Asia

The Philippine military on Tuesday rejected Beijing’s claim that Manila had staged a “cyanide stunt” near a contested reef in the South China Sea, after Filipino officials accused Chinese fishermen of using cyanide around a grounded warship that serves as a military outpost. “We reject any statement that this is fabricated news,” said Navy Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, a spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines. At the centre of the dispute is the BRP Sierra Madre, a derelict navy...

Malaysia’s government has urged the public to be ready to tighten their belts over an extended period, with the full effects of the energy crisis triggered by the Iran war expected to kick in as soon as June after the country’s economic buffers run their course. Domestic gas production and costly fuel subsidies have so far shielded the country’s population of 34 million from most of the fallout from the war, which has choked supply for 25 per cent of global seaborne oil trade and nearly a fifth...

The United States is planning a fuel depot in the southern Philippines to support humanitarian and maritime security missions for its long-time ally in Asia, as part of a growing network of forward-based refuelling hubs in the Western Pacific. Located far from the flashpoint reefs at the centre of Manila’s maritime dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, the depot marks what one observer called a “more mature and more serious stage” in the US-Philippine alliance: a shift from base access...

A Japanese court on Tuesday sentenced a former teacher to two years in prison for taking indecent images of pupils and sharing them on social media, making him the first among members of an alleged teachers’ voyeurism ring to receive a prison sentence in a high-profile case that came to light last year. The Nagoya District Court handed down the sentence to Katsuya Ishikawa, 28, who was a teacher at a junior high school in Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture, at the time of his arrest in September. Judge...

Washington’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is threatening to tip Asia into its worst energy crisis in living memory, with peace talks on the Iran war stalled and no clear timeline for when oil flows might resume. The United States moved to seize control of the flashpoint waterway on Monday night, with US President Donald Trump framing the move as a way to force Iran to open the strait and accept a deal to end the war. Iran responded by threatening all ports in the Persian Gulf and the...

The United Nations has issued a grim warning about the costs to the Asia-Pacific region of a prolonged conflict in Iran, forecasting job losses, crippling inflation and food insecurity, with the poorest nations brutally exposed to the oil shock and millions of informal workers facing the body blow of rising transport costs. More than 8 million people across the Asia-Pacific could be plunged into poverty if the crisis that closed the Strait of Hormuz drags on, according to a study published on...

Nepal’s tourism industry is scrambling to offset a sharp fall in Western visitors during the peak spring trekking season, with operators and officials turning their attention to Asia-Pacific markets as conflict-linked travel disruptions ripple through the Middle East. Arrivals from the Americas and Europe, which account for a sizeable share of Nepal’s higher-spending long-haul tourism business, dropped by nearly 25 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively, during March compared with the same...

Israel’s ambassador to Japan and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre have condemned a Japanese political commentator over remarks he made on a morning news programme that were widely criticised as suggesting Jared Kushner should not be involved in negotiations with Iran because he is Jewish. Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, joined Vice-President J.D. Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff in Islamabad over the weekend for talks aimed at ending the war between the US, Israel and...

Malaysia is doubling down on renewables to secure its energy future, its deputy prime minister has said, as the government scrambles to mitigate the fallout from an escalating energy crisis triggered by the Iran war. Tehran all but shut access to the Strait of Hormuz last month in retaliation for the US and Israel’s attacks, disrupting a key energy chokepoint through which about 25 per cent of global seaborne oil trade and nearly a fifth of global liquefied natural gas exports pass – much of...

Melaka police are tracking a 36-year-old express bus driver after a video showing him driving with a woman seated on his lap near the Bemban Rest and Recreational area went viral in Malaysia. Jasin Superintendent Lee Robert said initial investigations found the incident occurred at about 7.30pm on Sunday at the entrance to the area. He described the driver’s actions as extremely dangerous, noting that such behaviour could impair vehicle control and cause serious distraction, posing a risk to...

