Tok Wei Sin
@tokweisin.bsky.social
Geopolitical analyst and educator.
“Our innovative satellite systems and geospatial solutions unveiled today at Space Summit 2026 leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to solve real-world problems for customers worldwide,” said Low Jin Phang, ST Engineering’s chief operating officer for defence and public security, and president for
ST Engineering to design and develop new satellites in Singapore
These will improve high-speed data transfer, disaster response planning and environmental monitoring Read more at The Business Times.
www.businesstimes.com.sg
February 2, 2026 at 2:22 AM
“Our innovative satellite systems and geospatial solutions unveiled today at Space Summit 2026 leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to solve real-world problems for customers worldwide,” said Low Jin Phang, ST Engineering’s chief operating officer for defence and public security, and president for
"Bringing CNAF fully inside Sinopec would change that role. Industry analysts say it could give Sinopec privileged access to the country’s most stable downstream market at a time when traditional fuel demand is flattening. It would also hand the company a decisive lever over how SAF reaches the
Jet-Fuel Merger Could Hinder China’s Effort to Decarbonize Its Skies, Insiders Warn
A tie-up between Sinopec and the country’s aviation fuel near-monopoly could choke off competition for smaller, private producers of sustainable alternatives
www.caixinglobal.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:17 AM
"Bringing CNAF fully inside Sinopec would change that role. Industry analysts say it could give Sinopec privileged access to the country’s most stable downstream market at a time when traditional fuel demand is flattening. It would also hand the company a decisive lever over how SAF reaches the
"JETRO said the domestic procurement rate for Japanese companies was 38.1% in Vietnam and 42.9% in ASEAN. Academic research last year showed very little tech transfer from foreign to Vietnamese supply chains."
Japanese companies face stiffer Chinese competition in Vietnam: JETRO
Recruiting gets tougher in ASEAN but businesses keen to expand, survey shows
asia.nikkei.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:13 AM
"JETRO said the domestic procurement rate for Japanese companies was 38.1% in Vietnam and 42.9% in ASEAN. Academic research last year showed very little tech transfer from foreign to Vietnamese supply chains."
"Space technologies and capabilities are a critical enabler for Singapore’s economy, said Dr Tan, as they underpin essential functions such as digital connectivity, navigation, maritime monitoring and climate resilience.
Singapore’s strengths in advanced manufacturing,
Singapore’s strengths in advanced manufacturing,
Singapore establishes national space agency NSAS under MTI
The National Space Agency of Singapore will front the Republic’s ambitions to be a leader in space technologies Read more at The Business Times.
www.businesstimes.com.sg
February 2, 2026 at 2:08 AM
"Space technologies and capabilities are a critical enabler for Singapore’s economy, said Dr Tan, as they underpin essential functions such as digital connectivity, navigation, maritime monitoring and climate resilience.
Singapore’s strengths in advanced manufacturing,
Singapore’s strengths in advanced manufacturing,
"Industrial policy signals, however, pull in a different direction. Under the banners of “new quality productive forces” and technology self-reliance, China’s state capital is increasingly being directed towards what are seen as strategic infrastructure-type projects.
Commentary: How China manages Singapore-based Manus’ sale will reveal its AI ‘red line’
Beijing is wary of AI startups getting the wrong idea from Meta’s deal to buy a Chinese-founded, Singapore-headquartered AI company, says Wang Shengyu from the Asia Society Policy Institute.
www.channelnewsasia.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:11 AM
"Industrial policy signals, however, pull in a different direction. Under the banners of “new quality productive forces” and technology self-reliance, China’s state capital is increasingly being directed towards what are seen as strategic infrastructure-type projects.
"The US also ventured into non-trade issues during the trade talks.
ST had earlier reported that the US was seeking “a commitment from Indonesia to readjust its South China Sea policy to safeguard its sovereign rights and national jurisdiction, ensure alignment with international law,
ST had earlier reported that the US was seeking “a commitment from Indonesia to readjust its South China Sea policy to safeguard its sovereign rights and national jurisdiction, ensure alignment with international law,
Indonesia says no to US demand to buy American drones, but agrees to other terms in trade talks
Both countries are in the final stages of talks on a so-called reciprocal tariff deal Read more at The Business Times.
www.businesstimes.com.sg
January 29, 2026 at 3:02 AM
"The US also ventured into non-trade issues during the trade talks.
