David Pilling



Profile:
Full name: David Pilling

Area of interest: Asia: business, investment, politics and economics

Journals/Organisation: Financial Times

Email: [mailto:david.pilling@ft.com david.pilling@ft.com]

Personal website:

Website: http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/david-pilling

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Networks: https://twitter.com/#!/davidpilling | http://hk.linkedin.com/pub/david-pilling/54/b28/b26



Biography:
About:

Education: Jesus College, Cambridge: English; City University, London: Journalism (PG Dip)

Career: African Economic Digest: chief sub-editor; joined the Financial Times in 1990: Chile and Argentina correspondent, Deputy Features Editor, 1994/1998, pharmaceuticals correspondent (covering global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry) 1999/2002, Tokyo Bureau Chief January 2002 / August 2008

Current position/role: Asia editor (based in Hong Kong) from September 2008


 * also writes/has written for: Los Angeles Times - articles

Other roles/Main role:

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

Broadcast media: Soft landing? Will over-investing lead to a bust? Could China shatter markets across the world? And if there is a hard landing, what will the consequences be? Appearance on RT's CrossTalk with Jim Rogers and William Powell. APEC CEO Summit, 12th September 2012

Video:

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours: Observer Young Travel Writer of the Year, 1989

Scoops:

Other:



Books & Debate:


Latest work:

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Debate: 

Financial Times:
Column name:

Remit/Info: Asia: business, investment, politics and economics

Section:

Role: Asian editor

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:david.pilling@ft.com david.pilling@ft.com]

Website: FT.com / David Pilling

Commissioning editor:

Day published: varies

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Articles: 2015

 * Upstarts that challenge power in Beijing - Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are three internet groups that have turned much of China upside down - 25th June
 * US v China: is this the new cold war? - The Chinese programme of island reclamation is testing America’s reach - 11th June
 * Euphoria grips China’s stock market - There is a fin de siècle feeling and today’s stresses are the most serious since the end of the 1990s - 4th June
 * A development bank made in China - It is possible that the AIIB will even exceed the standards of existing development lenders - 28th May
 * Rohingya people are the Jews of Asia - In the past few weeks, at least 6,000 refugees have been cut adrift in the ocean - 21st May
 * India should carve its tax code in stone - A company thinks it has settled its bill, next minute it is being hit for billions in retroactive levies - 14th May
 * Unforeseen effects of Chinese medicine - The fact that so many western nations have joined the AIIB could rein in Beijing’s foreign policy - 7th May
 * Hong Kong’s umbrella evolution - China’s Communist party was never going to let a bunch of street protesters back it into a corner - 30th April
 * An unsinkable Pacific alliance - The closeness between America and Japan, forged in the ashes of war, goes beyond the ideological - 23rd April
 * Malaysia is drifting dangerously - Najib must resist the temptation to clamp down on freedoms for narrow political interests - 16th April
 * Japan needs a working hours overhaul - The corporate culture the country is stuck with is unsuited to the challenges companies face - 9th April
 * Round two in US bid for Asian influence - The Trans-Pacific Partnership is just as likely to annoy America’s allies in region as reassure them - 2nd April
 * ‘Accommodating’ Beijing is no bad thing - The policy of Chinese containment could be a disastrous miscalculation - 19th March
 * Life in smog should spur China to action - Long dismissed as a side effect of development, air pollution is now a concern - 5th March
 * Founder’s legacy looms over Singapore - A palpable sense of dissatisfaction exists among the island nation’s citizens - 27th February
 * Japan’s Fanuc robots show new logic - Pressure from Daniel Loeb and a changing business climate is forcing secretive company to adapt - 19th February
 * China and Pakistan make an oddball couple - Beijing has stayed the course with Islamabad while Washington has blown hot and cold - 12th February
 * Corporate China not ready to take over - Regulation and suspicion harm companies’ efforts to break into foreign markets - 5th February
 * Tipping point for Japan’s foreign policy - The illusion of neutrality becomes harder to pull off as economic clout wanes - 29th January
 * Southeast Asia’s tolerance is deceptive - Region shows signs that the tradition of strength through diversity is eroding - 22nd January
 * Delhi’s tortoise takes on Beijing’s hare - There is now a realistic prospect of India growing faster than China — as early as next year - 15th January
 * Delhi’s tortoise takes on Beijing’s hare - There is now a realistic prospect of India growing faster than China — as early as next year - 15th January
 * China must adapt to its ‘new normal’ - The trick for policy makers will be to shift resources from the public to the private sector - 7th January



