demand still bolstering business sentiment: Taiwan Institute of Economic Research – Taiwan’s economic researchers say strong global demand for AI hardware and advanced semiconductors is propping up manufacturing and services, even while older industries lag. This shows how deeply Taiwan’s growth is now wired into the global AI race. 🤖 | 26 Nov 2025 Taipei Times
  • Explainer: China moves forward with its ‘AI Plus’ initiative – Xinhua breaks down Beijing’s “AI Plus” strategy which calls for using AI to reshape how people produce and live, drive revolutionary breakthroughs in productivity with profound shifts in production relations, and accelerate the emergence of a new intelligent economy and society characterized by human-machine collaboration, cross-sector integration and shared innovation. It’s a good baseline if you want to understand how China sees AI as the next general-purpose tech, similar to electricity or the internet. 🧠 | 22 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • AI Keeps China, U.S. From Decoupling – Caixin argues that, despite political tensions, Chinese and US firms remain tightly linked in AI through chips, cloud services, research papers and investment flows. The commentary suggests that full “tech decoupling” is almost impossible without huge costs for both sides, especially in AI compute and data ecosystems. 🌐 | 21 Nov 2025 Caixin Global
  • Hong Kong’s HKChat signs up 90,000 users in debut week – A new AI-powered chat app, HKChat, attracted around 90,000 users in its first week, positioning itself as a local alternative to US-made AI tools. The story looks at how the app handles Cantonese, local slang and content controls in a city that sits between Chinese and global internet rules. 📱 | 27 Nov 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China’s Wingtech presses Netherlands over seized chipmaker Nexperia – After Dutch authorities moved to limit Chinese control over chipmaker Nexperia, Chinese owner Wingtech publicly demanded that its control be restored and warned about supply-chain damage. The dispute centres on security concerns around semiconductors made in the Netherlands but owned from China. 🧩 | 20 Nov 2025 Reuters

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • Taiwan and global climate goals – This editorial starts from the UN’s admission that the 1.5°C Paris target has effectively been missed and asks what that means for a small, trade-dependent island like Taiwan. It warns that following a fossil-heavy US path could leave Taiwan exposed to EU carbon border taxes and cut out of green supply chains. 🌍 | 14 Nov 2025 Taipei Times See also Substack from Lizzie Frost 懷霜: A “very low” performer | Taiwan Climate & Energy Weekly Briefing 11/22
  • Xi Focus: China takes lead role in global climate governance – Xinhua highlights China’s massive build-out of renewables, its role in green finance and its diplomacy with developing countries as proof that Beijing is moving to the centre of global climate governance. It shows how climate leadership has become a key part of China’s soft-power story. ☘️ | 25 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • Chinese SVOLT boss warns Chinese battery makers on overseas expansion amid policy uncertainty – The piece notes warnings from Chinese battery executives about over-aggressive overseas expansion amid policy uncertainty. SVLOT’s Yang revealed that BMW once proposed a large battery order contingent on SVOLT building a plant in Germany, but the company eventually walked away. “The cost of building a factory in Germany was simply too high — labor alone is five times more expensive than in China, and total costs would exceed domestic levels by about 50%,” he said. 🔋 | 14 Nov 2025 Caixin Global
  • Singapore backs global effort for sustainable cooling at COP30 – Singapore signed up to a global initiative on sustainable cooling at COP30, pushing for more efficient air-conditioning, better building design and fair access to cooling in hot, dense cities. It matters because “how we stay cool” is becoming one of the defining tech and justice questions for urban Asia. ❄️ | 14 Nov 2025 The Straits Times
  • China finds bigger role as US skips Brazil climate summit – With the US sitting out COP30 for the first time in three decades, China showed up in force in Belém, using its pavilion, clean-tech giants and climate diplomats to present itself as a core driver of global action. For Europe and smaller countries like Singapore, this shift means more climate diplomacy will run through Beijing. 🔋 | 15 Nov 2025 Reuters

🌏 October 31 – November 13, 2025

  • How is “Chinese culture” constantly remixed, from Yuan dynasty trade routes to Bruce Lee dance shows and Taiwan’s milkfish festivals?
  • What do Singles’ Day, China’s beauty brands, hidden bank risks, and Tsai Ing-wen’s Berlin trip say about shifting power and money in East Asia?
  • Can East Asia lead the tech-and-climate transition as China expands renewables, Taiwan leans on gas, and AI chips face new export walls?

People & Culture news

  • How China changed during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) – A historian looks at how Mongol rule in the Yuan dynasty reshaped China’s cities, trade routes and cultural life, from more open borders to new ideas entering via the Silk Road. The piece shows how “Chinese culture” has always been a remix, not a fixed thing. 😌 | 1 Nov 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China’s National Games opening ceremony as a living culture show – The opening of China’s 15th National Games in Guangzhou brought together athletes from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao on a circular, water-themed stage, symbolizing unity in the Greater Bay Area. The show blended lion dance, Cantonese opera, martial arts legends like Wong Fei-hung and Bruce Lee, and high-tech AR, VR, and robotics to turn a sports event into a giant cultural performance. 🏟️ | 10 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • Bruce Lee’s kung fu philosophy turned into dance in Hong Kong – Hong Kong Dance Company is premiering “Kung Fu Artistry – Bruce Lee’s No Way as Way”, a stage show that mixes martial arts, contemporary dance, and jazz to mark what would be Bruce Lee’s 85th birthday. It’s a powerful example of how classic pop culture can be remixed into fresh art forms 🎭 | 10 Nov 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Tainan’s Milkfish Cultural Festival puts everyday food at center stage – In southern Taiwan, Tainan city is promoting its upcoming Milkfish Cultural Festival, with markets, workshops, and tastings around one humble local fish that has fed generations. 🐟 | 12 Nov 2025 Taipei Times
  • Singles’ Day: from student joke to the world’s biggest shopping ‘holiday’– Reuters revisits how Singles’ Day started in 1993 at Nanjing University as ‘Bachelor’s Day’, when students treated themselves and threw parties, and how it morphed into a weeks-long online festival run by Alibaba, JD.com and others. Today it moves more money than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, yet still carries the idea of gifting yourself and celebrating being single, even as discounts and hype dominate the headlines. 💸 | 11 Nov 2025 Reuters

Leadership & Economy news

  • Tsai Ing-wen’s Germany trip signals deeper Taiwan–EU ties – Former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen will travel to Berlin to speak at the Berlin Freedom Conference as part of a new European outreach push. It shows how Europe is slowly but clearly upgrading political contact with Taiwan. 🌐 | 5 Nov 2025 Reuters
  • Germany’s China dilemma needs a long-term plan – A commentary in Hong Kong argues that Germany’s debate on China is stuck between economic dependence and political distrust. It calls for a 10- to 20-year strategy that balances de-risking with cooperation on climate, tech and trade. 🧭 | 9 Nov 2025 South China Morning Post
  • A great wealth transfer is happening in China – The editorial warns that China’s ageing society and slow growth could trigger a huge transfer of wealth from younger to older generations and from households to the state. It links property-market stress and low birth rates to deeper questions about social contracts and generational fairness. 🧓➡️🧑 | 6 Nov 2025 Taipei Times
  • Double 11 shows rise of Chinese beauty brands – During China’s Double 11 online shopping festival, domestic beauty brands grabbed more market share from global giants on major e-commerce platforms. It’s a reminder that the next wave of global consumer brands might be born on Chinese livestreams, not in Western malls. 💄 | 11 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • China’s ‘phantom loans’ reveal pressure on banks – A report describes how some Chinese banks roll over or re-label problem loans to hit official lending targets even as the real economy slows. Regulators are warning against these “phantom loans” because they hide risk instead of fixing it. 🧮 | 12 Nov 2025 The Straits Times

