Dear ST reader, 

At the Group of 20 (G-20) leaders’ summit this past weekend, the United States announced a multi-nation effort to push trade by bolstering rail and shipping infrastructure between India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Europe. If you thought the project – called the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or Imec for short – sounded suspiciously like a version of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, you wouldn’t be the only one. The new initiative could deepen US-China rivalries, analysts say. 

Also over the weekend, the US and Vietnam elevated ties to the highest tier in Hanoi’s diplomatic hierarchy during US President Joe Biden’s visit there, driven – experts say – in part by China’s coercive behaviour in the region. Hanoi has a host of reasons for choosing to fast-track its ties with Washington now, but Beijing won’t be best pleased with its decision. 

China’s advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have caused concern – particularly in the US – that Beijing could leverage the technology to suppress its people and stir dissent in the West. These suspicions could prove a stumbling block to its AI ambitions. Meanwhile, South-east Asian nations have been boosting productivity by integrating AI into key sectors. 

In India, food inflation and export curbs are contributing to rising prices globally, with Singapore and Malaysia feeling the pinch while China looks to cash in on the situation. Indonesia’s raging forest fires are expected to bring hazy conditions to Singapore this week. And travellers departing South Korea’s Incheon airport can now skip the queues with a new facial recognition system. 

Corridors of competition

A US-led initiative at the G-20 leaders’ summit this past week to build a rail and shipping corridor from India to the Middle East and Europe could further deepen great power rivalries.

More on geopolitics this week: 

Western nations on the defensive as Russia thanks India for G-20 declaration

North Korea’s ammo in exchange for Russian space tech?

Asia’s AI ambitions

Across South-east Asia, governments are embracing AI technology that will soon be part and parcel of citizens’ daily lives, integrating them slowly but surely into various sectors of society and the economy.

Read more: 

How AI is seeping into everyday life in China

The meaning of belonging

Being part of a country’s majority ethnicity and religion is closely associated with national belonging, a survey of six Asian states has found. Singapore was the exception.

More from the same study: 

Indonesians overwhelmingly prefer democracy over strong leader: Pew survey

India’s pricey produce

India’s food prices hit their highest in more than 3½ years in July, driven in part by higher fruit and vegetable prices as erratic monsoon rains damaged crops and disrupted supply chains.

Read also: 

Winners and losers as India’s export curbs fuel global food inflation

India’s many battles against climate change

Hazy days in Indonesia

Several provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan have been blanketed with haze from raging forest fires, causing a surge in people with respiratory ailments.

Read also: 

More hot spots in Indonesia, but severe haze in Singapore not expected for now

Ticket to a better life

The southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is offering Test of English as a Foreign Language training to all 4 million of its students attending government schools to give them a leg up for their future. 

More on education in India:

India’s coaching industry feeds on dreams of making it to elite tech institutes