ST had earlier reported that the US was seeking “a commitment from Indonesia to readjust its South China Sea policy to safeguard its sovereign rights and national jurisdiction, ensure alignment with international law,
ST had earlier reported that the US was seeking “a commitment from Indonesia to readjust its South China Sea policy to safeguard its sovereign rights and national jurisdiction, ensure alignment with international law,
"But appointments like this inevitably raise the question: Why him, why now?
Worries about the autonomy of the bank didn't just begin this month. In the past couple of years, there has been a steady erosion of the pillars that insulated BI from politics.
Worries about the autonomy of the bank didn't just begin this month. In the past couple of years, there has been a steady erosion of the pillars that insulated BI from politics.
Indonesia’s Nepo Babies Are Hurting the Economy
President Prabowo Subianto has tried to remake many aspects of Indonesia’s economic and social life. Now, he is a step closer to steering interest rates. For investors souring on the country, it’s ano...
www.bloomberg.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:46 AM
"But appointments like this inevitably raise the question: Why him, why now?
Worries about the autonomy of the bank didn't just begin this month. In the past couple of years, there has been a steady erosion of the pillars that insulated BI from politics.
Worries about the autonomy of the bank didn't just begin this month. In the past couple of years, there has been a steady erosion of the pillars that insulated BI from politics.
"Initially a commercial service, Starlink’s high speeds and easily transportable terminals became critical to Ukrainian defence forces after Russia’s full-blown invasion. It offered highly resilient battlefield communications when other networks were destroyed or degraded.
Rheinmetall and OHB in talks over Starlink-style service for German army
Tank producer negotiating with satellite company over bid for slice of country’s €35bn military space budget
www.ft.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:23 AM
"Initially a commercial service, Starlink’s high speeds and easily transportable terminals became critical to Ukrainian defence forces after Russia’s full-blown invasion. It offered highly resilient battlefield communications when other networks were destroyed or degraded.
Reposted by Tok Wei Sin
"Mr O’Hara, the police chief, called for protesters to stay peaceful. If they manage that, they will have demonstrated considerably more restraint than the armed officers of the federal administration."
Another horrifying shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis
What happens when armed men are given impunity
www.economist.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:59 AM
"Mr O’Hara, the police chief, called for protesters to stay peaceful. If they manage that, they will have demonstrated considerably more restraint than the armed officers of the federal administration."
"But beyond which materials it will focus on, the government has yet to provide much in the way of detail on how the strategic reserve will function, and some experts have expressed skepticism, saying Australia does not need to stockpile materials in the absence of industrial processing capacity.
Can Australia and Japan strike gold on critical mineral cooperation?
Canberra looks to strategic reserve to help allies cut dependence on China
asia.nikkei.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:13 AM
"But beyond which materials it will focus on, the government has yet to provide much in the way of detail on how the strategic reserve will function, and some experts have expressed skepticism, saying Australia does not need to stockpile materials in the absence of industrial processing capacity.
"The move is the latest sign that officials are focused on leveling the playing field for investors and ensuring market stability after stocks rallied to multi-year highs this month. Regulators tightened rules on margin trading earlier this week in a bid to cool leveraged bets.
China Clamps Down on High-Speed Traders, Removing Data Servers
China is pulling the plug on a key advantage held by high-frequency traders, removing servers dedicated to those firms out of local exchanges’ data centers, according to people familiar with the matte...
www.bloomberg.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:25 AM
"The move is the latest sign that officials are focused on leveling the playing field for investors and ensuring market stability after stocks rallied to multi-year highs this month. Regulators tightened rules on margin trading earlier this week in a bid to cool leveraged bets.
"For tech giants consuming as much power as small countries, nuclear is the best route for the creation of large-scale clean electricity. Wind and solar projects may be quicker to build individually, but building many simultaneously is harder.
Small nuclear reactors are worth the wait
Compared to other clean energy sources, the value of SMRs lies in scale not speed
www.ft.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:18 AM
"For tech giants consuming as much power as small countries, nuclear is the best route for the creation of large-scale clean electricity. Wind and solar projects may be quicker to build individually, but building many simultaneously is harder.
