Asia - South China Morning Post

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran is ready to facilitate the passage of Japanese vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global energy shipments, and that negotiations with Japan on the issue are ongoing.

“We have not closed the strait. It is open,” Araghchi said in a telephone interview with Kyodo News on Friday. He also stressed that Iran, which was attacked by the United States and Israel in late February, was seeking “not a ceasefire, but a complete,...

Mario Orain used to earn his living on the road. Now, the 51-year-old driver spends most of his time parked up, waiting for bookings that rarely come.

“It’s really bad,” he told This Week in Asia. “There are very few bookings. And fuel prices have gone up a lot. It’s very expensive now.”

With diesel prices in the Philippines shattering record highs amid the war on Iran, transport workers like Orain are being forced off the road as they face a stark choice between filling their tanks or feeding...

Malaysia’s recent enforcements and cancellations linked to LGBTQ-related activities have ignited debate about whether the government is backsliding on reform. Rather than reading these moves purely as contradicting past administrations’ policies, these government actions may be better understood as an attempt to balance two political imperatives.

For the political establishment, appearing conservative – and being conservative – remains central to political survival in a context where...

After a four-year break, K-pop supergroup BTS returned on Saturday with a massive and free comeback concert in Seoul, where thousands of police locked down a central boulevard for the Netflix-exclusive spectacle that drew tens of thousands of fans.

All seven members of the band – RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook – recently completed South Korea’s mandatory military service and hope to reclaim their status as one of the world’s biggest pop acts.

Organisers of the concert, which...

South Korea built the Cheongung-II to stop North Korean missiles. Now the system is stopping Iranian ones – and in doing so, has turned Seoul into one of the most sought-after defence suppliers on the planet.

The medium-range surface-to-air missile system, also known as the KM-SAM Block II, has scored a reported interception rate of 96 per cent against Iranian missiles fired at the United Arab Emirates.

It was a combat debut that rivalled, and in some cases exceeded, the performance of the US...

Death is the family business for Viroj Suriyasenee, a second-generation Thai funeral director.

His bespoke coffins range from plain wooden boxes to ornate creations trimmed in gold with plush red velvet interiors, priced anywhere from US$30 to US$30,000 – each one representing a story of loss, grief and a life concluded.

They also speak to the sheer scale of Asia’s ever-growing, multibillion-dollar death economy.

All the coffins Viroj makes are destined for the cremation furnace, yet the...

China’s imports of discounted Russian crude oil surged in January and February, though analysts suggest volumes could moderate in the coming months as the war in Iran increases global competition for Russian oil.

In the first two months of the year, Russia’s shipments of crude to China rose 40.9 per cent year on year to 21.8 million tonnes, according to Chinese customs data released on Friday.

But the total import value rose just 5.8 per cent in US dollar terms.

“China has been an opportunistic...

India’s move to supply Bangladesh with diesel as fuel prices soar amid the Iran war reflects its “first responder” role in the region and clout through the use of its critical commodities to deepen ties with neighbouring states.

If the fuel shortages were to persist, however, India would have to balance between its own energy demand and that of its neighbours, according to observers.

Bangladesh will be importing 45,000 tonnes of diesel from India by April, with 5,000 tonnes having been delivered...

As the Philippines forms partnerships with several countries to harness its potentially huge wealth of critical minerals, analysts have called for a coherent road map to develop the country’s mining industry to globally competitive standards.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s administration has signed multiple agreements over the past months, including a memorandum of understanding with the United States to cooperate on diversifying global critical mineral supply chains.

The accord, signed during...

People across Japan have recoiled in shock over US President Donald Trump’s joke about the attack on Pearl Harbour in the presence of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the White House, perceiving the incident as an insult to a long-time ally of Washington.

The Japanese leader won some approval at home for her measured response even as she stiffened visibly over Trump’s comments at the joint press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Addressing a question from a Japanese reporter about...