Asia - South China Morning Post

Indonesia has responded to the arrest of two Australian citizens accused of trying to arm Papuan separatist fighters, warning that it would not tolerate threats to its territorial integrity and calling for closer coordination with Canberra to investigate cross-border arms networks.

The remarks came after the Australian Federal Police last week charged a 64-year-old man from New South Wales and a 44-year-old man from Queensland with conspiring to export firearms and ammunition to the West Papua...

Southeast Asia’s economies need to quickly open new markets for their exports through trade groups such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), experts say, as US tariffs begin to bite.

Economic ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will meet in Kuala Lumpur next week to discuss the way ahead, weeks after US tariffs of between 10 and 40 per cent on their exports took effect.

They will meet RCEP counterparts during the week-long meeting, and...

The marigold garlands wilted in the Kathmandu heat, draped over coffins that bore the weight of a nation’s grief. Inside one lay Mahesh Budhathoki, a young man who left home to protest against corruption – and never returned.

The 22-year-old was one of dozens killed when police opened fire during mass anti-corruption protests led by Nepal’s Generation Z.

At least 73 people were killed in the demonstrations, which turned violent as protesters surged towards the parliament building in the nation’s...

A 31-year-old man was charged on Friday with repeatedly abusing a baby he was looking after by choking him, stepping on his face, pushing his head into a pail of water and hanging him on a hanger in a cupboard.

The Singaporean man cannot be named due to a gag order on his identity and the victim’s, but the case was classified as a domestic violence case. Their relationship was not specified.

He was given about 30 charges of child abuse, mostly at a flat in July and August 2024 when the baby was...

A Ukrainian man arrested in Thailand and extradited to Indonesia after seven months on the run was convicted on Thursday of producing illegal drugs on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali and sentenced to life in prison.

Roman Nazarenko, 40, became a suspect after police raided a villa in Bali in May 2024 and found a lab in the basement to grow marijuana and produce a precursor of the synthetic drug Ecstasy. As a fugitive listed by Interpol, he was arrested in December at Bangkok’s...

A massive sinkhole that swallowed a truck in a city just north of Tokyo earlier this year has triggered a sweeping government investigation into Japan’s ageing sewer network, uncovering 72km of pipes in “critical condition” and raising alarm over a broader crisis of neglected infrastructure.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism ordered the investigation after the deadly accident in the city of Yashio, in Saitama prefecture, on January 28. Security cameras caught the moment...

China’s recent high-profile diplomatic activity, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin and the Victory Day parade in Beijing in the same week, conveyed more than international headlines suggested.

Although much of the media spotlight focused on the optics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, I think the real story centres on pragmatic engagement, regional reassurance and the realignment of...

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.

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it had found 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide in the seasoning packet of the Soto Banjar Limau Kuit variety imported from Indonesia – a level deemed non-compliant under Taiwanese regulations, which prohibit any detectable presence of the chemical.

“The seasoning...

Chinese tourism to Nepal is set to slump after days of deadly political unrest have left many travellers “scared” to visit, dealing a potentially lasting blow to a country that had been emerging as a trendy travel destination for young Chinese.

The eruption of anti-government protests in Nepal earlier this month sparked “mass cancellations” that wiped out about 50 per cent of Chinese travellers’ bookings for September, according to data compiled by the travel marketing and technology company...

The Make America Great Again (Maga) movement started in the 2010s, promising to bring back the old glory of the US empire, making the country a global leader in manufacturing, innovation and technology. However, at its heart, Maga was more than that. It focused on anti-immigration and anti-globalisation sentiments, as well as supposedly promoting Christian values.

Seeing the success of Maga movements in the US, similar movements took hold in countries such as South Korea and Japan.

In an attempt...