"Marvin Tan, a senior research analyst at U.S. market research firm TeleGeography, said new subsea cable projects in the region were increasingly bypassing the South China Sea amid rising geopolitical tensions and overlapping territorial claims.
NTT Data-led group to build $1bn Japan-Singapore subsea cable
New route avoids South China Sea amid growing geopolitical concerns, say analysts
asia.nikkei.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:15 AM
"Marvin Tan, a senior research analyst at U.S. market research firm TeleGeography, said new subsea cable projects in the region were increasingly bypassing the South China Sea amid rising geopolitical tensions and overlapping territorial claims.
"At the AGI-Next Frontier summit on Saturday, speakers agreed that while domestic developers enjoyed a strong 2025 — particularly in open-source large language models (LLM) — chat-based interfaces are reaching their limits. They also warned that the technological gap between China’s models and
AI Industry at a Turning Point as Chatbots Hit Their Limits, Executives Say
At a Tsinghua University summit, speakers say the technology must move beyond conversation to create problem-solving agents, while warning that narrowing the technology gap with the U.S. remains a maj...
www.caixinglobal.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:05 AM
"At the AGI-Next Frontier summit on Saturday, speakers agreed that while domestic developers enjoyed a strong 2025 — particularly in open-source large language models (LLM) — chat-based interfaces are reaching their limits. They also warned that the technological gap between China’s models and
"Unlike traditional national security reviews, the emerging trend in golden share adoption reflects a broader set of industrial policy concerns, including supply chain resilience and protecting national champion firms. For Chinese outbound investors,
With Golden Shares, Governments Rewrite the M&A Rulebook
New tools of state control add strategic hurdles for Chinese firms acquiring overseas assets
www.caixinglobal.com
January 12, 2026 at 1:20 AM
"Unlike traditional national security reviews, the emerging trend in golden share adoption reflects a broader set of industrial policy concerns, including supply chain resilience and protecting national champion firms. For Chinese outbound investors,
"Panasonic's data center power storage system drew particular attention. Located inside the server racks, the system supports continued operation during outages and can supplement supply when power consumption spikes.
Panasonic bets on AI infrastructure in pivot away from EV batteries
Japanese company to divert some production lines to making data center power storage
asia.nikkei.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:39 AM
"Panasonic's data center power storage system drew particular attention. Located inside the server racks, the system supports continued operation during outages and can supplement supply when power consumption spikes.
"Japan intends to expand the scope of rocket launches that qualify for state coverage, the draft of the proposed legislative amendment revealed Thursday shows. In addition to rockets carrying satellites, compensation also will apply to rockets launched for developmental purposes with no cargo.
Japan to loosen rules for rocket crash damage payouts
State-backed compensation to help shield private space industry from liability risk
asia.nikkei.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:04 AM
"Japan intends to expand the scope of rocket launches that qualify for state coverage, the draft of the proposed legislative amendment revealed Thursday shows. In addition to rockets carrying satellites, compensation also will apply to rockets launched for developmental purposes with no cargo.
"Opening a second headquarters or offices in Singapore has become so common among Chinese companies seeking global customers that the practice has become known as “Singapore washing” to describe the effort to shed the geopolitical sensitivities associated with operating from China.
China reviews Meta’s $2bn purchase of AI start-up Manus
Commerce ministry assessing whether deal for Chinese-founded group violates technology export controls
www.ft.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:23 AM
"Opening a second headquarters or offices in Singapore has become so common among Chinese companies seeking global customers that the practice has become known as “Singapore washing” to describe the effort to shed the geopolitical sensitivities associated with operating from China.
