Dear ST reader,
Happy New Year. We hope you’ve been keeping well.
In our Asian Insider newsletter this week, we look at what’s in store for the region in 2023 as China reopens and inflation persists. In India, a weather-beaten Rahul Gandhi continues his months-long nationwide walk to shore up support while Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr strikes accords with President Xi Jinping on his first state visit to China.
The year ahead
More geopolitical tensions and economic woes are on the horizon for 2023, writes associate editor Ravi Velloor in his Speaking of Asia column, but there will be some bright spots in the form of stable Asean governments and advances in healthcare. Our correspondents take a more hopeful view, as they list their wishes for the year ahead in our latest edition of ST Asian Insider.
Read more:
Crypto hits pause in South-east Asia
China returns to the world stage
China is embarking on a large-scale campaign to win friends and regain its global influence, with President Xi visiting Arab and African leaders and attending the G-20 and Apec meetings in Indonesia and Thailand. But it will not be plain sailing all the way, writes Danson Cheong in this latest edition of Power Play.
Listen: Choppy waters ahead for US-China
Read more: Red carpet and pacts for Marcos Jr
Can Rahul’s walking tour win votes?
Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi has covered over 3,000km on foot as part of his Unite India march which began in September. The political scion's stunt has drawn crowds, but has yet to revive his party's prospects, reports India bureau chief Nirmala Ganapathy.
Politics elsewhere: Malaysia's Umno reins in fights before party polls
India pushes strategic infrastructure on Andaman islands
Amid China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean, India is speeding up ambitious plans to convert the strategically-situated Andaman and Nicobar Islands into a shipping and tourism hub with connections to South-east Asia.
Bumper year-end bonus
Step aside bankers. Taiwanese shipping giant Evergreen Marine has rewarded employees with year-end bonuses worth between 10 and 52 months of salary each, after posting bumper profits. Bonus envy however caused workers in other businesses of the group to go on strike, reports Yip Wai Yee from Taipei.
Covid sent Chinese camping
China’s nascent camping scene got a boost during the pandemic, as young, affluent Chinese looking to satiate their wanderlust discovered the great outdoors, reports Elizabeth Law in the latest dispatch of Letter from the Bureau.
