Asia

Six Dushanbe officers face a rare prosecution over the death of Maksudjon Saidov in custody but none of them is charged with torture.

While the government views the new rules as a necessary measure to curb abuse, some observers worry that they may also deter genuine entrepreneurs. 

An American diplomat was found dead in Myanmar’s largest city, the US State Department said, and members of the diplomatic community in Yangon say a Thai woman has been detained by police in connection with the investigation. American officials in Thailand and the US embassy in Myanmar referred questions on the case to the State Department, which confirmed the “death of a US government employee” assigned to the embassy in Yangon but gave no other details. “Out of respect for the privacy of the...

Malaysia’s prosecutors have closed a criminal intimidation investigation involving former anti-corruption chief Azam Baki, saying a complaint by businessman Albert Tei did not “meet the legal threshold” for further action. The decision comes against the backdrop of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government facing pressure over prosecutorial independence. Anwar had campaigned on a reformist, anti-corruption platform that has since been tested by high-profile dropped cases and delayed...

Prabowo Subianto has brought one of Indonesia’s most prominent labour leaders into his administration, giving organised labour a voice inside the presidential palace while also fuelling concerns that the country’s unions are being pulled away from street-level activism. Said Iqbal, former president of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPI), defended his appointment as special adviser on labour affairs in an exclusive interview with This Week in Asia, arguing that workers needed direct...

Four Indonesian soldiers found guilty of an acid attack that left an activist blind in one eye were sentenced on Wednesday to up to three years in prison by a military court, with a judge calling their actions “arrogant”. The four, all members of the military’s Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS), were found guilty of premeditated assault for the attack in March that left Andrie Yunus, 27, blind in one eye. They were arrested shortly after the attack, and BAIS head Yudi Abrimantyo stepped down...

A dismissed high-ranking Filipino police officer convicted of orchestrating the 2016 killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo was arrested in the Philippine capital of Manila after nearly two years on the run, authorities said on Wednesday. President Lee Jae Myung welcomed the arrest, vowing to seek justice for criminals targeting South Koreans abroad and expressing gratitude to officials in both countries for their joint efforts. Rafael Dumlao, who was a top official of an anti-drug unit...

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is set to visit the Russian city of Kazan next week in a trip that would mark the first high-level talks between leaders from both sides since the city state imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, sources have confirmed. Wong will attend the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit from June 17 to June 19 to mark the 35th anniversary of dialogue relations between Moscow and Asean, according to sources who spoke to This Week in Asia on condition...

Almost 20,000 people have signed an online petition in Japan to protest against US President Donald Trump and the White House using manga and anime characters in posts on social media. In the latest example, a video on Truth Social uploaded on Saturday depicts Trump as ninja Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto, sparking a furious reaction from some fans of the popular series. The clip is part of an AI-generated music video for “Thank You, President Trump”, a song by Anthony Constantino, a Republican from...

The death of a 17-year-old who was filmed after being swept out to sea at a popular tourist spot has prompted soul-searching in Indonesia about the bystander effect. Elmi Febrianti had been visiting the Apparalang tourist site in Bulukumba regency with her family on Sunday when she ventured to a clifftop known as a popular selfie vantage point and was struck by a large wave that dragged her out to sea. Apparalang is known for its turquoise waters and towering limestone cliffs, whose dramatic...

An acid attack against a woman doctor has sent shock waves through Pakistan’s medical sector, sparking strikes and a protest demanding safety and justice for the victim. A man threw acid at Mahnoor Nasir at her hospital in the southern city of Quetta on Saturday, causing burns to 7 per cent of her body, according to the provincial chief minister’s office. Officers killed the suspected perpetrator, Humayun Shah, a lift operator at the medical facility, at a bus station as he tried to...

Sydney’s new A$5.6 billion (US$4 billion) airport will ⁠open to passengers in ⁠October after more than a decade ⁠of planning, adding red-eye flight options from Australia’s largest city as the existing hub operates under night curfew restrictions. The current airport, located closer to Sydney’s central business district, can host take-offs and landings only until 11pm and after ‌6am due to tough noise regulations, limiting airline scheduling options relative to other major Australian cities like...

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is raising an uncomfortable question for Asian governments: could the virus travel through the region’s airports before health systems detect it? While experts say the risk of a major outbreak in Asia remains low, the latest flare-up has renewed scrutiny of whether hospitals, contact tracers and border surveillance systems remain ready after years of post-Covid fatigue and strained global health funding. Khoo Yoong Khean, deputy...

