Asia - South China Morning Post

US hopes of getting China to place big orders of Boeing jets have risen anew after reports of progress, including a framework agreement on TikTok, at the fourth round of trade negotiations in the Spanish capital of Madrid.

Praising the progress, US President Donald Trump said he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Seoul, which starts at the end of next month, and plans to visit China early next year.

But why would China wish to buy US...

Australian officials have demanded answers from Indonesian counterparts after the body of a young man who died on the resort island of Bali was repatriated without his heart.

Queensland man Byron Haddow, 23, was found dead in the plunge pool of his Bali villa this year while on holiday.

His body was returned to Australia four weeks later, where a second autopsy found he was missing his heart.

A spokesperson for Australia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday they were providing consular help to...

An American woman has been deported from Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for allegedly hosting a sex-themed retreat while on a tourist visa, in the latest example of authorities cracking down on foreign nationals flouting immigration rules.

Immigration officials said 44-year-old Jennelle Raynette Gordon, a self-styled “sexpert” from California, had been conducting commercial activities in violation of her visa conditions.

The event, dubbed the “Intimacy Mastery Retreat”, offered classes on...

Japanese troops are set to return to Philippine soil for the first time since World War II after a landmark defence pact took effect this month, in a move analysts say will fast track joint military readiness and entrench Tokyo’s role as a key Indo-Pacific security partner.

The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between Japan and the Philippines entered into force on September 11, over a year after Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa...

Japan said its ship-mounted electromagnetic rail gun has successfully hit a target vessel during a recent test, a key step towards the future deployment of the next-generation weapon capable of shooting projectiles at an extremely high speed.

The Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency posted on social media earlier this month that a rail gun installed on the Maritime Self-Defence Force test ship Asuka “succeeded in long-range shooting” at a target ship. The post also included four photos...

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. What Indomie carcinogen scare means for instant noodle safety

Indonesia’s beloved Indomie instant noodles are facing renewed scrutiny after Taiwanese regulators detected trace amounts of a banned carcinogen in a popular flavour variant.

2. ‘Naked imperialism’: will...

As the strongest storm of the year hits the Philippines, all eyes are on President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, whose government is facing a torrent of public scrutiny on disaster risk management in the wake of corruption-linked flood control projects.

Super Typhoon Ragasa, known locally as Nando, made landfall on Monday, just a day after the country witnessed protests across cities in which thousands marched to voice outrage at trillions of pesos spent on “ghost” flood control projects and widespread...

A mother in New Zealand was found guilty on Tuesday of killing her two children and stashing their bodies in suitcases after a trial that drew international attention.

Hakyung Lee, 45, was extradited from Seoul in 2022 after the remains of her children were discovered in suitcases that had been left at a storage unit in south Auckland.

Authorities believe they had been dead for three to four years before their bodies were found.

The children, Yuna Jo and Minu Jo, were aged eight and six at the...

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has slammed as “submissive” the notion that Seoul cannot defend itself without American troops, in a message aimed at both Washington and domestic audiences.

The remarks come as Seoul and Washington remain deadlocked over tariff talks and cost-sharing for United States forces, with the White House reportedly pressing for US$350 billion in South Korean investments and wider shouldering of the defence burden.

In a social media post written before departing for...

Protests that disrupted a major Japan–US military exercise in Okinawa have drawn strong condemnation from the Japanese defence minister, conservative media and the public.

The uproar reflects wider unease over mainland China’s growing military presence near Japan, with tensions over the disputed Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan fuelling fears of a regional conflict and divisions among the Japanese people over the US military presence in the country.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited...