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Andrew Raine

JANUARY
The year started much as it would end, with bad news for US President Donald Trump. This time, it was reporter John Power letting the big man down gently, with a report questioning whether America had lost the battle for the South China Sea before it had even begun.
Experts told Power that with its military build-up, maritime militia and island-building activities, China was already capable of controlling the sea “in all scenarios short of war with the United States”.
Has the US already lost the battle for the South China Sea?
Together with projections from the US Naval War College that the fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army could be twice the size of its American counterpart as soon as 2030 and it was no surprise that designer Huy Truong wondered if the US commander in chief might be getting “That Sinking Feeling”.

Which stories mattered most to you in 2020? Find out with our Year In Review 2020 retrospective.
FEBRUARY
The Diamond Princess cruise ship always promised to be more than just an adventure, and boy did it deliver. The hapless ship went from a symbol of ultimate luxury to one of disaster when Covid-19 struck down hundreds of passengers, forcing the ship to be quarantined for nearly a month off Yokohama, Japan.
Of the more than 3,700 passengers and crew on board, more than 700 caught the virus and 14 died. Our story, by John Power and Meaghan Tobin, not only raised questions about whether its quarantine was “a cruel human experiment”, but also about the future of a multibillion-dollar industry. All in all, it was enough to make designer Dennis Yip feel a little “Sea Sick”.
Could the coronavirus crisis sink the cruise industry?

MARCH
In a year with more than its fair share of bad news, it was worth championing the heart-warming tales when they happened, too. Raquel Carvalho spoke to five Asian women who were pushing back against society’s gender biases. Their perspectives on life, from motherhood in Hong Kong to menstruation huts in Nepal, protesting in India and life as a lesbian domestic worker, struck our designer Huy Truong as nothing short of heroic.
Unsung heroes: 5 Asian women transcending gender roles

APRIL
By April, it was clear that the coronavirus and the destruction it was causing was as much an economic tragedy as it was a health one. Our story, Class of 2020: a lost generation? found that young people across Southeast Asia faced a hit to job prospects that was likely to endure long after the pandemic itself had passed. That in turn raised the spectre of something that should frighten both young and old alike: political instability.
Class of 2020: a lost generation in the post-coronavirus economy?

MAY
They say hindsight has 20:20 vision and looking back, perhaps the This Week in Asia team were a little optimistic with this one – but hey, it raised a smile. Our report urged readers feeling flat from the Covid-19-induced moratorium on tourism to cheer up and toast the imminent arrival of travel bubbles. These bubbles, along with the newly liberated and big-spending Chinese tourists who would be using them, were about to inject hope into the travel industry any minute, we confidently predicted.
Unfortunately, our bubble burst when it became clear the damage to the tourism industry had only just begun. Still, we weren’t the only ones to jump the gun. Half a year after our article, Singapore and Hong Kong announced a groundbreaking plan for quarantine-free travel between the two cities – only to have their best-laid plans hijacked at the last minute by Hong Kong’s fourth wave. Feeling deflated? We certainly were.
Chinese tourists, travel bubbles: how Asia can refloat its battered travel industry

JUNE
Our designer Dennis Yip came out swinging with this one, taking his cue from Malaysia’s former two-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who gave us an exclusive interview in which he said he had bigger fish to fry than his successor Muhyiddin Yassin. He told Bhavan Jaipragas and Tashny Sukumaran his real adversary remained Najib Razak, the rival he trounced in the 2018 polls.
Despite Najib at the time battling to avoid a jail term in his trial for corruption linked to the 1MDB state investment fund, Mahathir suspected his wily old rival could re-emerge as a political force. Aged 94 at the time of the interview, Mahathir was himself no spring chicken, but he made it clear there was still plenty of time yet for a political comeback of his own.
Muhyiddin who? Najib’s still the real problem in Malaysia: Mahathir

JULY
Hong Kong’s summer came to be dominated by one big issue: Beijing’s introduction at the end of June of the controversial national security law. Backers of the law said it was necessary to prevent and punish secession, subversion, terrorism and other unsavoury-sounding offences, but critics said it could be used to erode freedoms and clamp down on dissent.
After it was implemented, many Hongkongers said they were considering leaving the city and were subsequently encouraged by offers of refuge from places such as Britain. This article by Laura Westbrook and John Power gave anyone thinking of doing so pause for thought. This wasn’t the first time the city had faced an exodus. Laura and John spoke to Hongkongers who left before the 1997 handover from Britain, and most had the same cautionary message: starting a new life overseas was anything but easy.
Home and away: after security law, Hongkongers contemplate second exodus

