Singapore-Lee family feud: Singaporeans today saw the latest and most public installment of a family feud between the children of the island state’s national founder and first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who passed away in 2015. Kirsten Han reports that a long public statement by Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang said they had lost trust and confidence in their brother – Singapore’s current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – and accused him of misusing his power and position “to drive his personal agenda.”
China infrastructure pullback: The latest data from China has revealed a substantial slowdown in infrastructure investment growth, writes Steve Wang. The data also showed that money going into real estate development has slowed for the first time since November, with both seen as indications that Beijing’s hard-nosed determination to cure ills in its non-bank financial system could result in a dampening effect on overall growth.
Japan’s corporate sexism: When he returned to office in 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, sensing the need to broaden his Liberal Democratic Party’s appeal, made empowering women a central pillar of Abenomics. The trouble is, writes William Pesek, corporate Japan’s rigid employment matrix still has a stubborn male-dominated preference and prefers workers who won’t go off and get pregnant.
OBOR is sustainable: The costs of China’s One Belt, One Road project are sustainable and won’t reach into the trillions of dollars, says David Dollar, a former World Bank official and US Treasury emissary to Beijing. Doug Tsuruoka writes that Dollar also thinks India must participate if China’s plan is to succeed but downplays the possibility of Chinese participation in President Donald Trump’s plan to rebuild US infrastructure.
Cyberattacks-Blockchain the answer: Cyberspace is the battleground of the early 21st century and as attacks have progressed, investing in cyber defense has become a priority for private companies and governments alike. Michael Rühle and Lukas Trakimavičiusm, who both work in the Energy Security Section of NATO’s Emerging Security Challenges Division, write that Blockchain technology, by offering decentralized information storage, can counter these weaknesses