Asia
Intro
Asia functions as a multi-theater space where economic gravity, military power, technological capacity, and historical legacies intersect.
Background
The region contains multiple power centres with distinct strategic cultures, ranging from maritime trade systems to continental land empires.
History
Asia’s modern geopolitical structure emerged from the collapse of imperial systems, decolonisation after the Second World War, and Cold War divisions. Since the late twentieth century, rapid industrialisation, population growth, and the rise of China and India have shifted global economic and strategic balances decisively toward Asia.
Present Day
The region is characterised by high growth alongside elevated military spending, contested sea lanes, and intensifying great-power competition.
Future Outlook
Asia will continue to shape global power through manufacturing, technology, population dynamics, and regional security competition.
Map
Articles
The Hong Kong fire will change China’s Real Estate sector
China’s real estate sector is shaped by deeper pressures than market cycles alone.
Demographics, oversight consistency, due-diligence gaps and investment confidence now intersect in ways that define the sector’s next phase.
China’s Fourth Plenum — Xi Tightens Control as Party Sets Course for the Next Five Years
Planning the future – the news between the lines.
Event Timeline
Comintern Influence on the Chinese Communist Party
From its founding until the mid-1930s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) operated under strong ideological, organizational, and operational influence from the Soviet-led Comintern, shaping leadership struggles and strategy choices until a gradual break during the Long March era.
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War exposed the failure of Qing modernization and marked the transfer of regional leadership in East Asia from China to Japan.
British Occupation of Hong Kong Island
British forces landed on Hong Kong Island and claimed it in the name of the Crown following the First Opium War.
Treaty of Nanking Signed
The Treaty of Nanking ended the First Opium War and ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain, formalizing its colonial status.
Kowloon Peninsula Ceded to Britain
The Convention of Peking ceded the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula to Britain, extending colonial Hong Kong beyond the island.
British Lease of New Territories
Britain signed a 99-year lease with the Qing Empire, adding the New Territories and islands to colonial Hong Kong.
Kowloon Walled City Preserved
Britain leases the New Territories for 99 years but allows China to retain nominal control of the Kowloon Walled City.
Japanese Invasion of Hong Kong
Japan invades British Hong Kong, launching a bloody battle and three years of occupation.
Return to British Control
British forces retook control of Hong Kong from Japan after Japan’s surrender in World War II.
China Launches the Belt and Road Initiative
In 2013, China launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a long-term strategy to expand infrastructure, trade, and connectivity across Eurasia, Africa, and beyond.
