Asia - South China Morning Post

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appears to have sidestepped a potentially embarrassing political landmine by publicly backing a close aide accused in media reports of running a smear campaign against her rivals, while stopping short of flatly denying his possible role.

The allegations, first reported in weekly tabloid news magazine Shukan Bunshun, claim that members of her own camp produced videos critical of rival candidates during last year’s Liberal Democratic Party leadership race,...

Azizul Kamal has spent a decade building his legal career in Singapore, but half of the time, he was hopping from one contract role to another in the industry.

“Every company seems to only want to hire contractors, because we’re cheaper for balance books. It’s very hard to find a full-time role,” the 38-year-old Singaporean said.

Azizul did not secure a third extension as a lawyer at his previous firm, after it found a permanent replacement based in Kuala Lumpur, he said. With bills to pay, he...

Thailand is poised to overhaul its liberal visa rules as the government ramps up a crackdown on foreigners who illegally run businesses or commit transnational crimes.

Possible measures include reducing the 60-day visa-free stay for tourists to 30 days and reviewing the criteria for categories, including investment, long-term stay, student and digital nomad visas, according to officials. Visitors from 93 countries currently are eligible for the 60-day waiver.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul...

Australia’s mining giants are aiding China’s push to internationalise its currency and reduce the dominance of the US dollar, as they gradually shift towards using the yuan for financing and settlements, analysts said.

China has been using its heft as the world’s dominant iron ore buyer to push global mining companies to adopt the yuan. And several firms are already making the switch, with China’s relatively low interest rates becoming an added incentive.

BHP, the world’s largest mining company,...

Southeast Asia must brace itself for a punishing spell of climate whiplash, with an expected El Nino threatening drought-like conditions, flash floods, crop losses and haze across the region, experts have warned.

The threat is also landing at a fragile moment for emerging economies, as geopolitical tensions, higher energy costs and pressure on remittances leave governments and households with less room to absorb climate shocks.

Sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific were already...

Jho Low, the fugitive Malaysian financier accused by the United States of being the mastermind of one of the largest financial frauds in history, has asked US President Donald Trump for a pardon.

Low, who was charged in 2018 but has evaded arrest, submitted a pardon application to the US Justice Department this year, according to a notice on its website.

He is accused of being the architect of a scheme that siphoned at least US$4.5 billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia...

A clip of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa running through the Senate halls to evade an International Criminal Court arrest warrant has become one of the most startling images in recent Philippine politics.

By Tuesday, the former national police chief was still inside the Senate under protective custody, turning the chamber into the centre of a legal and political stand-off over whether one of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s closest allies could be handed over to The Hague.

But Monday’s chase...

Indonesia’s latest wave of police raids has exposed signs that online gambling and scam syndicates, squeezed out of traditional hubs such as Cambodia and Myanmar, are trying to turn Southeast Asia’s biggest economy into a new base.

Analysts warned that Indonesia’s porous visa regime, weak law enforcement and welcoming attitude towards foreigners had made it an attractive destination for syndicates looking to avoid scrutiny.

Authorities have arrested hundreds of foreign nationals in Jakarta,...

An American climber has died in an avalanche on Mount Makalu, officials said on Tuesday, as fatalities mount early in Nepal’s busy spring climbing season.

Shelley Johannesen, 53, was killed on Monday while descending from the summit of the world’s fifth-highest peak, expedition organisers said, marking the season’s latest death.

David Roubinek, a 38-year-old Czech climber, and three Nepali guides have died in the Himalayas so far this season.

Johannesen, co-founder of US-based outfitter Dash...

A planned virtual meeting between Southeast Asian foreign ministers and Myanmar’s junta-appointed representative has analysts predicting a potential normalisation of ties five years after the coup that first caused them to rupture.

Asean Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn confirmed on Thursday on the sidelines of the 11-member regional bloc’s summit in the Philippines that a meeting was expected “in the very near future”.

Myanmar’s military-backed government has been frozen out of the Association...