Artificial Intelligence

Japan’s weak yen masks a structural crisis

The falling yen dominates headlines. But Japan’s currency woes are only a symptom of deeper structural weaknesses that no exchange rate or interest rate alone can fix. Professor Tan Kong Yam examines the challenges ahead.

Tan Kong Yam

16 Jul 2026

How geopolitics rewired China’s economy

Looking beyond the numbers of China’s published half-year economic data, it is clear that structural changes in China’s economy are taking place, which will have broader effects in the longer term, says academic Gu Qingyang.

Gu Qingyang

15 Jul 2026

[Big read] One Taiwan, two speeds: The winners and losers of the AI boom

Taiwan’s AI boom is driving record growth and stock market highs, but beneath the prosperity, widening inequality and geopolitical risks threaten its long-term advantage. Lianhe Zaobao Taipei correspondent Lai Oi Lai speaks with experts and people on the ground to find out.

Lai Oi Lai

15 Jul 2026

One size fits none: Why China’s top-down disaster response must evolve

From tornadoes in Hubei to flooding in Guangxi and Typhoon Bavi threatening Zhejiang, China is confronting increasingly diverse climate risks. The challenge is no longer just rapid mobilisation, but adapting disaster response to vastly different regional realities. EAI deputy director Chen Gang analyses the issue.

Chen Gang

14 Jul 2026

Is China a threat, or just out-engineering everyone?

Inverting Joseph Needham’s questions about the failure of modern science in China gives us a framework to understand China’s advances in science and innovation today, especially its edge in AI, says academic Erik Baark.

Erik Baark

13 Jul 2026

Human stories without humans: Has AI degraded China’s micro-dramas?

As AI slashes the cost and time needed to produce micro-dramas, China’s hottest entertainment trend is raising difficult questions about creativity, labour and who really profits. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Lim Zhan Ting speaks to industry insiders.

Lim Zhan Ting

10 Jul 2026

Cheap, fast and everywhere: Why China leads AI adoption

The tech race is not just about building the smartest AI — it is about who uses it first. China’s mature ecosystems and practical demands are driving hyper-rapid adoption, beating the US and other markets, says academic Huijuan Peng.

Huijuan Peng

09 Jul 2026

[Big read] Why Beijing wants its citizens to lose weight

China’s obesity crisis is growing despite a nationwide campaign to reverse it. Why is the problem getting worse? Lianhe Zaobao China journalist Meng Dandan speaks with experts and ordinary Chinese to find out.

Meng Dandan

08 Jul 2026

Beneath the sea, China tests the future of AI power

China is retooling its AI boom around energy, deploying underwater data centres, long-distance computing transfers and smart storage to balance surging power demand under its “computing-power synergy” drive.

Caixin Global

06 Jul 2026

Winning the AI race without an OpenAI

Countries don’t need to build the next OpenAI to lead in AI. The real advantage lies in embedding AI across the economy, institutions and public services faster than everyone else, argue researchers Laurence Liew and Willie Shi.

Laurence Liew, Willie Jianzheng Shi

02 Jul 2026

‘We’re not that wealthy’: Beijing’s answer to China Shock 2.0

As trade tensions flare, China’s leadership is fiercely defending Chinese enterprises and rejecting the Western narrative of China as a threat. Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong takes a look at the key takeaways of Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s speech during the Summer Davos forum.

Han Yong Hong

26 Jun 2026

How AI is rewiring white-collar work in China

AI was supposed to boost productivity. Instead, for many Chinese workers, it has meant layoffs, lower pay and shrinking job security as companies reshape work around doing more with less.

Caixin Global

26 Jun 2026