Articles: 2014

 * Truth behind Abe’s election ‘landslide’ - As with many things in Japan, probe a little deeper and not everything is as it seems - 18th December
 * Modi’s popular touch is a weapon - Even on seemingly dry topics, he has the flair to relate potential reforms to everyday lives - 11th December
 * Taiwan stirs political earthquake for China - Some blame cheap Chinese labour for sucking away jobs and the mainland for property rises - 4th December
 * The Samsung phone is no longer smart - South Korea’s group has never persuaded consumers its brand is as desirable as Apple’s - 27th November
 * What goes up comes down – even China - Regression to mean could spell trouble for Asian powerhouses - 19th November
 * Abe is on a mission, destination unknown - Japan’s leader may use an early vote as a chance to back out of a further rise in sales tax - 12th November
 * Taiwan resolves to resist China’s embrace - Hong Kong is a cautionary tale for Taipei: this is what happens if you get too close to Beijing - 6th November
 * Indonesia’s Jokowi can outdo Obama - Widodo will need all the acumen that took him to the presidency to avoid the traps being set - 30th October
 * Weak yen is no panacea but Abe needs it - Depreciation is the central bank’s most potent tool. If it falters so could the reflation experiment - 16th October
 * Ten days that shook Hong Kong - From the streets of a city changed beyond recognition, the FT’s Asia editor watched the Umbrella Revolution unfold - 11th October
 * Hong Kong will never be the same again - A yearning for democracy will ensure a prolonged period of political volatility - 9th October
 * Hong Kong’s status is being stress-tested - At issue is the result of collusion between local tycoons and their communist friends in Beijing - 2nd October
 * Business eyes a less clear form of graft - Managers have to figure out how to avoid paying bribes – or how to pay without being caught - 25th September
 * North Korea as ‘The Truman Show’ - One needs to be wary of impressions gleaned from Pyongyang, a showcase city - 18th September
 * China tightens its grip on Hong Kong - The presence of Li, an emissary from Beijing, has relegated the territory’s officials to irrelevance - 4th September
 * Poverty eradicated at a statistical stroke - Different calculations tell widely different stories – the numbers go up and down like a yo-yo - 28th August
 * US may be a gamble too far for SoftBank - Japanese company faces tough fight to turn Sprint into a serious US telecoms challenger - 21st August
 * The Brics bank is a glimpse of the future - If the postwar order is being upended, the right response is ‘hear, hear’ - 31st July
 * Globe-trotting Abe promotes Japan - After 47 countries in 18 months the Japanese leader is peripatetic by any standards - 29th July
 * China’s hunt for tigers is bound to fail - The anti-corruption campaign appears to have taken on the characteristics of a Maoist purge - 24th July
 * Democracy is riding on poll in Indonesia - The country has the opportunity to complete the transition from an authoritarian past - 17th July
 * No fairytale ending for Myanmar - An end to war and a transition to democracy are not the same as peace - 10th July
 * Has GDP outgrown its use? - Governments and the media obsess about it while statisticians endlessly fiddle – but what is the real point of GDP and can it ever be accurately measured? - 5th July
 * Japan inches towards being ‘normal’ - To say Tokyo should be denied a right granted to others must imply it is unrepentant - 3rd July
 * Hong Kong’s democratic aims are real - Concerns about the erosion of press and judicial freedoms are growing - 25th June
 * Third arrow is more like 1,000 needles - Some of the jabs will do no good. A few may do harm. But some will have a positive impact - 19th June
 * India must accept it is urban and reap the benefits - Modi has tapped into aspiration that offers new challenges and opportunities - 12th June
 * Thailand, the land of the inverted smile - Much of the electorate has tasted the fruits of democracy. For the elites that is the problem - 5th June 2014
 * China is stealing a march on Washington - Bit by bit Beijing is creating new facts, and with each incident, it throws down the gauntlet - 29th May 2014
 * Asia is not the place it used to be - The continent is in flux as political leaders and economic circumstances change - 22nd May 2014
 * Modi should listen to his better angels - The probable Indian leader needs to prioritise development over his Hindu nationalist roots - 15th May 2014
 * India’s Congress party lost its own job - Indians are no longer satisfied with the schemes and handouts on which it has increasingly relied - 8th May 2014
 * Asian states must stem intolerance - Bigoted interests are gaining ground under the noses of leaders who profess to uphold openness - 1st May 2014
 * Bad policy not culture caused ferry loss - In their efforts to understand the cause of the accident Koreans have cast their net wide - 24th April 2014
 * The ceramic wars - Exquisite Korean furniture, screens and interiors – and their connections to China and Japan - 17th April 2014
 * Rising inequality is Asia’s main challenge - Much of the benefit of economic growth goes to those who were already better off - 10th April 2014
 * China draws Asia into old-style arms race - Beijing’s build-up is leading rivals to follow suit, a trend likely to gather pace in coming years - 3rd April 2014
 * Abenomics hinges on wages and taxes - The policy has been judged a qualified success but there are concerns the effort will peter out - 27th March 2014
 * A Modi win may make India more Chinese - The election frontrunner is more about making the economic pie bigger than slicing it up fairly - 20th March 2014
 * China ‘war on terror’ may be hard to win - Chinese resent westerners who see ‘root causes’ of violence in the treatment of Uighurs - 6th March 2014
 * Why Thailand is looking like Ukraine - The battle lines are drawn in a conflict that is testing the unity of the nation - 27th February 2014
 * Washington rues the Abe it wished for - The US fears that Japan’s departure from postwar pacifism will provoke Beijing - 20th February 2014
 * Abe’s womenomics needs revolution - Japan’s glass ceiling is concrete, its women-friendly ‘architecture’ as flimsy as origami - 13th February 2014
 * India may have its inflation-slayer - Central bank governor Raghuram Rajan seems to be capable of tackling the nation’s price rises - 6th February 2014
 * Investors put too much faith in Modi - It is not clear that the politician could do for India’s economy what he did for Gujarat - 30th January 2014
 * China weans itself off growth at all costs - Beijing knows the stakes are too high to allow for anything other than a gradual change of dosage - 23rd January 2014
 * How Japan stood up to old age - A quarter of Japanese are over 65. But not only do they live longer, they work longer, stay healthier, care for their elderly better – and have found ways to pay for it - 17th January 2014
 * A crunch year for the Japanese economy - Experimenting with a bold and radical monetary policy will have profound consequences for the rest of Asia - 15th January
 * Asian democracy must serve the people - The emergence of forces to challenge imperfect democracies is welcome – but dangerous - 9th January 2014
 * Abe could say sorry by shunning Yasukuni - Several leaders have expressed remorse for Japan’s past aggression – but their sincerity is questioned - 1st January 2014



Articles: 2013

 * Six events that shook Asia - As one nation strives to revive its economy, others struggle with poverty and calamity - 19th December 2013
 * No one is immune from Beijing’s power - Foreign companies once had much leverage, but the new reality is that China has the whip hand - 12th December 2013
 * India out of the woods but far from safe - The optimism of recent years when Indians talked of growing faster than China is of another era - 5th December 2013
 * China will keep its leaders busy - They have set themselves a formidable task that will have far-reaching consequences - 20th November 2013
 * Abe’s first arrow is the one that matters - What is really radical is the bold gamble to rid Japan of 15 years of deflation - 14th November 2013
 * China haunted by demographics - The country needs reforms that leaders will struggle to carry out - 8th November 2013
 * China haunted by demographics - The country needs reforms that leaders will struggle to carry out - 7th November 2013
 * Drone strikes set a dangerous precedent - A country at war with an abstract threat does not have the right to mount a pre-emptive killing spree - 24th October 2013
 * Is China in better shape than it looks? - The transition to consumption-driven growth may be more advanced than previously thought - 17th October 2013
 * Malala rises above east-west tensions - It is a cop-out to conflate her case with legitimate Pakistani grievances against the west - 10th October 2013
 * Myanmar transition is on the road – just - The most obvious problem is violence between majority Buddhists and minority Muslims - 3rd October 2013
 * Modi fills a void of Congress’s making - That a man once seen as unfit for high office is in the running is testament to the government’s record - 26th September 2013
 * Beijing’s net crackdown will be tested - Chinese cyber space has become a Wild West of discussion, mockery, information-sharing and whistleblowing - 19th September 2013
 * Tough tasks and Abe’s inflationary quest - Our hero will have to tackle many adversaries before his quest is complete - 12th September 2013
 * Abbott may have to mellow for tests ahead - From attack dog to guardian of fragile consumer confidence - 9th September 2013
 * Like India’s, Indonesia’s growth is stalling - Manmohan Singh was hailed as the superman of Indian reform – now he is merely Clark Kent - 5th September 2013
 * Asia: Storm defences tested - With Josh Noble: Emerging markets are less vulnerable to shocks than they were in the late 1990s - 29th August 2013
 * Keep pressing Kim on human rights - The tendency to see North Korea as a bad joke allows the world to ignore its abuses - 29th August 2013
 * Dithering is the root of India’s problems - Rather than soothing investors’ nerves, the central bank’s stop-start measures have the whiff of panic - 21st August 2013
 * Japan’s past and future meet at Zero - Controversy over a new film highlights the change in Japanese attitudes since the 1990s - 17th August 2013
 * China is key to saving endangered species - Cracking down on the illicit animal trade would help Beijing to boost its soft power - 15th August 2013
 * Why Australia’s luck is running out - After 20 years of growth, politicians should be prepared for changing fortunes - 8th August 2013
 * The risks of riding China’s coat-tails - Many Latin American nations have bet the mine on an economy that is now slowing - 1st August 2013
 * Beijing takes on global drugs industry - Regulators are flexing their muscles with greater powers and long-dormant laws - 25th July 2013
 * A strong leader in Japan is not a minus - Love him or loathe him, Abe is someone with whom his foreign counterparts can do business - 18th July 2013
 * Rise and rebirth of Chinese realpolitik - A study that helps make sense of the nation’s past and present - 15th July 2013
 * Abe should delay the fourth of his arrows - A tax rise now means hitting the fiscal brake while stepping on the monetary accelerator - 3rd July 2013
 * America cedes cyber moral high ground - After the NSA leaks it will be more difficult for Washington to cast aspertions on China - 20th June 2013
 * Asian society: Changes from within - Technology has helped civil activists but some query their success rate - 14th June 2013
 * Brainpower alone cannot save India - The problems at Infosys raise questions about its role at a national level - 13th June 2013
 * China’s sense of superiority and injustice - Despite the swagger with which Beijing conducts itself, it has never felt more vulnerable - 6th June 2013
 * Philippines is right to challenge China - It is a shame others have not been bold enough to test their maritime claims against Beijing - 30th May 2013
 * Vietnam must ditch its crony cronyism - For a country in its demographic sweetspot, the economy is not growing fast enough - 16th May 2013
 * Japan has experienced a revival of spirit - Shinzo Abe has not abandoned his nationalism. His vision stems from the same impulse - 9th May 2013
 * Anwar Ibrahim: charismatic politician - A candidate of contradictions - 4th May 2013
 * A chance for overdue change in Malaysia - At stake in Sunday’s poll are governance based on race and patronage - 2nd May 2013
 * Xi needs to prove he can deliver - Even if the leader does embrace an economic overhaul, don’t expect political reform to follow - 25th April 2013
 * The BoJ makes its Pearl Harbor decision - The hope is that by beating inflation to the punch, one gains the upper hand - 18th April 2013
 * The perils of playing nuclear poker with a novice - Someone must talk to North Korea to find out who the world is dealing with - 12th April 2013
 * Taiwan: Time to change gear - With Sarah Mishkin: As growth stalls and reliance on China grows, the country must reform to preserve its status as an Asian success - 11th April 2013
 * The danger of nuclear poker with a novice - Someone must talk to North Korea to try to glean who the world is dealing with - 11th April 2013
 * Indonesia’s wimp trumps a strongman - Relatively weak leadership has boosted democracy and the economy - 28th March 2013
 * Abe is right to favour Japan’s future - Younger people have been saddled with reduced opportunity and earnings potential - 21st March 2013
 * Myanmar’s transition is stuck in limbo - Suu Kyi’s party is struggling to become a modern political organisation capable of taking power - 14th March 2013
 * No formula can better a mother’s milk - Children across Asia are being denied the incalculable benefits of breastfeeding - 7th March 2013
 * China pushes lending into the shadows - Banks and non-banks alike have proved adept at circumventing regulations - 27th February 2013
 * Wanted: BoJ believer in monetary policy - Japan must move to a new equilibrium based on mild inflation - 21st February 2013
 * Grand deal with N Korea beats hollow talk - Sanctions have failed to stop the country developing nuclear weapon - 14th February 2013
 * Foxconn union heralds end of cheap era - Don’t expect a rash of strikes or demands for collective bargaining - 7th February 2013
 * Pipeline marks scramble for Myanmar - Naypyidaw has much to gain from playing east off against west - 31st January 2013
 * Hong Kong sees the light through a haze - The city is finally addressing its pollution problem but is not going far enough - 17th January 2013
 * Kim’s hints offer North Koreans little - There are signs that the young leader could be intent on reform - 10th january 2013