Technology & Innovation news

  • Chinese AI and humanoid robot join Time’s “Best Inventions of 2025” (SCMP) – Time magazine’s new list features a Chinese advanced-reasoning AI model from start-up DeepSeek and an affordable humanoid robot from Unitree Robotics. Over 20 Chinese companies are recognised across different tech categories. 🤖 | 4 Nov 2025 South China Morning Post
  • World Internet Conference crowns global AI and quantum projects – At the Wuzhen summit, 17 projects from China and abroad received “Pioneering Science and Technology” awards, including Alibaba’s Qwen large language model, GitHub Copilot and advances in China’s Beidou satellite navigation. The mix of domestic and international winners shows how tightly connected the global innovation ecosystem still is, even in an age of tech rivalry. 🌐 | 6 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • Alchip bets big on next-gen AI chips – Taiwanese chip designer Alchip says 2025 is shaping up to be a strong year as it wins major new orders, including for advanced 3-nanometre production. It’s a good reminder that Taiwan’s value isn’t just factories like TSMC, but also the design brains behind the chips. 🧩 | 8 Nov 2025 Taipei Times
  • China presses Germany over Dutch seizure of Nexperia plant (Reuters) – Beijing has asked Germany to urge the Dutch government to reverse its decision to seize a Nexperia chip plant under new security rules. It’s a real-time lesson in how semiconductors turn into geopolitics. 💽 | 12 Nov 2025 Reuters
  • US moves to block Nvidia’s scaled-down AI chip for China – Washington has told agencies it will not allow Nvidia to sell a new “watered-down” AI chip to Chinese customers, closing what was seen as a loophole in export controls. For anyone following the AI race, it’s another reminder that policy updates can land as hard as product launches. 🚫 | 7 Nov 2025 The Straits Times

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • China plans to push renewables beyond the power sector – China’s National Energy Administration wants more wind and solar power to feed green hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and sustainable aviation fuel between 2026 and 2030. This is basically China saying: “We don’t just want clean electricity, we want a clean industrial system.” ⚡ | 12 Nov 2025 Reuters
  • Taiwan burns record amounts of gas as it closes nuclear – New data show Taiwan now gets about 87% of its power from fossil fuels, with gas-fired generation hitting record highs after the last nuclear plant was shut in May. It’s a stark example of how hard the energy transition becomes when a country says “no” to both coal and nuclear at the same time. 🔥 | 31 Oct 2025 Reuters
  • China’s marine economy surges with offshore wind – Official figures show China’s marine economy grew 5.6% in the first nine months of 2025, with newly connected offshore wind power capacity jumping 42.1% year-on-year. Emerging “blue economy” sectors like marine information services and smart ports are also expanding quickly. 🌊 | 3 Nov 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan sets new climate target ahead of COP30 (Taipei Times) – Taipei has submitted updated climate pledges, including higher emissions-reduction goals and a clearer timeline for cutting coal while leaning on liquefied natural gas as a “transition fuel.” Officials admit land limits and nuclear debates make rapid renewable build-out harder than in Europe. 🌱 | 8 Nov 2025 Taipei Times
  • China pauses rare-earth and lithium-battery export controls – After a summit with the US, Beijing announced a one-year suspension of new export controls on rare earths, lithium batteries and related equipment. Washington in turn paused a tough ‘affiliates rule’ on high-tech exports. 🔋 | 31 Oct 2025 Caixin Global

🌏 October 17 – 30, 2025

  • How will the Xi–Trump thaw reshape trade—and tech rules—for 2026?
  • Can Taiwan’s AI boom and chip giants keep outpacing global headwinds?
  • How is Singapore progressing in the energy transition?

Must-read: China seeks self-reliance in science in next five-year plan, 24 Oct 2025, Nature

People & Culture news

  • China’s culture market keeps growing — China’s cultural industry posted steady revenue growth in the first nine months of 2025 as services and new business models expanded. It hints at rising soft-power exports alongside entertainment and gaming. 😊 | 30 Oct, 2025 Xinhua News
  • Singapore’s Baybeats turns Marina Bay into an alt-music park — The long-running indie festival expands to five stages from Oct 30–Nov 2, adding an extra night to showcase regional and local acts. It doubles as a youth culture magnet—vinyl, gigs, and hang-outs in one spot. Great pulse check on Gen Z music culture in Southeast Asia. 🎸 | 30 Oct, 2025 The Straits Times
  • Liuyang Fireworks Cultural Festival lights up Hunan — China’s fireworks capital staged the 17th edition of its city-wide spectacle, with night shows drawing tourists and creators. Beyond the pyrotechnics, it’s about civic pride around a local craft industry. 🎆| 25 Oct, 2025 Xinhua News
  • Singapore hosts mega AI hackathon — 400 programmers competed in a 24-hour hackathon with global AI firms mentoring teens and students. The event positions Singapore as a training ground for next-gen tech talent. 🧠 | 23 Oct, 2025 The Straits Times
  • After Golden Week, China’s film sector hits a soft patch — Caixin reports cinema and studio stocks slumped after holiday releases underperformed, before stabilising slightly. Useful lens on how culture spending moves with confidence. 🎬 | 21 Oct, 2025 Caixin Global

Leadership & Economy news

  • Xi–Trump summit: rare-earths and port-fee pause — After nearly two hours in South Korea, leaders agreed to pause duelling port fees that snarled shipping; China also delayed new rare-earth export controls for a year. Markets took it as a fragile truce, not a reset. 🤝 | 30 Oct, 2025 Reuters and Reuters
  • Beijing confirms Trump China visit in 2026 — China’s Foreign Ministry said President Trump will visit next year, after the Busan meeting. It signals an intent to manage friction with scheduled diplomacy. 📅 | 30 Oct, 2025 Reuters
  • Dutch election upends Europe’s far-right storyline — Centrist D66 edged PVV; leader Rob Jetten moves to form a coalition after a nail-biter vote. For EU–China watchers, The Hague’s stance on chips (ASML/Nexperia) and trade now comes into play. 🗳️ | 29–31, Oct 2025 Reuters and South China Morning Post
  • Caixin: PBOC moves to unify yuan rules — China’s central bank plans to consolidate cross-border RMB policies across trade, investment and finance, aiming to reduce inconsistencies and boost international use. Policy tells you where money can go next. 💴 | 31 Oct, 2025 Caixin Global
  • Xinhua: ‘Industrial upgrading’ as global growth play — With a new five-year blueprint looming, state media says China will push high-end manufacturing and services to lift productivity. Watch how this filters into incentives for private firms. 🏗️ | 30 Oct, 2025 Xinhua News

Technology & Innovation news

  • MediaTek targets billions in AI accelerators by 2027 — Taiwan’s chip designer is pushing into data-centre AI silicon, diversifying beyond smartphones. Another sign Taiwan is moving up the AI stack. 🧩 | 31 Oct, 2025 South China Morning Post
  • SCMP: China’s CXMT ramps LPDDR5X memory chips — Reports say memory maker CXMT began producing advanced LPDDR5X, narrowing a gap with global peers. It’s not bleeding-edge logic, but it matters for phones and AI edge devices. Memory momentum can ripple through device pricing. 💾 | 30 Oct, 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Huawei’s bold AI bet — Caixin details Huawei’s push to fill Nvidia’s void in China with domestic hardware and software. Constraints remain, but ecosystems form fast under pressure. 🧠 | 29 Oct, 2025 Caixin Global
  • Taipei Times: Nvidia HQ site locked in — Taipei’s mayor said Nvidia confirmed plots T17–T18 at Beitou Shilin Tech Park for its Taiwan HQ, with fast-track permits promised. It cements Taiwan’s role as AI HQ + manufacturing hub. 🏢 | 30 Oct, 2025 Taipei Times
  • Innovations speed modern industrial journey — China intensified efforts to bolster the integration of sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation, with notable strides made in key and core technologies, as part of its broader push to drive the development of new quality productive forces during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). 🚀 | 30 Oct, 2025 Xinhua News

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • Singapore sets up buyer for green jet fuel — A new government-backed company will procure sustainable aviation fuel to cut flight emissions and lower costs. Aviation decarb moves from pilot to procurement. ✈️ | 30 Oct, 2025 Reuters
  • Indonesia-to-Singapore power export JV — Singapore’s Equator and a Chinese state firm will export electricity from Indonesia to Singapore under a cross-border plan. Deals like this knit ASEAN’s grid together. Regional energy trade is becoming real infrastructure. 🔌 | 28 Oct, 2025 Reuters
  • Singapore power demand to accelerate — The EMA forecasts 2–5% annual consumption growth to 2035, citing data centres and electrification. That raises stakes for gas, renewables and storage. Planning today decides blackout risks tomorrow. 📈 | 27 Oct, 2025 Reuters
  • Xinhua: Smart-city climate tech praised — At World Cities Day (Chongqing), delegates lauded China’s digital tools for greener urban services. The focus: people-centred, data-driven resilience. Cities are where climate policy meets daily life. 🏙️ | 30 Oct, 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taipei to join U.S.–Japan rare-earth response — Taiwan plans to cooperate on recycling and refining to offset Beijing’s export curbs, linking circular economy with supply security. It’s resource policy as climate policy. ♻️ | 17 Oct, 2025 Taipei Times

🌏 October 3 – 16, 2025

  • When festivals fill streets and skies again, what do they reveal about community, belonging, and optimism in East Asia?
  • Could the next wave of global growth come from Asia’s tech resilience amid resource constraints and policy shifts?
  • What does the region’s green momentum reveal about who will lead the world’s climate innovation race?

