Asia Matters Podcast Asia Matters

The extraordinary rise of China’s electric vehicle market is one of the most remarkable business stories of our times. In just over a decade, the country has come to account for over half of global EV sales, and is now home to some of the world’s biggest EV makers. One of them, BYD, recently overtook Tesla as the world ‘s largest EV producer.How has this happened? What’s been the response in other countries? And where next for electric vehicles, as the way we buy, run and use our cars un...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has appeared in a slew of new propaganda videos, promoting technological advances in the regime’s nuclear program and issuing warnings to South Korea and its allies. For the first time since the Korean War was paused seven decades ago, the dictator has talked about South Korea as an enemy, rather than part of a peninsula that had to be reunified under the regime, marking a historic shift. As Pyongyang reinforces its military cooperation with Moscow, steppi...

Asia is the most exciting and consequential region in the world today. Its countries - all with diverse political systems and complex, fascinating histories - are home to 4.3 billion people, who together generate about two thirds of global growth.But it's also where some of the planet's most high-stakes disputes play out on a daily basis: China's menacing of Taiwan; the North Korean nuclear threat; and the ongoing civil war in Myanmar.In short, Asia Matters.Asia Matters is the podcast where w...

It's a big week for Chinese politics as its annual political conclave gets under way in Beijing. Amid the pomp and heightened security, the Two Sessions is an important preview of the government's plans and policies for the year ahead. And increasingly over the last decade, that roadmap has been underpinned by the instructions of China's leader and the doctrine named for him - Xi Jinping Thought. But despite the fact that his decisions affect so many, Xi’s beliefs and what guides h...

Diplomats, policy-makers and experts gathered at the Brussels Indo-Pacific Dialogue, hosted by our partners at the Center for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy.Participants shared their insights on the key issues that make this moment arguably the most consequential since World War II: conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, trade wars, supply chains, economic security, artificial intelligence, and more. To better understand what's at stake, CSDS-Asia Matters' Andrew Peaple traveled to ...

In January the world's eyes were on Taiwan as the self-ruled island held elections. Now the dust has settled, what is the significance of the results, both for Taiwan itself and for the wider international community? The Democratic Progressive Party has now won its third presidential election in a row, with Lai Ching-te, or William Lai, set to become Taiwan’s new leader in May. But the outcome in the country’s Legislative Yuan – the equivalent to its parliament — was more of a mixed...