Asia - South China Morning Post

Ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s scheduled summit next month with US President Donald Trump, the message from Tokyo appears to be that the US Supreme Court decision to invalidate Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs will not affect Japan’s promised capital investment projects in the United States. That could prove a costly misstep for Japan.

With the Supreme Court invalidating the legal basis for Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, countries that have concluded trade agreements with the US...

China and South Korea have resolved a trade dispute over hot-rolled steel coils through a price-undertaking deal, mirroring the solution used in China’s electric vehicle (EV) stand-off with the European Union.

Analysts say the deal, which will see exporters raise export prices to avoid anti‑dumping duties, could avert punitive tariffs and safeguard market access for Chinese exports.

The China Iron and Steel Association said in a statement issued on Thursday night that it “welcomed and supported”...

Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities are locked in a widening tit-for-tat confrontation that neither side seems willing to defuse, analysts said, warning the exchanges risked settling into a prolonged conflict along one of Asia’s most volatile borders.

Islamabad has vowed to keep striking military targets inside Afghanistan until the Taliban takes action against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups Pakistan says operate from Afghan soil.

Pakistani warplanes...

As tech titans and world leaders descended on New Delhi for the India AI Impact Summit in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set out his ambition for the country to become a major global power in artificial intelligence – a technology currently dominated by the United States and China.

“My vision is that India should be among the top three AI superpowers globally, not just in the consumption of AI but in creation,” Modi told Asian News International in an interview about the summit.

Top tech...

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said on Friday they were willing to negotiate after Pakistan ⁠bombed their forces in major cities and said the allies-turned-foes were in “open war”.

Pakistan struck the Afghan capital Kabul, the city of Kandahar, where Taliban leaders were based, and other towns, a Taliban spokesman said. The attacks were its first directly targeting Afghanistan’s government over allegations it harbours militants seeking to overthrow the Islamabad government.

Taliban spokesman...

Pakistan has been the Afghan Taliban’s closest friend for decades. It was Islamabad ⁠that helped give birth to the Taliban in the ⁠early 1990s – as a way to give Pakistan “strategic depth” in its ⁠rivalry with India. What’s gone wrong?

Pakistan carried out air strikes on Afghanistan’s major cities overnight, officials in Islamabad and Kabul said on Friday, escalating months of border clashes between the Islamic neighbours. The air and ground strikes, which hit Taliban military posts,...

During North Korea’s latest military parade, images of its leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter wearing near-identical leather coats have prompted Pyongyang observers to speculate whether the stage is set for the next chapter in the ruling family’s history.

For them, the “twin look” is another instance of carefully directed political theatre to burnish the standing of the Kims in the reclusive country for the long term.

At the close of the ruling Workers’ Party’s ninth congress on Wednesday...

Malaysia’s government said on Friday it would consider calls for a royal commission to investigate alleged abuses of power within the country’s anti-corruption agency, as pressure grew for the immediate removal of its chief commissioner.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has faced growing pressure from critics and allies alike since news reports earlier this month alleged that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki had bought corporate shares exceeding the limit permitted for...

Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency on Friday asked the public for help in locating the four children of the late tycoon and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, as it widened an investigation into the family’s wealth.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said it was seeking information on the whereabouts of Asnida Abdul Daim, 63, Md Wira Dani Abdul Daim, 46, Muhammed Amir Zainuddin Daim, 29 and Muhammed Amin Zainuddin Daim, 26, “to assist in investigations”.

The statement, however, did not...

Penang’s youngest executive councillor Fahmi Zainol has been charged at the Magistrate’s Court in the Malaysian state with voluntarily causing hurt to his wife.

The 35-year-old, who is the Pantai Jerejak assemblyman, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read to him before Magistrate Chia Huey Ting.

Based on the charge sheet, he is charged with purposely causing injury to his wife, Nur Hidayah Abd Jabar, 35, at a house in Bayan Lepas at around 10pm on Sunday.

The charge was framed under...