South Korea sharpening its leading edge in chips

By Andrew Salmon
As semiconductor supply shortages keep their grip on global attention, South Korea is investing and earning on a grand scale, reinforcing its position in a crucial sector that is seeing growth in both capacity and strategic value-added. Key chipmakers Samsung and SK hynix will remain atop the crucial industry for years to come.

China squeezes Cambodia for its Covid app data

By Bertil Lintner
When Cambodia rolled out a so-called “Stop Covid-19” QR code contact tracing app system to prevent the spread of the lethal virus, rights groups immediately rang the alarm, warning that stepped-up surveillance of the population would ultimately put “government critics and activists at greater risk.” What they didn’t foresee was the China factor.

G7: Desperately seeking relevancy

Subscribe to AT+ premium to read Pepe Escobar’s take on the upcoming G7 meeting in Cornwall. A Sinophobic crusade pursued by the grouping will have few if any takers, he says, due to members' rising dependence on Chinese goods and markets. What matters is the G20.

What to expect when Biden meets Erdogan

By M K Bhadrakumar
Expectations are soaring in Ankara over the forthcoming meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Brussels. Erdogan said recently, “I believe that our meeting with Biden at the NATO summit will be the harbinger of a new era.”

China struggles to hold back yuan appreciation

By David P. Goldman
China’s export performance creates a massive imbalance of supply and demand for its currency. Chinese exporters are selling excess dollars to buy yuan, and the People’s Bank of China appears to be buying dollars on the open market to slow the appreciation of the Chinese currency.

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Virus be damned: Tokyo’s Games must go on

By Howard Snyder
Despite widespread concern about Tokyo 2020 becoming a superspreader event and polls showing that up to 80% of the Japanese public opposes the Games, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics will open on July 23 after a one-year postponement. Money, face and inertia compel Japan's Olympics to steam ahead at all costs – and these are considerable.

Power outages crimp China’s industrial comeback

By Frank Chen
Electricity production in southern China has been hamstrung by drought, and power shortages and outages that plagued much of China last year are back in the industrial south, crucially at a time Guangdong factories are revving hot to meet rising demand in the post-pandemic West.

China moves forward in soft power struggle for SE Asia

By Mark Valencia
The June 7-8 meetings between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his ASEAN counterparts – both as a group and bilaterally – in Chongqing was just the latest advance by China in its burgeoning contest with the US for the hearts and minds of Southeast Asia. Despite some recent self-inflicted setbacks, overall China seems to be gaining ground.

Missile mayhem: Army, Air Force in budget fight

By Dave Makichuk
The gloves are off at the Pentagon as Air Force and Army leaders trade insults over which branches of the military should secure long-range strike capabilities, as they each look to revamp their warfighting roles. Following decades of counterinsurgency ops, the Army has made long-range precision fires a top priority.