Asia - South China Morning Post

Japan’s signing of a 20-year LNG supply deal with Malaysia’s Petronas has cast the Southeast Asian country as a valuable energy and security partner, as Tokyo looks to protect itself from global supply shocks and deepen ties with trusted allies.

The latest move also underscores how, amid the energy crisis, Asian nations are striking deals bilaterally, with Malaysia leveraging its vast natural resources to rise as a “middle power”, according to analysts.

Under the agreement announced during...

South Korea imposed on Thursday a record US$409 million fine on e-commerce giant Coupang over a leak that exposed the data of more than 30 million customers, provoking ire from US lawmakers.

The move caps a months-long probe into the country’s largest online retail platform, which is incorporated in the United States.

Allegations of a massive data leak first surfaced in November, becoming an unexpected source of friction between Seoul and Washington.

“We have decided to impose a total of 624.68...

India is taking unprecedented measures to restore confidence in its national student examination system after a series of scandals fuelled angry protests from young people and put pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Last month, authorities took the extraordinary step of cancelling the medical entrance exam results of more than 2 million students after allegations of widespread leaking of the papers.

For the retest on June 21, the government will deploy the Indian Air Force...

Singapore police said arrest warrants for fugitive financier Jho Low remain active, even as the Malaysian continues efforts to seek clemency from US President Donald Trump.

“Warrants of arrest and Interpol red notices for both Tan Kim Loong and Low Taek Jho are still in effect,” the police said in a statement on Wednesday. Tan is a known associate of Low and is also implicated in Malaysia’s multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

Low is accused by US and Malaysian authorities of masterminding the 1MDB...

Our report that China’s landmark Pinglu Canal is set for trial operations in September was one of the most read the week it was published.

Interestingly, most of those who read the report were from the United States, followed by Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. The report had three times as many Singaporean readers as local ones. I find this disparity concerning and not for reasons of editorial vanity.

While the Pinglu Canal is a global story – representing one of the...

The Philippines’ armed forces chief has moved to quell fears of political intervention after a bitter Senate leadership crisis triggered tighter security, stalled military promotions and fuelled concern that partisan groups could exploit “rumblings” inside the ranks.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr acknowledged unease among some personnel but told This Week in Asia that the military would remain out of politics.

“Political intervention is far from our mandate,” Brawner said...

An American diplomat was found dead in Myanmar’s largest city, the US State Department said, and members of the diplomatic community in Yangon say a Thai woman has been detained by police in connection with the investigation.

American officials in Thailand and the US embassy in Myanmar referred questions on the case to the State Department, which confirmed the “death of a US government employee” assigned to the embassy in Yangon but gave no other details.

“Out of respect for the privacy of the...

Malaysia’s prosecutors have closed a criminal intimidation investigation involving former anti-corruption chief Azam Baki, saying a complaint by businessman Albert Tei did not “meet the legal threshold” for further action.

The decision comes against the backdrop of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government facing pressure over prosecutorial independence. Anwar had campaigned on a reformist, anti-corruption platform that has since been tested by high-profile dropped cases and delayed...

Prabowo Subianto has brought one of Indonesia’s most prominent labour leaders into his administration, giving organised labour a voice inside the presidential palace while also fuelling concerns that the country’s unions are being pulled away from street-level activism.

Said Iqbal, former president of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPI), defended his appointment as special adviser on labour affairs in an exclusive interview with This Week in Asia, arguing that workers needed direct...

Four Indonesian soldiers found guilty of an acid attack that left an activist blind in one eye were sentenced on Wednesday to up to three years in prison by a military court, with a judge calling their actions “arrogant”.

The four, all members of the military’s Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS), were found guilty of premeditated assault for the attack in March that left Andrie Yunus, 27, blind in one eye.

They were arrested shortly after the attack, and BAIS head Yudi Abrimantyo stepped down...