author

 
 

Meta

Rosalind Mathieson
Beijing recently leaned on countries including the Czech Republic to deny Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's plane passage for a planned visit to Africa.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 12, 2026
Taiwan’s ‘Dumpling Alliance’ fades under China’s economic squeeze
How the relationships of Eastern European states and Taiwan evolve under the informal alliance bears watching as China tries to peel partners away from Taiwan.
Inside a compound at the Chong Chom OSmach border crossing that authorities say was used for scam operations in Cambodia on March 12
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 8, 2026
Cambodia scam centers increase despite crackdown, report says
Cambodia, alongside Myanmar and Laos, has become a hub for scam compounds where trafficked workers are often forced to carry out fraud schemes.
"I’ve been doing this for 40 years and it just keeps getting worse,” Bunyut Chaosamut said. "We are sea people; we can’t just quit and start growing rice or planting rubber trees.”
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 22, 2026
Southeast Asia’s fishermen are being pushed to the brink by fuel costs
High fuel prices linked to the Iran war are hitting Southeast Asia’s seafood industry hard, forcing boats to stay ashore and raising costs across the supply chai
The semiconductor industry and related electronics sector together account for around 17% of Taiwan’s economy.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
May 7, 2026
Hormuz crisis shows gaps in Taiwan’s high-tech ‘silicon shield’
The factors that make Taiwan an economic powerhouse — its successful technology industry and artificial intelligence-driven chipmaking — are also the ones making it vulnerable.
The Yehliu headland in northern Taiwan has long served as both a fishing ground and a strategically defended area, with natural rock formations and coastal cliffs historically used to monitor maritime routes approaching Taipei.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 13, 2026
Taiwan plans drills to break potential Chinese energy blockade
A blockage would not be just Taiwan’s problem but that of the entire region, the island’s deputy interior minister says.
Chinese citizens outside the embassy in Phnom Penh
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 8, 2026
After the raids, Asia’s billion-dollar scam trade flickers back
Despite evidence of a scam-center crackdown being apparent all over Cambodia’s capital, operations still come back. Turns out, stopping scammers is tricky business.
Shwe Kokko city, a casino, entertainment, and tourism complex,from Thailand's side of the border after Bangkok said it would suspend electricity supply to some border areas with Myanmar to try to curb scam centers, in the Mae Sot district, Thailand, on Feb. 5, 2025
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 10, 2026
AI helps scam centers evade crackdown in Asia and dupe more victims
Rather than be eradicated, Interpol officials see scam centers as more likely to evolve as artificial intelligence allows operators to scale up at low cost.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival