Ear to Asia

Climate change is increasingly more than an environmental crisis — its human dimension is fast becoming one of the defining legal and political challenges of our era. Tens of millions are already displaced by floods, droughts, and rising seas, while communities like the Torres Strait Islanders face not just the loss of land, but the severing of profound cultural and spiritual ties to place. For lo...

Across Southeast Asia, vast compounds have emerged as the nerve centers of large-scale online fraud, run by transnational crime syndicates with links to ethnic Chinese networks. Their targets are ordinary people across Asia and beyond, ensnared in scams that drain savings and devastate families. But inside the compound walls are trafficked workers — lured under false promises of legitimate employm...

Rice is more than a staple in the Philippines — it’s a measure of well-being and security. But decades of government policies built around industrial-scale production have struggled to deliver self-sufficiency in a country where rice farming is overwhelmingly smallholder-based. As farmers contend with debt, land insecurity, and environmental vulnerability, are current strategies fit for purpose? O...

While shared anxieties over China have brought India and the United States closer, President Donald Trump’s second-term tariffs and tougher immigration rules have injected fresh strain into the relationship. The pressure on New Delhi to curb Russian oil imports comes as Moscow itself deepens ties with Beijing, complicating India’s long-standing defence and energy partnerships. So where does this l...

A year into his presidency, Prabowo Subianto stands at a pivotal moment in Indonesia’s political journey. Elected on promises of both continuity and change, his government has faced unrest in the streets, the dismissal of a long-serving finance minister, and questions over the strength of Indonesia’s democratic institutions. At the same time, Jakarta’s growing engagement with BRICS and its delicat...

For many East Asians living in Western societies, the first challenge they face is their own name — mispronounced in classrooms, simplified in workplaces, or changed altogether to fit in. Behind these small acts lie deeper questions of identity, belonging, and cultural respect. How do naming traditions shaped by centuries of history meet the bureaucracies and biases of today’s West? And what does...

Indonesia’s 17,000-plus islands boast the world’s third-largest tropical rainforest, home to endangered species and Indigenous communities, and a vital shield against climate change. Yet in 2024, the country lost 261,000 hectares of forest—its worst single-year decline since 2021. Why has deforestation surged just as earlier trends seemed to improve? Beyond palm oil, the pressures now include pulp...

Governments across Asia are confronting a new kind of policy challenge — one that’s moving faster than most have ever had to legislate for. The astonishing speed of generative AI development has prompted both excitement and alarm in Asia’s capitals, where the potential for economic growth and national prestige is being weighed against serious questions about risk, regulation, and long-term control...

Despite all the talk of trade wars and other tensions, China remains the largest source of international students worldwide. In Australia alone, there are over 125,000 China nationals attending higher education, representing 22% of all international uni students. Needless to say, these large international numbers provide a massive revenue boon for Australia's cash-strapped institutions of higher l...

While Mandarin has long been China's official language, recent policies have accelerated its dominance — often at the expense of minority languages. Despite constitutional protections, a 2020 legislative shift has cast a shadow over the future of minority language education, raising concerns among ethnic minority groups like the Zhuang in southern China and communities in Tibet. Why is China doubl...

Afghanistan’s Taliban government has been busy appointing ambassadors, courting foreign investment, and participating in global forums, all with the aim of winning international recognition and standing. And it's paid off to a degree: last year China and the UAE both established formal diplomatic ties with the Taliban government, putting stability and economic opportunity ahead of ideological conc...

China's growing influence in Central Asia marks a strategic pivot in its bid to challenge a global order still largely led by the US. Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Beijing is positioning itself as a dominant player in a region long under Russia’s sway. With Moscow’s focus diverted by its war in Ukraine, China is leveraging the moment to...

China-Taiwan relations remain tense as Beijing maintains its stance on potential military action to "retake" the island—a position rooted in the unresolved Chinese Civil War (1927-1949). This ideological conflict pitted the Nationalist Party (KMT), which advocated national self-strengthening, against the Communist Party (CCP), which promised socialist revolution and class equality. The war inflict...

