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Singapore’s fake news law, denuclearisation in North Korea, South China Sea friction: the 10 stories that rocked Asia in 2019
- Here are the stories that shook the continent this year, with aftershocks that will be felt long into 2020.
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TRADE WAR FALLOUT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
The US-China trade war spilled over into Asia, rearranging supply chains and relocating shipping routes. Asian economies home to low-cost manufacturing hubs – such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia – benefited as firms sought to move production or whole supply chains out of China amid the rising cost of doing business during the trade war.
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Washington turned its attention to countries that have been used by Chinese firms as pit stops to avoid tariffs, cracking down on the long-standing practice of false-origin labelling transshipment.
Experts say this focus could ultimately help Southeast Asian economies benefit from sustained growth by encouraging firms to relocate in more than name. The combination of supply chain relocation generated in the wake of the trade tensions and the crackdown on tariff-evading measures is forecast to help deepen manufacturing capacity in Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan, among others.
Vietnam’s exports to the US jumped nearly 40 per cent from the year before, surging past US$25 billion in the first half of the year. However, experts warned that these gains from the trade war could be tempered by a future influx of imports from China – especially in hi-tech industries.
SINGAPORE’S CRACKDOWN ON FAKE NEWS
Singapore’s government in May passed a law to bolster the Lion City’s ironhanded approach to dealing with online misinformation, despite criticism at home and abroad from free-speech supporters. The law stepped up the government’s existing power to compel outlets to display disclaimers about falsehoods and allows the government to squeeze outlets financially for repeat offences.
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