Asia - South China Morning Post

Japan’s unilateral decision to release oil from its emergency stockpiles highlights its vulnerability to prolonged supply disruptions and may leave it more exposed to economic pressure from China amid tense bilateral relations, according to analysts.

Tokyo announced earlier this week that it planned to release a total of 80 million barrels starting March 16, marking the first time it would independently tap its national reserves. The decision came ahead of a coordinated response by the...

Powerful waves have chewed away large sections of Bali’s iconic Kuta Beach, raising fresh concern about the future of the Indonesian island’s most famous stretch of sand.

Officials say the latest damage, driven by recent rough seas, has intensified a long-running problem of coastal erosion that experts warn is being worsened by extreme weather and decades of coastal development on the resort island.

Abrasion along Kuta’s shoreline is not new, but officials say this year’s extreme weather has...

As soaring copper prices make the metal highly sought after, more cable thieves are targeting some of Malaysia’s busiest urban rail lines, causing significant inconvenience to commuters and headaches for authorities aiming to combat the scourge.

Thefts of copper-embedded cables have led to disruption in train services linking Kuala Lumpur’s northern suburbs to the federal administrative capital of Putrajaya in recent weeks.

Among the services affected are the high-speed MRT Putrajaya and Kajang...

Vietnam produced the largest trade surplus with the United States in January, overtaking both Mexico and China, latest official US data shows, as its exports rose sharply while Chinese direct shipments to the United States fell.

Hanoi has been negotiating a trade deal with Washington for months but no agreement has been reached because of the large trade gap and disagreements over tariff rates the US wants to impose on Vietnamese goods, officials have said.

In January, Vietnam’s trade surplus...

Declining fertility rates have long been viewed as a drag on economic growth, but the outlook may not be entirely bleak for Asian economies such as China, South Korea and Japan, analysts said.

Demographic pressure was accelerating investment in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) in these rapidly ageing yet technologically advanced countries, helping offset labour shortages and sustain productivity even as populations shrank, they argued.

Analysts at Bank of America (BofA) Global Research...

Businessman Albert Tei has released a photo purportedly showing a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer brandishing a firearm to back his claims that he had a gun pointed at him during a raid on his home last November.

Speaking to reporters at the court complex in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, Tei said the photo was sent to him on Monday via an unknown number.

“I admit, the photo is not very clear but I believe it was taken from an MACC officer’s body camera,” he said. “What is the...

Australia’s decision to send a surveillance aircraft and air-to-air missiles to the Gulf highlights the difficult position the country now faces: supporting US and regional partners while trying to avoid being drawn deeper into the widening conflict.

Analysts said the government was “walking a very fine line” with the deployment, signalling support for partners under Iranian attack while stopping short of committing Australia to offensive operations.

At the same time, they said Canberra was...

Asean should position itself as a safe haven for investment amid worsening global volatility, the host country said as the region’s economic ministers kicked off their meeting in Manila on Friday.

“Let us ensure that Asean remains a region where investment is met with certainty and where cooperation creates genuine opportunity for our people,” Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said in her opening speech.

Energy and financial markets worldwide have been upended with the Iran war in its...

A video showing Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi looking visibly exhausted after a budget committee session on Thursday went viral online, sparking concerns over her well-being ahead of a trip to the US to meet President Donald Trump.

Takaichi had cold-like symptoms and was advised to rest by doctors, ultimately skipping some meetings with local Middle Eastern ambassadors on Thursday, according to local media.

“Yesterday, the prime minister suspected she had a cold, so she was examined by...

They were killed by American bombs. They were held at gunpoint by Japanese guards who fired indiscriminately into the crowded holds and when the ship finally went down, many were left to drown. Eight decades later, the United States is coming back for them.

Hundreds perished when the Japanese “hell ship” Oryoku Maru was sunk in Subic Bay in December 1944. Now, the Pentagon has launched a multi-year mission in waters off the Philippines to retrieve their remains.

As many as 250 Americans are...