The Korean language, once limited to the Korean Peninsula, has experienced a dramatic surge in global popularity due to the rise of K-pop, Korean dramas, and films. Even though this has led to increased enrollment in Korean language courses by both ethnic Koreans and non-Korean learners, achieving fluency remains a significant challenge. For the Korean diaspora worldwide, maintaining their linguis...

China's maritime aggression towards the Philippines has been escalating, with the China Coast Guard now ramming Philippine naval vessels in disputed waters. This has put intense pressure on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to defend the archipelagic nation's maritime territory against a superior force. Despite efforts by the current and past administrations to address China’s incursions into the Phi...

As East Asian countries like Japan, China and South Korea experience rapid population ageing due to declining fertility rates and increasing life expectancy, the demographic shift in the land of the living is having a parallel impact on what happens after life. Deathcare -- which encompasses post-death services, products, policy, and governance -- is changing too. Rapid urbanisation has disrupted...

The rivers of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, a lifeline for hundreds of millions of people across Asia, are a hotbed of geopolitical tension. A history of colonialism, border disputes, and competing interests has made present-day transboundary governance exceptionally challenging, as national governments, non-state actors, international organisations, and local communities vie for influence. Heated...

More than a quarter century since landmark democratic reforms, Indonesia's labor movement remains surprisingly subdued. Workers continue to face low wages, poor working conditions, and laws that put employers first, as efforts to organize labor remain encumbered by a mix of nationalist and religious rhetoric, government policy, and the rise of the gig economy. So what will it take to significantly...

South Korea has a reputation for very long work hours. Despite laws limiting the working week to 40 hours, overtime is rampant, fueled by a culture of "more is better." This relentless pace has resulted in overwork-related deaths and has played a part in South Korea having the world's lowest fertility rate. At the same time, the tradition of lifetime employment is fading, exacerbating job insecuri...

While Narendra Modi was able to secure a historic third term as India's Prime Minister in recent elections, he no longer enjoys presiding over an outright parliamentary majority by his party, the BJP. Instead, Modi is now forced to rely on alliance partners, who will likely bristle at his autocratic leadership style and his party's Hindu-nationalist agenda. Yet, Modi will have to find a way to add...

With escalating military conflict between Myanmar's ruling junta and various ethnic armed organisations (or EAOs) in recent months, China is pursuing a delicate balancing act along their shared 2200 km border, juggling its economic interests, security concerns, and regional reputation. While Beijing has traditionally supported the junta, recent events have signalled the limits of such backing as t...

Undersea cables underpin global communication and the digital economy, with between 95-99% of data for international banking, e-commerce, video calls, and intelligence sharing travelling via these largely hidden transoceanic routes. However, this critical multi-billion-dollar infrastructure faces increasing risks from shipping accidents, natural disasters, geopolitical tensions, and sabotage threa...

Almost four decades since Vietnam abandoned Marxist central planning in favour of market socialism, Vietnam is now well integrated in the global supply chain and is an important manufacturing hub for labour-intensive industries like textiles, electronics, and even automobiles. The economic expansion -- powered by foreign investment and exports -- has reshaped Vietnam's labour market, creating high...

For the nearly eight decades since its founding, Pakistan has struggled to find a balance between civilian democratic governance and the power wielded by its armed forces. The military has directly ruled the country for almost half of its existence through coups d’etat and martial law. Even during periods of civilian rule, its influence has loomed large, often described as a "state within a state....

For decades, Iran has skillfully employed a network of proxy militant groups across the broader Middle East to project power and advance its interests, while maintaining an impression of plausible deniability on the global stage. At its core lies a "forward defence" strategy: pushing away or pre-empting threats from Iranian soil. Yet while this approach prioritises security, it also carries risks....