Asian News

An influential adviser to the South Korean president on Thursday lashed out at the United States over its “chaotic” decision-making over North Korea as was revealed in former US national security adviser John Bolton’s controversial memoir. Moon Chung-in, a special adviser to President Moon Jae-in on foreign affairs and national security, also accused Bolton of thwarting talks with Pyongyang that came close to a deal on freezing the North’s nuclear weapons development in exchange for lifting…

July 02, 2020 4:49 PM

JAKARTA - Business development officer Silvia Wijaya takes a minivan shuttle from her office in Central Jakarta every other Friday, arriving at her hometown in Bandung three and a half hours later to see her family.

July 02, 2020 4:44 PM

TAIPEI (REUTERS) - Taiwan's armed forces carried out live fire drills on its west coast on Thursday (July 2) practising "enemy annihilation on the shore", ahead of its main annual exercises later this month and as China steps up military activities near the island it claims.

July 02, 2020 4:28 PM

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - When a group of Chinese scientists gathered over barbecue and beer in a Toronto backyard a decade ago, talk drifted to their homeland's vaccines, which had long lagged the developed world on quality and safety. Four of them decided to act.They left top positions at global pharmaceutical companies in Canada to set up a biotechnology firm half a world away in Tianjin, China, hoping to produce vaccines on par with Western countries. Now, that company, CanSino Biologics, is vaulting into the global spotlight as connections on both sides of the Pacific make it one of the front-runners in the race for a coronavirus vaccine.

July 02, 2020 4:20 PM

SEOUL (AFP) - The ex-boyfriend of late K-pop star Goo Hara was jailed by an appeal court Thursday (July 2) for blackmailing her over sex videos that played a part in her apparent suicide.

July 02, 2020 3:50 PM

YANGON (REUTERS, XINHUA) - The death toll from a landslide in northern Myanmar jade mine on Thursday (July 2) has risen to 100, as more bodies were being recovered.

July 02, 2020 3:22 PM

SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) - While Australia's borders remain firmly closed to overseas visitors, the government plans to make a notable exception as it races to save its fourth-biggest export: Education.

The South China Morning Post has won six awards, including three golds, at this year’s prestigious WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards.It won in a total of five categories, including a silver award for best overall newspaper design, for the September 1 edition with the headline “The night the city was set ablaze” on the previous day’s violent protests in which live rounds were shot, multiple fires lit and the MTR paralysed.The Post’s This Week In Asia magazine took gold for best magazine cover design,…

July 02, 2020 3:02 PM

KUCHING - Two political parties in Malaysia's ruling alliance won't be contesting in the upcoming state elections in Sarawak, in a display of unity within Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance.

A Japanese man who was sentenced to prison in China in 2018 for spying and other charges has been released, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday.Among Japanese citizens detained in China on espionage and other similar charges since 2015, the 59-year-old will be the first to return to his home nation after completing a full sentence.Japan almost a ‘sixth eye’ as Five Eyes keep closer watch on ChinaThe Japanese government has denied he committed acts of spying. Details of the…

July 02, 2020 2:51 PM

SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Concerns are mounting in Gwangju that it could emerge as a new hotbed for the spread of the new coronavirus, as sporadic infections continue to grow in the southern city with a population of 1.5 million.

July 02, 2020 2:46 PM

CHENNAI (REUTERS) - India has arrested five policemen over the deaths of a father and son in custody, a senior investigating official said on Thursday (July 2), following outrage that drew comparisons to the death of Mr George Floyd in the United States.

July 02, 2020 2:37 PM

TAIPEI (REUTERS) - Starved of the travel experience during the coronavirus lockdown? One Taiwanese airport has the solution - a fake itinerary where you check in, go through passport control and security and even board the aircraft. You just never leave.

July 02, 2020 2:36 PM

SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - A strain of Covid-19 that has infected more than 300 people in Beijing since early June could have originated in South or Southeast Asia, according to a study by Harvard University researchers.

Heavy rain triggers a wave of mud, engulfing workers at the site in Kachin state, officials say.

India’s economic ties with China run deep, making the recent escalation in political and trade tensions between the two powerful neighbours all the more worrying for businesses.Following a border clash in which several soldiers on both sides were killed, calls have been growing in India for a boycott of everything Chinese. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government this week banned the use of 59 Chinese apps. Goods bought from China are being delayed at Indian ports, and authorities are planning…

July 02, 2020 2:03 PM

MUMBAI (REUTERS, XINHUA) - India's coronavirus infections surpassed 600,000 on Thursday, with 17,834 deaths, as authorities battled to contain the pandemic while easing lockdown rules, officials and the health ministry said.

July 02, 2020 2:02 PM

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia is actively considering providing safe haven to Hong Kong residents in response to China's sweeping new security law, it said on Thursday (July 2), a move likely to further inflame tensions with Beijing.

July 02, 2020 1:48 PM

HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Hong Kong police arrested a 24-year-old man at the city's airport in the early hours of Thursday (July 2) on suspicion of attacking and wounding an officer during protests against a new national security law Beijing imposed on the financial hub.

July 02, 2020 1:15 PM

HONG KONG (NYTIMES) - A former employee of the British Consulate in Hong Kong who said he was tortured by the authorities in mainland China last year has been given asylum in Britain.