Asia - South China Morning Post

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces the first major test of her diplomatic skills on Monday when US President Donald Trump arrives in Tokyo for a three-day visit, with the Japanese leader using her first week in office to institute policies designed to please her American counterpart.

In a policy speech to the Diet on Friday, Takaichi vowed to bring forward a goal of defence spending matching 2 per cent of gross domestic product to the current financial year ending in March, two years earlier...

In the Solomon Islands, where memories of civil unrest and ethnic violence are still fresh, the government’s plan to create a defence force has raised both hope and concerns.

For some, it is a step towards stability; for others, it is a potential flashpoint in a region increasingly pulled between China and the West.

Jimson Tanangada, the Pacific nation’s police and national security minister, told parliament earlier this month that the government was exploring the creation of a defence force as...

A 41-year-old Indonesian man was charged on Saturday with murdering his wife.

The 38-year-old woman was found motionless in a Singapore hotel room on Friday morning.

Salehuddin, who goes by one name, is accused of causing the death of Nurdia Rahmah Rery between 3am and 5am in a room at the Capri by Fraser China Square hotel on Friday.

He appeared in court in a red polo shirt from his place of remand and appeared calm, responding to the interpreter at various points.

He asked District Judge Tan...

In an era defined by digital hyperconnectivity, members of South Korea’s Gen Z are reaching back in time, finding unexpected meaning in an analogue past they never experienced.

From the flutter of handwritten love notes to the gentle click of cassette players and the rustle of bus tickets tucked into pockets, many of the country’s top-rated television dramas are bringing a pre-digital age to life for a generation raised on smartphones.

These stories, set against the backdrop of social upheavals...

For two years, Malaysian conservationists tracked a tiger named “Bulan” as she raised four cubs. Then a fatal traffic accident made her another statistic in the country’s dwindling population.

Malaysia’s national animal is in trouble.

Poaching, food loss and diminishing habitat have slashed the population from 3,000 in the 1950s to less than 150 roaming free today, according to official estimates.

The government said last month it was ramping up efforts to combat wildlife crime, introducing...

SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. said it was ordered by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute to take custody of 23 cargo containers allegedly containing radioactive zinc dust and rejected by Indonesia, adding it had no connection with the shipments.

The Philippine steel company said it was tagged as the source of the radioactive materials by PNRI, and ordered to entomb the containers in its Calaca scrap recycling plant in Batangas province, according to a statement on Saturday.

“The containers...

Afghan and Pakistani negotiators are to meet in Istanbul on Saturday to address security issues and establish a lasting ceasefire along their shared border after an outbreak of unexpectedly intense bloody clashes.

The confrontation – which resulted in dozens of deaths, among them civilians – began two weeks ago following explosions in central Kabul, which the Taliban government blamed on its Pakistani neighbour, launching a retaliatory offensive at the border.

Vowing a strong response, Islamabad...

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will sign a peace accord over a border dispute with Cambodia during the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, in a ceremony to be presided over by US President Donald Trump.

US officials have been pressing both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to sign the deal, officially called the Declaration on Thai-Cambodian Relations, but dubbed the ‘Kuala Lumpur Accords’ during Trump’s one-day stop in Malaysia.

The American leader is...

The trial of a man indicted for killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, allegedly due to a grudge against the Unification Church, will begin next week, three years after the shooting shed light on the church’s links to politicians.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is expected to plead guilty to the murder of Abe, post-war Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, with his defence team likely to call for leniency, saying his upbringing was marked by “religious abuse”, according to sources close to the...

Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi on Saturday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance.

The new global legal framework aims to strengthen international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering.

More than 60 countries were seen to sign the declaration on Saturday, which means it will go into force once ratified by those...