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A rare joint opinion article by the ambassadors of China and Russia has sharply assailed President Joe Biden’s plans for a virtual summit of democratic countries — from which they were pointedly excluded. Calling the US plan “an evident product of its Cold-War mentality,” ambassadors Anatoly Antonov of Russia and Qin Gang of China said […]

The US military will reinforce deployments and bases directed at China and Russia, even while maintaining forces in the Middle East adequate to deter Iran and jihadist groups, the Pentagon said Monday based on the results of a review. The US Defense Department will be upgrading and expanding military facilities in Guam and Australia, underscoring […]

Singapore and Malaysia eased coronavirus travel restrictions on one of the world’s busiest land borders Monday after nearly two years, allowing some vaccinated people to cross without quarantine. Before the pandemic, about 300,000 people used to commute across the border from Malaysia every day to the neighbouring city-state, to work in areas ranging from public transport […]

An episode of “The Simpsons” in which the cartoon American family visit Tiananmen Square is missing from the Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong, adding to concerns about mainland China-style censorship in the city. It comes at a time when authorities are clamping down on dissent, with curbs on speech becoming a norm in the […]

US-listed Chinese microblogging platform Weibo is seeking to raise up to $547 million in a share offer in Hong Kong, documents showed Monday, the latest China tech company to list closer to home as tensions with the United States rise. Several US-listed Chinese tech firms such as Alibaba have held initial public offerings in Hong […]

The Philippines will welcome back fully-vaccinated tourists from most countries next week, the government said Friday, over 20 months after shutting its borders to keep out the coronavirus. Falling Covid-19 infections and rising vaccine coverage will allow the country to revive its battered tourism sector with the December 1 reopening, President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Karlo […]

Two Myanmar-China border crossings have re-opened for trade after the movement of goods was suspended for almost seven months due to Covid-19 restrictions, officials said. Five shipping containers of produce were exchanged on Friday at the Kyin San Kyawt border gate, around 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) from the northern Myanmar city of Muse. Min Thein, […]

By Lisa Martin and Pathom Sangwongwanich A new $6 billion Chinese-built railway line opens in Laos this week, bringing hopes of an economic boost to the reclusive nation, but experts are questioning the benefits of a project that has seen thousands of farmers evicted from their land.The 414-kilometre (260-mile) route, due to open on December […]

The Chinese army has carried out a “naval and air force combat readiness patrol” near the Taiwan Strait following a contentious visit to the island by a group of American lawmakers, a spokesperson said. Tensions between Beijing and Washington have soared over the fate of democratic self-ruled Taiwan, which China has vowed to one day […]

The United States praised South Africa Saturday for quickly identifying the new Covid strain called Omicron and sharing this information with the world — a barely veiled slap at China’s handling of the original outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with South Africa’s international relations and cooperation minister, Naledi Pandor, […]

    Taiwan — While celebrities like Kim Lim and Rebecca Lim were getting engaged, Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu is getting divorced from her husband, Wang Xiaofei. Wang is a Chinese entrepreneur and billionaire heir. Barbie Hsu, also known as “Da S” (meaning Big S in Chinese) became famous when she starred as the lead […]

Two-year-old Haoyang has likely just months to live — but the only medicine that can help his rare genetic condition is not found anywhere in China and closed borders due to the Covid-19 pandemic mean he cannot travel for treatment. Instead, his desperate father, Xu Wei, has created a home laboratory to create a remedy […]

Gaming and messaging giant Tencent has been told all its new apps and updates must be approved by the government, state media reported, as Beijing continues its domestic tech sector crackdown. The Chinese government has moved to exert more authority over the industry in the past year, citing concerns that tech giants in the country […]

    South Korea — BLACKPINK’s Lisa has tested positive for COVID-19. According to her agency, YG Entertainment, the Thai-born rapper was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Nov 24. At that point in time, the other four members of the group, Jisoo, Rosé and Jennie were awaiting their results after hearing the news of Lisa’s diagnosis. […]

Greenland has withdrawn an iron ore mining licence from a Chinese firm in the vast autonomous Danish territory, the local government said Wednesday. Now-bankrupt British company London Mining had been awarded the contract in 2013. But Hong Kong-based General Nice Group acquired the permit a year later when it bought the assets of the British […]