Politics Archives - The Singapore Post

China widens anti-corruption net to catch ‘quasi-naked officials’

19Feb

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

China widens anti-corruption net to catch ‘quasi-naked officials’

Beijing has quietly tightened restrictions on officials with family members overseas in the past year as part of a sweeping anti-corruption drive, according to sources. Three people familiar with the situation said inspections had been carried out since early last year within government bodies and state-owned enterprises to scrutinise the overseas connections of top officials and executives. In the past, such inspections have sought to identify “naked officials” – those whose spouses and children live overseas. The group has long been a target of Beijing’s anti-corruption watchdog. The latest inspections have broadened to include another category known as “quasi-naked officials”, according to a Communist Party insider who spoke under the condition of anonymity

India’s trade options with Russia-China-USA are high-stakes politics

9Feb

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

India’s trade options with Russia-China-USA are high-stakes politics

In 2026, American economist Jeffrey Sachs warned India against falling for “America’s tricks” amid rising US tariff pressures, advising, “Don’t close the options with China. Don’t close the options with Russia… Don’t let the United States say, ‘Well, you’re with us, you’re against them, Sachs noted that the US may attempt to “weaken” India as it grows successful, urging independence. Based on the most recent developments as of February 2026, the situation regarding a US-India trade deal is moving from a phase of “intent” to an interim agreement that addresses specific trade tensions. Still a comprehensive Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) is still some distance from being finalized. The fine print on the final agreement could feel and be different from what is actually being discusse

Takaichi’s Taiwan Gamble Escalates Japan-China Tensions

7Feb

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Takaichi’s Taiwan Gamble Escalates Japan-China Tensions

Takaichi’s earlier remarks on Taiwan have made foreign policy a key pillar of the election campaign, signalling a harder security line that has intensified tensions with China Just three months into her prime ministership, Sanae Takaichi announced a snap election scheduled for 8 February, seeking to legitimise her policy agenda through a popular mandate and to strengthen the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) position in the lower house. While the campaign has focused primarily on domestic economic issues, such as the rising cost of living, tax relief, wage growth, subsidies, and social welfare, foreign policy and diplomacy also feature prominently as one of the five pillars of the party’s election platform (令和8年政策パンフレット). In unveiling the manifesto, Takayuki Kobayashi, Cha

Political division in the US surged from 2008 onward, study suggests

4Feb

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Political division in the US surged from 2008 onward, study suggests

Divisions within the US population on social and political issues have increased by 64% since 1988, with almost all this coming after 2008, according to a study tracking polarization from the end of the Reagan era to the dawn of Trump's second term. How US polarization surged after 2008 The University of Cambridge's Political Psychology Lab analyzed opinions on a wide range of issues—from abortion and equality to traditional values—over almost four decades, and found polarization almost flatlined during the nineties and noughties. However, starting in 2008—the year of the financial crisis, Obama taking office, and the launch of Apple's App Store and iPhone 3G—divisions across the board steadily rose, research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science shows

Bangladesh election: What’s at stake for India, China, Pakistan?

4Feb

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Bangladesh election: What’s at stake for India, China, Pakistan?

As Bangladesh prepares to hold its first elections since the overthrow of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party in 2024, neighbours India, Pakistan and China are watching closely. Bangladesh is currently being governed by an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. The two main parties competing for power in this month’s polls are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JIB), both of which began campaigning in late January. The Awami League, which has historically had close ties with India, has been barred from these elections because of its role in the brutal crackdown on student-led protests in 2024. Hasina, 78, currently in exile in India, was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be use

Trump launched a tech war with China that he fails to win

22Jan

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Trump launched a tech war with China that he fails to win

US President Donald Trump’s tech war with China has shifted global power politics, targeting chips, AI, and data dominance. Beijing excels in the Artificial Intelligence race with advanced AI tools scaling up the tech war along with speed and innovation. It was processed that Trump’s tech war against China is inevitable as cooperation in science and technology has been an integral part of American life. Although America always exercised tight technology exports over China, hoping to spur China’s political development in their desired direction. As time passed, US-China relations became increasingly tense, the Trump administration continued to launch tech war against China, which impacted the bilateral relations between the two states which affected the futu

China’s AI ambitions meet the politics of global supply chains

20Jan

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

China’s AI ambitions meet the politics of global supply chains

The US military operation against the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has exacerbated the already strained US relationship with Latin America, with far-reaching implications beyond the region. The episode unfolded in the context of China’s increasing involvement in Venezuela, underscoring the extent to which Latin America’s resource diplomacy has been caught up in the great power competition. China’s stance towards this crisis has been illustrative of its typical foreign policy ‘duality,’ featuring a strong rhetorical stance towards US unilateral intervention with cautious non-actions. This measured stance enables China to establish itself as a defender of sovereignty and the international norms, as well as keep minimal risks in the game of influence in a region where US influe

Will Japan build nuclear weapons? Why China’s concerns are unfounded, for now

12Jan

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Will Japan build nuclear weapons? Why China’s concerns are unfounded, for now

Tensions are growing in east Asia. The threat of a Chinese attack on Taiwan persists and, in recent weeks, North Korea has been testing its long-range missile capabilities. Russia’s reorientation of ties from Europe towards Asia is also accelerating and the America First rhetoric of Donald Trump is raising questions about the commitment of the US president to his country’s east Asian allies. In navigating this context, Japan has returned to one of its recurring national debates: whether it should possess nuclear weapons. This debate was reignited in December following comments from an unnamed government security adviser that they believe Japan should have nuclear weapons given the severity of the surrounding security environment. The Japanese government swiftly reaffirmed its co

Democracy Is a Mental Habit That We’re Breaking. Time to Relearn.

3Jan

By Nectar GanNo Comments

Democracy Is a Mental Habit That We’re Breaking. Time to Relearn.

Long after Trump is gone, the damage will remain. Each of us needs to find a path back. At the close of 2025, many progressive commentators were seizing on any glimmer of hope that America’s march toward authoritarianism might be slowing to a crawl. On Dec. 26, the New York Times’ Michelle Goldberg proclaimed that “Trump Is Getting Weaker, and the Resistance Is Getting Stronger.” Goldberg quoted Leah Greenberg, a founder of the resistance group Indivisible, who said that while Donald Trump “has been able to do extraordinary damage that will have generational effects, he has not successfully consolidated power. That has been staved off, and it has been staved off not, frankly, due to the efforts of pretty much anyone in elite institutions or political leadership but due

Get ready for one of the most important U.S. midterm election years in modern times

31Dec

By Nectar GanNo Comments

Get ready for one of the most important U.S. midterm election years in modern times

The United States approaches the new year as a Lego Technic set, full of moving parts. Many of those parts are familiar: The gears, motors and functions of American political life remain the same. Their movements, however, are changing, subtly but significantly, as the pins and pneumatics shift under the influence – if not always the control – of Donald Trump, who is wheeling turbocharged into the second year of his second term, and the MAGA movement, whose ultimate direction is uncertain. That movement, along with the two major political parties, face internal struggles that will determine their form and influence in the months ahead, an unusually tense political period that is shaping up to be one of the most important, most combustible, non-presidential years in modern times.