News & Insights

CGTN: INSIGHTS ON CHINA-JAPAN TIES

Chinese and Japanese diplomats have concluded a round of strategic dialogue in Tokyo over the weekend. The resumption of the talks after a seven-year suspension is the latest indication of the revived China-Japan ties. Amid geopolitical uncertainties and escalating trade wars, what can we expect from these neighboring powers with a complicated history? Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, was joined by fellow panellists at CGTN in the discussion.

Donald Trump’s bravado masks unsustainable debt and a go-it-alone approach that’s doomed to fail

Author: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute

Asia Global Institute's Distinguished Fellow Andrew Sheng says that the US is playing hardball with other economies now, but without cooperation it can’t devalue its dollar. It will need other countries’ help when the good times come to an end.

CGTN: Marriage a growing 'taboo' in East Asia

In East Asia, the decline of marriage has gradually become a new phenomenon. Compared to the elder generation, more young women prefer to stay single rather than tying the knot as a necessity. They are rejecting traditions of becoming a wife or a mother for various reasons. What's the social and economic impact? Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, shared his view at CGTN.

Trade war demonstrates the advantages of “Two Systems” and the rise of Hong Kong’s economic value

In the interview with Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly, Professor Zhiwu Chen, director of AGI, said that when the trade war becomes an economic war, Hong Kong’s economic value to the mainland will only increase. Hong Kong’s unique position is founded on the “One Country, Two Systems”, which ensures the special role and value of Hong Kong’s capital market and its separate customs territory. This unique role has become even more prominent during the recent conflicts between China and the US.

The Inequality of Nations

Author: Michael Spence, Advisory Board Co-Chair, Asia Global Institute

Michael Spence, Advisory Board Co-Chair of Asia Global Institute, thinks the eighteenth-century British economist Adam Smith’s failure to consider the market’s distributional effects has come back to haunt us.

Self-Harm in Hong Kong

Authors: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute / Xiao Geng, President, Hong Kong Institution for International Finance

Asia Global Institute's Distinguished Fellow Andrew Sheng and Professor Xiao Geng argue that preserving Hong Kong’s position as a stable and reliable bridge between China and the rest of the world is in everyone’s interest. The first step will be to conduct a serious discussion about how to balance the autonomy promised by “two systems” with the sovereignty guaranteed by “one country.” Hong Kong’s people must make a vital calculation. As the most international part of China, Hong Kong has a major role to play in shaping China’s ongoing global integration and encouraging openness. If it abdicates this role, China’s central government will forge ahead anyway, leaving Hong Kong behind.

Now in the grip of populist identity politics, we need more than economic solutions

According to Andrew Sheng, distinguished fellow of AGI, "From the ‘yellow vest’ protests in France to the anti-extradition demonstrations in Hong Kong, race and identity lie at the heart of the recent wave of populism. Such is the outcome when economic inequalities aren’t tackled early enough."

Bastille Day and global populist uprising

Author: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute

Is populism defined by economics or culture? Asia Global Institute's Distinguished Fellow Andrew Sheng argues that if it is economics alone, the right economic policies can deal with economic inequalities and regional imbalances. But if it is culture and values, then there are fewer policy options, making the structural changes much tougher to solve. In reality, even if there are good policies available to deal with inequities, the politics have become so polarized that it seems impossible to arrive at the right mix of policies. To prevent populism sliding into chaos, it will take careful diagnosis before the right way forward toward reconciliation, compromise and rebuilding of trust can occur.

CGTN: INSIGHTS ON SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN TRADE ROW

South Korea and Japan are at loggerheads over export curbs. What's at stake? Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, was joined by fellow panellists at CGTN in the discussion.

Condivergence: Of power, energy and politics

Author: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute

In his Convedivergence series, Andrew Sheng, Distinguished Fellow of Asia Global Institute, discusses the dynamite mix of power, geopolitics and energy.

The Power of Three: How US-China-Japan Dynamics Shape Asia Pacific

Author: Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor, Asia Global Institute

The relationships among the United States, China and Japan have emerged as the world’s most important trilateral network. China’s political system and ideology are unlikely to converge with those of the US and Japan, which means mutual distrust will remain for the long term. But with the strong and assured leadership of Prime Minister Abe, Japan could be the lynchpin the keeps US-China relations from going off the rails, writes Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Asia Global Institute.

The “Digital Revolution” of Wellbeing

Author: Michael Spence, Advisory Board Co-Chair, Asia Global Institute

Michael Spence, Advisory Board Co-Chair of Asia Global Institute, considers the impact of new technologies on how we think - or should think - about economic benefits and costs.

