☕️ Good morning friends, 

If you were planning not to work this weekend, you should reconsider. This attitude could jeopardize your next trip to Bali.

The Indonesian island plans to check in the future how much money travelers have had in their accounts over the last three months to keep low-budget tourists away.

So: here’s to a productive weekend! 🍾

TSMC sets the pace: After the US rebound, AI and chip stocks are back in charge. The chip index hits a record, Nvidia jumps 2% and ASML reaches an all-time high. Asia futures point higher for Hong Kong and China, while Japan lags slightly.

Seoul only knows records: The KOSPI opened near 4,800 for the first time, marking its 11th straight day of gains. Since the start of the year, the market has been printing new all-time highs almost daily.

TOP BIT

💸 The $250 billion deal: Taiwan’s "protection money" for Trump

In order to avert US punitive tariffs and secure military support, Taiwan is massively shifting its most important industry to the USA. It is the largest technological "move" in history—and a risky game against Beijing.

Details

🇺🇸 The 250 billion bet: Taiwanese tech companies are investing at least $250 billion in US production. In return, Washington is lowering tariffs from 20% to 15%, giving Taiwan the same status as Japan or South Korea.

🏗️ TSMC expands in Arizona: The world market leader has already purchased hundreds of hectares of land in Arizona.

• US Commerce Secretary Lutnick issued a clear threat: anyone not producing in the USA will pay a 100% tariff in the future. The goal is US self-sufficiency by 2029.
  

💰 Record profits despite pressure: TSMC reported a 35% jump in profits and plans expenditures of up to $56 billion for 2026. The massive AI demand from Nvidia and Apple is financing the expensive expansion on American soil.

🇨🇳 Beijing is outraged: China’s embassy in Washington sharply condemns the deal and calls on the USA to revoke the agreement. Beijing sees it as a violation of the One-China policy and warns of "consequences."

Good to know: Silicon shield 🛡️

Taiwan produces over 90% of the world's most advanced chips—only about 150 km from mainland China. This dominance is considered a "Silicon Shield": Taiwan's hope that the USA will defend them out of economic self-interest.

Now, the island is exporting its wealth and thereby weakening its own "Silicon Shield" in the long run.

📊 All details & data: SCMP, CNBC, BBC

NUMBER OF THE DAY

That’s how many spots China holds in the top 10 ranking of the world’s most research-intensive universities.

🎓 Research focus: Zhejiang University displaces Harvard from the global top spot. US universities are struggling with massive budget cuts and a 19% decline in international students. China, meanwhile, is attracting top global researchers with billion-dollar programs and new visa incentives.

🌏 Asia’s collective rise

• Hong Kong achieves a record ranking with six universities in the top 200.

• India now ranks 2nd among countries with the most ranked universities—directly behind the USA.

Watch: While US elite schools still dominate reputation rankings, Asia has taken the lead in pure research output and the speed of innovation.

MARKET BIT

⚡ $574bn for power grids: China’s next bottleneck fix

🔌 No grid, no power: China’s State Grid plans to invest 4 trillion yuan (~$574bn) in power networks by 2030 – around 40% more than in the previous five-year period.

🌬️ Renewables wasted: Wind and solar capacity are expanding faster than the grids. In several provinces, clean power goes unused because transmission and distribution can’t keep up.

🏗️ West to East: The core project is ultra-high-voltage transmission from western regions to eastern industrial hubs and megacities, moving power from wind- and sun-rich areas to where demand is.

🧠 Grids for AI & data centres: Grid expansion is also a prerequisite for new data centres, e-mobility and rising electricity demand from digitalisation.

🔋 Storage as the bottleneck: China aims to more than double battery storage capacity to 180 GW by 2027. Without storage, grid expansion alone is not enough.

Background

Global energy investment will reach around $3.3tn in 2025. China is now the world’s largest energy investor, spending more than the EU and the US combined. Solar, at roughly $450bn per year, is the single largest investment category, and spending on power generation, grids and storage is now about 50% higher than on fossil fuels.

Power plants and storage are being built faster than infrastructure. Globally, only about $400bn per year goes into grid expansion. China’s goal: make electricity usable.

➡️ No grids, no energy transition, no AI infrastructure, no energy security.

👉🏻 Full Story: Asia Financial News, Oilprice.com, IEA, Bloomberg

STARTUP OF THE WEEK

🇯🇵 Mujin - Intelligent Robotics

🤖 Japan’s new No. 1 in fundraising: “Physical AI” star Mujin

Tokyo-based robotics software company Mujin raised $133 million (¥20.85 billion) in 2025, topping Japan’s startup fundraising rankings ahead of Sakana AI.

⚠️ The problem: Real-world robot deployments still depend heavily on systems integrators. One-off projects, months-long implementations, high costs, and heavy maintenance slow scaling and limit expansion into new use cases.

💡 The solution: Founded by Issei Takino, Mujin is building a vendor-agnostic platform for robots.

• MujinOS + a real-time digital twin connect, plan, and control multi-brand robots without traditional programming—a plug-and-play approach instead of bespoke integrations, from warehouse logistics to manufacturing.
  

🔜 Traction & expansion: Toyota and Fast Retailing are already customers. Backed by the NTT Group and international funds, Mujin plans to scale globally—especially in North America and Europe.

THE ASIABITS PODCAST

HIGHLIGHTS 

🍵 Bitter times for Japan’s tea ceremonies: The global matcha boom is causing acute tea shortages and exploding prices in Japan. Prices for high-quality tea leaves in the Kyoto region have tripled within a year. Traditional tea schools are sounding the alarm: the rising costs of matcha and utensils are weighing so heavily on courses that teachers fear an alienation from the centuries-old culture if prices do not drop soon.

🇨🇦 Canada’s Prime Minister on a charm offensive with China: Mark Carney has ushered in a new era of cooperation during his four-day state visit to China—the first by a Canadian head of government since 2017. His goal: to diversify Canada's export markets in light of US tariffs. A new economic plan aims to promote investments in energy and agriculture. Meanwhile, negotiations over a reduction in EV tariffs are ongoing.

🏀 Charges for match-fixing: US prosecutors have charged 20 individuals alleged to have manipulated games in the US and China. Between 2022 and 2025, bribes of up to $30,000 per game are said to have been paid to influence results through “point shaving.” The investigation follows a series of betting scandals that have already led to life bans for several professionals and investigations into dozens of college players.

COUNTRY READS

🇵🇭 The Philippines and Japan seal a logistics agreement to strengthen their defense alliance. More here.

🇮🇳 India and Russia facilitate labor migration despite reports of forcibly recruited Indian fighters at the front. More here.

🇸🇬 Singapore moves up to second place among the richest nations but falls significantly in a comparison of working hours. More here.

✅ Fly to Tokyo just to eat at Japanese convenience stores for 24 hours.
✅ Test your geographical knowledge with this Asia Map Quiz.
✅ Visit the 10 smallest countries in Asia — have you heard of number 9?
✅ Rent a boyfriend on your next Japan trip and enjoy emotional customer service.
✅ Get ready for your next China trip with our asiabits China Guide.*

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