Building for family glory: Guangdong’s architecture of success

A fairer map? Why the US said no

A recent UN resolution backing the Equal Earth projection highlights how global mapmaking is as much about political power and ideological perception as it is about geographic accuracy and digital technology. Academic Zhang Tiankan gives his take on the matter.

Zhang Tiankan

Bilahari Kausikan: On international law and foreign policy

Former Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan sounds the reminder that abiding by international law is a choice countries make in their own national interest, and that serving the latter is the only consistency in countries’ foreign policy, in a speech delivered at the Law Society of Singapore’s Public International Law Conference on 3 September 2026. This is an edited version of the transcript.

Bilahari Kausikan

In Shanghai, style now arrives before experience

While on the surface, life in China’s urban cities are becoming more shiny, more aestheticised, look closer and one sees that contemporary culture in China everywhere has become a rapid localisation of modernity itself, says Lianhe Zaobao foreign journalist Fio Zhang.

Fio Zhang

Inside the US$50 billion rise of Moonshot AI

China’s Moonshot AI’s impressive open-weight Kimi K3 model sent shockwaves through the tech world in the last few months, triggering geopolitical rhetoric, a US$50 billion valuation explosion and a cut-throat price war.

Caixin Global

[Big read] As Asia’s food delivery giants rejig the pie, who will win the market?

Asia-Pacific’s food delivery ecosystem is shifting as Delivery Hero retreats and giants like Grab and Meituan fight for the market. Lianhe Zaobao business journalist Thomas Li Tao speaks with market insiders to find out more.

Thomas Li Tao

How Singaporean hotelier Cinn Tan is building a global brand

She chased clients in high heels, endured harsh northern winters on Chinese cabbage and built hotels across China. Now, hotelier Cinn Tan is turning decades of experience into a vision for a truly Singaporean global hotel brand. Lianhe Zaobao senior writer Wang Hwee Wen interviews her to find out more.

Wang Hwee Wen

BRICS must implement what it proposes

As long as BRICS cannot find a way to set implementation rules for its proposals, it can only target low-hanging fruit such as collaboration in health and food security, says ISAS academic Amitendu Palit.

Amitendu Palit

Small wins in an ‘infinite game’: The limits of Xi-Trump talks

Xi and Trump may meet again, but a breakthrough looks elusive. Taiwan, AI and tariffs expose deepening divides, leaving the two powers to manage tensions rather than resolve their rivalry. Lianhe Zaobao China news editor Yang Danxu examines the issue.

Yang Danxu

The limits of Takaichi’s ‘Japan is back’

Armed with a commanding electoral mandate, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wants to revitalise Japan’s economy, rebuild its technological edge, strengthen its military and take a tougher line on China. But multiple challenges are exposing the risks of trying to pursue all these ambitions at once, notes academic Tan Kong Yam.

Tan Kong Yam

When politics divides, can content creators bring China and Japan together?

Chinese and Japanese content creators are crossing the political divide one video at a time — challenging stereotypes and keeping the people of both sides connected, even as their influence can only go so far. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Lee Chan Hui tells us more.

Lee Chan Hui

Time to ‘pace’ AI development?

Even as US tech leaders warn of losing control over AI, China makes the point that AI risks should not slow development down. This is an example of other factors that could decide the US-China AI race, more than technology alone, says commentator Deng Yuwen.

Deng Yuwen

Can China burn away Indonesia’s waste crisis?

Indonesia awarded 11 waste-to-energy (WtE) projects in under a year. It should not come at a surprise that Chinese firms won most of them, and are also making inroads in other Southeast Asian capitals. But WtE comes with tradeoffs, say researchers Kevin Zongzhe Li and Genevieve Donnellon-May.

Kevin Zongzhe Li, Genevieve Donnellon-May

[Big read] Can new industries lure talent back to China’s rust belt?

The affordable and idyllic life in Liaoning, Shenyang and Heilongjiang are drawing young professionals back home, but some are torn by the low wages, scarce job opportunities and an economy struggling to transform. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei speaks with these returnees.

Sim Tze Wei

Who was the most consequential emperor in Chinese history?

Hint: it is someone you have probably never heard of, who might have played a role in China’s AI takeoff, says Professor Yasheng Huang.

Yasheng Huang

Dreame and Unitree: Are China’s young tech founders sabotaging themselves?

Dreame’s Yu Hao and Unitree’s Wang Xingxing have taken very different paths to the top. Their contrasting leadership styles point to a common challenge for young founders: knowing when to put themselves forward and when to let the company take centre stage, says Chinese commentator Ni Tao.

Ni Tao

BRICS is built on economic grievance, not geopolitics

The wrong question to ask about BRICS is its geopolitical coherence. Instead, the right one is how far it has pursued its reform agenda and utilised its own tools, says Indian researcher Anushka Saxena.

Anushka Saxena

Xi Jinping’s tech diplomacy meets harsh realities of BRICS

BRICS is gaining cohesion, but internal divisions remain. As it seeks a bigger global role, China is using AI cooperation to expand its network of partners, promote its standards and gain an edge over the US. Lianhe Zaobao China news correspondent Edwin Ong reports.

Edwin Ong

Powerless in the classroom: Why Taiwanese teachers are quitting

Schools are struggling to fill vacancies even as tens of thousands of qualified teachers remain outside the profession. Competition from the technology sector, mounting workplace pressures and fears of parental complaints are making teaching an increasingly difficult career to sell, notes Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Lai Oi Lai.

Lai Oi Lai