Condivergence: To act or not to act

Author: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute

We have to make decisions every day under uncertainty. But after every decision, we have to act or not act. In his Convedivergence series, Andrew Sheng, Distinguished Fellow of Asia Global Institute, says that there are few certainties and only growing uncertainties force us to make decisions and choices about the future.

CGTN: Insights on China-Japan relations with the upcoming G20 summit in Osaka

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first trip to Japan since taking office in 2013 for the G20 summit. Are China-Japan ties ready to blossom? Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, was joined by fellow panellists at CGTN in the discussion.

Xi’s Calculations and Abe’s Ambitions

Author: Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor, Asia Global Institute

In this New York Times op-ed, Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, discusses the threats and opportunities to Japan brought by the trade war between China and US. He also explores the two ‘realistic’ and two ‘idealistic’ goals Shinzo Abe would like to achieve through diplomacy during the rest of his term as Japan’s prime minister.

Corporate America in the Crossfire

Authors: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute / Xiao Geng, President, Hong Kong Institution for International Finance

Asia Global Institute's Distinguished Fellow Andrew Sheng and Professor Xiao Geng show why US multinationals will be the biggest losers in Donald's Trump's trade war with China.

Condivergence: Dilemmas versus trilemmas

Author: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute

In his Convedivergence series, Andrew Sheng, Distinguished Fellow of Asia Global Institute, argues that the real “penta-lemma” that the whole world faces is how to square off people, planet and profits with two other Ps, namely politics and paradigms. These five factors are closely interrelated because it is the inability to deliver the first three - social equality, green living and good income - that politics has become toxic. We are living in a world where everything has become more complex and unpredictable. A new paradigm is urgently needed for a new age of technology, inequality and global warming.

CGTN: Insights on Abe's recent visit to Iran

Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, was joined by fellow panellists at CGTN to discuss implications of Abe's recent visit to Iran. Can Japan position itself as a neutral intermediary in Middle East politics?

How the Rules-Based International Order Took Root

Author: Zhiwu Chen, Director, Asia Global Institute

The governance gap between the US and China - the former focuses on the rule of law, the latter on the rule by the Communist Party - suggests differences in their perceptions of the nature of a rules-based international order. Zhiwu Chen, Director of Asia Global Institute, says that this disconnect can be better understood by looking at how, at the beginning of the 20th century, lawyer-diplomats took over from military generals in negotiating international treaties.

US-China trade war talks collapsed due to ‘culture gap’ in understanding of law, professor says

An article in the South China Morning Post covering the perspectives of Zhiwu Chen, Director of Asia Global Institute, on how trade talks between China and the United States collapsed and Chinese and American officials failed to reach a deal.

Could the US and China Have Avoided Escalating Their Trade War?

Author: Zhiwu Chen, Director, Asia Global Institute

Zhiwu Chen, Director of Asia Global Institute, says that the rise in trade tensions between the US and China may be due to the American side’s failure to appreciate the implications of China’s not being a rule-of-law country – that administrative action, not laws on the books, get things done in China.

CGTN: Comments on Trump’s recent visit to Japan

Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, was joined by fellow panellists at CGTN to discuss implications of Trump’s recent visit to Japan.

Condivergence: The duality of life

Author: Andrew Sheng, Member, Asia Global Institute

In his Condivergence series in The Edge Malaysia, Andrew Sheng, Distinguished Fellow of Asia Global Institute, says the polarisation in society that we witness today is a reversion to a more fundamentalist outlook of the social, religious and political levels, driven by the widespread social technology. He believes this is the greatest irony of the duality of life. Social media technology, which promised to narrow access to information and result in convergence of society (reduction in social income, wealth and knowledge), has instead created greater divergence of society.

RTHK: Interview on US-China Trade War

Alejandro T. Reyes, Director of Knowledge Dissemination of Asia Global Institute, was joined by fellow panellists at RTHK to discuss the US-China trade war.

Paper on Sino-Japanese Relations by Yoshikazu Kato

Author: Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor, Asia Global Institute

Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, has written a review paper on Sino-Japanese relations. He explains how the two countries can overcome dilemmas and manage the complicated bilateral relations more effectively as they enter a new “Two Giants” era in the history of East Asia.

CGTN: INSIGHTS ON Emperor Naruhito and the role of Japan's monarchy

Yoshikazu Kato, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asia Global Institute, speaks with CGTN on the priorities of Emperor Naruhito, Japan’s relations with the US, China and South Korea in the era of Reiwa and Trump’s recent visit to Japan.

Beyond Unemployment

Author: Michael Spence, Advisory Board Co-Chair, Asia Global Institute

Michael Spence, Advisory Board Co-Chair of Asia Global Institute, explores the many dimensions of employment that determine an economy's health - and a workforce's wellbeing.