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Asia - South China Morning Post

Breaking news, analysis and opinion from the SCMP"s Asia edition.

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Why Trump won’t let Thailand keep tariff, border...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

Thailand’s insistence that trade negotiations with the US can proceed separately from talks over a fractious border dispute with Cambodia has been met with deep scepticism given Washington’s increasing use of economic policy as a political instrument and US President Donald Trump’s personal stake in the ceasefire deal. Bangkok announced on Saturday that tariff talks with the United States would “remain separate from border issues”, a pledge government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said...

Singapore says Chinese firm’s electric buses not...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

Singapore has 20 electric public buses by Chinese manufacturer Yutong Group, and none of these vehicles support any remote control functions, the Land Transport Authority said on Monday. LTA’s response came after Norway’s public transport operator Ruter found that Yutong had access to the buses’ control systems for software updates and diagnostics. This could allow the manufacturer to turn them off remotely. The discovery has also raised cybersecurity concerns, with Ruter saying earlier this...

What BJP’s dominance means for India’s democracy and...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

A sweeping election victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar has raised fresh questions about the future of India’s political opposition. Analysts say the landslide outcome – which defied predictions of a close race – highlights an increasingly lopsided political landscape, with a dominant BJP facing a fragmented opposition, particularly a Congress party struggling with internal drift and unresolved leadership issues. The BJP, its main regional ally,...

Malaysia pulls US children’s show off the air over...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

Malaysia’s state broadcaster has suspended the animated Nickelodeon children’s series Santiago of the Seas following viewer complaints that an episode contained an LGBTQ scene. The controversy erupted after viewers reported seeing the character Rio, a mermaid, kiss his partner Martin on the cheek in an episode that aired on Sunday on TV2. RTM, which operates the channel, said an internal review had found no evidence of any such display of same-sex affection but halted the show “to avoid

Malaysia-Singapore crossing brawl, climate crisis in...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

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. Bus queue brawl at Malaysia-Singapore crossing spotlights border bottlenecks Viral footage of two commuters wrestling on the floor of Johor Bahru’s main border terminal has once again highlighted the chronic congestion – and fraying tempers – at one of Southeast

Australian poll reveals rising concerns over US...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

More than half of Australians are concerned about US interference while support for defence spending has reached a new high, according to a nationwide poll that comes as friction mounts between the allies over issues such as trade. The survey released on Tuesday by the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney found that 54 per cent of respondents are worried about US influence on domestic affairs – a jump of nearly 20 percentage points since 2021. The

Data centres in Malaysia’s Johor told to wait for...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

Investors in Malaysia’s fast-growing data centre hub of Johor have been asked to postpone water-cooled expansion projects for at least 18 months, as authorities grapple with drought and mounting pressure on the state’s water supplies. Officials say the temporary deferral will apply to developers whose facilities depend on water for cooling servers that run around the clock, amid growing unease among residents and environmentalists that billions of dollars in tech investment are colliding with...

Beijing-Tokyo row over Takaichi’s Taiwan comments:...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

We have put together stories from our coverage of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan, the reaction and articles on Beijing-Tokyo relations for context. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Beijing slams Japanese PM for ‘seriously damaging’ ties over Taiwan comment This article was published on November 10, 2025. 2. Has Takaichi planted a Taiwan ‘time bomb’ in Tokyo’s ties with Beijing This article was published on November

The Philippines’ political chameleon: Juan Ponce...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

The death of Juan Ponce Enrile has brought an end to one of the most complicated lives in Philippine politics – a man I covered for decades, whose brilliance, ruthlessness and endless reinventions shaped the country as much as they confounded those who tried to understand him. A central figure in the Philippines’ modern history, Enrile served as Ferdinand Marcos Snr’s defence minister during martial law, defected during the 1986 People Power revolt, and eventually reclaimed power as Senate...

Cambodian tycoon linked to scam empire owned luxury...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

The chairman of a Cambodia-based conglomerate indicted by US authorities over alleged large-scale investment fraud and money laundering had acquired a luxury property in Tokyo as his residence, Japanese corporate registration documents showed on Monday. Chen Zhi, a Cambodian national of Chinese descent who heads Prince Holding Group, established Prince Group in the Japanese capital in 2022 and is believed to have sought long-term residence status in Japan by starting his own business. The US...