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. Singapore’s refusal to negotiate over Hormuz creates waves in Malaysia Singapore’s pushback against negotiating with Iran over access to the Strait of Hormuz has triggered a backlash from Malaysian politicians, who saw its statements as “lecturing” them on how best to...

With millions of Indonesians at risk of being pushed into poverty amid a deepening global energy crisis, President Prabowo Subianto arrived in Moscow this week seeking something straightforward but increasingly scarce: cheap oil. Prabowo’s trip, which got under way on Monday, comes at a moment of acute regional anxiety. Global oil prices have skyrocketed since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran more than six weeks ago amid the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The...

At least 26 South Korean tankers are thought to be stranded near the Strait of Hormuz. That fact alone may best explain why President Lee Jae Myung walked into a diplomatic firefight with Israel last week, analysts say. The row erupted on Friday when Lee commented on a grainy clip that appeared to show Israeli soldiers pushing a body from a rooftop. The footage, which dates to September 2024, was originally posted by a Palestinian activist account alongside a caption falsely claiming it showed...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has called for an end to allegations of diesel being supplied to the Philippines, stating that the claim is untrue. Anwar said the recent shipment of diesel was not from national oil company Petronas but from a foreign commodity company, Vitol. “They [Vitol] have an agreement to transport oil and sell it to the Philippines. It is not us [Petronas] supplying it to the Philippines,” he said. “But we are not stopping it. We are giving passage. The oil belongs...

Jet fuel shortages and surging prices are forcing flight cancellations across the Asia-Pacific, a squeeze that could intensify after the United States began controlling oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following failed peace talks with Iran. Tehran’s effective closure of the strait – a chokepoint for about 20 per cent of global oil supply – is hitting regional airlines, particularly in countries without strategic energy reserves, analysts said. Jet fuel reached nearly US$198 in the...

The bust of an illegal transfer of oil between tankers in Malaysian waters has returned the spotlight to the shadow fleet trade in fuel – much of it from sanctioned nations – in Southeast Asia, which continues despite the paralysis of legitimate shipping routes triggered by the Iran war. Two tankers were intercepted in waters off Bagan Ajam, off the coast of Penang, on Saturday during an alleged illegal transfer of more than 700,000 litres of diesel worth an estimated 5.43 million ringgit...

Pakistan is considering financing from both countries and banks as options to repay a US$3 billion loan from the United Arab Emirates and help maintain foreign exchange reserve levels amid soaring oil prices, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said. The South Asian country this month failed to reach an agreement with the UAE to roll over the debt for the first time in seven years, adding pressure on external buffers at a time when the economy is getting hit by the fallout from the conflict in...

Japan’s effort to shield itself from President Donald Trump’s tariffs is facing a new backlash, with environmental groups warning that US projects tied to Tokyo’s investment pledge could generate greenhouse gases equal to around 20 per cent of Japan’s annual emissions. The Japanese government agreed to invest 5.7 trillion yen (US$35.6 billion) in the three projects as part of the first round of spending on US infrastructure in return for Trump’s tariffs being suspended. In total, the bilateral...

In a world edging dangerously close to a wider war, where weeks of escalation between the United States, Israel and Iran have threatened to spiral into a catastrophic regional conflict, Pakistan has emerged as an unlikely but decisive diplomatic actor. Through sustained backchannel engagement and careful balancing of competing alliances, Islamabad helped bring two deeply distrustful adversaries to a temporary ceasefire, hopefully averting what would be one of the most consequential geopolitical...

A dangerous super typhoon in the Pacific Ocean is barrelling towards a group of remote US islands. Super Typhoon Sinlakua is expected to make landfall on Tuesday in the Northern Mariana Islands and bring destructive winds, widespread heavy rain and flooding, the National Weather Service said on Monday. Power cuts on the islands could be lengthy, forecasters warned. Guam, a US territory with American military installations and about 170,000 residents, could also see damaging winds and is under a...

