Who had the best and who had the worst in 2025?

What a year this year has been. Of course for many, this cannot end quickly.

From the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs to natural and man-made disasters across Asia. New leaders breaking the glass ceiling and old leaders being taken to the International Criminal Court or sentenced to death in absentia. A missile was fired across the border. Terrorist attacks in South Asia and the Pacific. Continuing corruption and real estate issues. And people were deceived and enslaved.

As 2025 comes to a close, let’s take a look back and see who it was bad for and who it was good for.

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

The “perpetrator” is also the victim. Hundreds of thousands of individuals, lured with fake employment offers to these countries, transited through Thailand and were then held against their will and forced to work as slaves in these fraud centers.

The kidnapping of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was lured into fraudulent acting jobs and then forced into forced labor in January 2025, has heightened attention to this growing crisis. The Trump administration also took notice. “The Fraud Center is creating an intergenerational transfer of wealth from Main Street America to the pockets of organized crime in China,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Weak governments and corruption have allowed these multibillion-dollar criminal enterprises to operate despite extensive efforts to free prisoners and close facilities that have operated with near impunity in Southeast Asia.

Unless stopped, these activities will only become more sophisticated as we begin to use AI and deepfakes to commit crimes. Asia’s enslaved cyber-fraud victims have sadly been given the honor of having the worst year in Asia, with hope of escape and rescue all too diminished.

The death toll across large parts of Asia appeared to have accelerated by the end of the year. Throughout 2025, too many people have fallen victim to natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and floods, which seem to have been made worse by human corruption and incompetence.

The earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28 killed more than 3,600 people and displaced around 200,000, while dozens more were killed in faraway Bangkok when a high-rise building under construction across the border collapsed. From Sri Lanka to Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, a combination of floods, landslides and typhoons affected millions of people and killed more than 1,600.

Add fire to the mixture. The year ended with the horrific Wang Fuk Court apartment complex fire in Tai Po, Hong Kong. The towering inferno was broadcast on television and seen around the world. A malfunctioning fire alarm and underground construction materials reportedly contributed to this heartbreaking tragedy, which killed at least 160 people, making it one of the deadliest fires in the city’s history.

Armed with memes, hashtags, and reels, some waved the Jolly Roger flag made popular by the Japanese anime/manga series One Piece, but Gen Zers looking for change have found 2025 a mixed bag.

Many young people from this generation, born between 1997 and 2012, have taken to the streets in Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Maldives and even new ASEAN member East Timor to protest corruption, nepotism and economic inequality. Their complaints seemed all too common in Asia, but the results were decidedly mixed.

These “digital natives” succeeded in bringing down the Nepali government. Last year, this generation played a key role in overthrowing the Bangladeshi government. In other countries, small concessions were achieved in 2025. But questions remain at year’s end whether Gen Z, the first generation to fully grow up in the internet age, will be able to maintain momentum and turn these uprisings into a viable movement for constructive change.

There remains a common hope for political forces that can reform entrenched and corrupt institutions, allay young people’s deep dissatisfaction with the status quo, and bring about more economic opportunities. In the words of Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece, “If you don’t take risks, you can’t create a future.”

At the end of the year, resilience was in full force across the Asian economy, which was slowing but still growing. Leaders in the region have adopted a strategy as flexible as bamboo bends in strong winds to weather President Trump’s “Emancipation Day” tariffs.

Indeed, it was a good year for the “bamboo economic tactic” as the region’s reputation for pragmatism was maintained and countries were able to cope with new global economic realities. This approach led to lower U.S. tariffs (below those originally proposed) and a renewed trade mix and new economic strategy.

One example is the India-Canada-Australia Cooperation Agreement on Technology and Innovation, which highlights the Asian countries’ unique ‘art of trade’.

According to the Asian Development Bank, a readjustment of economic approaches has helped Asia’s developing countries achieve growth hovering around 5% per year. This kept Asia overall on track as the world’s fastest growing region.

If technology and creative content are the new soft power, the past year has shown that “Made in China” can be a contender, with China joining the ranks of the US and South Korea as soft power giants.

The year started with a January surprise. DeepSeek, a low-cost AI model, is introduced to a world once obsessed with ChatGPT and American technological prowess. By the end of the year, the “ugly and cute” PopMart merch, Luvbu, had taken the world by storm and even appeared in New York City’s iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Labubu is part of a larger group of characters called “The Monsters” created by Hong Kong artist and author Kasing Lung.

From BYD’s electric cars to Ne Zha 2, the world’s biggest animated film that reportedly grossed more than $2 billion, to Li-Ning sneakers appearing on NBA courts and Luckin coffee shops rapidly opening across Asia and the United States, China’s soft power is clearly on the rise in 2025, earning it the honor of having the best year in Asia.

May 2026 be a better, safer and more peaceful year for everyone.

Curtis S. Chin, former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is a managing director at the advisory firm RiverPeak Group and chairman of the Milken Institute’s senior fellows. Jose B. Collazo is an analyst specializing in the Indo-Pacific region. Follow @CurtisSChin and @JoseBCollazo on X.