South Korea indicts Japanese woman for forcibly...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

A Japanese woman in her 50s has been indicted without detention for forcing a kiss on Jin of BTS during a public fan event last year. The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office said that the suspect was charged on Monday with indecent assault. She is accused of approaching Jin (real name Kim Seok-jin) during a fan meeting held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul’s Songpa district in June last year, shortly after he completed his military service. She forced a kiss on Jin’s cheek without...

South Korea’s nuclear sub deal signals shift from...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/18

Washington’s approval for South Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines has become a turning point in the alliance, analysts say, one that is already pushing Seoul towards a more explicit role in the United States’ broader Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China. As the US military reframes the region around a “strategic triangle” linking South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, observers say Washington has begun naming its price for its endorsement of the submarine project – pressing Seoul

Thailand court orders Thaksin to pay US$540 million...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Thailand’s Supreme Court ordered jailed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Monday to pay back taxes over the sale of his telecoms firm, the judiciary said, with reports putting the sum due at around half a billion dollars. In 2006, Thaksin was dogged by corruption allegations and mired in controversy over the tax-free sale of shares in his company, Shin Corporation. Later that year he was ousted as prime minister in a coup and then went into exile for more than a decade. The

EU’s investment bank to work with Australia on...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

The EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Australian government said in a joint statement on Monday they would deepen cooperation on critical raw materials, as Western powers scramble to cut their reliance on China. With the exception of Japan, Group of Seven (G7) countries and the EU are heavily or exclusively reliant on China for a range of materials from rare earth magnets to battery metals. European officials and industry sources say financing remains a key hurdle in the bloc’s

2 top Philippine officials in Marcos’ cabinet quit...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

Two of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s most senior cabinet members have resigned, as mass protests and corruption allegations intensify pressure on his embattled administration over the widening flood control corruption scandal. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman quit late on Monday, days after being implicated in the scandal by fugitive ex-lawmaker and former Marcos ally Zaldy Co. The resignations came as a rally, which started on Sunday

45 Indian pilgrims killed in devastating Saudi bus crash

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/17

A fatal accident involving a bus filled with Indian pilgrims killed at least 45 people near Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Medina, Indian police said on Monday, one of the deadliest crashes in the Gulf kingdom in years. “The tragic bus accident involving Indian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia is deeply distressing,” V.C. Sajjanar, police commissioner for the city of Hyderabad, where many of the Indian citizens were reported to have come from, told reporters. “According to preliminary information, 46...

Trump exempts Indian items from tariffs amid rising...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/16

Indian agricultural exporters are among the winners from US President Donald Trump’s exemption of dozens of food items from his reciprocal tariffs, which some analysts say could help revive lost demand. Trump on Friday removed tariffs he had imposed on more than 200 food products, including beef, as consumer concerns mount over rising US grocery prices. Unlike EU and Vietnamese suppliers facing 15-20 per cent duties, Indian exporters of tea, coffee, spices and cashew nuts were hit harder

How does China’s modernising navy stack up against...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/16

When President Xi Jinping commissioned the Fujian on November 5, China became only the second nation to have an aircraft carrier with an electromagnetic catapult system. It is also notable that, last month, two navy aircraft from the USS Nimitz crashed into the South China Sea. These events crystallise a strategic reality often obscured by aggregate force comparisons: the relevant naval balance is not between the 11 US aircraft carriers and China’s three, but between what the United States

Samsung, Hyundai announce US$310 billion domestic...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/16

Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and other major South Korean manufacturers on Sunday unveiled domestic investment plans, as a US trade deal raised concerns that investment in the US could weaken manufacturing at home. Samsung Electronics will add a chip production line at its plant in the South Korean city of Pyeongtaek to meet rising demand amid the global boom in artificial intelligence, as part of the parent group’s 450 trillion won (US$310.79 billion) investments at home over the next...

Can Bhutan’s Singapore-inspired ‘mindfulness city’...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/16

Bhutan is a nation that prides itself on happiness over productivity, being the only net negative emission country and reluctantly democratising only after its monarch introduced the system in a time of peace, but the tides are changing for the Land of the Thunder Dragon. Amid high youth unemployment and an exodus of talent – especially to Australia – the landlocked kingdom of just under 800,000 people bordering giants India and China, is banking on a new “one country, two systems” special...

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