Asia

South Korea has put forth a “Green New Deal”, whose ambiguous targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and failure to propose a just transition to clean energy make the program unworthy of its name.

In Asia, the pandemic has accelerated efforts to keep citizens informed through prompt and extensive data sharing. However, this new openness has also led to concerns regarding transparency, data protection, and democratic participation.

We spoke with Peter Kua – data science strategist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of the Disruptive Tech Institute in Kuala Lumpur – to discuss the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation for Malyasian SMEs trying to survive the pandemic.

The pandemic has increased calls for a national ID system to improve access to relief funds. Experts say that the proposed plan may not work and may put data security and privacy at risk.

In Singapore and South Korea, fact-checking initiatives have been effective in fighting Covid-19 disinformation. But other tactics – like confusing or overly broad laws – could be used to maintain political power. 

The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic has forced governments around the world to adopt drastic fiscal responses. Moving from relief to stimulus provides an opportunity to avoid carbon-dependent, unjust, and unhealthy investments and to ensure a climate- friendly, and socially and environmentally just recovery.

Covid-19 has shown us the limits of our current socio-economic structure and the neoclassical economics upon which it is based. It is time for the progressive left to put forth a Green New Deal for economic recovery and take on the climate crisis, the economic crisis and the inequalities of our time.

East Asians take the hosting of major sporting events very seriously. The three previous Summer Olympics in East Asia all had symbolic meanings for the respective hosts and for the Olympic movement. But the Coronacrisis has upset Japanese ambitions for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, bringing not just additional socio-economic costs but casting a shadow over Prime Minister Abe's political legacy.

From rural live-streaming to coordinating medical care, technology platforms in China have taken on a central role during the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic accelerated trends that further cement these companies as key infrastructure providers working in close tandem with the state – but this cozy relationship comes at a cost to many.

COVID-19 has become a moment of opportunism for Indian e-commerce companies to consolidate their market power, insert themselves into local supply chains and co-opt neighborhood stores. Policy interventions are urgently needed to preserve the autonomy of the traditional retail sector and prevent Big Tech’s takeover of local economies.