Asia - South China Morning Post

Indonesia’s top defence official says his country is set to acquire China’s J-10 fighter jets, possibly making it the second foreign military to operate the model after Pakistan.

Such a deal would also mark the first purchase of Chinese-made warplanes by Indonesia as it seeks to modernise its military.

Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said on Wednesday that Indonesia would soon buy the J-10 fighter jets as part of its plans for military modernisation, according to the country’s national news...

US and UK authorities unveiled sanctions this week against Chen Zhi, a British-Cambodian tycoon accused of running cyber scam operations where workers, some trafficked, carry out transnational fraud schemes that have netted billions of dollars.

Here’s a look at the man, indicted in the US, and his sanctioned company, Prince Holding Group.

Who is Prince Group’s Chen Zhi?

One of Cambodia’s largest conglomerates, Prince Holding Group, has operated across more than 30 countries with interests in...

Top Seoul officials are visiting Washington amid signs of major progress in tough trade negotiations, although analysts warn that a coerced deal could severely damage South Korea’s economy.

Kim Yong-bum, policy chief of the presidential staff, and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan left for Washington on Thursday to join Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo.

The delegation plans to meet US counterparts to finalise details of South Korea’s US$350 billion investment...

The mother of the teenager who was stabbed to death at a Bandar Utama school in Malaysia’s Selangor state summoned up the courage to speak out in a heart-wrenching post.

Describing her 16-year-old daughter as very sweet, kind and disciplined, the mother took to social media to express her despair.

“She was a beautiful child, but yet met with something so cruel … I am speechless and heartbroken,” she wrote in her post on Wednesday.

“I hope she rests well in the other world, and her soul finds...

Researchers in Australia say they have developed a wetsuit that could protect swimmers from deadly shark attacks.

The new material is said to significantly reduce blood loss, increasing the victim’s window of survival.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he told Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato that the Trump administration expects Japan to stop importing Russian energy.

“Minister Kato and I also discussed important issues pertaining to the US-Japan economic relationship and the Administration’s expectation that Japan stop importing Russian energy,” Bessent said on social media after the two met on Wednesday.

Bessent and Kato met on the sidelines of the annual International...

Researchers at a Japanese university have developed a system that uses artificial intelligence to determine the possibility of encountering a bear within 1 sq km (0.4 square miles), a critical new tool as the number of people killed or injured by bears is expected to hit a record high.

Lead developer Yusuke Fukazawa is an associate professor of applied machine learning at Sophia University who enjoys orienteering and hiking and hopes his studies will help to create an application that makes such...

Amid growing concern over a series of kidnapping and confinement cases involving South Koreans in Cambodia, the country’s interior ministry has released a social media video featuring a South Korean woman praising Cambodia as a “peaceful and warm country”.

The post on Tuesday, which included a message stating that a South Korean resident “wished to share her 13 years of life in Cambodia with Koreans and the world”, is seen as an attempt to ease rising fears among foreign residents following...

With Japan’s parliament poised to vote on who it wants to next lead the country, a resurgent opposition and the collapse of the ruling coalition have put the prospect of the nation’s first female prime minister in real doubt.

On Tuesday, the leaders of Japan’s principal opposition factions agreed to convene in hopes of fielding a unified candidate for the top job, as they aim to break the Liberal Democratic Party’s 13-year grip on power.

“It will be essential for us to achieve consensus on basic...

Could China’s new K visa reshape the global competition for top talent? Beijing certainly aims to do just that.

Officially rolled out this month, the visa is aimed at young foreign professionals in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. It targets graduates and professionals with at least a bachelor’s degree in STEM from recognised institutions or engaged in relevant education or research. Unlike other Chinese visas for employment or research, the K visa does not...