Asia

China’s dominance in the entire fluorine value chain is an overlooked source of geopolitical leverage.

The conventional tools previously used to penalize China for its rights abuses – sanctions, public pressure, condemnation, institutional mechanisms, and more – have all been blunted.

The list of countries notified in advance, as well as the timing, suggests that China’s purpose was not merely a straightforward display of military power.

With the revered Tibetan leader over 90 years old the rivalry between New Delhi and Beijing over who speaks for the Buddhist world is entering its most consequential phase.

With the Vuvale Union and the Veitacini Treaty, Canberra and Suva chart a new course for regional security. 

The test, likely involving the JL-3 and coming just after the United States’ 250th Independence Day, underscored China's increasingly credible sea-based nuclear deterrent. 

Singapore and Indonesia’s latest push to trade low-carbon electricity could become more than a bilateral energy deal, with analysts saying it might offer Southeast Asia a practical test case for a regional power grid that has long struggled to move from ambition to implementation. The cooperation, centred on electricity-import deals and cross-border interconnector projects, is also expected to strengthen Singapore’s energy security and help the city state reach its sustainability goals, while...

India will supply Indonesia with long-range missiles, an Indian official said on Tuesday as their leaders agreed to deepen ties in defence, critical minerals and other areas. President Prabowo Subianto is hosting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jakarta during a three-day state visit, with a deal on the BrahMos missile system topping the agenda. An agreement for “cooperation on BrahMos system” was struck during the visit, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on...

India’s wildly popular digital payments system, which began as a way for people to send money instantly by phone, could help the country turn one of its biggest domestic technology successes into a tool of diplomacy, analysts say. That opportunity is coming into focus in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, where officials are studying whether India’s low-cost digital systems can be adapted to their own needs. The talks centre on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India’s instant...

Malaysia’s former economy minister Rafizi Ramli and his breakaway party, Bersama, are unlikely to emerge as a credible third force in the country’s political landscape, but they could still siphon votes away from the reformist Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Bersama’s first electoral test, in Johor on Saturday, will be watched less for the number of seats it wins than for the votes it might peel away from PH in multi-cornered contests, where analysts warn...

Sri Lanka launched an investigation on Tuesday into its deadliest prison riot in years, as the death toll from clashes between rival drug gangs rose to 27. Armed police and commandos were not sent into the prison but were deployed to guard the perimeter of Negombo prison, as authorities tightened security following the clashes on Monday that also wounded more than 100. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara told parliament on Tuesday that a criminal investigation had begun alongside a...

There is growing eagerness in Pakistan to involve China, the other upper riparian country, more directly in the issue.

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led a business delegation to New Delhi for the 16th India-Japan annual summit. During last year’s summit in Tokyo, Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the Japan-India Joint Vision for the next decade – during which period India may see up to 10 trillion yen (US$62 billion) in investment from Japan. Some of Japan’s most notable investments in India have been in the financial sector. Japanese...

South Korea’s Incheon International Airport achieved a historic milestone in global aviation by recording 1 billion cumulative passengers in the shortest period among the world’s major hub airports, the airport operator said on Tuesday. According to Incheon International Airport Corp (IIAC), the airport crossed the 1 billion passenger mark just 25 years and three months after its opening in March 2001, outpacing all historic rival global hubs. Germany’s Munich Airport required 33 years and 10...

Vietnam has introduced a raft of incentives to encourage couples to have more children as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to reverse a fast-declining fertility rate. Gone is the country’s long-standing two-child policy, scrapped last year. In its place is a new population law, which took effect on July 1, offering a suite of sweeteners designed to nudge Vietnamese couples towards larger families. These include seven months of maternity leave for second children, subsidised prenatal and newborn...

A video showing a Chinese tourist berating hotel staff in Malaysia for not flying China’s flag has gone viral after viewers pointed out the flags belonged to the nations competing in the Fifa World Cup finals. The man, who was reportedly in Kuala Lumpur on business, confronted a staff member at his hotel’s breakfast restaurant after noticing flags from dozens of countries but not China’s. In the clip, he can be seen interrogating a visibly confused worker for an explanation before telling her:...

