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This year in Asia — what kept us busy writing, and you reading, in 2017

From Duterte’s war on drugs and Modi’s war on cash to Myanmar’s war on its own and a near-war between India and China, we had it all covered in a significant year for the region

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From Duterte’s war on drugs and Modi’s war on cash to Myanmar’s war on its own and a near-war between India and China, we had it all covered in a significant year for the region

2017 was as eventful a year for Asia as it was for us at This Week in Asia reporting it. Covering the world’s most happening region can be its own reward, but we also bagged gold as the best news website at the Asian Digital Media Awards 2017, presented by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN IFRA) and Google. We welcome the recognition that we are covering the region right, and would like to thank our readers for all the support.

Rolling stock to laughing stock: why is Singapore’s metro struggling when Hong Kong’s is a hit?

Just as we had predicted, 2017 was a breakout year for artificial intelligence. As Chinese companies joined the race in earnest, with AI applications spreading in sectors from logistics to health care, the Koreans raised their game after being beaten at their own, the Japanese brought out the bazooka to retain their competitiveness, while cosmopolitan Singapore quietly drew in the talent that is key to AI success.
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AI, of course, was not the only thing over which countries in the region butted heads. From an unpredictable Donald Trump to a volatile Kim Jong-un, there was enough to keep Asia on the boil, with fresh territorial disputes, such as Doklam, adding to legacy geopolitical contests, such as the South China Sea.
Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ rhetoric has had Asia wondering this year if the US would reduce its engagement in the region. The summit between Trump and Xi Jinping, closely followed for clues to America’s Asia policy, proved to be a delicate first step in the interaction between the world’s two most powerful men.
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One major factor tempering the evolving US-China relationship is North Korea’s increasing recklessness, in its defiance of both the US by threatening war, and of long-standing ally China, by liquidating Beijing’s allies in the hermit kingdom. One of them was Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the “Little Rocket Man”, whose sensational murder was extensively covered by This Week in Asia, including a deep-dive on how Macau became North Korea’s window to the world.

What would China do if North Korea and the United States go to war?

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