"China’s actions over rare earths in recent years have not sparked the cowed reaction Beijing might have hoped for, but instead a global renaissance in production that will erode its dominance. Following Japan’s lead, facilities designed to circumvent its influence on rare-earth magnet supply chains
China Is Overplaying Its Rare-Earth Hand in Japan
To a hammer, every problem is a nail. If your most potent means of geopolitical leverage is threatening supplies of high-strength magnets, rare-earth elements will always be the solution.
www.bloomberg.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:19 AM
"China’s actions over rare earths in recent years have not sparked the cowed reaction Beijing might have hoped for, but instead a global renaissance in production that will erode its dominance. Following Japan’s lead, facilities designed to circumvent its influence on rare-earth magnet supply chains
Between 2018 and 2021, demand for AI talent in Singapore was dominated by what we call “Deep AI” roles — research scientists and algorithm engineers building models from scratch. This demand cooled in 2022.
Commentary: China vs. Singapore — The Divergent Impact of AI on Labor Markets
New research reveals a stark contrast: In China, AI acts as a ‘harsh filter’ eliminating middle-tier jobs, while Singapore’s focus on ‘AI Integrators’ is fostering workforce resilience
www.caixinglobal.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Between 2018 and 2021, demand for AI talent in Singapore was dominated by what we call “Deep AI” roles — research scientists and algorithm engineers building models from scratch. This demand cooled in 2022.
Higaki's view of the state of Japan's shipbuilding industry is not a rosy one. While Chinese and South Korean companies are scaling up shipyards, Japanese shipbuilders "aren't able to fulfill replacement demand from Japanese shipping companies," he said.
asia.nikkei.com/business/tra...
asia.nikkei.com/business/tra...
Japan shipbuilder Imabari buys peer JMU to chase Chinese rivals
Group seeks cross-industry ties to survive amid growing global competition
asia.nikkei.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:14 AM
Higaki's view of the state of Japan's shipbuilding industry is not a rosy one. While Chinese and South Korean companies are scaling up shipyards, Japanese shipbuilders "aren't able to fulfill replacement demand from Japanese shipping companies," he said.
asia.nikkei.com/business/tra...
asia.nikkei.com/business/tra...
"The Japanese government says it wants to more than double the share of Japan’s electricity generated from nuclear power to 20% by 2040, from around 9% currently. Like other countries, Japan is eager to wean itself off fossil fuels while also meeting the energy needs of power-hungry data centers
As Memories of Fukushima Fade, Japan Seeks Bigger Role for Nuclear Power
The reboot of reactor on the Sea of Japan coast will mark a milestone for a nation that suffered one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.
www.wsj.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:17 AM
"The Japanese government says it wants to more than double the share of Japan’s electricity generated from nuclear power to 20% by 2040, from around 9% currently. Like other countries, Japan is eager to wean itself off fossil fuels while also meeting the energy needs of power-hungry data centers
"The latest incident comes as Germany’s critical energy infrastructure — already suffering from two decades of under-investment — has been subjected to a growing number of sabotage and cyber attacks, which authorities have largely attributed to an intensification of Russia’s hybrid warfare."
Berlin suspects ‘leftwing extremists’ of causing huge power outage
Tens of thousands of households without electricity and heating amid freezing temperatures
www.ft.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:46 AM
"The latest incident comes as Germany’s critical energy infrastructure — already suffering from two decades of under-investment — has been subjected to a growing number of sabotage and cyber attacks, which authorities have largely attributed to an intensification of Russia’s hybrid warfare."
“Singapore, a major beneficiary of the postwar era of globalisation and multilateralism, could not afford to “wait for things to happen or hope that things magically will fall into place”, he added.
Singapore’s prime minister warns of ‘messy’ transition to post-American order
Lawrence Wong says no other country can fill the vacuum left by the US
www.ft.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:21 AM
“Singapore, a major beneficiary of the postwar era of globalisation and multilateralism, could not afford to “wait for things to happen or hope that things magically will fall into place”, he added.
“Market participants have been taken aback by the volumes requested by the DLA across several metals. Many consider the quantities to be unrealistic, especially within the proposed five-year timeframe,” said Cristina Belda, from Argus Media. “In most cases,
Pentagon steps up stockpiling of critical minerals with $1bn buying spree
Trump administration challenges Chinese dominance of supply chain for metals essential to defence industry
www.ft.com
October 13, 2025 at 3:07 AM
“Market participants have been taken aback by the volumes requested by the DLA across several metals. Many consider the quantities to be unrealistic, especially within the proposed five-year timeframe,” said Cristina Belda, from Argus Media. “In most cases,