Lim Tai Wei

Lim Tai Wei

Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore

Lim Tai Wei is an adjunct senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore. He is also a visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He is a historian by training and also a specialist on contemporary China and Japan. His academic research interests include energy in world history, as well as the energy and environmental histories of contemporary (1945-present day) Japan and China.

 

A delivery drone, transporting samples to be tested for the Covid-19 coronavirus, lands at a testing facility in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province on 24 May 2022. (AFP)

Drones and robots: Technological aids during the Shanghai lockdown

China has made use of several advanced Industry 4.0 technologies in the fight against Covid-19, especially during the recent Shanghai lockdown. While it remains to be seen if companies will have the capacity to accelerate the production of robots and drones for other uses, their potential has been clearly showcased.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo shows Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a souvenir following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, 29 April 2022. (Muchlis Jr./Indonesia's Presidential Palace/Handout via Reuters)

Kishida’s charm diplomacy in Southeast Asia: Moral suasion does the trick

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visits to Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand have burnished Japan’s regional credentials, particularly on contentious issues such as the war in Ukraine, the South China Sea disputes and the evolving order in the Indo-Pacific.