Alongside Vladimir Putin, Tim Cook, Zendaya, Oprah Winfrey, Adele, and other world leaders, activists, and cultural icons of today’s world, here are the renowned Asians who made it to TIME Magazine’s List of Most Influential People of 2022.
TIME Magazine officially revealed the complete list of the most influential personalities of 2022 last May 23 – which includes the well-known figures in entertainment, politics, business, and culture. For this year’s issue, the worldwide covers highlight the contributions of cultural icon Zendaya, present Apple CEO Tim Cook, recording artist Mary J. Blige, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and MCU Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu.
Out of the 100 individuals identified as most influential by TIME Magazine, 21 of them are Asians – or of Asian origins. The complete list has been divided into six categories: artists, innovators, titans, leaders, icons, and pioneers.
Here are the Asians Listed in TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2022
This year’s list of most influential personalities hails from diverse fields. The Asians who made the top list were primarily from China, India, Malaysia, and South Korea. The list includes Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian businessman Gautam Adani, women’s rights lawyer Karuna Nundy, Pakistan Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and Syrian lawyers Mazen Darwish and Anwar Al Bunni.
Also on the list are the phenomenal people in the industry such as Olympians Eileen Gu and Nathan Chen, singer Michelle Zauner, and actors Simu Liu and Michelle Yeoh. Let’s get to know some of these influential people and how they have created a positive impact on the world and in the present society.
Simu Liu
Walking the path that no Chinese-Canadian has ever walked before, Simu Liu made his way to stardom with the success of Kim’s Convenience and beautifully representing the Asian culture in the MCU movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Beyond this, the actor has used his voice to speak against Asian discrimination, professional choices, and become his own superhero.
Michelle Yeoh
Making headlines once again, Malaysia’s Michelle Yeoh was listed in the prestigious news magazine for achieving ‘the impossible again and again’. Breaking global consciousness, including the male-dominated cinema of Hong Kong, Michelle can be remembered as one of the characters who made the multi-awarded Crazy Rich Asians break records – becoming the highest-grossing romantic comedy in over a decade. Recently, she blew the minds of people in her performance for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Gautam Adani
As the chairman of Adani Group, Gautam has recently made history by edging past Warren Buffet, now becoming the fifth richest man in the world – thanks to his multiple brands and companies involved in trading, from ports to consumer goods, and renewable energy.
Yoon Suk-yeol
South Korea’s newly elected president was named by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people of this year under the category of leaders. As a former prosecutor who belongs to the conservative People Power Party, he has been very vocal about strengthening ties with America and offering to help build North Korea’s economy once they complete the denuclearization agreement. In the recent poll among South Koreans, around 55% of the respondents believed that their new president can totally do a good job in the position given to him.
Xi Jinping
The president of the People’s Republic of China remains one of the most influential people in the world. Since he ascended to power, he has created a massive impact on the country, domestically and globally. For this year, TIME Magazine noted four significant impacts that he has made, including the zero-COVID strategy, reversed course on Xinjiang, site of horrific human rights abuses, and distancing himself from Vladimir Putin.
Maya Lin
The American architect and sculptor who made the design for Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. was also named by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people of 2022 because of her artwork Ghost Forest – which projects an eerie glimpse of the future. The artwork features 49 Atlantic white cedar trees devoid of leaves, resembling a dead woodland.
TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2022 also included the filmmaker behind the success of Squid Game, Hwang Dong-hyuk, the ‘Modern-day David’ Khurram Parvez, China’s Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, retired professional tennis star Peng Shuai, Afghan women’s rights activist and educator Hoda Khamosh, and Chinese climatologist Panmao Zhai. Personalities with Asian origins like figure skater Nathan Chen, vocalist Michelle Zauner, head of Global TV at Netflix Bela Bajaria, freestyle skiing medalist Eileen Gu, and executive director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas were also on the list of the most influential people by the American news magazine.
Cover Image Credits: Simu Liu, Michelle Yeoh, Yoon Suk-yeol‘s Instagram
