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China’s rise as the world’s leading electric vehicle producer is not the product of a unified interventionist state but of competitive interactions among rival central ministries, development-oriented local governments acting as venture capitalists and capital markets that financed private startups excluded from state banking. The institutional model faces mounting pressure from local government fiscal constraints and tighter geopolitical restrictions on US investment in Chinese technology. But its core lessons — technological inclusiveness, subnational development capacity and patient risk-tolerant capital — offer wider applicability beyond China’s unique political economy.
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The Philippines is pursuing an asymmetric defence modernisation strategy centred on maritime domain awareness, coastal defence and stronger alliance partnerships. Rather than build an unaffordable blue-water navy, Manila aims to deter Chinese coercion in the South China Sea and protect strategically critical waterways around northern Luzon. Long-term success will depend on sustaining new platforms through adequate personnel training, infrastructure investment and lifecycle support. This task will be complicated by rising military pension liabilities, political uncertainty and the evolving character of warfare exposed by the US–Israel war on Iran.