Asia - South China Morning Post

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appears set for a landslide victory in a coming election and is expected to maintain her stoic stance on China but without escalating tensions further, with observers noting Beijing would still be unlikely to engage her administration in the near term.

Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is on track to win more than the 233 seats needed for a majority in the country’s Lower House election on Sunday, according to an Asahi Shimbun newspaper...

Malaysia’s state-owned firm Petronas is set to sign a liquefied natural gas supply deal with QatarEnergy as the Southeast Asian nation seeks more supplies of the super-chilled fuel, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Petroliam Nasional, or Petronas, will sign a contract for up to 2 million tonnes (2.2 million tons) per annum of LNG, one of the sources said.

Qatar is the world’s second-largest LNG exporter after the United States, shipping out 81.07 million tonnes of the fuel last...

Indonesia will press on with reforms of its capital markets and go after market manipulators with the full force of the law well ahead of a May deadline set by leading index MSCI, the country’s top economic minister, Airlangga Hartarto, has vowed.

A massive sell-off last Wednesday prompted the government to act, as investors exited after MSCI said it would stop making adjustments to Indonesian stocks, citing a lack of transparency in shareholding structures and concerns over coordinated trading...

South Korea has emerged as one of the countries experiencing the world’s largest outflow of wealthy individuals, in part due to its rigid inheritance tax system.

A recent analysis by British consultancy Henley & Partners showed on Tuesday that the net outflow of Korean millionaires last year was estimated at 2,400, double the 1,200 recorded in 2024. The figure was the fourth largest globally, following the United Kingdom, China and India.

“Korea’s inheritance tax rate of up to 60 per cent may...

Two men are set to be charged with murder in Malaysia following the discovery of the charred skeletal remains of six people – including three young children – in a remote, abandoned house in Johor state.

Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad confirmed on Tuesday that the grisly findings were made on January 9 in Kangkar Pulai. The remains were discovered by a 48-year-old local man who had been searching for his family after losing contact with them three months prior.

“The man claimed that his...

A social media warning to transnational scam networks by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ignited backlash from Cambodians accusing him of tarnishing their country’s image, prompting the post’s deletion amid diplomatic clarifications.

On Friday, Lee shared a report by Korean outlet OhMyNews stating that Chinese organised crime groups in Cambodia were shunning Korean recruits for fear of Seoul’s police raids, as reported by the Khmer Times and The Korea Herald.

“If you dare to mess with...

The sultan of Pahang in Malaysia has urged the public to view royal pardons with “calmness of emotion” and not as “a political gift”, in what analysts describe as a pointed reminder that clemency is a constitutional process, amid a furore over a decree supposedly extended to ex-prime minister Najib Razak.

According to Najib, the supplementary royal decree, or “addendum”, would allow him to serve the remainder of his reduced prison sentence at home. The Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed his bid...

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1. Singapore begins ban on ‘undesirable’ visitors, airlines to comply or face fine

Singapore’s move to bar undesirable visitors from boarding planes to the city state has begun, with airlines flying into its airports required to deny access to passengers flagged as...

Any decision by Australia to regain control of Darwin Port is likely to differ from Panama’s move to nullify a contract on its geostrategically vital canal, as fears of Chinese retaliation and a limited security consensus limit Canberra’s options, analysts said – though they warned the issue could still reopen strains in the bilateral relationship.

Panama’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday against a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, ending its rights to operate two ports on the...

Pakistan says it has fielded requests for its JF-17 fighter jet from five countries in recent months – a surge of interest that could overwhelm its capacity to jointly produce the jet with China.

In the past month, Iraq, Bangladesh and Indonesia have expressed interest in acquiring the JF-17 Thunder, according to Pakistan’s Armed Forces.

Saudi Arabia and Libya were also exploring the aircraft, Reuters reported separately, after Pakistan hailed the performance of its Chinese-developed jets during...