Articles: 2012

 * A delayed take-off - The Philippines is finally picking up economic momentum, but this rapid growth has passed over the vast majority of the poor - 28th December 2012
 * Asia’s new leaders stir ancestral animosity - Rulers embody tensions boiling up in the region - 20th December 2012
 * Aung San Suu Kyi - The will of the people is still strongly behind The Lady. Even in the isolated villages of the Irrawaddy Delta, people conjure her name as if it were magic - 15th December 2012
 * Philippines pays price for climate inaction - In human casualty terms, typhoon Bopha is almost five times worse than hurricane Sandy - 13th December 2012
 * Old rivalries stir in Japan and Korea - The differences in the elections in Asia’s second and fourth-largest economies are striking - 6th December 2012
 * Japan must revitalise its central bank - After failing to defeat deflation for 15 years, the BoJ could do with a fresh approach - 29th November 2012
 * Myanmar’s minorities deserve citizenship - The government should grant the Rohingya citizenship - 22nd November 2012
 * Hooked on Bombay - Jeet Thayil’s ‘Narcopolis’, pipped at the post for this year’s Booker, is a nostalgic evocation of the vanished opium dens of the city he refuses to call Mumbai - 17th November 2012
 * China’s rapid change and missed chances - The task that awaits Hu Jintao’s successor will be formidable - 15th November 2012
 * China’s players rehearse in the dark - The leadership selection process is out of step with progress made in many areas of society - 10th November 2012
 * Xi must tread on toes to advance reforms - Collectivist leadership and vested interests are standing in the way - 8th November 2012
 * Xi should draw up a new social contract for China - Stresses in the economy are bringing more social friction in a country that is increasingly volatile - 31st October 2012
 * Asia needs a strong group to avoid conflict - As China grows more powerful, the Pax Americana is becoming less tenable - 25th October 2012
 * Malala paid dearly for claiming her right - Countries that fail to educate females cause themselves incalculable damage - 18th October 2012
 * Chance for Philippine break with the past - Against a brighter backdrop, perennial problems are looking less intractable - 11th October 2012
 * Demographics ignite China’s factory riots - The country can no longer rely on an endless stream of pliant migrant workers - 4th October 2012
 * Asia-Pacific: Desert island risks - A dispute between Beijing, Taipei and Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea could ensnare the US - 1st October 2012
 * South Korea wallows in existential angst - The country is having a nervous breakdown just as it gains confidence on the world stage - 27th September 2012
 * Manmohan gets his mojo back at last - The Indian leader’s gamble is worth it because it will do far more good than harm - 20th September 2012
 * Russia begins its slow pivot to Asia - Moscow is looking to the east but has a lot of catching up to do - 13th September 2012
 * The renminbi won’t replace the dollar any time soon - The overseas march of the Chinese currency is as much hype as reality - 6th September 2012
 * Apple might give Samsung the shove it needs - The South Korean group has not yet shown it can produce something out of the box - 30th August 2012
 * Japan, China and their ‘history problem’ - Beijing may be seeking to drive a wedge between Washington and Tokyo - 23rd August 2012
 * China’s very different election show - The country’s democratic process is in full swing – but the result will not be left to chance - 16th August 2012
 * Clinton’s talk of democracy in Asia lacks precision - Remarks failed to capture sense of widening freedom in China - 12th July 2012
 * Youth of the ice age - A new generation of Japanese is rising: entrepreneurial, wanting to think for themselves – but struggling for independence - 7th July 2012
 * The former colony may get stuck down China’s gullet - The line between Hong Kong and the mainland – one country, two systems – is blurring - 5th July 2012
 * Forget Grexit, it’s time to fret about ‘Chindown’ - If Greece goes, almost everyone will suffer; as China slows, the impact is likely to be more mixed - 21st June 2012
 * Now comes Aung San Suu Kyi’s real test - Myanmar’s democracy hero is wading through a political fog - 14th June 2012
 * Sayonara decline! Japan is globetrotting again - Last year Japanese companies spent $25bn more than Chinese groups on overseas acquisitions - 7th June 2012
 * Steady: Mongolia is not yet the new Qatar - The country must still get governance, equity, economics and geopolitical strategy right - 31st May 2012
 * The wobbly panda won’t fall yet - China still has the firepower to engineer growth, something it badly needs in a year of fraught political transition - 24th May 2012
 * Nine dragons stir up the South China Sea - A proliferation of agencies may be pushing the boundaries of Chinese policy - 17th May 2012
 * A blind prophet speaks of trouble in China - The Chen Gugcheng case exposes China’s moral vacuum - 3rd May 2012
 * South-east Asia’s llama breaks into a trot - The Philippines may be getting its act together - 26th April 2012
 * A shrill debate in ‘the land of consensus’ - Japan is divided over politics and economics, energy and tax policy - 19th April 2012
 * A case of more than Tinker, Tailor, Bo Xilai - The arbitrariness of China’s system is damaging its image - 12th April 2012
 * Hong Kong is bringing democracy to China - Leung Chun-ying is likely to be a different sort of leader of the world’s third-largest business centre - 29th March 2012
 * The threat to the post-Mao consensus - China’s technocratic, consensus-driven system is under strain - 21st March 2012
 * The end of Asia’s demographic dividend - The region’s tailwind will soon blow the other way - 15th March 2012
 * The slow lingering death of Delhi’s dynasty - People are voting for governance, they are voting against corruption and for development - 8th March 2012
 * Bihar shines a light on India’s darkness - If a desperately poor state of some 100m people can haul itself from the mire, nothing is hopeless - 1st March 2012
 * China cannot ignore the will of Hong Kongers - The territory’s citizens have rebelled before - 23rd February 2012
 * India’s ‘bumble bee’ defies gravity - Although political weakness seems to have sapped economic strength, the country’s growth story remains pretty robust - 16th February 2012
 * Where Wukan has led, Beijing won’t follow - Village protesters will not unnerve the state - 9th February 2012
 * The trials of a reluctant superpower - As commercial needs suck it into a troubled world, China’s desire for a low international profile is at odds with reality - 2nd February 2012



