Author name: Rivan Dwiastono

George Chen, partner at American strategic advisory firm The Asia Group, said he considered the meeting a success as both sides have committed to keep the dialogue going. “I don’t think anyone expects one meeting to solve all the problems… The substance will come only after mutual trust is built,” he said, adding that more […]

“The fact that both sides agreed to continue the dialogue is significant,” said George Chen, a partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group. “The initial outcome — an AI risk notification mechanism — sets a precedent that other countries may follow.”

In a new Reuters exclusive, TAG Managing Director for Japan David Boling explains why U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has grown increasingly assertive in pushing Tokyo to rein in its spending and raise interest rates — telling Reuters that “Bessent has run out of patience with Japan.” The piece details months of behind-the-scenes pressure from

The most prominent dismissal was internal affairs minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, a Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight who previously challenged Takaichi for leadership of Japan’s ruling party. He is now likely to challenge Takaichi again in September 2027 in the next LDP presidential race, said David Boling, principal at The Asia Group.

China is unlikely to agree to a slowdown at the behest of U.S. AI companies, said George Chen, a partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, an American strategic advisory firm based in Washington. “I don’t think what happens in the U.S. really matters to China,” he said Tuesday in a phone

“Heading into 2027, Takaichi’s political standing is very strong,” said David Boling, managing director for Japan at the Asia Group. “She increasingly looks like a prime minister with real staying power, closer to Shinzo Abe’s model of dominance than to Ishiba’s brief and failed premiership.” Achieving her ambitious goals to transform Japan over the next

In China, the calls for a slowdown have also come off as an attempt by the U.S. to maintain its leading edge, as it has tried to do by limiting the export of advanced AI chips to China. “Xi is unhappy with recent U.S. moves to contain Chinese advances in AI, robotics, and drones,” said

TAG Partner George Chen is featured in Bloomberg’s coverage of China’s rejection of calls to slow advanced AI development, amid intensifying competition with the United States. Chen said Beijing sees AI as a rare strategic opening to narrow — and potentially overturn — the technology gap with Washington, making any voluntary slowdown unlikely. “Beijing views

In a Financial Times piece on the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, TAG’s Ashok Malik says the bloc’s unusually unified response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the war in Iran, and strains on international cooperation reflects growing frustration with “Trumpism.” Malik said the summit’s 45-page statement criticizing protectionism and sanctions and calling for peace