AUGUST
A supposedly leaderless group of protesters, dressed in black and wearing masks, taunts authority with clever word plays, flash mobs and memes. Thailand’s protesters might have borrowed their three-fingered salute from the Hunger Games, but their playbook was straight outta Hong Kong.
Like their peers in the Chinese city, Thailand’s protest movement was articulate, young and inventive – and far outsized by an authoritarian opponent. Huy Truong’s clever cover managed to capture the many parallels, along with a headline that seemed at once familiar and new.
How Hong Kong and the Hunger Games inspired the revolution of our Thais

SEPTEMBER
The news that Japan’s longest-serving prime minister Shinzo Abe was to resign for health reasons shocked the political world. This was the man who, over four terms of office stretching back to 2006, had done more than any other since World War II to raise his country’s international presence.
He ushered in revolutionary economic policies that still bear his name, broached the taboo of the country’s pacifist constitution and built a formidable personal brand that gained the respect of capitals across the world. Some 120 million Japanese wanted the answer to the question Maria Siow posed: who could possibly fill his shoes?
New Rising Sun: can post-Abe Japan leave China’s shadow to lead Asia?

OCTOBER
As the national security law continued to furrow people’s brows, it began to sink in that for the first time in Hong Kong’s history, a city once famed for sheltering dissidents from the Chinese mainland suddenly had exiles of its own. This story, by Jeffie Lam and Chris Lau, asked who they were, what did they want and – crucially – what would they do if and when the world stopped listening? Were their calls already becoming more distant, isolated and divided, as Huy Truong’s cover suggested? As one former student leader of the 1989 Tiananmen movement put it: “It’s very difficult to repeat the same message year after year.”
Hong Kong’s exiled dissidents: the world’s listening now – but for how long?

NOVEMBER
With the year drawing to a close, This Week in Asia’s 2020 returned to where it had begun, with more bad news for Trump. Even while half the world was still wondering whether The Donald had won or lost his epochal battle with Joe Biden in the nail-biting US presidential election, our man with a crystal ball Bhavan Jaipragas was busy divining what effect the vote would have on the region. His findings made for a disconcerting read: a prediction that the toxic effects of Trump’s peculiar brand of politics would linger long after the source was removed.
Trump may have lost, but Trumpism has only just begun

DECEMBER
Of course, Trump was far from the only politician down on his luck in 2020. Indeed, this was an annus horribilis for Malaysian politics, wrote Tashny Sukumaran and Bhavan Jaipragas. And few people had worse years than perennial nearly man Anwar Ibrahim.
Described for years as Malaysia’s prime-minister-in-waiting, Anwar had seemed finally to be closing in on the top job, two years after being pardoned for his sodomy conviction – a charge most observers believe to have been politically motivated. But, as usual, he was only nearly there.
The nearly man: will Anwar Ibrahim ever lead Malaysia?
The pact he thought he had made with his former foe Mahathir Mohamad came to nought and was then made irrelevant anyway, when Muhyiddin Yassin shocked the country with a political coup. As if that wasn’t enough, Anwar’s own allies began to question whether he had the numbers to form a new administration when he gave the green light to Muhyiddin’s draft 2021 budget – flying in the face of an earlier insistence the opposition would not cooperate with a “back-door government”.
He then announced he had a “strong, formidable, convincing” majority in Parliament that would allow him to topple Muhyiddin, only for that plan to fizzle out. The monarch, Sultan Abdullah, then put the boot in by saying he was “unconvinced” about Anwar’s chances. Perhaps like the rest of us, Anwar should find solace in the thought that 2020 is nearly over. Nearly Anwar, nearly.
Which stories mattered most to you in 2020? Find out with our Year In Review 2020 retrospective.


SCMP Plus year in review

Travel stories you read most in 2024, about a horror gang rape, trains in China and more

Paris Olympics, Lionel Messi fail: Hong Kong’s best and worst sporting moments from 2024

Fashion and beauty stories you read most in 2024, about Lunar New Year, Hermès and more

Year in Review

Burst travel bubbles, Trump, Covid-19 and Hong Kong’s national security law: how This Week in Asia covered 2020, the annus horribilis

A prophetic front page image from designer Huy Truong in January 2020.