Articles: 2011

 * Just two cheers for a sputtering Indonesian dream - Poor infrastructure is deterring foreign investors - 15th December 2011
 * How to make Burma’s Botox revolution real - Even if the door leading to reform is open only a crack, it is better to stick one’s foot in than to see it slam shut - 1st November 2011
 * How America should adjust to the Pacific century - A look at the rivalry between the US and China in the Pacific - 17th November 2011
 * China needs more than a five-year charm offensive - The attraction of the US is in its ability to tolerate an alternative view - 10th November 2011
 * Modern China yearns for new moral code - Communism has given way to a raw kind of capitalism - 3rd November 2011
 * the mad migration of parts for your iPhone matters'' - As well as the fragility of human life, the world’s recent disasters have revealed the vulnerability of the global supply chain - 27th October 2011
 * Why China’s leaders fear looking in the 1911 mirror - China’s Communist party has a difficult relationship with history - 20th October 2011
 * Why Americans should learn to love the renminbi - Poorer countries are correcting the huge divergence in incomes - 13th October 2011
 * When a hero’s image signals a new Burmese dawn - One western diplomat who met Aung San Suu Kyi recently says she is exhilarated by the changed atmosphere - 6th October 2011
 * Why Taiwan still rattles Beijing and Washington - In China and the US, who becomes president of Taiwan is probably more important than who is president of France - 22nd September 2011
 * Japan’s Kafkaesque prose master takes on the world - The 62-year-old’s new work is set to be his most popular - 17th September 2011
 * When the Singapore sling meets the Arab spring - People are better educated and have more aspirations. They couldn’t so easily be satisfied with decent jobs - 15th September 2011
 * Time to talk to the regime that cannot clothe its troops - Discussing nuclear safety could enable the US to talk to Pyongyang about nuclear weapons - 8th September 2011
 * Hard to see the wood for the trees in China - David Pilling on how the forests of Yunnan are a long way from Ontario - 1st September 2011
 * me waiter, there’s a shark in my soup'' - What people eat is a sensitive topic and one that generates much hypocrisy - 25th August 2011
 * risky game of cat and mouse censorship'' - Authoritarian governments listen to those who shout loudest, bending to more nationalist sentiment - 18th August 2011
 * ‘can-do’ bid for a nuclear-free era'' - The question of whether the country can survive without the industry could be answered soon - 11th August 2011
 * crashes into a middle class revolt'' - If the trains are not safe, what of the banking system or the management of the economy itself? - 4th August 2011
 * charm offensive in China’s backyard'' - Washington’s strategy is to try to slip back stealthily into the heart of Asia Pacific without ruffling Chinese feathers - 27th July 2011
 * threat to Australian mining all hot air'' - No sign of slowing investment in the Pilbara region of Western Australia - 25th July 2011
 * time to concede the Thai king can do wrong'' - Use of lese majesty laws has soared, raising very real fears they are being wielded to suppress opposition and silence freedom of speech - 21st July 2011
 * Japan'' - This essay collection reasseses if the country must reinvent itself or if it would be better to learn to live with decline - 9th July 2011
 * bids to turn tragedy into a triumph'' - The country’s reaction to disaster has proved its ability to adapt and change - 23rd June 2011
 * ghost of Thaksin still haunts Thailand'' - That the election is centred on the ex-prime minister is unfortunate - 16th June 2011
 * dawn of Sarah Palin politics in China'' - Idea of smooth Beijing power handovers is false - 9th June 2011
 * quiet anger with ‘big, bad’ China'' - Many Vietnamese, with centuries of resentment, believe China has strangled local industry at birth - 2nd June 2011
 * masterclass in schmoozing Pakistan'' - Few countries have seen China act powerfully enough to play off against the US - 26th May 2011
 * Beijing must end inflation – or else'' - It was rising prices that stirred protests in the run-up to Tiananmen - 19th May 2011
 * spending spree deserves three cheers'' - When it comes to buying up America, China is in the little league with New Zealand and Austria - 12th May 2011
 * for the price of chasing Afghan shadows'' - While the US has been hunting bin Laden, China has been pursuing its juggernaut rise - 5th May 2011
 * and Pakistan odd bedfellows in ‘war on terror’'' - The assassination of the al-Qaeda leader will take the sting out of Pakistani complaints that the US is riding roughshod over the country in its pursuit of Islamist extremists - 2nd May 2011
 * Asia riven by disputed terrain'' - Historical animosities – often manifested in territorial clashes – plague large parts of east and central Asia. Such tensions are far from academic - 27th April 2011
 * lessons from Japan’s cherry tree wars'' - The question of whether to spend or save is rather less fleeting than the delicate petals - 21st April 2011
 * makes Lehman seem a mere bagatelle'' - Tepco is indispensable. It really is too big to fail - 14th April 2011
 * cannot sacrifice Taiwan to court the Chinese'' - Taiwan is not just a bone to be thrown in China’s way - 31st March 2011
 * Japan: A shaken nation'' - A populace shocked more by nuclear failings than a natural disaster is starting to rethink the pros and cons of their stoic but often passive society, with Jonathan Soble and Mure Dickie - 19th March 2011
 * Japanese miracle is not over'' - The grave faces of public officials cannot have looked much graver in 1945, after the nuclear bombs fell - 17th March 2011
 * looms on nuclear power'' - About one in 10 of world’s plants are in Japan - 14th March 2011
 * learnt from Kobe quake'' - Japan’s last big earthquake, which hit the coastal city in January 1995, measured 7.3 - a mere rumble compared with the force that struck on Friday - but 6,500 were killed - 12th March 2011
 * Kong’s land system that time forgot'' - The land leasing system, a legacy of British colonialism, creates huge distortions and opacities, making it hard to talk sensibly about levels of tax and expenditure - 10th March 2011
 * low no longer an option for Beijing'' - As China is sucked more deeply into the affairs of distant lands, its ability to stay out of trouble is diminishing by the day - 3rd March 2011
 * Who Eat Darkness'' - Richard Lloyd Parry turns grotesque material – the crimes of a Japanese man who drugged, raped and murdered foreign hostesses – into a page-turning sensitive work - 28th February 2011
 * could bring down China’s rulers?'' - The Communist party is ultra-vigilant to the slightest hint of opposition. If there is no appetite for rebellion, what is Beijing afraid of - 24th February 2011
 * the Chinese are not inspired by Egypt'' - Tahrir Square differed from Tiananmen Square - 17th February 2011
 * business titans are losing their lustre'' - For every underpriced mining or telecoms licence there is an entrepreneur only too happy to cash in - 9th February
 * puts its own twist on casino capitalism'' - Saga surrounding Stanley Ho is sideshow to goings-on in Macao itself - 3rd February 2011
 * of hope amid the Indonesian hype'' - Economies can perform well even when corruption is rife - 27th January 2011
 * foreign policy'' - China’s preference for non-intervention will be strained as its interests become more deeply entangled - 20th January 2011
 * oil affects the price of peas in China'' - Farming increasingly relies on hydrocarbons in the form of fertiliser and fuel - 13th January 2011
 * finds there is more to life than growth'' - Is the sole business of a state to project economic vigour? - 6th January 2011



