Asia - South China Morning Post

Despite a slowing economy, recurring trade frictions and intensifying price competition, the value of China’s exports rose in 2025 by 6.1 per cent, year on year, to a record 26.98 trillion yuan (US$3.87 trillion) – cementing its position as the world’s largest trading nation.

Behind that growth, China’s export machine is increasingly being shaped by coastal concentration and industrial upgrading, with market diversification cushioning external shocks at the cost of weaker prices and thinner...

From the eyeliner-heavy angst of My Chemical Romance to the double-denim pop of Blue, reunion tours by early-2000s Western acts are selling out Southeast Asian arenas, powered by an unlikely driver: Gen Z fans who were toddlers, or not yet born, when the bands first topped the charts.

When My Chemical Romance (MCR) announced its Southeast Asia tour, 60,000 tickets for their Kuala Lumpur show on April 30 sold out within hours. The rush prompted organiser Hello Universe to add a second date at...

Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia were returned to South Korea on Friday to face investigations in what was the largest group repatriation of Korean criminal suspects from abroad.

The 73 South Korean suspects allegedly scammed fellow Koreans out of 48.6 billion won (US$33 million), according to a South Korean government statement.

Upon arrival in South Korea’s Incheon Airport aboard a chartered plane, the suspects – 65 men and eight women – were sent to...

Thailand’s police have identified three children aged nine to 15 who are suspected of setting a homeless man on fire in Bangkok and filming their victim’s ordeal.

The man, identified only as 51-year-old Karn, lives under the Ban Ma Bridge in Prawet, earning a living by selling recyclable waste, according to news outlet Thaiger.

Local media reported that Karn escaped fatal injuries, and told the press he was sleeping under the bridge when he felt cold liquid being poured on him before flames...

Asian companies are feeling the impact of technology restrictions imposed by the US and China “more acutely” than American firms, and supplier diversification is topping the agenda for CEOs in the year ahead, a survey by The Conference Board has found.

According to the survey, 23 per cent of Asian CEOs polled cited export controls as a trade concern, compared with just 11 per cent of American CEOs.

“The expanding economic security tool kit, including tech controls, affects Asia more acutely...

Indonesia has signed a new defence cooperation agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina in a move analysts say marks another step in Jakarta’s bid to expand its security partnerships beyond traditional Western partners.

The pact was signed during a meeting between Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and his Bosnian counterpart Zukan Helez in Sarajevo on January 11, according to Indonesian media reports.

“This visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and exploring avenues for...

Thailand’s tourism authority has denied using artificial intelligence (AI) to produce a viral campaign image of Thai pop star Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal, after the highly polished visual became a lightning rod for online debate over the growing role of AI in creative work.

The image, released under the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) “Amazing Thailand” banner, shows Lisa – a member of global K-pop sensation Blackpink – framed against the pink blooms of Udon Thani’s Red Lotus Sea, also known as...

Vietnam’s top leader To Lam was reappointed on ‍Friday as head of the ruling Communist Party for the next five years after an uninimous vote by its central committee, as he pledged to turbocharge growth in the export-reliant nation.

In the one-party state, Lam was re-elected to the country’s most powerful job by all 180 party officials from a newly formed committee at the end of the five-yearly party congress, according to an announcement at the party congress.

In an address to the congress, Lam...

Two foreign nationals have become the first people in Malaysia to be charged under a new anti-littering law.

Sultan Md, 28, a Bangladeshi, and Anita Lukman, 49, an Indonesian, were charged in the Sessions Court in Johor Bahru on Friday morning.

Anita, an odd-job worker, pleaded guilty to throwing a cigarette butt and a drink bottle on the pavement on Jalan Ibrahim Sultan in Stulant Laut at 12.41am on January 1.

The offence was framed under Section 77A(1) of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing...

Malaysia’s parliament has introduced new media-centre rules that ban doorstop interviews without permission and restrict access to key premises where lawmakers typically brief reporters, fuelling fears of a narrowing media space.

Under the guidelines, journalists “are not allowed” to conduct such interviews – also known as doorstepping – “without permission”, facing written warnings, access restrictions, or referrals to parliamentary security for serious breaches.

The same notice, dated Monday,...