In Asian media this week: Beijing in 11-month gold-buying streak. Plus: Takaichi the most conservative leadership choice; US looks to delegate Taiwan defence; Prabowo holds massive military parade; South Korea’s Lee challenges US wartime control; China’s harsh times feed a spiritual economy.

Gold continued its historic rally this week, pushing past US$4,000 (A$6072) an ounce and gold-related businesses are booming in Southeast Asia.

Australian miner Kingsgate Consolidated is lifting production at its Chatree mine in Thailand to between 85,000 and 95,000 ounces of gold in fiscal 2026 – up from 75,000 ounces in the latest fiscal year.

Nikkei Asia, the online business and news magazine, said the company eventually wanted to increase production to more than 100,000 ounces a year.

Singapore Mint, a subsidiary of conglomerate Sembcorp Industries, last month introduced a new range of investment-grade gold bars, featuring a lion’s head, Nikkei said.

In Indonesia, the world’s eighth largest gold producer, operations started last week at one of the country’s bigger gold mines. Merdeka Copper Gold, the company that owns the mine, expects eventual production of 500,000 ounces.

In Thailand, investment in gold bars and coins rose 38% in the April-June quarter, compared to the corresponding period in 2024, followed by Singapore (37%), Indonesia (29%) and Malaysia (25%). China led the way at more than 40%.

Singapore’s The Straits Times reported spot gold is up by 53% in the year so far, after rising 27% in 2024.

The rally was driven by a cocktail of factors, the paper said. These included expectations of interest rate cuts, geopolitical and economic uncertainty, central bank buying, and a weak US dollar. FOMO — fear of missing out — was adding to the rally.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, had extended a buying streak to 11 straight months.

China Daily, an official newspaper, quoted experts as saying the buying trend was likely to continue as the country optimises its foreign exchange reserves amid waning confidence in the US dollar.

Foreign reserves in September stood at US$3.387 trillion (A$5.141 trillion) – an increase of US$16.5 billion (A$25 billion) over the previous month and the highest level since November 2015. China’s steady economic performance and high-quality development would keep reserves generally stable in the time to come, the paper said.

Gold was regarded as a safe haven asset in uncertain times, Al Jazeera said in an explainer. But analysts said the surge in recent times pointed to a dramatic shift: gold was becoming an asset for all occasions.

US alliance an essential priority for Japan’s new leader

Sanae Takaichi, the presumptive next prime minister of Japan, has made it clear that strengthening the Japan-US alliance is her top diplomatic priority. She says it is essential.

Takaichi, the former economic security minister, won last weekend’s vote to lead the Liberal Democratic Party, but she still faces a parliamentary vote later this month to be elected as prime minister. She would then become Japan’s first woman prime minister, following 65 men who preceded her.

An analysis in The Japan Times, says she is facing several key diplomatic tests, notably Donald Trump’s visit to Japan late in the month, followed by the APEC summit, to be held in South Korea.

The article, by Stephen R. Nagy, a political scientist working in Tokyo, says Takaichi is an admirer of Margaret Thatcher and a follower of the late prime minister Shinzo Abe and his pragmatic, yet conservative, vision.

“[Her] clarity of purpose, combined with her willingness to increase defence spending and strengthen regional security frameworks, offers Trump exactly what he wants from America’s allies,” Nagy wrote.

But an editorial in The Asahi Shimbun newspaper said that, based on her long-held views, there were concerns over whether she could maintain fiscal discipline and build relations with Asian neighbours, including China and South Korea.

And The Japan Times reported that Takaichi suggested she would be in charge of monetary policy – not the Bank of Japan. “It’s the government that bears responsibility for both fiscal and monetary policy,” she said.

The story said Takaichi had long expressed pro-stimulus views. Her rise to power had rattled some economists concerned about the possibility of Abenomics — a near decade-long experiment in super-easy money and aggressive spending — would be making a return.

A feature article in The Diplomat, the Asian online news magazine, said Takaichi’s election was a significant milestone for a country that ranked 118th out of 148 in the Global Gender Gap Index. But it would be simplistic to expect a female leader to facilitate greater gender equality and Takaichi was well-known for her socially conservative views.

A Bloomberg commentary said Takaichi was the most conservative choice the LDP could have made – if not the most right-leaning leader in recent history.

Her elevation was a historic moment, the article said. But the party had a habit of chewing up leaders. If she didn’t work out, she might end up like Liz Truss.

Emerging defence strategy: do not demand too much of Americans

US strategy on the defence of Asia-Pacific nations — and Taiwan in particular — is in flux, with Donald Trump and Pentagon officials suggesting Taiwan should pay more for its own defence and other Pacific nations should share the burden.

An analysis in The Diplomat online magazine, says Trump’s approach to Taiwan is taking shape. It quotes recent statements from Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary of war for policy, as saying that Taiwan is very important but it is not an existential interest for the US.

It also quotes Colby as saying the US should keep Taiwan, South Korea and the Philippines in its defence perimeter if possible. But the question, he said, was whether the US could develop a strategy to defend them that did not demand too much from Americans.

The analysis, written by Emery Yuhang Lai, a PhD candidate at Japan’s Waseda University studying the US-China-Taiwan triangle, says Colby aligns with conservatives who see themselves as “restrainers”, as opposed to those who want an unambiguous US promise to come to Taiwan’s rescue, if necessary.

Trump, he says, believes Taiwan should take more responsibility for its own defence..

“Moreover, an updated alliance system is in gestation through which the US can delegate the responsibility of defending Taiwan to its allies in the Indo-Pacific,” Lai says.

South China Morning Post reported that John Noh, the administration’s choice as the next assistant war secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, had told a Senate confirmation hearing that Taiwan should pay for its defence.

“It was President Trump who said that Taiwan … should spend upwards of 10% of GDP on defence,” Noh said. “I strongly support that.”

Nikkei Asia said in an opinion piece US allies were bracing for the imminent release of Washington’s new National Defence Strategy.

The article, written by regular Nikkei commentator Hiroyuki Akita, said a previous document, issued during Trump’s first presidency, identified China and Russia as the main threats to international order.

But reports suggested a draft of the new strategy assigned priority to defending the US homeland, rather than confronting Beijing and Moscow.

Trump had been signalling a strong emphasis on homeland defence. But it seemed officials had not yet resolved the question of where to draw the defence line in Asia.

“The worst scenario would be a strategic alignment that covers only Japan while excluding South Korea and Taiwan,” Akita said. “Such a move could embolden North Korea and China, sharply increasing the risk of conflict.”

Note: John Noh also said the Pentagon’s review of AUKUS aimed to make sure it aligned with Trump’s “America first” foreign policy. “It is a brass-tack common sense look at the realities facing AUKUS, including the state of our submarine industrial base,” he said. “There are things that I believe are commo nsense things that we can do to strengthen AUKUS… to ensure it is more sustainable.”

Fears of return to military-dominated era

Sunday of this week marked the 80th anniversary of the Indonesian military, known as the TNI. President Prabowo Subianto celebrated the occasion with a grand parade of more than 130,000 troops and a speech calling the TNI the guarantor of national sovereignty.

The Jakarta Post said in its report fears were rising that the military's growing influence could lead Indonesia back to an authoritarian, military-dominated era.

The parade, which the paper described as massive, took place at the National Monument (known as Monas) in central Jakarta. On display were the TNI’s main weapons systems and demonstrations of cavalry, artillery and fighter aircraft capabilities.

In his address, Prabowo, a former general who was discharged in 1998 over human rights abuses, hailed the TNI as the backbone of national defence. He said the military played an important role in protecting the country’s resources.

“Our national wealth is immense,” Prabowo said. “For hundreds of years, our archipelago has been disturbed and invaded by foreign powers seeking to seize our riches. The TNI must assist both the central government and regional administrations in safeguarding our wealth and natural resources.”

