Asia - South China Morning Post

From his newly built three-storey home outside Hanoi, Trinh Tat Thang has watched the surging global gold price with mounting dread.

The Vietnamese have a long tradition of holding their wealth in gold, and a parallel practice of borrowing the asset from relatives to build homes rather than cash from a bank.

But the debt must be repaid in gold.

Family members loaned Thang four glittering one-luong bars – a standard Vietnamese unit equivalent to 1.2 troy ounces (37 grams) – to break ground on his...

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Asia is scaling renewable power, electrification and clean manufacturing faster than any other part of the world. Yet the pace is outstripping the availability of skilled workers, creating a bottleneck that could slow progress towards net zero.

Global renewable energy jobs reached 16.2 million in 2023, an 18 per cent increase year on year, driven largely by growth in solar energy, equipment manufacturing and power...

Subdued Chinese demand was a key contributor to a decline in Australia’s wine exports last year, according to the Australian government agency that promotes the industry.

With consumer sentiment and evolving tastes reshaping the Chinese market, shipments to mainland China fell 17 per cent year on year to A$755 million (US$532.10 million) – the biggest single factor in an 8 per cent fall in Australia’s total wine exports last year – Wine Australia said in a report released on Wednesday.

The weak...

A group of three suspects robbed five people on a street in central Tokyo on Thursday night, fleeing with suitcases that the victims said contained around 420 million yen (US$2.7 million) in cash, according to police.

A few hours later, a man with luggage containing 190 million yen in cash was attacked early on Friday with pepper spray in a parking space at the Japanese capital’s Haneda airport, but nothing was stolen from him, police said.

Investigators are looking into a possible link between...

Thailand’s slump in visitors from China has become so acute that Chinese tourism workers in Phuket are learning English for the first time to attract new customers, according to a boat tour organiser.

Chanchanat Boonlon said her catamaran business was once a cash cow, fully booked each day during high season by large groups of Chinese visitors who flocked to Phuket, Thailand’s largest island.

While the Lunar New Year holiday next month brings hopes of a seasonal bounce, data on arrivals from...

A precautionary recall of infant formula products in Europe has sent South Korean parenting communities into a frenzy, with online mum cafes and forums buzzing over fears that some popular imported brands may pose health risks to babies.

While the recall affects several European manufacturers, much of the anxiety in South Korea has centred on Aptamil – a premium brand widely dubbed the “Gangnam formula” for its association with wealthy families and high-end parenting choices.

The recall involves...

The number of children who died by suicide in Japan rose to a record 532 in 2025, the second straight year in which the figure has reached a historic high, even as the country’s overall suicide toll fell to its lowest level in decades.

Preliminary statistics released by the health ministry on Thursday showed the figure was up by three from the previous year and is the highest on record since comprehensive data were first made available in 1980.

In a statement issued the same day, Hitoshi...

At Davos, US President Donald Trump declared he had “always had a very good relationship with President Xi” Jinping, calling the Chinese leader “an incredible man”, “highly respected by everybody”. Trump also praised TikTok’s decision to transfer parts of its US business to a consortium of US investors, thanking Xi on social media. This broadly friendly rhetoric is likely to be a signal of Washington’s keen interest in finalising a trade deal with the world’s second-largest economy.

Trump’s...

Indonesia is fighting to save its financial reputation after a disastrous two days saw stock prices plunge by 8 per cent. Authorities are racing to pass new rules to prevent a downgrade that has already scared investors into pulling billions of dollars out of the local market.

The rout, which knocked off about US$80 billion in overall market value, came after index provider MSCI flagged concerns about ownership and trading transparency in Indonesian stocks, the latest setback for a market that...

At the training centre for KD Transport Group, South Korea’s largest bus operator, in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, boyish-looking men stood out among about 100 drivers gathered for safety training on January 20.

According to the company, 47 of the 460 drivers at its Pangyo branch are in their 20s or 30s, accounting for roughly 10 per cent of the workforce.

“Most of them joined within the last year or two,” a company official said. “It is unusual to see such a sharp increase in young...