Despite being partners at the federal level, the Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional coalitions are competing to become the dominant force of tomorrow.

No further action was necessary by Singapore’s parliament against Workers’ Party (WP) politicians Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap over their lying under oath, as the case fell outside a legal time bar, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah said on Tuesday. “Had the timelines been different, I would have proposed a different course of action,” she told parliament while delivering a ministerial statement on a “determination” of the Committee of Privileges’ (COP) findings on Lim and Faisal. Lim is a...

The affirmations come after an Indonesian minister raised the idea of imposing a levy on vessels passing through the vital chokepoint.

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US touts regional ‘balance’ in missile sale to Singapore. What does it mean? Washington has recently approved a proposed US$22.3 million sale of additional Hellfire missiles to Singapore, with the US State Department declaring that the transfer and associated arms...

Japan is facing mounting calls to decide whether its long-frozen development aid to Myanmar should stay that way, as rights advocates warn that any resumption could ease pressure on a regime accused of widespread abuses. The decision is a delicate one for Tokyo, which has tried to retain influence in Myanmar without appearing to legitimise the junta that seized power in 2021 – all while watching China deepen its own engagement with the country. Human Rights Watch has urged Japan to resist...

Singapore is the world’s most expensive city for luxury spending for a fourth consecutive year, as prices on items such as watches and jewellery surge around the globe. Zurich climbed to second place, edging out London, while Monaco entered the top three for the first time since the survey began in 2020, according to an annual report by Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group. Hong Kong and London rounded out the top five. Zurich’s three-place rise was propelled by the strengthening of the Swiss...

A man ⁠scaled the 140-metre-high (460 ⁠foot) tower of ⁠a cantilever bridge in the Australian city of Melbourne on Tuesday and painted a giant cartoon bird on it, disrupting morning commuter traffic. The man demanded ‌a peanut butter sandwich be delivered by drone before he would come down, causing a stand-off with police and closing a lane on the Bolte Bridge. “A man has scaled the bridge and remains in a restricted area ⁠on the eastern tower. He is refusing to follow police direction ‌and come...

A series of recent scandals within the Ministry likely reflect tensions within the leadership of the ruling Bhumjaithai party.

At Carousell’s Singapore office, a red tunnel greets employees with the company’s mission to “make second-hand the first choice” – a slogan its leaders say is moving closer to reality as the platform for buying and selling used goods recorded its first positive adjusted operating profit. The Singapore-headquartered company, last valued at US$1.1 billion in 2021, said on Tuesday it had achieved positive Ebitda – earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation – for the first time,...

New Zealand’s flood-prone homes are outperforming the rest of the country’s moribund housing market, as buyers chase lower prices and shrug off climate risks. Properties facing the highest flood risk have gained 26.1 per cent in value since January 2020, compared with 19.8 per cent for homes with no exposure, property consultancy Cotality said in Wellington on Tuesday. Discounts of as much as NZ$100,000 (US$60,000) on some houses were proving too tempting for cost-conscious consumers, it...

The 48-year-old faces charges of corruption, bribery, and an alleged plot to assassinate her rival, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Lynas Rare Earths said on Tuesday it had signed a partnership deal with South Korea’s JS Link to develop a magnet factory in Malaysia. The Australian rare-earths producer will also supply materials to JS Link’s magnet factory in South Korea and the planned factory in Malaysia until January 2038. The partnership follows a magnet manufacturing deal between the two companies ⁠last year. Under the latest deal, JS Link will establish a magnet factory in ‌Kuantan, Malaysia, with an operating capacity...

Kim Jong-un stood on a cliff top and watched his navy come of age. As the North Korean leader looked on, 10 cruise missiles tore off the deck of the Kang Kon in rapid succession in a display of naval power Pyongyang could once only dream of staging. Analysts say the weapons test on Friday was no accident of timing – coming just days before Russia and China would begin their Joint Sea 2026 maritime exercise off Qingdao – and North Korea wanted to make sure everyone was watching. “North Korea is...

The 48-year-old faces charges of corruption, bribery, and an alleged plot to assassinate her rival, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.