ASIANOMICS

🇨🇳🇺🇸US and China Envoys Meet Publicly in Hong Kong China's Commissioner to Hong Kong Cui Jianchun and US Consul General Julie Eadeh appeared together for the first time at a public event on April 28, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. Eadeh approached Cui before the event, the two exchanged smiles, posed for a photo, and shook hands after remarks. Both addressed the forum separately. The encounter comes ahead of a planned Trump visit to China in May, with Beijing and Washington described as maintaining active communication on the trip. Eadeh has previously drawn repeated warnings from Chinese authorities for meeting with pro-democracy figures — she was labelled a "subversion expert" by state media after being photographed with activists during the 2019 protests. Cui called for mutual respect on core interests and development rights, while Eadeh acknowledged that challenges in US-China relations are real and in some cases growing, but positioned Hong Kong as a venue for constructive dialogue. The public handshake marks a visible, if symbolic, shift in the diplomatic temperature between the two sides at the sub-sovereign level. #China#USA#HongKong @asianomics

🇨🇳China Freezes New Autonomous Vehicle Licences China has suspended the issuance of new autonomous vehicle licences following an incident in which over 100 Baidu Apollo Go robotaxis stalled simultaneously on Wuhan streets on March 31, stranding passengers and triggering a wave of emergency calls. Three agencies including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology convened a meeting with pilot-city officials in April, ordering local governments to conduct full safety reviews and strengthen monitoring protocols. The freeze bars self-driving firms from adding vehicles, launching new test projects, or expanding to new cities — a direct brake on an industry projected to reach 83.1 billion yuan by 2030. China's robotaxi sector competes directly with US rivals including Waymo, making regulatory momentum a strategic variable. This is at least the second time regulators have paused new permits following a Baidu-related safety incident. The duration of the suspension remains undefined, leaving fleet expansion timelines across the sector in uncertainty. #China @asianomics

🇹🇭Hormuz Crisis Revives Thailand's Land Bridge Push Iran's partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz has renewed pressure on Bangkok to advance its proposed land bridge — a road and rail corridor connecting a Gulf of Thailand port to an Andaman Sea port roughly 90km away, bypassing the Malacca Strait. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has indicated his government will pursue special legislation in the coming months to secure financing, with the route crossing Chumphon and Ranong provinces. The Malacca Strait remains the dominant chokepoint for East Asian trade with the Middle East, and the Hormuz disruption has sharpened focus on alternative routing. Thailand's land bridge has been a recurring proposal for years, but economists and environmentalists have consistently questioned its financial viability and ecological cost — conditions that have not materially changed. Political momentum is building, but the absence of a credible business case means the project remains aspirational rather than investment-ready. #Thailand @asianomics

🇰🇷South Korea Breaks Ground on Second Combat Support Ship A steel-cutting ceremony was held at Hanwha Ocean's shipyard in Geoje on April 29, marking the start of construction on South Korea's second auxiliary oil, ammunition and equipment ship (AOE-II), as reported by DAPA. The program, valued at ₩531.5 billion (~$360 million), was launched in 2024 as a follow-on to the 10,000-ton logistics vessel Soyang, commissioned in 2018. The new ship will feature a domestically-developed integrated engineering control system managing propulsion, power, and auxiliary systems through a single network. The vessel reflects a broader push to deepen South Korea's naval logistics capacity, with upgraded surveillance, noise reduction, and improved crew systems built in from the design stage. DAPA explicitly framed the program as a platform to expand South Korean shipbuilding export opportunities, including in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) — a sector where Korean yards are actively competing for international contracts. The AOE-II program positions Hanwha Ocean as a key node in South Korea's defense-industrial base, reinforcing the dual civil-military shipbuilding model Seoul has been scaling. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇮🇩Indonesia Military Court Tries Officers Over Acid Attack Indonesian military prosecutors have charged four officers in connection with an acid attack on a civilian activist. Prosecutors are seeking a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison for each defendant. The victim had been publicly known for campaigning against the expansion of the military's role in civilian affairs — a politically sensitive issue in Indonesia, where recent legislative changes have broadened the armed forces' institutional reach. The trial places the military justice system under scrutiny at a moment of heightened debate over civil-military boundaries in the country. #Indonesia @asianomics

