 | In The Big Story this week, Richard McGregor, author of the bestselling book "The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers," and Neil Thomas take an up-close look at China's Foreign Ministry and its likely next leaders after the Chinese Communist Party holds its national congress this autumn.
The country's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, 72, and foreign minister, Wang Yi, 68, will retire soon if they are forced to abide by the "seven up, eight down" rule, which requires officials over the age of 68 to step down. The authors single out and analyze some of their possible successors.
The key takeaway is that "Westernized" diplomats like Yang are not likely to be given key roles after the shake-up. Instead, the authors predict that the next crop of top diplomats will probably be patriotic hard-liners known as "wolf warriors." To members of this new team, relations with the U.S. and Taiwan are the top priorities, and they will be taking tough stances.
To better understand Xi Jinping's China, I recommend an earlier Big Story by McGregor on the Communist Party's centennial, and an analytical piece by Nikkei senior staff writer Katsuji Nakazawa titled "Russia hand's demotion signals shift in Xi's strategy."
Business Spotlight this week looks at Vietnam's film industry. The story points out how such seminal Vietnam War movies as "Apocalypse Now" and "Platoon" were actually shot in the Philippines. The government wants Hollywood film crews to flock to Vietnam, but its strict censorship rules threaten to discourage creators.
Market Spotlight is an interview with former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on the lessons learned from the 1997 Asian currency crisis.
At the time, Mahathir rejected the International Monetary Fund's recommendations and increased government spending to boost the economy. He also introduced stringent capital controls and once again pegged the currency to the dollar. The fixed exchange system was only removed in 2005, and even then was replaced by a managed float system instead of allowing the ringgit to float freely.
Those moves appear to have made Malaysia's currency more resilient against speculative attacks. In my view, countries with weak currencies might consider looking more deeply into a managed float system.
Asia Insight is a report from Thailand, which recently legalized cannabis under certain conditions. The story describes how cannabis has long been a part of Thai culture, but that in some countries, it is still taboo, partly because of the bitter experience of the Opium War.
For a deeper understanding of the subject, I also recommend "Thailand's 'marijuana wonderland': 5 things to know."
Lastly, for your weekend reading, enjoy the newest piece in our landmark series titled Feeding Asia. Our piece on India's cooking oil crisis is a visually rich illustration of the heft and the human cost of rising food prices in the region.
Made using the Shorthand digital storytelling platform, it is the newest endeavor in our ongoing push to make our content more visually attractive. This was made possible thanks to the dedication and enthusiasm of our special projects editor, Jui Chakravorty. There is more to come, so please stay tuned!
Stay safe and healthy, and have a wonderful weekend!
Shigesaburo Okumura
Editor-in-chief, Nikkei Asia
Follow me on Twitter @ShigesaburoO
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