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sparked a diplomatic row with Israel and criticism at home after comparing Israeli military actions against Palestinians to the Holocaust in a social media post. The controversy began on Friday after Lee said “wartime killings” by the Israel Defence ‌Forces were “no different from the Jewish massacre” by the Nazis in World War II and reposted footage with a caption that said it showed Israeli troops had tortured and thrown a Palestinian from the roof of a...

Pakistan’s deployment of an air force contingent at a base on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast, coming as it mediated talks between Iran and the US, could force Tehran to reconsider its strategy of attacking critical energy infrastructure in the kingdom, analysts say. While purely defensive in nature, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) task force posed a poignant question to Tehran: if hostilities resumed, would it be prepared to risk shooting down warplanes belonging to the peacemaking country it clearly...

The driver of a Singapore-registered car has been arrested in Johor for allegedly pumping subsidised Malaysian petrol, triggering a wave of approval online from Malaysians as the government widens a border crackdown driven by rising fuel costs and fears of subsidy abuse amid a global energy shock. The arrest comes after months of viral shaming posts showing Singapore-registered vehicles allegedly filling up with RON95 in neighbouring Johor, fuelling public anger over the abuse of a subsidy meant...

Malaysia ended last week with one oil tanker making it through the Strait of Hormuz and six others waiting their turn, as the government promised that supplies would last through May. Then US President Donald Trump announced a blockade. Analysts say the escalation in the US-Israel war on Iran puts Malaysia on a collision course with an energy crisis sooner than expected. “Putrajaya has already flagged June as a critical pressure point,” said geopolitical risk consultant Asrul Sani, associate...

Cost-cutting on Japan’s already depleted railway network has hit a new low, with one of the nation’s largest network operators no longer providing toilet paper in a growing number of unmanned stations. JR East’s decision has been met with a mix of annoyance and resignation online, while underscoring the financial pressures bearing down on rural rail services. A social media post from February 2 highlighted the growing frustration with JR East’s failure to provide toilet paper, condemning a...

Singapore is at the sharp end of the energy crisis. Imported natural gas accounts for an estimated 95 per cent of the city state’s electricity generation. According to Nomura, Singapore is the fourth most vulnerable Asian economy to the energy shock emanating from the war in Iran, based on a set of criteria that includes the share of fossil fuels in energy consumption and the proportion of energy imports from the Gulf. Last month, Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said the...

The world’s largest water fight erupted across Bangkok on Monday as the three-day annual Songkran festival drew a surge in tourists to a country whose bruised economy badly needed a reason to celebrate. Thailand has refused to let a fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran dampen its traditional New Year’s celebrations, even as prices spike for everything from petrol to ice during the hottest month of the year. The water festival – also known as Thingyan in neighbouring Myanmar and...

There is no necessity to introduce the death penalty into the Road Transport Act 1987 for driving under the influence, according to Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke. Loke said existing laws were sufficient to prosecute serious offences and that offenders could still be charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, where applicable. “As far as the government is concerned, we have already stopped mandatory death penalties,” he told reporters on Monday after a road safety...

In South Korea’s capital, more than one in three people live alone, creating headaches when it comes time to visit hospital or simply move home. But Seoul has a solution: a “companion service” that dispatches helpers to assist solo residents with tasks that are hard to manage without a second pair of hands. On Sunday, the city’s government announced that the programme, which began more than four years ago as a hospital escort service, would soon be expanded to cover moving day logistics and...

Australia has pledged A$2.5 million (US$1.7 million) in aid to Pacific neighbours Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, after tropical cyclone Maila caused devastating floods and landslides that killed 11. Australia stood “shoulder to shoulder” with its neighbours, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Sunday, pledging A$1 million for Papua New Guinea and A$1.5 million for the Solomon Islands, where severe impacts have been felt in remote communities across Western and Choiseul...