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June 30, 2026
 

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Andy Mukherjee
As U.S.-backed stablecoins move closer to widespread global adoption, China is preparing to counter growing dollar dominance by expanding the digital yuan and cross-border payment systems in emerging markets.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2026
China will fight back if digital dollars corner global savings
Anything that entrenches the U.S. currency’s hegemony in countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Egypt or Sudan goes against China’s strategic interest.
India’s PM Narendra Modi waves to supporters at BJP headquarters in New Delhi on May 4, the same day he declared victory in West Bengal, a state his party had never ruled.
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2026
Modi’s India is looking like a one-party state
Such a blatant abrogation of individual voting rights is a first in the Indian republic’s 76-year history.
India is facing a shrinking return on college education as artificial intelligence, weak manufacturing growth and an oversupply of graduates limit job opportunities and threaten traditional middle-class pathways.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2026
India, AI and the shrinking premium of college education
As China became the world’s factory in the 21st century, India emerged as its remote office. Both pulled their masses out of poverty by creating new income streams.
China is quietly laying the financial plumbing to weaken the dollar’s dominance by expanding the interest-bearing e-CNY at home and pushing blockchain-based cross-border payment systems abroad.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2026
China tests new payment rails in challenge to ‘King Dollar’
With little fanfare, China’s e-CNY, the official digital currency, has gone from being interest-free cash to a yield-bearing product of commercial banks.
India’s film industry is pivoting from Hindi Bollywood to multilingual southern cinema that dominates box offices with folklore fantasy and regional hits.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2026
Bollywood is no match for India’s new wave cinema
This is the new, multilingual Bollywood, and its main offering is fresh stories, set in new cinematic universes.
India’s reliance on imported gas has created a crisis where LPG cylinders meant for households are scarce for restaurants and small industries, exposing vulnerabilities in the nation’s energy transition.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2026
The war in Iran hits Indian curries — and crematoriums
Commercial kitchens are starting to crater under a severe shortage of liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG.
The Trump administration’s new fees and proposed changes to the H-1B visa system risk undermining the country’s college-to-work pipeline for foreign STEM graduates, potentially damaging American competitiveness.  
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2025
The H-1B visa reset will crush America’s college pipeline
The Department of Homeland Security says it’s moving to a weighted selection process that would “favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher skilled and higher paid aliens.”
China is preparing to counter the rising threat of U.S.-backed digital dollars by leveraging its powerful e-commerce firms and Hong Kong’s crypto-friendly financial system to promote stablecoins tied to local currencies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2025
China is more than ready for U.S. stablecoins
E-commerce prowess and Hong Kong’s financial chops can ward off the threat from digital dollars.
India is experiencing a worrying rise in digital payment scams fueled by rapid growth in instant payment systems.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2025
India’s bank fraud needs a sensible response
It’s time to allow new payment networks. Let them charge fees to offer institutional-grade security to retail customers. 
Donald Trump’s trade war and the dollar’s volatility are prompting Asia’s wealthy to reassess where they park their money, with Hong Kong and Singapore competing for capital as the U.S. loses its appeal as a financial haven.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2025
Trump’s trade war shakes dollar’s haven status and opens door for Asian financial hubs
Trump’s trade policies, even if substantially reversed, have sent a loud message to the Asian affluent classes.
Singapore is positioning itself as a key player in the effort to diversify supply chains away from China, leveraging its proximity to Malaysia’s Johor state.
COMMENTARY
Feb 7, 2025
Singapore finds its seat at the China+1 table
Singapore is positioning itself as a key player in the effort to diversify supply chains away from China.
Bollywood faced a challenging year in 2024, with box-office collections dropping significantly, leading to concerns about a return to lawlessness in Mumbai.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025
Bollywood’s dark past is threatening to return
When everything starts bombing for Bollywood, things take a sinister turn in Mumbai.
Asian banks are shifting focus from trade financing to wealth management and capital markets to offset potential losses from U.S. tariffs and capitalize on growing regional and global wealth.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2024
The wealthy will shield Asian banks from Trump tariffs
Asian banks are shifting focus from trade financing to wealth management and capital markets to offset potential losses from U.S. tariff.
The ultimate challenge for the next government is to balance infrastructure investment with measures that improve household financial stability and income.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2024
India’s election winner has a repair job waiting
The ultimate challenge for the next Indian government is to balance infrastructure investment with measures that improve household financial stability and income.
The real question is whether Hong Kong’s revival plan is moving in the right direction and bettering the lives of most ordinary people.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2024
Is Hong Kong over? The answer lies beyond stock prices
When it comes to determining its future, Hong Kong may have no sway over the big forces, such as China’s policies.
Farmers in India take part in a recent march on New Delhi to demand that minimum crop prices be written into law in scenes reminiscent of protests in 2021. 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2024
India’s farmers are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore
Farmers in India are marching to demand that guaranteed crop prices promised in 2021 be written into law. Will Modi acquiesce like he did three years ago?
A scientist works on a quantum computer at the IBM Quantum lab in Yorktown Heights, New York.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2024
Your money may not survive a quantum heist
Prime numbers have served the internet age well, but the private sector and public authorities can no longer take their continued guardianship for granted.
The yuan's stealthy climb in global payments could see it pose a challenge to the U.S. dollar's dominance.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2023
The yuan is finally showing some muscle in international trade
The yuan’s stealthy climb in global payments could see it pose a challenge to the U.S. dollar’s dominance.
What’s worrying from the stock market’s perspective is that the Reserve Bank of India is taking more direct steps to rein in debt-fueled consumption.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2023
The world’s most-loved emerging market is feeling jittery
India’s economic prosperity is primarily being attributed to a small elite class referred to as the “Octopus class.”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2023
The mighty U.S. dollar can fight off the digital upstarts
The de-dollarization project is counting on blockchain technology to end the greenback’s hegemony. The hope may be misplaced.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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

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