In the space of just over a year, leaders have been elected, reelected or selected in Asian economies with a combined population twice that of the U.S. They have immediately faced military, trade and diplomatic tensions with few precedents.
How to navigate such troubled waters, including the rift between the U.S. and China, was a major theme of keynote speeches at Nikkei's Future of Asia conference, which brought together business and political luminaries from across the region, including Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim and Thailand's Srettha Thavisin.
On the sidelines of the forum, a range of luminaries sat down with Nikkei Asia reporters to address other specific issues affecting the region.
Chey Tae-won, chairman and chief executive of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, discussed ways to improve ties between Japan and South Korea, while Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol said he expects growing Japanese investment to help curb the Southeast Asian nation's economic dependence on China.
Meanwhile, Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People's Bank of China, defended his country's surging exports of inexpensive industrial products like cars and steel, which have led to friction with its global trade partners, saying "a little bit of overcapacity is a normal thing."
Check out our interviews from the annual event below.
You can also find more of our coverage from the conference here.
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