Tag - asia

 
 

ASIA

People wait to receive bags of rice distributed by the World Food Program on the outskirts of Yangon in 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 18, 2025
Myanmar faces 'untold' suffering due to U.S. aid 'betrayal': U.N. expert
A former U.S. congressman has torn into the cuts, saying they were politically motivated, based on distortions and being carried out in the worst possible manner.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump's attack on DEI is making waves at international companies in Europe, Asia and beyond — but quietly, many businesses are standing firm on diversity initiatives.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2025
Trump has companies in Europe and Asia walking a DEI tightrope
Outside of the United States, many businesses are quietly standing firm on diversity initiatives.
Japan, despite facing multiple territorial disputes, lacks a dedicated university program on the issue, unlike Western countries, and would benefit from an interdisciplinary academic initiative to foster expertise.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2025
Japan needs academic programs focused on territorial issues
While many countries have territorial disputes with their neighbors — in fact, there are at least 150 active disputes worldwide — Japan faces issues with nearly all its neighbors.
A migrant worker from Myanmar walks through a local market in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Feb. 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 17, 2025
War of words: Myanmar migrants face disinformation in Thailand
Analysts say some Thai authorities deliberately reinforce the nationalistic ideologies that drive xenophobia in the country — which was invaded by Burma in the 18th century.
Just like in times of old, with unresolved territorial disputes, regional disunity and economic self-interest prevailing over solidarity, Southeast Asia faces growing instability as tensions escalate.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2025
Southeast Asia must learn to defend itself
Would any of the region’s governments lift a finger to maintain peace on behalf of a neighbor?
Protesters demonstrate demanding justice for drug war victims, after the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, in Quezon City, the Philippines, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 12, 2025
Philippines sends former President Duterte to ICC over drug war killings
Duterte, who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in Manila.
Displaced residents work in an illegal poppy field for their livelihood during the fighting between Myanmar's military and KNDF (Karenni Nationalities Defense Force) in Pekon Township, on the border of Karen State and southern Shan State, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 11, 2025
Reluctant opium farmers toil for survival in war-ravaged Myanmar
The country's opiate economy — including the value of domestic consumption as well as exports abroad — is estimated to be between $589 million and $1.57 billion.
Students learn heavy machinery maintenance using virtual reality at a United Tractors vocational institution in Jakarta on March 6.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2025
Indonesia’s industrial growth goals at risk as education system falls short
Poor teaching and a dearth of basic equipment has led to a pressing shortage of qualified workers and high unemployment among young people.
China’s overnight and seven-day repo rates surged in February, while bond investors took losses from a sharp rise in yields.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 10, 2025
‘Impossible trinity’ conundrum has caused a cash crunch in Asia
Countries can’t simultaneously control their currencies, independently set interest rates and allow capital to move freely across borders — something will break or give way.
A worker collects palm oil fruit in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, in 2014.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 10, 2025
The end of cheap palm oil? Output stalls as biodiesel demand surges
Aging plantations and slow replanting have led to lower yields even as demand for palm oil rises from various sectors.
Rohingya refugees use a makeshift raft to cross the Naf River from Myanmar into Bangladesh in 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 6, 2025
Rohingya refugee food aid to be halved from next month: U.N.
The U.N. World Food Program says that "severe funding shortfalls" has forced it to cut monthly food vouchers for around 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Campaign supporters light a total of 1,638 candles, representing the number of dead victims claimed by HIV/AIDS in the Philippines since 1984, as part of their commemoration of International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day in metro Manila in 2016.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 6, 2025
Philippines' LGBTQ+ groups seek options to replace U.S. aid
Advocacy groups are looking at new financing strategies and calling for greater involvement by local health institutions to protect against foreign aid withdrawals.
A man looks at an electric car inside an SAIC-GM Wuling dealership in Jakarta. Electric vehicle sales in Indonesia totaled just 43,188 last year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 4, 2025
China’s EV makers are facing a reality check in Southeast Asia
Despite local aspirations to own EVs, they are still beyond the reach of many, and access to a reliable source of electricity is also not always a given.
Multinational victims of scam centers, who were trafficked into working in Myanmar and were sent to Thailand, queue for food at a shelter as they wait for their embassies to pick them up, in Tak province, Thailand, on Feb. 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 27, 2025
'Contemplated suicide': Ethiopians recount horror of Southeast Asia scam centers
The complexes have flourished across the region, often staffed by foreigners who are made to swindle people in what analysts say is a multibillion-dollar industry.
Japan Rugby Football Union Chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi, seen at a news conference in June 2019, has been suspended from his role as vice president with Asia Rugby pending an investigation into a potential code of conduct breach.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 25, 2025
Japan seeks answers after Asia Rugby suspends vice president
Asia Rugby said Kensuke Iwabuchi had been suspended "in line with Asia Rugby principles of equality, transparency and accountability."
Students wave flags as they join during a rally at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh on Sept. 5, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 23, 2025
After revolution, Bangladesh textbooks rewrite history
Radical changes to school curricula are routine in Bangladesh, where fierce political divisions date back decades.
Laborers at a shipyard on the outskirts of Dhaka. Worker deaths, injuries and exposure to hazardous substances are common in the ship-breaking industry, as is environmental harm with toxic chemicals seeping into the beach and water, harming marine life.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Feb 19, 2025
Shipyards of Bangladesh brace as heavy emitting ships near end of life
Worker deaths and environmental harm are common in yards where vessels that have supplied richer nations are dismantled for scraps that can be used in manufacturing.
The new French ambassador to Singapore said France and Europe do not want their Asian partners to have to choose between the United States and China.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2025
Asia should not have to pick U.S. or China, France's envoy to Singapore says
France sees increasing pressure, "maybe more on the U.S. side," that partners in Asia make a choice, its envoy to Singapore said.
According to a prepared text of Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen's remarks posted on a government website over the weekend, the image of the U.S. "has changed from liberator to great disruptor to a landlord seeking rent."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 17, 2025
Singapore says Asia now views U.S. as a ‘landlord seeking rent’
The image of the U.S. as a liberator has changed, Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen says in remarks prepared for the Munich Security Conference.
The 50th ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit was held in Tokyo in December 2023. Japan has strong relations with ASEAN member countries and should continue leveraging this position to pursue its Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 14, 2025
Why ASEAN is crucial to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Tokyo understands ASEAN's centrality to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision better than Washington does and should continue leading in defending this regional order.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it