Hello from London. I am in town for a short visit to meet with colleagues and discuss various editorial priorities. As we all know, 2024 is a big election year, and elections are always a hot topic. That is why many of my newsletters inevitably focus on the upcoming votes.
This time, I want to explore how age affects elections. One of the most widely discussed votes in this regard is the U.S. presidential election. President Joe Biden is 81 and his most likely opponent, Donald Trump, is 77. It will undoubtedly be an unprecedented battle between older candidates.
This week's Big Story takes a deep dive into Thursday's elections in Pakistan, where former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to win. Former cricket star and Prime Minister Imran Khan wasn't allowed to run this time, but he still remains one of the most popular politicians in the country. Sharif and Khan are 74 and 71 years old, respectively.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, who was reelected last month, is 76. Neighboring India is also holding general elections this year, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 73, is seen as the strongest candidate.
So if you look at Asian elections -- including Indonesia's, where 72-year-old Prabowo Subianto is a leading candidate in this month's presidential vote -- you might be surprised at how many older candidates are still hungry for the top job.
What about Japan, a country also known for its aging political leaders? The current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, is 66, so he is still considered relatively young in political circles. But the key players on the panel in his Liberal Democratic Party tasked with reforming the party's fundraising rules after a slush fund scandal are two older former prime ministers: Taro Aso, 83, and Yoshihide Suga, 75. Both will wield strong influence over the post-Kishida race leading up to the September party election.
Age carries a certain weight in Asia, where seniority is traditionally respected. Shinzo Abe became Japan's youngest postwar prime minister when he first rose to power in 2006 at age 52. His chief of staff, Yoshiyuki Inoue, was 43 at the time. After Abe stepped down a year later, Inoue told me: "We were too young to run the country. We were like children to the top officials who reign over huge bureaucratic hierarchies." Abe's first short stint was succeeded in 2007 by Yasuo Fukuda, who was 71 at the time.
With longevity on the rise, old age is perhaps becoming less of an issue these days. However, I think it is still worth considering whether the continued presence of older, more experienced individuals at the top is depriving younger, more talented individuals of opportunities.
It is hard to say whether cultivating young talent will be an effective tool for surviving fierce global competition in cutting-edge technology. But as this week's Asia Insight on Japan's R&D efforts in hydrogen technologies illustrates, the country needs a strategy if it is to fend off major challenges from competitors such as the U.S. and China and avoid falling behind despite its once-pioneering role in the field.
Meanwhile, our Business Spotlight in this week's magazine explains how the escalating conflict between Washington and Beijing is driving up the price of a certain high-tech product across Asia. This also shows that export controls with a political agenda do not always serve the desired purpose.
Finally, something from our Life & Arts section. One of the pleasures of traveling in Southeast Asia is experiencing the vibrant nightlife. In Vietnam, however, our Tea Leaves column argues that official resistance to liberalizing nightlife and visa regulations reflects a systemic aversion to change that is hampering the country's tourism industry.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Shin Nakayama
Editor-in-chief, Nikkei Asia
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