It is a cliche to say that we live in a digital age, with many countries upgrading to become knowledge economies. There is supposedly a digital divide, between those who have access to digital knowledge and skills, and those who don’t. But what has emerged with recent action against Huawei Technologies suggests that the World Wide Web may be splintered into four or more digital networks that are firewalled against each other. This situation stems from geopolitical rivalry, mixed up with te

Viewpoints June 24, 2019

World Environment Day (June 5) was a good time to reflect on the existential threat of climate change.After five of the hottest years in living history, there is little doubt that climate change is moving center stage in the global agenda. The UN has warned that a million species are in danger of becoming extinct, with climate scientists claiming that we may have less than 10 to15 years to correct our carbon emission trajectory. It is no longer IF climate disaster will happen, only WHEN and how

Viewpoints June 10, 2019

There has been so much bad news lately that the only good news, if you believe it, lies in the stock market. Simply put, despite the trade war and all the political bad news, the US stock markets hover around historical highs. And Asian stock markets are still guided by sentiment in Wall Street.Is that market optimism justified?From its trough on March 9, 2009, to its last peak on April 23, 2019, the S&P500 Index rose 334 percent, so everyone who invested in US stocks has done well. How just

Viewpoints May 27, 2019

A fortnight ago, markets were going great guns, with the S&P500 hitting a record high, even as there was increasing evidence that global trade and many economies were slowing. Last week the markets took a sharp turn as the White House tweeted that tariffs would once again be escalated for US-China trade. With North Korea again testing missiles, Iranian tensions rising and US politics becoming more divisive by the day, what is going on?People like to have simple stories to explain all this comple

Viewpoints May 13, 2019

The Asia News Network, an alliance of 24 leading media in 20 Asian countries, welcomes the release of Reuters Journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo by the Myanmar government on Tuesday.We applaud the government's decision to release both men and urge upon the government the need to protect and ensure press freedom. Reuters journalists Kyaw Soe Oo (right) and Wa Lone sit in a vehicle after being released from Insein Prison in a presidential pardon on May 7 (AFP)Both Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have bee

World News May 8, 2019

Last year, American historian Walter Russell Mead identified the following traits of the current American and global discomfort: “ineffective politicians, frequent scandals, racial backsliding, polarized and irresponsible news media, populists spouting quack economic remedies, growing suspicion of elites and experts, frightening outbreaks of violence, major job losses, high-profile terrorist attacks, anti-immigrant agitation, declining social mobility, giant corporations dominating the economy,

Viewpoints April 29, 2019

Two major divorces are in the making in March. The obvious one is Brexit, which officially occurs on March 29. The other is the deadline for the US-China trade negotiations on March 1, when US tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports will increase from 10 percent to 25 percent. Even though a trade deal is likely, as both sides want to have a deal and the market is expecting one, this will come down to the wire as the gap in what can be achieved in the deal is still daunting.　Both negotia

Viewpoints Feb. 18, 2019

The Asia News Network notes with concern and alarm the arrest of Maria Ressa, executive editor and CEO of leading Philippine news site Rappler, for pursuing the truth in a case with significant ramifications for society.Her arrest, on grounds that raise concern, violates the freedom that media organisations need to have, to play their part as a key pillar of functioning democracies. This is particularly important in Asia where systems of democratic representation, accountability and legal recour

World News Feb. 15, 2019

 Bangkok choked for weeks last month, as smog filled the air while military drones and fire trucks fought to bring pollution under control. Schools closed and people were encouraged to stay indoors while others armed themselves with masks. 　 Meanwhile, the government reached out to citizens to come up with more effective solutions.　 Pollution in major Asian cities has become a norm in recent years -- so much so that residents, visitors and policy makers take the situation for granted.　But the de

Viewpoints Feb. 6, 2019

The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.So the late British prime minister and famed orator Winston Churchill is once supposed to have said.This year, many will be doing so, with major milestones and anniversaries being marked around the world -- 150 years since the birth of India’s Mahatma Gandhi; 50 years after American astronaut Neil Armstrong’s great lunar “leap for mankind”; 100 years since the May Fourth Movement in China.Singapore, too, looks likely to sp

Viewpoints Jan. 28, 2019

Moon Jae-in is Asia News Network's Person of the Year. For more on the finalists and runners up, please click this link here. In a few decades, when people look back on 2018, perhaps they will only remember one or two major headlines.In the field of diplomacy, they may remember the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un.If this were to happen it would be one of the biggest injustices of selective history and memory.Because without South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s ins

Politics Dec. 28, 2018