March

September

December

July

February

November

August

JUNE

April

October

From Covid-19 to the South China Sea, here are 10 stories that rocked Asia in 2020

Soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea, on March 4. Photo: AP

epa08538099 Voters queue to cast their ballots at a polling station in Singapore, 10 July 2020. Singaporeans go to the polls to vote in a general election on 10 July, amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, where all 93 seats will be contested in parliament. The ruling People's Action Party has called for Singaporeans to give it a 'strong mandate' in order to overcome the health and economic crisis posed by the pandemic while opposition parties have said that it is critical for more alternative voices in parliament to provide checks and balances on the government. EPA-EFE/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad attends a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia December 14, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

An Indian army soldier stands on a snow covered road after snowfall near Zojila mountain pass that connects Srinagar to the union territory of Ladakh, bordering China on November 26, 2020. (Photo by Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP)

epa08821197 A handout image of a video conference made available by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) shows leaders and trade ministers of 15 Asia-Pacific nations posing for a virtual group photo during the 4th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, 15 November 2020. Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on 15 November, making it the world' largest free trade deal at the end of an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders and regional partners. EPA-EFE/VNA HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

A teacher and students, wearing hats designed for space keeper, practice social distancing to help curb the spread of the coronavirus at Ban Pa Muad School in Chiang Mai, north of Thailand, on July 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Wichai Taprieu)

FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presides over the 21st Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the Seventh Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea at the headquarters building of the Party Central Committee in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on November 29, 2020. KCNA via REUTERS KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA./File Photo

Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waves as he leaves the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Sept. 16, 2020 after Abe and his Cabinet resigned. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

TOPSHOT - Supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party wave flags in front of the party's office in Mandalay on November 8, 2020, as ballots for the parliamentary elections are being counted after the polls closed. (Photo by Ye Naing Ye / AFP)

A civic worker sprays disinfectant on beds at a special temporary hospital facility for Covid-19 patients in Mumbai, India, on April 10. Photo: AP

The nearly man: will Anwar Ibrahim ever lead Malaysia?

Anwar Ibrahim is squarely in the crossfire of the commentariat. Photo: EPA

FILE - In this June 20, 1998, file photo, Anwar Ibrahim,left,stand next to Malaysia Prima Minister Mahathir Mohamad during the 1998 UMNO Annual Meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia's historic change of government paves the way for an extraordinary comeback for jailed opposition icon Anwar, who played a key role in helping to secure the election victory and has become a prime minister in waiting. Anwar, 70, is expected to walk free Wednesday, May 16, 2018, after obtaining a royal pardon but his expected return to politics could cause tensions in the new government led by his former foe, Mahathir Mohamad. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)

epa08739618 A handout photo made available by the Malaysian National Palace on 13 October 2020 shows The King of Malaysia, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah (L) and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim posing for photographs inside the Royal Palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Anwar Ibrahim met the Malaysia's king in an attempt to prove he has the parliamentary support needed to replace Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. EPA-EFE/National Palace HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Malaysia's politician Anwar Ibrahim speaks to the media during a press conference following his swearing-in ceremony at parliament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. Malaysian Prime Minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim has taken his oath as a lawmaker, marking his return to active politics three years after he was imprisoned for sodomy in a charge critics said was politically motivated. (AP Photo/Yam G-Jun)

10 May 2020, Malaysia, Putrajaya: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin delivers a special message broadcast on local television stations. Restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of the new coronavirus in Malaysia will remain in place for another month. Photo: Ihsan Pejabat Perdana Menteri/BERNAMA/dpa

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If 2020 were a film, it might be a disaster movie set on a coronavirus-infested cruise ship
Thankfully, This Week in Asia’s front page designers saw a lighter side



If 2020 were a film, it might be a disaster movie set on a Covid-infested cruise-ship. Thankfully, This Week in Asia’s front page designers saw a lighter side.


Burst travel bubbles, Trump, Covid-19 and Hong Kong’s national security law: how This Week in Asia covered 2020, the annus horribilis

If 2020 were a film, it might be a disaster movie set on a coronavirus-infested cruise ship Thankfully, This Week in Asia’s front page designers saw a lighter side

If 2020 were a film, it might be a disaster movie set on a coronavirus-infested cruise ship

Thankfully, This Week in Asia’s front page designers saw a lighter side