People & Culture news

  • Hong Kong’s Mid-Autumn crowds = restaurant boom — Moon-gazers packed the city as the holiday overlapped with National Day, and eateries reported a bump in takings. It’s a quick read on how culture lifts local economies during ‘Golden Week.’ 🌕 | 7 Oct, 2025 South China Morning Post
  • ‘Unique and stunning’: Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance — Visitors squeezed into Causeway Bay’s narrow streets for a century-old ritual powered by a 67-metre incense dragon. It’s culture you can feel at street-level. 🐉 | 5 Oct, 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Singapore’s Harvest Moon wows stargazers — A supermoon lit up the skies on Oct 7, drawing amateur photographers and astronomy clubs. Simple tips and times make this a friendly explainer for casual sky-watchers. It’s a reminder that shared moments can be city-wide. 🌕 | 9 Oct, 2025 The Straits Times
  • Mid-Autumn across China, in pictures — From mooncake-making to drone light shows. Great for students planning cultural trips. 🏮 | 6  Oct, 2025 Xinhua News
  • Kite Culture & Hakka Food Festival (Taiwan) — Taipei Times spots Miaoli’s kite festival from October 24 to 26, with organizers turning a riverside park into a family day out. An easy weekend trip add-on for visitors beyond Taipei. 🪁 | 15 Oct, 2025 Taipei Times
Leadership & Economy news
  • China’s prices fall again in Sept — CPI and PPI stayed negative, pointing to soft demand and overcapacity, even as core inflation inched up. Analysts think policy easing will continue but may not fix weak sentiment. 📉 | 15 Oct, 2025 Reuters
  • 35 years of diplomatic Singapore–China ties — Leaders exchanged letters marking the anniversary and flagged deeper work digital and green economies, finance and clean and renewable energy. Helpful context for understanding the Singapore – China relationship. 🤝 | 3 Oct, 2025 The Straits Times
  • Holiday math: 888 million trips — Xinhua tallies a record National Day + Mid-Autumn travel surge and rising domestic spend. The extended holiday period, coupled with flexible ‘leave-stitching’, allowed travelers to lengthen their itineraries.🧳 | 9 Oct, 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan exports jump 33.8% — Electronics and ICT shipments set fresh records on AI server demand, pushing overall exports above US$54b. clean read on how chips power broader trade. 🚀 | 10 Oct, 2025 Taipei Times
  • Rare materials watch: China’s rare-earth exports slide — September marked a third straight monthly drop as new controls loom and geopolitics heat up. Expect more hedging by manufacturers and new sourcing talks with the EU. A real-time pulse on critical-minerals risk. 🧲 | 13 Oct, 2025 Reuters

Technology & Innovation news

  • ASML plays down Chinese tool stockpiling, impact of rare earth restrictions — The Dutch chip-equipment giant said China orders are being used, not stockpiled, and that near-term rare-earth curbs are manageable though long-term risk remains. A timely lens on chips vs. critical minerals from a Dutch champion. 🧲 | 15 Oct, 2025 Reuters
  • Xinhua: China unveils new superconducting quantum computer — A Hefei-based team says its system handles random-circuit sampling at extreme speeds with 100+ readable qubits. It’s a signal of sustained state–industry push in quantum hardware. 🤖 | 12 Oct, 2025 Xinhua News
  • Asean’s AI wave, uneven benefits — The Straits Times unpacks how AI could reshape 164m jobs across Southeast Asia, with Singapore relatively ready and others racing to catch up The labour market faces disruption, with some workers in sectors like Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) at the risk of displacement, while others find new opportunities through upskilling and AI integration. 🤖 | 10 Oct, 2025 The Straits Times
  • Rare materials 101: the five elements in focus — Reuters explains holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium added to China’s export-control list and their uses from lasers to quantum. If you work in EVs, defense or optics, this is the cheat sheet. Great primer for procurement teams. 🧲 | 9 Oct, 2025 Reuters
  • Foxconn: rare-earth curbs limited for now — The contract-manufacturing giant says current controls are manageable short-term, while warning about longer-run risks; AI server demand remains strong. A ground-truth view from a Taiwan-based linchpin. 🧠 | 15 Oct, 2025 Reuters. See also China’s New Rare Earth and Magnet Restrictions Threaten U.S. Defense Supply Chains from CSIC, 9 Oct, 2025

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • Xinhua cites Ember: clean electricity met China’s H1 demand growth — The data suggests wind and solar carried incremental load while fossil generation fell. It’s a reminder that grid reform + storage are now operational, not just plans. ⚡ | 11 Oct, 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan drafts carbon-storage law: 6m-ton target by 2035 — Taipei Times says officials will unveil a Carbon Capture Storage(CCS) bill next month and see room for Taiwan–Japan collaboration. Taiwan sees CCS as a critical technique for Taiwan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. 🌳 | 11 Oct, 2025 Taipei Times
  • China defends rare-earth controls amid tariff fight — The commerce ministry says controls are legal and not blanket bans; Washington calls it coercive. For energy transition hardware, this is where policy meets materials reality. A must-track signal for European wind, EV and grid suppliers. 🧲 | 12 Oct, 2025 Reuters
  • Caixin Energy Insider (nonferrous & licensing moves) — Policy trackers note new plans touching nonferrous metals (think battery inputs) and export-licensing experiments that shape supply and pricing. A good window into how Beijing steers commodities. 🔧 | 13 Oct, 2025 Caixin Global
  • Air pollution is turbo-charging South east Asia storms — New research highlighted in Singapore finds smoke and emissions intensify rainfall and lightning across the region, raising urban-flood risks. It connects daily air quality to extreme-weather planning for coastal cities. 🌧️ | 10 Oct 2025 The Straits Times

🌏 September 19 – October 2, 2025

  • How did Golden Week crowds, lantern nights and bubble tea reshape city life?
  • What do EU chokepoints, China’s debt push and a Berlin spy case reveal?
  • Where are AI training, Saxony–Taiwan labs and Apple’s launch taking tech and what is China’s energy strategy?