🇰🇷South Korea Exports Rise 11th Straight Month A Reuters poll projects South Korean exports rose sharply again in April, marking an 11th consecutive month of growth. The expansion is driven by a surge in semiconductor demand tied to AI investment. Chip strength is absorbing headwinds from the Middle East conflict, which would otherwise weigh on trade flows. The poll result points to sustained outperformance in South Korea's export sector despite external shocks. Continued AI-driven chip demand positions South Korea's semiconductor exporters as a primary beneficiary of global technology investment cycles. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇨🇳🇹🇼Beijing pitches union benefits, Taipei rejects China's government stated on Wednesday that Taiwan's economy would gain unprecedented opportunities if it agreed to unification, as Beijing continues its push to bring Taipei under its rule. The overture was rebuffed by President Lai Ching-te's administration, consistent with its standing position. The exchange reflects an ongoing pattern of economic framing by Beijing as a persuasion tool, met with firm rejection from Taipei's current government. Lai's administration has shown no indication of openness to unification negotiations. The repeated cycle of offers and rejections signals no near-term shift in cross-strait posture from either side. #China#Taiwan @asianomics

🇯🇵BOJ Holds Rates, June Hike Still on Table The yen wavered near 159 against the dollar on April 28 after the Bank of Japan held its policy rate at 0.75% following a two-day meeting, while raising its inflation forecast to 2.8% in a split vote. The decision caught markets off guard given the hawkish tone of the accompanying projections. The BOJ's upgraded inflation outlook signals that conditions for further tightening remain intact, with June now viewed as the next viable window for a rate move. A divided board vote adds uncertainty to the timeline, reflecting internal disagreement over the pace of normalization amid yen weakness and external trade pressures. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama separately warned Tokyo stands ready to take strong measures against speculative moves in the currency market. #Japan @asianomics

🇨🇳🇭🇰CATL Raises $5bn in Hong Kong Secondary Offering CATL priced 62.4 million new H shares at HK$628.20 each — the bottom of its marketed range — raising HK$39.2 billion ($5bn) in Hong Kong's largest equity offering of 2025 and the second-largest globally this year after Galderma's $6.26bn deal in March. Shares opened down 6.7% and fell 7.6% to HK$624 by midday, priced at a 7% discount to Monday's close. The deal follows record Chinese exports of solar products, batteries, and EVs in March, with the Iran war-driven oil shock accelerating the global shift to clean energy — a sector where CATL holds a 38.1% share of the global EV battery market through the first ten months of 2025. The offering exceeds CATL's own $5.25bn Hong Kong listing in May 2025, currently the world's largest share offering that year. CATL is expanding overseas while navigating intense domestic competition in China's EV market, where rapid volume growth has yet to produce durable margins. #China#HongKong @asianomics

🇲🇾Negeri Sembilan Crisis Tests Anwar's Coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), a key partner in PM Anwar Ibrahim's federal coalition, has declared a simple majority in Negeri Sembilan after aligning with opposition lawmakers to form a new state government — turning a palace succession dispute into a direct challenge to Anwar's ruling alliance. The move marks the sharpest state-level fracture within Anwar's Madani coalition since he took office. BN's willingness to cross the aisle against its own federal partner signals deepening Malay political realignment, with opposition blocs exploiting institutional instability to gain ground ahead of the next general election. Negeri Sembilan now becomes a live test of whether Anwar can hold together a coalition increasingly strained by ethnic and dynastic pressures. #Malaysia @asianomics

🇳🇿🇰🇵New Zealand Spots DPRK Sanctions Breach at Sea New Zealand's Royal Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft detected a suspected ship-to-ship transfer of illicit goods in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea on April 28. Wellington also reported 35 vessels of interest to the United Nations, including ships suspected of trafficking refined petroleum into North Korea and exporting coal, sand, and iron ore. New Zealand has patrolled both sea zones since 2018 as part of multilateral efforts to enforce UN sanctions targeting North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Pyongyang has repeatedly circumvented these restrictions, using maritime transfers to access prohibited commodities and funding streams. The reported transfers involve dual-use commodities — coal, sand, iron ore — directly tied to financing Pyongyang's weapons development. #NewZealand#NorthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷S. Korea to Recover 90% of Naphtha Supply in May South Korea expects to secure up to 90% of pre-Iran war naphtha volumes for May, with major petrochemical firms lifting plant utilisation rates. Yeochun NCC, which had declared force majeure on some products, raised operations to 65% from 55% on April 1; Korea Petrochemical Ind. moved from 62% to 72% over the same period. Seoul has committed ₩674.4bn ($457mn) to subsidise up to 50% of the price gap between pre-war and current naphtha import costs for April–June. It has also locked in 2.1mn tonnes of alternative naphtha from four Middle Eastern suppliers — including Oman and Saudi Arabia — equivalent to roughly one month of national demand. A parallel crude oil swap system, drawing on state strategic reserves, has processed deals for ~14mn barrels with a further 16.5mn barrels targeted for May. The swap mechanism, initially set to run through end-May, is under review for extension given the prolonged Middle East conflict and high private-sector uptake. #SouthKorea#MiddleEast @asianomics