The paper quoted human rights activist Annisa Yudha as saying the TNI’s expanding role in civilian affairs, plus violence against civilians, had pushed the military further away from democracy and the rule of law.

“More than two decades since the Reform Era of 1998, the public hopes that the TNI will become a professional defence force, subject to civilian supremacy and free from practices of violence against civilians. That hope is still far from reality.”

The Post said in an editorial the military should remain apart from the civilian sphere, stay focused on external defence and avoid intervening in public policy.

It said fears that the TNI might return to a previous “dual function” role were fuelled by Prabowo’s appointment of military figures to key posts in government and in state-owned enterprises.

“What does the future hold for civil-military relations in the country’s increasingly fragile democracy?” the editorial asked. “This query on the TNI’s future remains pertinent.”

US conflict command gives Seoul a sovereignty issue

Australia’s tight defence alliance with the US gives rise to concerns about national sovereignty. South Korea has a unique relationship with the US that makes sovereignty a concrete issue.

The US has more than 28,000 troops in South Korea. In peacetime, South Korea commands its own forces. But if war were to break out, operational command of combined Korean and US forces would move to a US general. This wartime operational control is known as OPCON and it reflects the origins of the two countries’ alliance during the Korean War.

Society is divided on OPCON, says Chun In-bum, a retired general who led the Korean army’s special warfare command. Sovereignty advocates argue a nation should always command its own forces, he says in an op-ed in The Korea Times.

They seeing moving away from OPCON as restoring full sovereignty. The argument is especially powerful among progressives, says Chun, one of the paper’s columnists.

But security pragmatists take the opposite view, he says. For conservatives, the OPCON arrangement is not a loss of sovereignty but a security guarantee.

“The middle ground accepts both points: that South Korea should eventually lead in war but that such a shift must come gradually, after careful preparation,” Chun says.

Earlier this month, the new President, Lee Jae Myung, spoke of his commitment to regaining wartime control, saying it was essential for building a self-reliant defence force.

In an Armed Forces Day address, he referred to US forces in South Korea as foreign troops that were not indispensable.

Lee used the term “self-reliance” thrice, the paper said in an editorial. He had directly called for the transfer of wartime operational control from the US to South Korea.

He had expressed confidence in South Korea’s defence capabilities, noting that its defence budget was 1.4 times North Korea’s total GDP and that South Korea ranked as the world’s fifth largest military power.

But, said the editorial, it was unclear whether Lee’s remarks signalled a change in policy on wartime command or whether he was using it for leverage in pressing Washington on tariff talks.

Fortune telling and feng shui at heart of emotional spending

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI platform that amazed the IT world earlier this year, turns out to have a curious popular use: fortune telling.

And in China’s biggest cities, the trendiest nightspots are not known for their cocktails or views. The attraction, rather, is soothsaying.

China is struggling with dampened domestic demand and competition for jobs has intensified. Pay cuts and layoffs are common. People are shifting to fulfilling emotional needs, not just material wants, says a story in South China Morning Post.

Businesses dealing with the occult and metaphysical activities that are now popular are part of a booming spiritual economy, the story says.

Temple visits are growing, as is interest in feng shui. Consumers are snapping up energy crystals and temple prayer beads.

Sales of beaded bracelets on Taobao, the leading online shopping platform, last year leapt by more than 500%.

According to a research institute report, spiritual spending is now a necessary expense for many young Chinese.

The fascination with mystical and spiritual matters reflects a desire for comfort amid economic uncertainty, says Liu Xuexin, a professor at Beijing’s Capital University of Economics and Business.

“In an economic downturn, with incomes and job prospects shaky, people feel anxious about the future,” Liu says. “They turn to metaphysics, temples or feng shui to cope.”

The story says Kate Li, a bank employee in Shanghai, one weekend stumbled across a “spiritual bar” called Sip of Oracle. Its slogan is: “Explore the unknown in a tipsy haze.”

Li found the bar relaxing. “The fortune teller’s insights were surprisingly spot on,” she said.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.