Articles: 2010

 * notches on the Chinese doorpost'' - When China has truly risen, we will know about it - 16th December 2010
 * rock lobster lesson for booming Australia'' - There are signs of a boom wherever you turn down under - 9th December 2010
 * is not about to prise lips from teeth'' - WikiLeaks cables are not sufficient evidence of a change of heart in China - 2nd December 2010
 * road ahead for Asia need not run west'' - In very different ways, Chalmers Johnson and Patrick Smith both challenge the idea that, to be modern, a country must assimilate western thinking - 25th November
 * Jong-il plays his aces'' - Trying to fathom why North Korea’s inscrutable and reclusive leader has acted as he has this week is a challenge, particularly when China is his only outside contact - 24th November 2010
 * Poised for a shift'' - Though the eastward tilt in global influence may simply restore an earlier equilibrium, and is not a certain outcome, changes are under way that should have a profound impact on the west - 23rd November 2010
 * milestone for a rising China price'' - Higher wages may bring the rebalancing everyone is screaming for - 18th November 2010
 * in the News: Ai Weiwei'' - Jamil Anderlini and David Pilling on China’s most famous artist - 13th November 2010
 * China and Japan are oceans apart'' - Beijing and Tokyo see their island dispute through a different lens - 11th November 2010
 * electoral enigma wrapped in a farce'' - The election could mark the first step towards change - 4th November 2010
 * has every right to cheat, but shouldn’t'' - Beijing cannot risk bringing down the global free-trade system - 28th October 2010
 * the state that refuses to fail'' - Watershed moments are hardly a rarity in Pakistan, a state that lurches from crisis to crisis like a bus stuck in first gear. Yet Pakistan continues to survive. And in its partial victories against Islamist militants it may even have made some kind of progress - 21st October 2010
 * magnates alone cannot make India'' - The country is in need of the roads and sewerage, the basic education and primary health without which its growth will stall - 14th October 2010
 * being big helps and hinders China'' - A huge internal market gives it the economies of scale to develop globally competitive industries - 7th October 2010
 * recipe for trouble in China’s backyard'' - If Japan cannot stand up to the Chinese, what hope for smaller nations that have territorial disputes with Beijing? - 30th September 2010
 * ghost that haunts Gome’s boardroom'' - This is anything but a routine battle for control. It sheds a light, of sorts, on the wild-west world of Chinese capitalism - 16th September 2010
 * in China is something to celebrate'' - The march of Mandarin is not an inevitable part of nation-building, although many Chinese would argue – probably correctly – that it is a potent symbol of China’s unity and strength - 9th September 2010
 * perils of Japan’s Andy Warhol politics'' - In two decades Japan has had no fewer than 14 prime ministers - 2nd September 2010
 * march to renminbi convertibility'' - An enormous leap for non-convertible currency - 26th August 2010
 * at Number Two ... and counting'' - There are important similarities and differences between Japan in 1968 and China in 2010 - 19th August 2010
 * still clouds a postwar friendship'' - If the US-Japan alliance is to endure, it would be sensible to put it on a more honest footing - 12th August 2010
 * America sees red in corporate China'' - There is a price for blocking deals on security grounds - 5th August 2010
 * tortoise must turn on the speed'' - Foreign direct investment has quadrupled since 2005 but it could be more - 29th July
 * Keynesians take pride in prudence'' - There is little debate about how well the stimulus worked – spectacularly - 22nd July 2010
 * Chinese way'' - More than ever, we must understand a country that is the only serious challenger to the US for superpower status. Four books aspire to write about China as it is, while avoiding the clichés or false dichotomies that have dogged much literature on the subject - 4th July
 * bear hug has benefits for wary Taiwan'' - The thaw was symbolised by Beijing’s delivery of two giant pandas with names that combined to spell the word ‘reunion’ - 25th June 2010
 * and America still march out of step'' - There is an atmosphere of distrust between the two countries’ militaries - 17th June 2010
 * do it’ is no mantra for Japan'' - The problems facing Naoto Kan are not simple - 10th June 2010
 * is finally afoot for China’s workers'' - Beijing may continue to offer cautious support to an emboldened workforce - 3rd June 2010
 * dark side of China’s enduring dream'' - A look at the darker crevices of China’s factory system - 27th May 2010
 * crisis goes beyond red and yellow'' - Attempts to portray the thousands who took to the streets as ‘terrorists’ or mercenaries do not wash - 20th May 2010
 * Asia resumes its economic ascent'' - Asian states are, if anything, in danger of overheating - 13th May 2010
 * fantastical dream of a united Korea'' - In reality, many South Koreans are sniffy about Northerners - 6th May
 * is robust in Asia'' - The view that democracy has lost its appeal is worth challenging - 29th April 2010
 * wobbles on the American alliance'' - There is a possibility that the base squabble is an early warning of a strategic realignment - 21st April 2010
 * splendid isolation may be at risk'' - Only eight months after an opposition party wrestled power from the Liberal Democrats, disillusion has set in - 15th April 2010
 * and democracy collide in India'' - India’s tribal population has failed to benefit from government policy - 8th April 2010
 * tough call on China'' - For both Rio Tinto and Google, China is too big to ignore - 25th March 2010
 * blights the dream of Hong Kong'' - The city's income inequality is the worst in Asia - 18th March 2010
 * China’s rural exodus'' - Urban rights are threatening revolutionary distress - 11th March 2010
 * reform can help India spend better'' - Rationalisation must not be an excuse for the withdrawal of the state - 4th March 2010
 * Korea is no longer the underdog'' - An economy that was once on a par with sub-Saharan Africa is now snapping at Britain’s heels - 25th February 2010
 * Toyota engineered its own downfall'' - It has been unable to comprehend that its cars could be less than perfect - 11th February 2010
 * gets the better of China’s sage'' - Confucianism has its limits - 4th February 2010
 * will not be the world’s deputy sheriff'' - The country is not yet ready to take on the international role the US expects of it, preferring to get on with the hard slog of building an industrial economy - 28th January 2010
 * v emotion in China’s growth story'' - A surging money supply and excess investment threaten asset bubbles and overcapacity. But simultaneous fears of inflation suggest a middle road may be possible - 21st January 2010
 * is not alone in calling China’s bluff'' - As Beijing found in Copenhagen, where its demands to be paid in return for cutting carbon emissions were roundly rejected by Washington, things do not always go its way - 14th January 2010
 * Faded smiles'' - Defying attempts to sideline him, Thaksin Shinawatra has only increased his influence as the downturn casts a stalled economic development into sharper relief - 14th January 2010 (with Tim Johnston)



