Asia - South China Morning Post

Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has dismissed allegations that citizenship was arbitrarily granted to Chinese nationals, calling the claims “malicious slander” and fake news intended to incite public sentiment.

He said the accusations were irresponsible and should not be weaponised for political purposes, especially at a time when the government is focused on helping the people navigate the global supply crisis.

He said he had repeatedly clarified the matter in parliament and...

Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, is expected to rally support for Tehran’s war against the US during the Brics foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, amid a fragile ceasefire with its adversary.

India, which holds the Brics chair this year, is hosting the gathering from the expanded bloc that now includes Iran and the United Arab Emirates – countries at odds over the conflict launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also...

A year after Washington froze and then slashed foreign aid, development workers in the Philippines and across the region say the damage is still being felt, with job losses and abandoned projects continuing to threaten some of Asia’s most vulnerable groups.

“On a personal level, it was the loss of income. But we lost a lot of critical projects in the country,” said Sharon*, a former country representative for a US-based organisation overseeing development work in the Philippines.

For Sharon’s...

Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa called on the public to step in to prevent law enforcement agents ⁠from handing him over to the ⁠International Criminal Court as the sound of gunfire rattled through ⁠the Senate building on Wednesday evening.

Dela Rosa stands accused by the ICC of crimes against humanity related to the war on drugs he oversaw while serving as police chief under then-president Rodrigo Duterte. Dela Rosa, 64, has denied involvement in illegal killings.

Duterte, in office from...

Statues erected by South Korean civic groups on the other side of the world honouring the tens of thousands of women forced into sexual slavery by imperial Japanese forces during World War II have once again succeeded in making Tokyo’s elites deeply uncomfortable.

The decisions by local governments in Germany’s capital and New Zealand’s largest city to rescind or decline to renew permits for “comfort women” memorials have been pounced on by conservatives within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic...

The US strikes on Iran sent a clear signal to Pyongyang. But rather than retreat or show renewed interest in denuclearisation, North Korea has doubled down on deterrence. In recent weeks, Pyongyang has tightened security around its leadership and continued its missile launches, underscoring its sensitivity to Washington’s military posture.

From Pyongyang’s perspective, these moves are meant not only to gauge how far US military pressure could one day extend, but also to signal that North Korea’s...

Summer hit South Asia early this year. April saw above average temperatures and the mercury is expected to reach unbearable highs this month. We are also bracing for a “super El Nino”, where a combination of increased heatwaves and highly variable weather patterns are expected to push urban zones, agricultural systems and public health to their limits.

South Asia, especially parts of Pakistan, India and Nepal, is likely to receive below average monsoon rainfall during the summer months of...

Gunshots broke out at the Philippine Senate on Wednesday and people ran for cover after a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court said his arrest was imminent and security forces entered the building.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, however, Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza told reporters following the chaos at the legislature in the capital Manila.

Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a former police chief who was the main enforcer of former Philippine president...

Asian migrant workers in the Gulf are testing stablecoins as a backup channel for sending money home, as the Iran war heightens fears that the risk of US sanctions could disrupt remittances that millions of families and several Asian economies rely on.

Remittances from these workers account for 3 per cent to 5 per cent of gross domestic product in several emerging markets – in Nepal, it is as high as 10 per cent, according to data from the Global Settlement Network.

Concerns over remittance...

Malaysia said on Wednesday it was weighing legal action after Norway blocked the export of missiles ordered for its navy, in a last-minute decision that has dealt a fresh blow to one of the country’s most troubled defence projects.

The row centres on the Naval Strike Missile, ordered from Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace for Malaysia’s long-delayed littoral combat ship programme.

Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had raised the matter with his Norwegian...