Asia - South China Morning Post

For a sign of the degree to which US President Donald Trump’s decision in August to double tariffs on most Indian goods to a staggering 50 per cent – the highest rate across Asia – is weighing on investor sentiment, look no further than the rupee.

Having plumbed a series of record lows in recent months, India’s currency has been the worst performer in Asia this year and has breached the psychologically important level of 90 per US dollar. One of the last major economies yet to strike a trade...

With Chinese tourists shunning Japan and Thailand’s Hat Yai, Malaysia’s Penang state is poised for a year-end tourism bonanza.

Penang tourism committee chairman Wong Hong Wai said Indonesians and Singaporeans, along with Malaysians who normally prefer Hat Yai, are expected to redirect their holiday plans to the state.

“December is traditionally one of the busiest periods, coinciding with the school holidays in both Malaysia and Singapore, and the Christmas and new year festive break.

“There is...

Faced with growing scrutiny by authorities at home and in Singapore, mainland Chinese living in the city state are being more discreet about their wealth, in a shift that is hitting sales of luxury goods from Bentleys to private jets.

Singapore, where some 75 per cent of the resident population is ethnically Chinese, has seen massive inflows of mainland Chinese wealth over the last few years due to the island’s political stability, tax-friendly environment and cultural affinity. The Covid-19...

A former political aide of Malaysia’s leader and a Sabah-linked businessman pleaded not guilty to four counts of corruption each on Thursday, in a case analysts say will taint Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s anti-corruption credentials.

Anwar’s reform platform has already been tested by disputes over mineral exploration rights in Malaysia’s poorest but most resource-rich state, Sabah.

Former political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin was accused of receiving 176,829.03 ringgit (US$42,930) in...

The pledge by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year.

The ultraconservative Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm.

Accepting her award from a private committee this week, Takaichi said she only wanted to stress her enthusiasm and that her comments had...

South Korea’s special prosecutors have sought a 15-year jail term for former first lady Kim Keon-hee, describing her as someone who has long been “beyond the reach of law enforcement”.

Kim, the wife of impeached ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol, faces multiple corruption allegations, including stock manipulation, bribery and illegal electioneering.

The court’s verdict is set for January 28.

The demand on Wednesday came about three months after Kim was indicted – just a year following Yoon’s botched...

The recent rediscovery of Rafflesia hasseltii, an extremely rare giant parasitic red flower, in a forest in Indonesia’s West Sumatra has sparked a backlash after Oxford University’s initial social media post credited only its scientist, leaving out the local researchers who made the search possible.

Analysts say the uproar reflects long-standing grievances over how Western researchers and their Global South counterparts are recognised in joint projects, and the lingering legacy of colonialism in...

Singapore’s highest court has upheld a S$14,000 (US$10,800) fine imposed on opposition leader Pritam Singh for lying to a parliamentary committee.

In February, the Workers’ Party (WP) chief was found guilty on two counts of giving false testimony to a committee investigating a lie told by Raeesah Khan, a former member of parliament for the party.

Singh, who pleaded not guilty, received the maximum fine of S$7,000 for each charge following a 13-day trial.

The 49-year-old appealed against his...

A Malaysian businessman escaped from the clutches of a job scam syndicate in Cambodia after his wife lodged a police report and a 6,000 ringgit (US$1,456) ransom was paid, but some 700 others are still trapped there.

Many are facing torture in captivity, said Muhammad Syafiq Pubalan Abdullah, 40.

The victims aged between 17 and 35 were often beaten up, he said.

He, too, was beaten up daily during his first week there.

“They would beat the women with a belt. I heard a female victim was raped by...

Public opinion in Japan is souring towards the United States, as US President Donald Trump’s strong-arm trade tactics and divisive domestic policies test the bonds of an alliance that has endured for eight decades.

The Cabinet Office’s latest annual survey, released on Friday, revealed that 70.8 per cent of Japanese respondents viewed Japan-US relations as “good” or “quite good”, tumbling 14.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

It marked the second-lowest reading since the question was...