Articles: 2009

 * are a luxury not a right in Nepal'' - Room to Read scholarships for girls help increase income and health prospects of a family and improve the chance that the next generation receives education - 24th december 2009
 * inspired the founder of Room To Read'' - John Wood, the book author and former Microsoft executive who started the educational charity in Nepal - 28th December 2009
 * are a luxury not a right in Nepal'' - Room to Read scholarships for girls help increase income and health prospects of a family and improve the chance that the next generation receives education - 24th December 2009
 * to Read builds libraries in Sri Lanka'' - David Pilling visits schools in Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim communities and notices attendance has increased sharply since the civil war ended - 23rd December 2009
 * finds fine words for its old enemy'' - Whisper it quietly, but China admires some aspects of Japan’s postwar development, from which it still has much to learn - 17th December 2009
 * is getting a better deal from Beijing'' - West’s record is less than exemplary - 10th December 2009
 * Kong tiptoes towards democracy'' - Even if Beijing were not involved, why would the territory’s rich give up a system that protects their interests so completely - 3rd December 2009
 * dig deep to fill education gap'' - Charity money and the toil of a local construction committee – composed mostly of grandmothers – helped build a new pre-school in a village in Sri Lanka - 2nd December 2009
 * peace divided Sri Lanka cannot squander'' - The danger is that the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa will take power for granted after its crushing victory in the civil conflict and embrace a crude Sinhalese chauvinism - 26th November 2009
 * sitting comfortably?'' - Then we’ll begin. Just as Room to Read did a decade ago. David Pilling, the FT’s Asia editor, takes a look at the charity chosen for this year’s seasonal appeal - 23rd November 2009
 * seeks a change Beijing can believe ib'' - 19th November 2009
 * hovers at the negotiating table'' - Obama should know that there are three – not two – parties to any discussions about the US-Japan alliance - 12th November 2009
 * up for Japan’s medical mystery tour'' - With a smaller slice of a shrinking domestic pie, Japanese pharmaceutical companies have had to take the fight abroad. The country’s track record outside manufacturing does not bode well, but it is too soon to dismiss the industry - 5th November 2009
 * Marx to Mohammed'' - Central Asia is now the focus of a new ‘Great Game’ as Russia, China and the US vie for a strategic foothold. David Pilling discusses four volumes that bring to the fore a region that deserves to be better known and convey themes too pressing to ignore - 29th October 2009
 * state’s dead hand returns to haunt China'' - State-led companies that have received massive loans have the means to buy private enterprises - 15th October 2009
 * with Burma are no laughing matter'' - Distasteful as it is to sit down with the generals, it is the right thing to do. Isolating Burma has pushed it towards China - 8th October 2009
 * endures China’s upheavals'' - Citizens are aware of their country’s failings and contradictions. Yet a common view is that these are inevitable side-effects of development. They are tolerable so long as tomorrow is better - 1st October 2009
 * poodle strains at the American leash'' - Given the unspoken tensions over military bases, Japan’s pacifism and relations with China, Washington should be giddy at the DPJ’s promise to build a more equal, open alliance - 24th September 2009
 * banks for a world turned upside down'' - If western banks have been turned upside down, in Asia they have been turned downside up. A year after the Lehman implosion, four of the world’s top 10 banks are Chinese - 17th September 2009
 * strains to hear the voice of the people'' - The words “people power” and China are not generally associated. We are accustomed to thinking of China as an authoritarian state in which the will of the people is crushed or, at best, silenced by lightning economic growth and improving living standards - 10th September 2009
 * wiser Japan casts its vote without illusions'' - Hatoyama responds to mood of nation - 3rd September 2009
 * needs to put its bleak houses in order'' - Charles Dickens would have felt quite at home in modern-day India. In its teeming cities he would have found the stuff of his novels: the fizz of creative energy uncorked by industrialisation, the mix of fabulous riches and stultifying grime, high society and struggling slums, honest endeavour and distasteful enrichment - 27th August 2009
 * from above will not work this time'' - The US success in bringing elections to post-war Japan has few lessons for turbulent, ethnically mixed Afghanistan - 20th August 2009
 * democracy still awaits its redeemer'' - At midnight on Tuesday, as monsoon rains lashed the shoddy pavements, tens of thousands of ordinary Filipinos waited patiently outside Manila Cathedral to file past the coffin of Corazon Aquino, the queen of people power - 6th August 2009
 * risks taking China too seriously'' - Look at the facts - 30th July 2009
 * shrinks from the American embrace'' - The imminent victory of the DPJ is more than a political realignment. It also marks a generational shift - 23rd July
 * will struggle to escape its export trap'' - Despite the dazzling retail emporia of its up-and-coming cities, the region has become more, not less, dependent on foreign demand - 25th June 2009
 * is losing patience with politics-as-usual'' - Since 1990, the Liberal Democratic party has persevered with its well-honed brand of money politics without one ingredient: money - 18th June 2009
 * truth of America’s clinch with Pakistan'' - Neat on paper, probably sensible, Washington’s new anti-terrorism strategy, Afpak, comes with huge problems - 11th June 2009
 * success outstrips democracy for now'' - Twenty years after Tiananmen Square the party has it both ways: authoritarian government with increasing, though circumscribed, market liberalisation - 4th June 2009
 * and self-loathing in South Korea'' - The country would do well to use the tragic death of Roh Moo-hyun, the country’s former president, as a catalyst to strengthen its legal institutions and to clean up its politics - 28th May 2009
 * search of meaning in India’s mandate'' - Voters rewarded those politicians with a track record of bringing growth, almost regardless of ideological bent - 21st May 2009
 * signals from Asia’s animal spirits'' - For many, things are likely to get better from here. But we should grasp how much has already been lost - 14th May 2009
 * China eclipses trailblazing Japan'' - There is a mixed sense of pride and trepidation at the rise of an Asian superpower, but the regional sway Beijing exerts contrasts markedly with Tokyo’s attempts at leadership - 7th May 2009
 * flaws that wrecked Thailand’s promise'' - Once mentioned in the same breath as high-tech Taiwan, Thailand has never fulfilled its potential and is now more likely to be grouped with the high-maintenance Philippines - 30th April 2009
 * flexes new economic muscle at sea'' - If Beijing continues to expand its seapower until it a navy to match that of the US it will raise questions of the postwar balance of power in the Pacific - 23rd April 2009
 * consumption is a disappearing act'' - Far from being massive consumers who will ride to the world’s rescue, most Chinese are “survivors”, whose purchases of basic food and clothing have little impact on global demand - 9th April 2009 (See also: Exploring China's factory belt)
 * is just sabre-rattling over the dollar'' - The proposal distracts from the point that China would not have huge dollar holdings if it had not pursued specific policies – namely export-led growth predicated on a competitive renminbi - 2nd April 2009
 * retort to Coke stirs fears of retaliation'' - Most troubling is that Beijing appears to have dressed up concerns about national interest in antitrust clothing - 26th March 2009
 * messy democracy works rather well'' - The real business of who runs India will be determined after the election, in backroom dealing and horse-trading - 19th March 2009
 * quest for other ways'' - If it is Anglo-Saxon ‘casino’ capitalism that has been found most wanting, methods practised elsewhere might provide pointers for the future. But Asian approaches are more like those of the US than they may seem, while there are snags in what European models can offer - 16th March (with Ralph Atkins)
 * Korea is more Confucian cult than rogue state'' - North Koreans still wear ‘Eternal Leader’ badges while state propaganda alludes to a ‘mandate of heaven’ - 12th March 2009
 * harks back to an age of innocence'' - The economic crisis has invited a re-evaluation of Japan’s postwar – if not post-Meiji – record in at least three main spheres - 5th March 2009
 * story leaves Cinderella without a ball'' - Unlike in the best fairytales, dutiful Asian savers who sat quietly counting their pennies have fared more disastrously than the world’s most profligate nations - 2nd March 2009
 * fearless women speculators'' - Housewives are far more powerful than western stereotypes allow as many ‘Mrs Watanabes’ have added international finance to their daily chores - 28th February 2009
 * reject Chinalco’s bid for bogus reasons'' - If Rio shareholders refuse this offer, they should make clear they mistrust an accident-prone board not the motives of China - 26th February 2009 (See: Concern grows as extent of Rio Tinto’s concessions to Chinalco is revealed)
 * slumdogs become millionaires in India?'' - The concept of social mobility is starting to challenge a previously fatalistic attitude to class and cast predominant in the subcontinent - 19th February 2009
 * is the real Pakistan?'' - The only positive thing to have come out of the past 10 weeks has been India’s relatively calm response - 12th February 2009
 * numbers'' - Asia and the crisis: The speed and ferocity of the region’s economic downturn, which have shocked even pessimists, stem from a reliance on trade – once seen as its biggest strength - 10th February 2009
 * should raise wages to stimulate demand'' - All over Asia, workers’ pay has lagged growth. With less disposable income, it is hardly surprising that consumption has slumped - 5th February 2009
 * faces up to the prospect of ‘peak fish’'' - The idea of a war over seafood is no more preposterous than that of a conflict over water or petroleum - 29th January 2009
 * new carry trade – the handbag'' - Pro-spending policies are needed more than ever to help fix the imbalances that underpinned the credit-fuelled bubble - 22nd January 2009
 * trial is a test for Taiwan’s democracy'' - His election was proof authoritarian regimes need not last for ever, which set unfortunate precedent for Beijing - 15th January 2009
 * in 2009: A rough ox ride to power'' - The sorry truth is that, if westerners are not spending, Asians have little cause to make things for them to buy - 2nd January 2009