People & Culture news

  • Record railway travel kicks off China’s ‘Golden Week’ — 23.13 million trips on day one set a new single-day record as National Day overlapped Mid-Autumn, per CCTV data cited by Reuters. 🚆| 2 Oct 2025 Reuters
  • Hong Kong’s Mid-Autumn guide —  From Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance to low-key lantern walks, SCMP rounds up chill, non-crowded picks so you can soak up the Mid-Autumn vibes. One-stop inspiration for anyone planning a culture-centric city break. 🌕 | 25 Sep 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Taiwan bubble tea takes over Maryland — Taipei Times covers a record crowd at the Taiwan Bubble Tea Festival near Washington, DC — culture, snacks, live performances. How tapioca pearls make it to the USA. 🧋 | 22 Sep 2025 Taipei Times
  • Sport as identity check — Hong Kong rower Chiu Hin-chun’s National Games campaign shows how mainland events are a proving ground for HK athletes. A useful read on cross-border rivalry and ambition. 🚣 | 29 Sep 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Singapore’s biggest Mid-Autumn lanterns yet — Jurong Lake Gardens is hosting its largest display (through Oct 12), with 1,200 lanterns celebrating reunion themes. 📸 | 26 Sept 2025 The Straits Times

Leadership & Economy news

  • Europe hunts for chokepoints it can weaponise against China — SCMP reports Bureaucrats look for leverage against coercion from Beijing and Washington but what would it take for Brussels to act?  🧭 | 3 Oct 3 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China to set up a local-debt taskforce — Caixin says Beijing plans a dedicated finance ministry department to tackle trillions in local government liabilities. That’s code for long-game deleveraging. 🧮 | 29 Sep 2025 Caixin
  • German case shows politics–China link — The Straits Times covers a Berlin court jailing a far-right aide for spying for China, underscoring how Europe’s domestic politics and China policy now blur. Expect more compliance and security chat in EU-China corridors. 🔐 | 1 Oct 2025 The Straits Times
  • Regional outlook cools — Xinhua relays the ADB’s trimmed growth forecast for developing Asia amid a shakier trade backdrop. Higher tariffs imposed by the United States, along with elevated trade uncertainty, are expected to weigh on the region’s growth. 📉 | 30 Sep 2025 Xinhua
  • Taiwan to surpass South Korea wealth — Taiwan is set to surpass South Korea this year in terms of wealth for the first time in more than two decades, marking a shift in Asia’s economic ranks made possible by the ascent of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. 📈 | 20 Sep 2025 Taipei Times

Technology & Innovation news

  • China counts 5,300+ AI firms — Xinhua highlights rapid growth in China’s AI ecosystem, shown at major expos with service robots and new applications across cities. A useful snapshot of the scale behind China’s AI push 🤖 | 1 Oct 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan considers high-tech strategic partnership with US — Taiwan is considering forming a high-tech strategic partnership with the US, which wants increased Taiwanese investment, Taipei’s top tariff negotiator said yesterday, giving an update on talks with Washington. 🤝| 2 Oct 2025 Taipei Times
  • Saxony–Taiwan Science Conference opens — Taipei Times reports Dresden’s first Saxony–Taiwan forum to deepen semiconductor and electronics R&D, alongside TSMC’s new fab plans. This connects Taiwan’s chip expertise with Germany’s engineering base. 🔧 | 1 Oct 2025 Taipei Times
  • Apple’s iPhone 17 launch in Beijing — Reuters notes queues and strong first-day buzz — a stress test for Apple’s China playbook vs. Huawei/Xiaomi. 📱 | 19 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • Singapore trains all public servants in AI basics — The Straits Times covers new mandatory AI-literacy courses to help officers use tools responsibly and improve services. A model many EU cities could borrow for trusted AI roll-outs 🎓| 19 Sep 2025 The Straits Times

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • China’s peak-carbon sprint (2026–2030) — Caixin’s cover story lays out the final push to peak emissions by 2030 — grid reform, storage, clean-power build-out and coal’s shrinking role. 🌍 | 22 Sep 2025 Caixin See also China’s 15th Five-Year Plan to push energy independence by Jens Kastner | 9 Sep 2025
  • Where renewables lead in China — Caixin’s “Chart of the Day” shows northern provinces topping wind/solar generation. 🌱 | 19 Sep 2025 Caixin See also China Energy Transition Review by Ember | 9 Sep 2025
  • Chinese farmers’ harvest festival celebrated across China — Xinhua highlights Farmers’ Harvest Festival events across China — food tasting, seed showcases, rural revitalization narratives. 🌾 | 23 Sep 2025 Xinhua
  • World’s first China-Europe Arctic express route opens at China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan Port — Shortened journey reduces costs, increases efficiency for companies. One to watch for Danish, Dutch and German ports. 🚢 | 29 Sep 2025 Global Times
  • US to support soybean farmers amid China lag, expect news Tuesday, Bessent says  — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the federal government would support American farmers in light of China’s refusal to buy soybeans and that an announcement would be made on Tuesday. 🌾 | 2 Oct 2025 Reuters

🌏 September 5 – 18, 2025

  • Can design weeks, drag tours, and lantern festivals show how culture becomes both heritage and future branding in Asia?
  • How are China’s cooling growth numbers, Taiwan’s AI-driven exports, and Germany’s auto anxieties all connected in one trade chessboard?
  • Will Asia’s bets on domestic chips, humanoid robots, and mega data centres deliver independence—or just new dependencies in the tech war?

People & Culture news

  • Singapore Design Week turns the city into a giant ideas lab — From Sep 11–21, installations and pop-ups take over museums and neighborhoods under the theme “Nation by Design,” with plenty of free or low-cost stops. Great for mixing work trips with after-hours culture. 🎨 | 13 Sep 2025 The Straits Times
  • Photo exhibition & film week in Brussels mark WWII anniversary — Xinhua covers screenings and exhibits at China Cultural Center Brussels, tying history to contemporary exchanges. A neat EU-China culture bridge you can actually visit. 🎬 | 6 Sep 2025 Xinhua News
  • LGBTQ drag tours to showcase Taipei’s colors — Taipei launches “Color Taipei 2025” with themed city walks and cultural stops ahead of Pride Month. Tourism meets inclusivity in an easy weekend plan. 🏳️‍🌈 | 15 Sep 2025 Taipei Times
  • Mid-Autumn Festival lights up Singapore’s Chinatown — Lantern streetscapes and nightly events celebrate “60 Glorious Years,” with family-friendly performances through the season. It’s the most photogenic way to learn the legends. 🏮 | 18 Sep 2025 The Straits Times
  • Beijing to roll out new rules on Chinese language use in ethnic integration drive — China’s top legislative body is reviewing draft laws promoting the use of standard Mandarin among minority groups, in both spoken and written form, to build a “unified national identity.” It reflects how language policy is again being used to shape identity in living culture. 😊 | 10 Sep 2025 South China Morning Post

Leadership & Economy news

  • China’s August data cools; growth target under question — Industrial output and retail sales both undershot forecasts, reinforcing the “slow grind” narrative. Useful pulse-check for those exporting to China. 📉 | 15 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • Global South forum gathers in Kunming — Xinhua details a 5-day meet of 500 journalists, scholars and officials to hash out media & development cooperation. It shows how China uses platforms beyond summits to shape economic narratives. 🧭 | 5 Sep 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan upgrades its GDP outlook; rates unchanged — The central bank kept the benchmark at 2% and lifted 2025 growth forecasts on AI-driven exports—while flagging U.S. tariff risks. Clear signal of resilience plus caution. 💹 | 18 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • National Development Council credits TSMC & AI for Taiwan’s GDP leap — Taipei Times reports market-share records and strong foundry momentum feeding national figures. Handy context if you sell into semiconductor supply chains. 🏭 | 18 Sep 2025 Taipei Times
  • Germany’s Merz pledges support for auto sector as US-China rivalry heats — At Germany’s IAA Mobility show, Chancellor Merz promised a summit to address competition from China & the U.S., calling for more innovation and less regulatory friction. It spotlights how European industry must adapt in a global trade war context.🚗 | 9 Sep 2025 Reuters

Technology & Innovation news

  • Cyberport weighs Chinese Graphic Processing Units for Hong Kong supercomputing — SCMP reports the hub is testing multiple mainland chips to reduce Nvidia reliance amid export controls. A peek at how ecosystems diversify under tech-war pressure. 🧠 | 14 Sep 2025 South China Morning Post
  • AI2 Robotics (China) eyes IPO within 1–2 years — Reuters says the humanoid maker is banking on industrial demand; timing will ride hardware cycles and capital markets. A bellwether for Asia’s robot moment. 🤖 | 11 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • Shanghai to cluster 1,000 AI firms — Xinhua’s business desk highlights the city’s push to concentrate AI companies, signalling deeper talent + capital pools. Urban policy as an innovation accelerant. 🧩 | 17 Sep 2025 China Daily
  • SEMI: Taiwan tool billings to double in 2025 — Taipei Times cites chip-equipment momentum as fabs race to meet AI demand. The capex arrow is still pointing up. 🛠️ | 9 Sep 2025 Taipei Times
  • China spotlights major data centre project using domestic chips — China Unicom is building a huge data centre in Xining using mostly AI chips made domestically by Alibaba’s T-Head and others, as part of Beijing’s push to reduce dependency on foreign tech. It signals that self-sufficiency in real hardware is becoming less of a promise and more of an unfolding reality. 🤖 | 17 Sep 2025 Reuters

