Asia - South China Morning Post

The Philippines is no stranger to politically weaponised memes and internet trolls. What has changed is the way information warfare is waged, now requiring nothing more than a smartphone and a well-crafted prompt.

Supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte helped pioneer the industrialised use of social media to spread disinformation, rewarding loyalists and destroying opponents through the ruthless deployment of memes, viral videos, paid amplifiers and manufactured trending topics.

Analysts...

When China broke out one of its “big guns” in last year’s trade war with the US – an array of export controls on rare earth elements – it helped spur a temporary truce in the pitched conflict between the two economic superpowers.

After Beijing’s announcement, many around the world expressed shock at the size and scope of China’s response to Washington’s sky-high tariffs. But for Japan, a squeeze on rare earth shipments was not so novel a concept.

In 2010, following the collision of a Chinese...

The world can learn diplomatic lessons from Asean, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta has said in a strongly worded rebuke to existing global power structures.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, Ramos-Horta, who leads the newest and 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, argued that the bloc epitomised how dialogue could prevent conflict and yield dividends.

He acknowledged that Asean was “not heaven on earth”, achieving consensus was “frustratingly slow”...

Sri Lanka’s Buddhist hierarchy suspended on Saturday a senior monk accused of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl, in a high-profile case that has shocked the religiously conservative nation.

In a rare disciplinary move, 71-year-old Pallegama Hemarathana was stripped of his responsibilities as the chief custodian of a highly venerated ficus grown from a sapling of a tree believed to have sheltered the Buddha.

“The Council of Monks of the Malwatte Chapter decided today to suspend Ven....

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Saturday expressed her determination to achieve a “breakthrough” in resolving the long-standing issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, vowing to weigh all options, including summit talks.

At a rally in Tokyo calling for the return of Japanese abductees, Takaichi urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to take a “courageous step” together for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries.

“Whatever it takes, I will resolve the abduction issue by...

Five villagers trapped deep in a flooded cave in Laos have been freed, ending a 10-day underground ordeal that relied on expert cave rescuers racing against time to guide the group through flooded passages before fresh rains further complicated the mission.

Hugs, cheers and tears met four of the group who emerged thin and muddied on Saturday afternoon to be quickly wrapped in foil blankets to regulate their body temperature after days in the damp, cold cave.

Another man was freed overnight.

But...

Seventeen countries have agreed to collaborate on defence strategies for critical marine infrastructure such as undersea cables, an effort that analysts warn may be undermined by the absence of superpower involvement.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, defence ministers and representatives from these countries attended the launch of the Guiding Principles for Underwater Infrastructure Defence Exchanges (Guide), which aims to bring countries together to explore potential areas...

There is a good deal more to the rapid rise in bond yields around the world, not least in Asia, than meets the eye. It suggests a recognition by financial markets that governments are spending beyond their means, tax revenues and borrowing power.

The implication is that either taxes need to rise or public spending needs to fall, or alternatively that financial markets, stock markets in particular, must shift their priorities away from glamour stocks in the tech and artificial intelligence (AI)...

America’s latest defence strategy worryingly downgraded the importance of the Indo-Pacific, a US senator warned on Saturday, even as the Pentagon chief delivered a speech reassuring allies of commitment at a defence forum in Singapore.

Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a staunch critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran, told a media round table at the Shangri-La Dialogue that she was concerned the Trump administration was being distracted by conflict in other theatres that would dent commitment to the...

A professor at a private university in South Korea’s Daejeon has been disciplined and removed from all teaching duties after allegedly making sexually inappropriate remarks to students during class.

According to the university on Friday, the school’s foundation recently finalised disciplinary measures against the professor, identified only by the surname B.

The university said B has been barred from teaching classes, providing academic counselling and performing other student guidance duties....