Articles: 2008

 * China’s ‘warp-speed’ industrial revolution - The process by which the astonishing changes of the past 30 years have occurred owes as much to accident and experiment as to grand design - 18th December 2008
 * Asia is unlikely to bail out the west'' - Hardly surprisingly, the continent views as foolish the excesses that led Europe and the US into so much trouble - 11th December 2008
 * the next Asian basket case?'' - A country’s underlying institutions need to be impartial and dependable. That is not the case in Thailand - 4th December 2008
 * Ark must beware of the rocks'' - Trying to merge the culture of Wall Street with that of Nihonbashi, Tokyo’s old financial district, is not easy - 27th November 2008
 * Edge: Dick-man and the Bank of Flames'' - David Pilling invents a comic hero, Tarp-man - 22nd November 2008
 * can be more than 350 Albanias'' - China’s belief in its own Great Power status is real. But so is its lack of confidence - 20th November 2008
 * version of China’s growth'' - Given its need to reassure shaken consumers, Beijing’s selling of old money as new may not be bad policy - 13th November 2008
 * president-elect must ease Asian anxieties'' - Historically, the region’s leaders have preferred Republicans, viewed as more stalwart defenders of free trade - 6th November 2008
 * the unwinding of the yen carry trade'' - Even worse than Japan again becoming the source of almost free money, would be the potential for an even more risky dollar carry trade - 30th October 2008
 * The truth behind the Asian fairy tale - When the waters recede they will reveal a global landscape in which Asia, though damaged, looks more solid than the west - 15th October 2008
 * America’s chance to kick its Asian addiction - This is a story of Asian prudence versus US recklessness. Asians lived below their means so that Americans could live beyond theirs - 1st October 2008
 * hits bottleneck on way to prosperity'' - To truly shine, it will need millions, perhaps tens of millions, more manufacturing jobs. Why has it not created them? - 25th September 2008
 * glimpses a new shade of grey''-The country is not changing at warp speed. But it has adapted to its chastened circumstances better than most commentators had allowed - 4th September 2008
 * with the FT: Manabu Miyazaki'' - The best-selling author talks about Japan’s underworld and why he sees himself as a ‘freelance outlaw’ - 9th August 2008
 * wants it both ways on tax'' - The mandarins are right that the system needs fixing. Dithering will bequeath the problem to future generations - 25th June 2008
 * shows mettle in the race for Africa’s ore'' - The hunt for rare metals is urgent for one reason: China. Japan has watched aghast as China crisscrossed the continent, cutting deals - 21st May 2008
 * From zero to hero - Compared with Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve who recently cut interest rates by 125 basis points in eight swashbuckling days, Toshihiko Fukui might seem to have been leading a quiet life - 17th February 2008



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