A viral post of a couple lying and cuddling in the middle of a public field in Malaysia has drawn outrage and calls for religious authorities to act in the Muslim-majority country, where public intimacy can quickly turn into a morality row. In one of the clips, uploaded to social media on Tuesday, a man and woman lie facing each other at Dataran Kemerdekaan in Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor state. Another shows the woman with her head on the man’s lap. Social media users claimed the pair...

India is moving closer to undertaking its biggest military revamp since independence, with the army, navy and air force placed under commanders overseeing specific theatres of conflict, amid concerns over whether such a set-up can simultaneously counter China and Pakistan. Analysts said the debate over the proposed Integrated Theatre Commands was not just about a streamlining exercise but whether India’s military could be cohesive enough to deal with border disputes and evolving threats. The...

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is officially a free man, less than a week after receiving a royal pardon, according to the Department of Corrections. Thaksin, 76, served eight months of a one-year sentence for corruption and abuse of power before being released on parole last month due to his age and health. The Department of Corrections said the former premier was required to wear an electronic monitoring device as a condition of his release. The telecoms billionaire was...

Singapore’s move to ban anti-Indian social media posts reportedly originating from a China-based platform has thrown into sharp relief how foreign actors can exploit racial fault lines in the city state. Analysts warn that this emerging battleground for disinformation is being “weaponised” against the country’s multiracial society. On Saturday, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs said it ordered social media giants YouTube, Facebook and X to block access to 14 online posts after investigations...

India’s sharp ⁠increase in gold import tariffs is fuelling a resurgence in smuggling that could exceed 100 tonnes this year, as soaring grey market margins allow smugglers to undercut banks and refiners of the precious metal, industry officials and bullion dealers said. India, the world’s biggest gold market after China, more than doubled import tariffs to 15 per cent in May to curb demand, ‌cut the trade deficit and ease pressure on the rupee. But the move has created an opportunity for...

Japan could be heading into one of the worst typhoon seasons in its recorded history, raising fears that stronger, more frequent storms will test not only the country’s disaster defences but also a summer travel industry already stretched by packed trains, hotels and itineraries. Tokyo-based Weathernews, a private meteorological firm providing long-range forecasts across Asia, has predicted that as many as 28 typhoons could affect Japan this year, with up to 14 potentially making landfall – well...

People always talk knowingly about Weimar, a period of extremes: artistic and social-sexual decadence, democratic liberalism and the radicalisation of the left and the right, before Germany’s descent into Hitlerian hell. The city as a symbol, close to the site of the former Buchenwald concentration camp, is back in the news, well, at least the op-ed pages of the Western press. That’s rarely a good sign. “The new crisis [in Germany] seems uncomfortably familiar because, in some respects, it...

Within the emerging geopolitical landscape, Mongolia may have opportunities to diversify its economic partners.

“The current situation is not the fruit of our choosing, but of history itself.” 

India’s recurring invitations reveal as much about New Delhi’s ambitions as about the G7’s adaptation to the changing times.

Drawn by lower prices, a wider variety of products and convenience, Macau’s residents have taken to spending in mainland China.

President Lee sold Korean democracy abroad as a system that fixes itself. Now his party and the administration have to prove it by holding the election commission to account without handing the conspiracy theorists a win.

Touting the achievements Pyongyang has made in recent years, Xi de facto recognized North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.

Despite opting out of contributing the $1 billion fee required to become a permanent member of Donald Trump's Board of Peace, Kazakhstan has continued to publicly highlight its membership. 

Hitherto confined to social media, the "cockroaches" emerged on the ground at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on June 6. What started as a joke has turned serious.

A summit between Russia and Asean next week promises to ease Southeast Asia’s energy crisis and Moscow’s diplomatic isolation – but not all of the bloc’s leaders are expected to show up. Analysts are also divided on whether Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, the current Asean chair, will travel to Kazan for the meeting, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 17–18. The summit marks the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations...

Beyond the diplomatic choreography of last month’s Xi-Trump summit, what are the structural implications of a less confrontational US-China relationship for the Asia-Pacific? The subsequent visits by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to India and US Secretary of Defence Peter Hegseth to Singapore in late May shed some light on the question. Both Rubio and Hegseth had accompanied Trump to Beijing. Perhaps most telling was the switch in the usage of a geographic term by the US administration. In...