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • China’s thermal coal imports stay red-hot — September arrivals are set near 27m tonnes, extending August’s 9-month high; utilities are balancing reliability as renewables scale. A real-time read on energy security trade-offs. 🪨 | 18 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • Singapore inks carbon-credit pact with Vietnam — The Straits Times reports a government-to-government framework enabling high-quality cross-border offsets. Regional climate finance is getting practical. 🌳 | 17 Sep 2025 The Straits Times
  • Chinese VP calls for global green-energy push in Beijing — At an international conference, Han Zheng urged collaboration on renewables, grid interconnection and smart energy. It’s a window into Beijing’s climate diplomacy language. ⚡ | 9 Sep 2025 Xinhua News
  • Asia’s clean energy push may stall without policy stability — Industry leaders at a Singapore conference warn that coal subsidies, unpredictable policy and weak grid infrastructure are major obstacles, even as demand for renewables surges. The warning suggests that technology and investment aren’t enough: stable governance matters. ⚡ | 10 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • EU split over climate target, deal next week in doubt — EU member states are clashing over how ambitious to be for a new 2040 target and the role of carbon credits. The debate reflects domestic political pressures and differing views on how much to lean on foreign offsets vs. internal emissions cuts. 🔥 | 9 Sep 2025 Reuters

🌏 August 22 – September 4, 2025

  • How do ancient calendars, the Hungry Ghost Festival, and street crafts like sugar-blowing stay relevant in 2025 city life?
  • Is the SCO turning from a security club into a green-development engine—and what could pipelines, minerals deals, and Taiwan ties mean for EU supply chains?
  • With tighter U.S. chip rules and China’s move toward absolute carbon caps, who adapts fastest in AI, energy, and industry?

People & Culture news

  • Why the Chinese calendar sometimes has 353, 354 or 355 days – A friendly explainer on how lunisolar calendars work, leap months, and what that means for festivals you’ll see across Chinese-speaking societies. Great context for planning Mid-Autumn treats or Lunar New Year trips. 😊 | 22 Aug 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Singapore launches a S$100 Culture Pass for adults — New “Culture Bonus” credits make it cheaper to catch gigs, museums, and films, aiming to boost local arts audiences. Perfect for Singaporeans mixing work + weekend and want low-cost culture. 🎟️ | 27 Aug 2025 The Straits Times
  • SCO Museum Alliance exhibition opens in Tianjin — Museum from Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members roll out joint displays to deepen cultural understanding alongside the leaders’ summit. It’s a live snapshot of soft power in action. 🖼️ | 31 Aug 2025 China Federation of Literary and Art Circles
  • Keeping Hong Kong’s “sugar-blowing” craft alive — Meet artisans preserving a whimsical street art form—sculpting animals from molten sugar in minutes. Sweet nostalgia meets craftsmanship. 🍬 | 2 Sep 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Demons, spirits, ghosts and monsters in Chinese mythology — A playful guide to “yao, jing, gui, guai” as Hungry Ghost Festival approaches, with movie and folklore references you’ll recognize. Great fuel for late-night festival strolls. 👻 | 4 Sep 2025 South China Morning Post

Leadership & Economy

  • China’s factory activity shrinks again in August — The fifth straight month of contraction, with businesses still cautious despite the 90-day US-China tariff truce extension. Useful pulse-check for export-exposed firms to China. 📉 | 1 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • Germany–Canada “friend-shores” minerals, with China in mind — Reuters details a pact to secure nickel, cobalt and rare earths outside China—part economics, part geopolitics. Europe’s supply strategy is quietly rewriting battery and EV math. It links EU industrial policy to Asia’s resource chessboard 🔋 | 26 Aug 2025 Reuters
  • SCO leaders issue the Tianjin Declaration — Xinhua’s readout highlights security cooperation and economic coordination, signalling tighter political messaging among members. It shows how summit communiqués set the tone for cross-border deals. 📝 | 1 Sep 2025 Xinhua
  • Taiwan’s business climate ‘flashing green’ — Indicators point to firmer momentum, with tech demand still a key driver amid tariff jitters. Handy context if you sell into Taiwan’s electronics supply chain. 🟢 | 29 Aug 2025 Taipei Times
  • US senator backs joint weapons production with Taiwan — A high-level visit floated co-producing drones and more, even as Taiwan navigates a 20% US tariff under the new regime. Security and trade are increasingly intertwined. 🛰️ | 30 Aug 2025 Reuters

Technology & Innovation news

  • U.S. revokes fast-track export status for TSMC, Samsung in China — Reuters reports the ending of “validated end-user” waivers, meaning licenses will be needed for some tools at Chinese fabs. It’s a real-world example of policy hitting factory floor logistics 🧰 | 3 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • Cambricon rockets to China’s most valuable stock —Caixin spotlights how a domestic AI-chip champion surged on booming orders and Nvidia’s China limitations—then issued a risk warning on its own share price. Hype meets fundamentals in real time. 🚀 | 29 Aug 2025 Caixin Global
  • Chinese firms still want Nvidia chips despite government pressure not to buy — Despite controls, Reuters says demand persists for “China-compliant” accelerators as AI build-outs continue. It shows how AI demand bends around guardrails 🧠 | 4 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • China tops global nanotech patent filings — A new white paper highlights leadership in nanomaterials and applications spanning energy, medicine and electronics. The rise of AI has brought revolutionary opportunities to nanotechnology. 🔬 | 31 Aug 2025 Xinhua News
  • TSMC extends its global foundry lead — Taipei Times cites TrendForce data showing a record market share on AI-driven demand, widening the gap with Samsung and SMIC. Pricing power plus advanced nodes equals momentum. It’s the scoreboard that matters to every AI hardware roadmap 🏁 | 3 Sep 2025 Taipei Times

Climate Action, Energy & Food

  • China Carbon Briefing: Shanghai cooperation summit; ETS ‘absolute emissions cap’; China’s heatwave adaptation— Carbon Brief reports The SCO grouping, which includes China, India, Russia and others, adopted a “statement on sustainable energy development and approved a roadmap for implementing the strategy for energy cooperation” out to 2030, according to the full text of the declaration published by the Hindustan Times. ⚡ | 4 Sep 2025 Carbon Brief
  • China’s coal-to-chemicals boom, explained — Reuters tours mega projects turning coal into plastics and gas as Beijing chases energy security—cheap feedstock vs high emissions is the trade-off. Capacity could double in five years. It’s a clear view of how “security vs sustainability” plays out in steel and plastics supply chains 🏭 | 4 Sep 2025 Reuters
  • China sets top-level plan to expand its carbon market —Caixin says the ETS will reach more industries by 2027 and standardize paid allowances by 2030. Bigger coverage = bigger incentive to decarbonize. It’s the policy lever to watch for cement, steel and aluminium footprints ♻️ | 27 Aug 2025 Caixin Global
  • SCO’s ‘Green Tianjin Initiative’ gets a push — Xinhua highlights new cooperation on environmental protection aligned to the summit’s communiqués. Regional club diplomacy is quietly greening project pipelines. 🌱 | 30 Aug 2025 Xinhua News
  • Offshore wind lifts revenues at Taiwan’s China Steel — A monthly report shows output gains at the Zhong Neng wind farm off Changhua, underscoring how China Steel is leaning into green cash-flows from it’s Zhong Neng subsidiary. 🌊 | 30 Aug 2025 Taipei Times

🌏 August 8 – 21, 2025

  • Is Asian storytelling going fully global—from Ne Zha 2’s English dub to Singapore’s city-wide festivals?
  • Are targeted Chinese consumer subsidies and Singapore’s upgraded outlook enough to steady regional growth?
  • Can cleaner supply chains, stricter solar discipline, and big Taiwan climate spends turn ambition into measurable impact?

