Asia - South China Morning Post

The arrival of United States President Donald Trump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, may appear to be a routine diplomatic gesture, but it carries far greater symbolic weight. His visit marks a turning point in Washington’s struggle to remain relevant in a world where its power no longer defines the terms of engagement.

For decades, Asia listened when America spoke. Today, it still listens, but it no longer obeys.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was born in an era when the Global...

As the 47th Asean summit came to a close this week, questions remained over the bloc’s handling of the Myanmar crisis and whether it had done enough to bring peace to the war-torn country.

The three-day summit saw the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations discuss various issues, including the ongoing clashes between Myanmar’s junta and opposition forces. Several members also signed trade deals with the United States.

“Myanmar was lower on the agenda at the summit compared with other...

Malaysia did not give up its sovereignty in a trade deal with the United States, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said, amid mounting fears that Washington through the recently brokered agreement can dictate how Kuala Lumpur should behave.

The two countries signed a trade deal on Sunday during US President Donald Trump’s one-day whirlwind visit to Kuala Lumpur, capping months of negotiations that followed the mercurial leader’s “Liberation Day” announcement in April when he declared a tariff war...

India is expected to stop buying discounted Russian oil after the imposition of fresh US sanctions on two top producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, and instead increase its purchases of other goods from long-time ally Moscow.

Many Indian refiners have paused new orders of Russian oil since Washington sanctioned the two Russian crude exporters last week, with buyers turning to the spot market for alternatives, according to a Reuters report.

India, along with China, has been among the top buyers of...

Thailand has asked President Donald Trump for a “better” trade deal as the two countries press ahead with tariff talks following a US-brokered peace agreement between Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul made a direct plea to Trump during an informal chat after a dinner with other leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit late on Wednesday in South Korea, according to a Thai government statement.

Trump told Anutin that he would talk to US Trade...

The Philippines and Japan have agreed in principle to a military logistics deal, signalling a renewed commitment from Tokyo to the late Shinzo Abe’s vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.

Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s new prime minister and a former protege of Abe, met Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on the sidelines of the recently concluded Asean summit in Malaysia to advance discussions on an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).

The pact would allow the two nations’ armed...

A man in his 50s who murdered his live-in girlfriend and hid her body in cement in a rooftop flat in South Korea has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, 16 years after the crime.

According to legal sources on Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that sentenced the 59-year-old man, surnamed Kim, to 14 years for murder and an additional two years and six months for violating the Narcotics Control Act.

Kim had been living with the woman in her 30s in Geoje, South Gyeongsang...

The daughter of an octogenarian passenger found dead on a remote island in Australia after she was left behind by a luxury cruise ship has condemned the operator’s “failure of care”, as authorities launched an investigation into the incident.

Suzanne Rees was on the second day of a 60-day, A$80,000 (US$52,700) round-Australia cruise when she disembarked from the Coral Adventurer at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday morning, The Guardian newspaper reported.

Rees, 80, had...

US President Donald Trump’s declaration on Thursday that he would allow South Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines has been met with both caution and scepticism.

Analysts said the announcement, while politically dramatic, left unresolved questions about feasibility, cost and the potential for nuclear proliferation.

“I have given them approval to build a Nuclear Powered Submarine, rather than the old fashioned, and far less nimble, diesel powered Submarines that they have now,” Trump wrote...

US President Donald Trump said he had approved plans for South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine in Philadelphia – praising Seoul as a “serious partner” in efforts to revive US shipbuilding – in a social post released just ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“South Korea will be building its nuclear-powered submarine in the Philadelphia shipyards,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Thursday morning. “I have given them approval to build a nuclear-powered...