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When it comes to converting foreign direct investment into income growth and technological upgrading, Shenzhen, China, has been far more successful than Penang, Malaysia. The reason is simple: Shenzhen, unlike Penang, supported the rise of innovative local businesses.
In Asian media this week: Imran Khan the ‘winner’ in Pakistan elections. Plus: China’s BYD overtaking Tesla; West really thinks it’s a jungle out there; Thai activists arrested for disrupting royal convoy; PLA not able to invade Taiwan; the land where pet strollers outnumber baby buggies.
When US President Joe Biden was asked last September whether American forces would defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack, he replied in the affirmative, but included a caveat: “if, in fact, there was an unprecedented attack.” But an “unprecedented attack” is precisely what Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to avoid.
During the pandemic, governments in ASEAN and Northeast Asia spent big to support their economies. But pandemic-era policies must now be unwound against a backdrop of slower economic growth, higher inflation, and increased debt.
The recent weakness of China’s economic performance largely reflects the temporary costs of necessary policy interventions rather than presaging long-term decline.