People & Culture news

  • Ne Zha 2 goes global with Michelle Yeoh in the English dub. The Chinese animated mega-hit gets an English release, with Yeoh spotlighting how Chinese mythology can stand alongside Zeus and Thor in mainstream cinema. The film has already broken global animation records and now aims for wider audiences. This shows how Asian storytelling is moving from niche to universal appeal. 🎬 | Aug 20, 2025  Reuters
  • Singapore’s National Day Parade draws 200,000 in a sea of red and white. A huge crowd turned downtown into a live stage celebrating music, fly-pasts and community spirit. The event doubled as a post-pandemic barometer of how public celebrations are bouncing back. It’s a window into how national rituals stay fresh for a young, urban audience. 🎆 | Aug 20, 2025 The Straits Times
  • Hong Kong’s Haw Par Mansion hosts ‘Sunset Serenade’ jazz nights. The restored heritage mansion is drawing new crowds with summer concerts that blend history and nightlife. The venue’s architecture adds a cinematic backdrop to the music. It’s culture you can literally walk through—great for city explorers. 🎷 | Aug 15, 2025  South China Morning Post
  • Animation ‘Nobody’ becomes China’s top 2D domestic film. The low-budget, high-heart feature surged via word-of-mouth and fan art, beating heavyweight studio titles. It highlights a growing appetite for smaller, personal stories in China’s movie scene. It proves discovery can still beat hype. 🖍️ | Aug 19, 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Five things to do at Singapore Night Festival. Find your kampung chill in a quiet bamboo sanctuary in the city. Travel back to the era of soft neon lights in Singapore. Get up close to a 2.5m-wide luminous crab sculpture that draws from the region’s crustacean folklore. 🍢 | Aug 20, 2025  The Straits Times

Leadership & Economy news

  • China’s July data: factory output, retail sales growth slump in blow to economy. China’s factory output growth slumped to an eight-month low in July, while retail sales slowed sharply, raising pressure on policymakers to roll out more stimulus to revive domestic demand and ward off external shocks to the $19 trillion economy. 📊 | Aug 15, 2025  Reuters
  • Germany’s foreign minister warns Indo-Pacific tensions hit Europe too. Ahead of his Asia trip, he criticized China’s “aggressive” behavior and flagged the Taiwan Strait as a European economic and security concern. Berlin is linking Indo-Pacific stability to its own prosperity. It shows how Europe’s China stance is getting more strategic—and vocal. 🌍 | Aug 17, 2025 Reuters
  • Singapore raises 2025 growth forecast but warns for effects of US tariffs. With inflation easing, the city-state sees a slightly brighter path for jobs and investment. Logistics and travel add tailwinds to trade-exposed sectors. It’s useful context for Asia-EU investors eyeing resilient hubs. 📈 | Aug 12, 2025 The Straits Times
  • Six Taiwanese firms make 2025 Fortune Global 500 list. Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. 🏭| Aug 1 2025 Taipei Times
  • Loan interest subsidies seen spurring Chinese consumption. Xinhua outlines plans to reduce borrowing costs for big-ticket items and services, aiming to lift domestic demand. The signal: targeted, household-level easing over broad stimulus. It shows policymakers leaning into micro-moves to shift macro-mood. 💳 | Aug 13, 2025 Xinhua News

Technology & Innovation news

  • Nvidia preps a new China AI chip (reportedly “B30A”) to outpace H20. Designed to comply with U.S. export rules, it targets roughly half the oomph of a flagship B300 while keeping high-bandwidth memory and NVLink. Samples could reach Chinese partners soon. It’s a real-time example of geopolitics shaping silicon. 🤖 | Aug 19, 2025 Reuters
  • Huawei’s Kirin 9020 revealed inside new 5G handsets. A teardown points to SMIC manufacturing, signaling advances in domestic chip capabilities despite controls. The phones anchor Huawei’s premium lineup. It hints at a faster climb up the value chain for China’s chip ecosystem. 📱 | Aug 19, 2025 South China Morning Post
  • China’s No. 2 foundry (Hua Hong) to absorb a chipmaking sibling. The state-backed consolidation aims to cut overlap, sharpen strategy and improve efficiency. Q2 revenue rose even as margins remain thin. It’s consolidation as industrial policy in action. 🧩 | Aug 19, 2025  Caixin Global
  • Taiwan’s ITRI: AI demand to lift semiconductor output >22% this year. The institute upgrades its outlook as advanced nodes and packaging surge; TSMC’s guidance also rose. Packaging and testing segments are catching a tailwind. It’s a clean read on how AI turns into real factory orders. 🏗️ | Aug 18, 2025 Taipei Times
  • China launches another batch for its internet-satellite constellation. A Long March-5B lifted a group of LEO satellites from Hainan to expand future connectivity. It’s part of a steady cadence of space-internet build-outs. It shows the race for the next-gen network isn’t only on the ground. 🛰️ | Aug 13, 2025 Xinhua News

Climate Action, Energy & Food news

  • China says solar sector needs to curb overcapacity. Industry talks emphasize phasing out outdated lines and curbing “disordered” price wars, after big losses in 2024. Analysts see consolidation as the path back to profits. It’s the solar sector’s moment of truth after years of hyper-expansion. ☀️ | Aug 19, 2025 Reuters
  • Lithium prices jump as CATL’s mine halt adds fuel to speculation. Futures surged on the Guangzhou exchange amid supply questions and heavy trading. Fundamentals still look wobbly, analysts warn. It’s a reminder that battery minerals trade on narratives as much as tonnage. 🔋 | Aug 18, 2025 Reuters
  • Singapore’s recycling story: the half we don’t see. A new explainer notes the overall recycling rate fell to 50% in 2024 and explores why domestic recycling lags. The piece breaks down contamination, sorting, and behavior. It’s practical insight for cities trying to cut waste in real life, not just on paper. ♻️ | Aug 19, 2025 The Straits Times
  • Taiwan earmarks NT$900bn for a safer, greener transition. President Lai said the plan seeks to crowd in NT$4tn of private co-investment while boosting resilience. The focus: competitiveness, sustainability and social readiness. It’s a big-tent climate plan designed to mobilize whole-of-society capital. 🌱 | Aug 18, 2025 Taipei Times
  • China’s green development aims to benefit global supply chains. In a recent interview, experts told Xinhua that renewables build-out and greener sourcing can ripple abroad. Think cleaner inputs and steadier costs. It’s a reminder that decarbonization choices in one giant market affect everyone’s bill. 🌍 | Aug 14, 2025  Xinhua News

🌏 July 25 – August 7, 2025

  • How are a blockbuster summer in China, SG60 soundtracks in Singapore, and HK–EU film tie-ups rewriting the playbook for youth culture and soft power?
  • How will new U.S. tariff moves on Taiwan and semiconductor rules reshape Asia’s
    chip strategy—and Europe’s supply chains?
  • Can China’s clean-energy surge, Singapore’s rising renewables, and Taiwan’s EV incentives lower bills while keeping cities cooler in a warming summer?
People & Culture
  • China’s summer box-office blows past ¥7 billion – Cinemas posted their best mid-season earnings ever, driven by feel-good comedies and patriotic action flicks.  The rebound hints at how young Chinese are rediscovering nights out after a long streaming binge era. 📽️ | 4 Aug 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan’s Atayal fishers win 11-year fight for ancestral waters – A court ruled tribespeople may again cast lines inside a protected reservoir, blending indigenous rights with eco-tourism.  Shows how modern law can safeguard centuries-old traditions.🎣 | 8 Aug 2025 Taipei Times
  • Singapore’s SG60 playlists drop seven fresh anthems – The Straits Times rounds up songs mixing EDM with Malay gamelan for the city-state’s 60th birthday. Gen Z producers made national pride sound TikTok-worthy. 🎵 |  6 Aug 2025 The Straits Times 6 Aug 2025
  • Hong Kong Summer IFF: 10 must-see movies – SCMP’s festival guide spotlights indie Asian sci-fi and Danish co-productions. Why cine-files care: festival partnerships hint at future EU-Asia box-office mash-ups.🎬 | 29 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Chongqing’s National Book Expo draws China’s readers – The 33rd National Book Expo opened in Chongqing with hundreds of publishers and themed exhibitions that promote reading culture nationwide. Organisers highlighted digital reading and local storytelling to engage younger audiences. 📚 |Jul 26, 2025 Xinhua Net

