Who had it best – and who had it worst – in 2025

The year saw a growing tsunami of cybercrime sweeping the globe, originating in Southeast Asia. Criminal gangs operating mainly in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have defrauded billions of dollars from their victims around the world.

The “perpetrators” are also the victims. Hundreds of thousands of individuals lured by false job offers to these countries, many transiting through Thailand, then held against their will, reduced to slavery to work in these fraudulent centers.

The kidnapping of Chinese actor Wang Xing, lured into fraudulent acting work and then forced to work in a single operation in January 2025, has brought increased attention to this growing crisis. Even the Trump administration has taken notice. “The scam hubs are creating a generational transfer of wealth from America’s Main Street to the pockets of Chinese organized crime,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Weak governments and corruption allow these multibillion-dollar criminal enterprises to operate, despite high-profile efforts to free captives and shut down compounds that operate with impunity in Southeast Asia.

Unless stopped, these operations will only become more sophisticated as they begin to use AI and deepfakes to carry out their crimes. Enslaved Asian cyber scam victims deserve the distinction of having experienced the worst year in Asia, with unfortunately far too little hope of escape and rescue in sight.

The number of deaths in large parts of Asia appeared to accelerate as the year ended. Throughout 2025, too many people have fallen victim to natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons and floods, seemingly made worse by corruption or human incompetence.

On March 28, an earthquake in Myanmar killed more than 3,600 people, displaced some 200,000 and even destroyed a skyscraper under construction across the border in distant Bangkok, killing dozens more. From Sri Lanka to Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, floods, mudslides and typhoons have combined to affect millions of people and kill more than 1,600.

Add fire to the mixture. The year ended with the horrific fire at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Tai Po, Hong Kong. Televised scenes of towering infernos were seen around the world. Inoperative fire alarms and below-grade building materials are believed to have contributed to the heartbreaking tragedy, which left at least 160 people dead, making it one of the deadliest fires in the city’s history.

Armed with memes, hashtags and reels, some of which wave the Jolly Roger flag popularized by the Japanese anime and manga series “One Piece”, Generation Z eager for change has had a mixed 2025.

Many young people born between 1997 and 2012 took to the streets, notably in Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Maldives and even Timor-Leste, a new member state of ASEAN, to protest against corruption, nepotism and economic inequality. The results were decidedly mixed, although frustrations seemed all too common in Asia.

These “digital natives” managed to bring down the Nepalese government. Last year, this generation played a key role in overthrowing the government of Bangladesh. In other countries, small concessions were achieved in 2025. Yet at the end of the year, the question remains whether Generation Z – the first generation to fully grow up in the internet age – is able to maintain momentum and turn these uprisings into a viable movement for constructive change.

The common hope remains for a political force capable of reforming entrenched and corrupt systems, alleviating the deep frustration of youth with the status quo, and creating more economic opportunities. To quote Monkey D. Luffy from “One Piece”, “If you don’t take risks, you can’t create a future.”

By the end of the year, resilience was on full display in Asia’s slowing but still growing economies. The region’s leaders have adopted flexible strategies – similar to those of bamboo bent by strong winds – to adapt to the tariffs imposed by Trump on “Liberation Day”.

Indeed, it turned out to be a good year for “bamboo economic tactics,” as the region’s reputation for pragmatism was maintained and countries were able to manage the new global economic reality. This approach led to a reduction in US tariffs – compared to the initially proposed duties – and a rethinking of trade configurations and new economic strategies.

One example is the India-Canada-Australia cooperation agreement on technology and innovation, which highlights the “art of the market” unique to Asian countries.

The recalibration of the economic approach has enabled developing countries in Asia to achieve growth hovering around 5% for the year, according to the Asian Development Bank. This has also allowed Asia to remain the fastest growing region in the world overall.

If technology and creative content are the new soft power, the last year has shown that “Made In China” could be a contender, with Beijing joining the ranks of the United States and Korea as a soft power giant.

The year began with a January surprise: the launch of DeepSeek, a low-cost AI model in a world once seduced by ChatGPT and American technological prowess. By the end of the year, Pop Mart’s “ugly and cute” collectible, Labubu, had taken the world by storm, even appearing in the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Labubu is part of a larger group of characters called “The Monsters”, created by Hong Kong artist and author Kasing Lung.