Headlines

Japan’s Idemitsu Maru allowed through Hormuz, history in tow

The Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), Idemitsu Maru, has passed through the Strait of Hormuz on its way to Nagoya with a cargo of 2 million barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia. The vessel also carries a reminder that it was the Japanese oil refiner

Asia

Orban’s departure shuts China’s back door into the EU

The recent electoral defeat of Viktor Orban has drawn widespread attention, with most commentary focused on its implications for Europe and the Russia-Ukraine war. Yet this emphasis overlooks a broader strategic consequence: the potential disruption of China’s approach to

Asia

China again touts benefits of union with Taiwan, Taipei rebuffs

BEIJING/TAIPEI, April 29 - Taiwan's economy will see unprecedented opportunities should it agree to union with China, Beijing said on Wednesday as it continues to try to persuade Taipei to accept its rule, which President Lai Ching-te's government has repeatedly rejected.

Asia

Decouple from China? Beijing now has a law against it

China’s new law on Industrial and Supply Chain Security, which took effect immediately in early April, introduces a significant new layer of regulatory oversight targeting cross-border industrial activity and global supply chains. It will inevitably have far-reaching

Asia

Strait of Malacca could be next Hormuz-like flashpoint

While recent global attention has focused on the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively held closed since late February in a move that has disrupted world energy supplies, a quieter but also important development has been taking shape in south-east Asia. On April 14, the

Asia

Toll the Malacca Strait — and price out American hegemony

On April 22, Indonesia’s finance minister went off-topic during a symposium and raised the possibility of tolling the Strait of Malacca in light of the current Hormuz crisis, drawing swift rejections from the foreign ministers of Singapore, Malaysia and even Indonesia. All

Asia