Leadership & Economy

  • Singapore launches Economic Strategy Review – Five task-forces will future-proof jobs, AI and green finance. How a small state pivots when global tariffs shift. 💼 | 4 Aug 2025  Xinhua News
  • Trump’s new tariff order ruffles Taiwan – Taipei Times warns a 20 % levy could push TSMC deeper into the US. Shows how geopolitics steers the world’s chip hub. 💸| 7 Aug 2025 Taipei Times
  • China’s Politburo strikes ‘cautious but flexible’ tone – Caixin says leaders prefer targeted aid over mega-stimulus after 5.3 % H1 GDP. Hints at selective boosts for creative industries. 📊 | 1 Aug 2025 Caixin Global
  • EU-China summit delivers few wins – SCMP notes Brussels left Beijing with goodwill but no big tariff relief as US pressure looms. Did Europe’s role as swing partner in US-China trade chess just got clearer? 🌍 | 29 Jul 2025  South China Morning Post
  • MAS holds Singapore-dollar band steady amid tariff risks – Straits Times reports cautious stance to tame imported inflation. Shows how a currency-band model could inspire smaller countries navigating big-power shocks. 💱 | 30 Jul 2025  The Straits Times

Technology & Innovation

  • China tops world with 5,100 AI firms – Xinhua tallies 15 % of global total; 71 AI unicorns fuel the boom.  Scale = cheaper AI services heading to European-language markets. 🤖  |  28 Jul 2025 Xinhua News
  • Huawei open-sources Ascend chip toolkit – SCMP: move aims to rival Nvidia’s CUDA and woo global devs. That move would help “speed up innovation from developers” and “make Ascend chips easier to use. 🛠️  | 5 Aug 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Rare-earth détente lets Nvidia H20 chips back into China – Caixin details dual easing of US export curbs and Chinese mineral quotas. Shows how minerals diplomacy shapes the semiconductor race. ⚡| 26 Jul 2025  Caixin Global
  • Singapore’s AI inflow tops S$4 bn in a year – Straits Times maps mega-bets from Alibaba Cloud to BHP.  The Lion City is turning into Southeast Asia’s AI computing , a handy jump-off for EU creatives.💾 | 4 Aug 2025 The Straits Times
  • OCBC teams with NUS & NTU on quantum fraud-detection – Bank will trial quantum algorithms for real-time risk. Will financial quantum-tech reach European fintech via joint research grants? 🧩 |  5 Aug 2025  The Straits Times

Climate Action, Energy & Food

  • Made-in-China cooling gear goes global – Xinhua shows smart fan-hats and cooling fabrics selling out amid heatwaves.  Climate-tech commerce links Hangzhou to Hamburg summers. 🧊  | 1 Aug 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan to extend EV tax breaks to 2029 – Policy aims to double electric-car uptake.  EU auto giants sourcing Taiwan batteries might benefit too.  🚗 | 6 Aug 2025 Taipei Times
  • China’s clean-energy blitz ‘solves several problems at once’ – SCMP op-ed links 54 % solar surge to jobs and energy security.  Opinion of Andy Xie: By increasing investment in renewables, China’s economy stands to benefit from more sustainable growth rates and improved terms of trade. ☀️ 6 Aug 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Power prices plunge despite record heat – Caixin finds dropping  wholesale rates in Guangxi as renewables flood the grid.  Shows importance of green energy for the consumer. ⚡ |  1 Aug 2025 Caixin Global
  • Singapore’s renewables share hits record high – Imports plus rooftop solar lift green electricity usage to 10 % of demand. Good development for tropical city-state using lot’s of fossil fuels.  🌬️ | 2 Aug 2025 The Straits Times

🌏 July 11 – July 24, 2025

  • Are drone shows, global-street foods carnivals and snack-filled book fairs reshaping Asia’s cultural playbook for Gen Z tourists?
  • Can a Beijing-Brussels summit ease tarrifs and fuel greener business across Europe?
  • From satellites to typhoon-proof wind turbines, is East Asia testing vital climate solutions?

People & Culture

  • Yi Torch Festival re-ignites Guizhou’s night sky – 10,000 flaming torches, drone formations and live Yi folk rock drew crowds to Liupanshui, with officials eyeing 150 k+ visitors and big livestream numbers. It shows how minority rites are being rebooted as Insta-friendly tourism boosters. 🔥 | 18 Jul 2025 Xinhua News
  • Taiwan’s Sunset Rollercoaster levels up at Fuji Rock – The indie darlings will play the Japanese mega-fest’s 40k-capacity Green Stage, alongside a Taiwan–Japan rookie stage tie-up. It underlines how Mandarin-language acts are cracking the region’s biggest rock podiums. 🎸 | 18 Jul 2025 Taipei Times
  • Macau cooks up a ‘Cities of Gastronomy’ carnival – Street chefs from six continents, art markets and tasting passes turn Senado Square into a global food court as the city pivots from baccarat to bibimbap. Culinary tourism is the new jackpot. 🍲 | 14 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Hong Kong Book Fair goes snack-tastic – The week-long fair adds a “World of Snacks” hall and sports expo to lure Gen Z readers with bubble-tea demos and esports show matches, targeting >1 million visitors. Books meet bites for maximal FOMO. 📚| 11 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Liverpool mania warms up Hong Kong Football Festival – 27,000 fans watched the Reds train at Kai Tak Stadium ahead of the July 26-28 mini-tournament, boosting hotel bookings and merch drops. European footie fandom still packs economic punch in the Pearl River Delta. ⚽  | 24 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post

Leadership & Economy

  • China-EU summit: Xi woos Brussels with ‘win-win’ talk – Meeting EU chiefs in Beijing on July 24, President Xi promised easier market access and green-tech cooperation, as both sides try to calm a €300 bn trade gap. The get-together will steer 2025’s biggest China-Europe reset. 🤝 | 24 Jul 2025 Xinhua News
  • 16 m drop out of China’s medical insurance pool – Caixin finds local deficits and ageing pressures pushing millions to quit a key basic-care plan, signalling fiscal strains that could reshape China’s social contract. 🩺  | 16 Jul 2025 Caixin Global
  • Chinese firms in Europe urge ‘substantive’ summit deal – A Paris-based lobby of 400 companies wants tariff cuts and regulatory clarity ahead of the Beijing leaders’ summit, showing business anxieties run both ways across the bloc. 🇪🇺  | 22 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Taiwanese wallets less gloomy – Cathay Financial’s July survey shows consumer-confidence edging up as stock bulls outnumber bears for the first time in months, hinting at mid-year spending momentum. 💳 | 22 Jul 2025 Taipei Times
  • Singapore core inflation unmoved at 0.6 % – June data surprised analysts with flat prices, giving the MAS breathing room and young consumers a brief cost-of-living break. 🥤  | 23 Jul 2025 The Straits Times

Technology & Innovation

  • TSMC books four new 1.4-nm ‘mega-fabs’ – The chip titan will start construction in Taichung this year, aiming for 2028 production and >20,000 new jobs. Taiwan is doubling down on bleeding-edge silicon to keep rivals a node behind. 🖥️ | 20 Jul 2025 Taipei Times
  • ASML still bullish on China sales – The Dutch lithography giant told Caixin that mainland orders will stay >25 % of revenue despite export-control noise, spotlighting Europe’s tight entanglement with China’s chip build-out. 🛠️ | 17 Jul 2025 Caixin Global
  • AI ‘teachers’ school China’s edtech firms – A Caixin deep-dive shows start-ups racing to launch GPT-powered tutoring bots, but parents still want real grades before paying. The jury’s out on robo-report cards. 🤖  | 18 Jul 2025 Caixin Global
  • Nvidia boss hails China’s open-source AI – Jensen Huang called DeepSeek, Qwen and Kimi “world-class” models as H20 chip sales to China resume, framing open code as Beijing’s competitive edge. ⚙️ | 17 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Shijian satellites may have docked in space first – Tracking data suggests Shijian-21 refuelled Shijian-25 in geostationary orbit, a feat the US aims to replicate only by 2026. China’s on-orbit servicing ambitions just got real. 🛰️  | 14 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post

Climate Action, Energy & Food

  • HK students light rural Rwanda with solar – A PolyU team installed off-grid panels for 120 homes, blending climate service learning with South-South tech transfer. Sunshine diplomacy in action. ☀️ | 18 Jul 2025 Xinhua News
  • Typhoon Wipha batters Taiwan, turbines hold – 200 mm rains cut ferries but offshore wind farms stayed online, proving new storm-hardening standards pay off. Weather resilience is quietly powering Asia’s green grid. 🌪️ | 20 Jul 2025 Taipei Times
  • China starts building a mega-dam in Xizang – Caixin reports a 70-GW hydropower project paired with cross-grid trading pilots to balance wind-solar surges, hydro’s comeback in the clean-power mix. 💧 | 22 Jul 2025 Caixin Global, see also Reuters
  • Lab turns CO₂ into table sugar – Chinese chemists demo a catalyst that converts methanol to white sugar, hinting at future carbon-negative sweeteners and bio-plastics. Sweet science could clean the air. 🍬 | 22 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post
  • Heat dome grips China, 40 °C plus looms – Meteorologists warn of record-breaking temperatures across 17 provinces, raising power-grid and crop-yield fears as climate volatility escalates. 🔥 | 22 Jul 2025 The Straits Times

🌏 June 27 – July 10, 2025

  • Why are festivals across Hong Kong, Singapore and Macao mixing pop music, streetwear and foodie culture to lure new crowds?
  • Can a tiny rise in China’s prices and a bold €4.5 trillion growth plan really steady Asia’s economy—and open fresh doors for Europe?
  • Could home-grown AI chips and space-grown rice push East Asia ahead in the race for both cutting-edge tech and food security?

People & Culture

  • Hot-air balloons meet Cantopop (Hong Kong) – The AIA International Hot Air Balloon Fest will float panda-, dinosaur- and rabbit-shaped balloons above Victoria Harbour this September while stars Joey Yung and Leo Ku play nightly gigs, with organisers eyeing 80 000 visitors and a tourism bump. This mash-up of Insta-ready visuals and classic Cantopop shows how Hong Kong is repackaging tradition for Gen Z wanderlust. 🎈
    | 7 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post

  • Singapore’s July gig-fest – From the Skechers Sundown street-culture bash to Esplanade’s month-long Jazz in July sessions (plus Indonesian rockers D’Masiv), Singapore is packing club, park and mall stages with affordable shows that blur music, sneaker and F&B scenes. A reminder that the Lion City sells lifestyle diversity, not just high-tech skylines. 🎵
     | 10 Jul 2025 The Straits Times

  • Macao’s Lotus Flower Festival blooms again – The 25th edition opened with art markets, folk parades and – yes – lotus-flavoured desserts, underscoring the city’s push to pivot from casinos to slow-travel culture. For foodie tourists, petals are the new poker chips. 🌸
    | 6 Jul 2025 Xinhua News

  • Taiwanese film composer makes history in Italy – Chiang Yi-chen became the first Asian (and first woman) to win Emerging Composer at the Apulia Soundtrack Awards, boosting Taiwan’s creative soft power in Europe. Proof that Mandarin beats can top Western red carpets. 🏆
    | 9 Jul 2025 Taipei Times

  • Voice-chat app rocked by gambling scandal (China) – Caixin reveals how “Banban” hosts embedded covert betting games, prompting regulators to tighten live-stream rules and sparking debate on digital vice versus free expression. It’s Twitch-culture with Chinese characteristics – and consequences. 🎰
    l | 4 Jul 2025 Caixin Global

Leadership & Economy

  • Tiny uptick, big relief – China’s CPI rises 0.1 % – June’s first inflation gain in five months eased deflation fears even as factory prices slid 3.6 %. Analysts say more stimulus is still likely, but the data hint consumers are spending – at last. 💸
    | 9 Jul 2025 Caixin Global

  • Economic add-on: ¥35 trn in five years – A top official told Xinhua that China’s 2021-25 GDP increment will exceed 35 trillion yuan (≈€4.5 trn), powered by digital and green sectors. Beijing is still betting on scale to outpace headwinds. 📈
    | 9 Jul 2025 Xinhua News

  • Taiwan’s inflation cools to 1.37 % – Slower food and energy price rises gave Taipei extra room to support growth without stoking costs, economists say. Stability matters as export orders wobble. 🧊
    | 9 Jul 2025 Taipei Times

  • Berlin stopover: Wang Yi warns EU on ‘Russia loss’ – China’s foreign minister told Brussels that a weakened Moscow would hurt Europe’s security, framing Beijing as pragmatic mediator while courting German business. A sharp play on geopolitics and trade. 🧐
    | 4 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post

  • Singapore core inflation dips to 0.6 % – Lower services and food prices surprised analysts and may keep the MAS from tightening policy in October, easing wallets for Gen-Z consumers. 🍜
    | 4 Jul 2025 The Straits Times

Technology & Innovation

  • AI-chip start-up Sunrise nets ¥1 bn – Spun out of SenseTime, Sunrise began mass production of its S2 GPUs and raised almost US$140 m, fuelling China’s quest for home-grown AI silicon. 🚀
    | 1 Jul 2025 Caixin Global

  • Eyes like a cyborg – Chinese researchers built a quantum-dot vision sensor that adapts to darkness-to-sunlight changes in 40 s – way faster than humans – opening doors for autonomous drones and AR glasses. 🤖
    | 6 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post

  • Shenzhou-19 crew debriefs Beijing – Fresh from orbit, the three taikonauts detailed experiments on smart materials and space-grown rice, underscoring China’s steady march toward its 2030 moon goals. 🌕
    | 9 Jul 2025 Xinhua News

  • TSMC says U-S fabs won’t slow global push – The chip giant told investors its Arizona build-out won’t cannibalise capacity elsewhere, signaling confidence in meeting record AI demand while hedging geopolitical risk. 🖥️
    | 7 Jul 2025 Taipei Times

  • Baidu overhauls search with Gen-AI – The Chinese web titan rolled out a 1 000-word natural-language engine to claw back market share and monetise AI ads, showing Big Tech’s race to re-invent the browser. 🔍
    | 3 Jul 2025 The Straits Times

Climate Action, Energy & Food

  • Polysilicon giants plan rescue merger – Facing a brutal price war, China’s top solar-grade silicon makers aim to acquire weaker rivals and stabilise a market that underpins the world’s solar panels. Strategy over subsidies. ☀️
    | 9 Jul 2025 Caixin Global

  • Offshore wind powers up fast – China added 4.4 GW of sea-based turbines in H1 2025 and is on track for 9 GW this year, with 22 GW more under construction – proof the deep-sea boom is real. 🌬️
    | 8 Jul 2025 South China Morning Post

  • Hydro boost in Yunnan mountains – A third generating unit at the Huangdeng hydropower station went online, part of China’s plan to balance variable wind and solar with big-dam baseload. 💧
    | 5 Jul 2025 Xinhua News

  • Typhoon Danas tests – and vindicates – Taiwan’s offshore wind fleet – More than 400 turbines survived 160 km/h gusts, even as 450 000 homes briefly lost grid power, bolstering confidence in storm-ready engineering. 🌪️
    | 8 Jul 2025 Taipei Times

  • China building 510 GW of new renewables – A Global Energy Monitor report quoted by The Straits Times shows China constructing 74 % of all solar-wind projects underway worldwide – a scale that will shape global carbon math. ⚡
    | 8 Jul 2025 The Straits Times

🌏 June 13 – 26, 2025

  • What is Zhang Zhi Yi’s new movie, toy monsters suddenly Asia’s hottest tickets—and could they set the next global culture wave?
  • Can China’s new game plan—bigger paychecks and easier IPOs—break through Europe’s red tape and power a €13 billion battery dream?
  • Will robot-dog patrols, driverless testing and a planet-wide solar-wind grid make East Asia the lab for tomorrow’s green tech?

People & Culture

Leadership & Economy

Technology & Innovation

Climate Action, Energy & Food

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