Japan, Philippines sign new security pacts as regional tensions rise

The Philippines and Japan signed two defence pacts on Thursday, including a deal allowing their forces to exchange supplies and services, with both countries seeking to strengthen security cooperation in response to rising regional tensions. The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, designed to enable the swift provision of supplies and services between their militaries, comes months […]

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The US has sent a ‘dangerous’ message in Venezuela and China must act, legal expert warns

By Orange Wang China needs to legislate to protect itself against the risk of “external suppression” and safeguard its technology and supply chains, a legal expert with a top Beijing think tank has warned. Li Honglei, head of a Communist Party committee that oversees two law institutes under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said […]

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South Korea’s Yoon could become ‘martyr’ if given death penalty: analysts

By Park Chan-kyong When prosecutors in South Korea demanded the death penalty for ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol, he shook his head in disbelief and let out a contemptuous laugh – a moment that encapsulated his defiant posture throughout nine months of hearings. Yoon stands accused of being the “ringleader” of an insurrection stemming from his failed […]

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South Korea-Japan summit exposes ‘strategic’ divide amid great-power tensions

By Park Chan-kyong The summit between South Korea and Japan has exposed a growing divergence in how the two neighbours are responding to a more volatile regional order, as supply chains harden into strategic tools and great-power rivalry sharpens, analysts have said. During a meeting in Nara, the hometown and electoral district of Japanese Prime […]

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Building bridges? India proposes inviting Chinese firms back to public projects

By Junaid Kathju India plans to lift long-standing restrictions on Chinese companies bidding for government contracts, a move officials say is aimed at easing shortages and project delays as relations with Beijing show tentative signs of stabilising. The proposal, first reported by Reuters, would roll back curbs, imposed after the two countries’ deadly 2020 border […]

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Taiwan seeks arrest of Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus CEO over illegal hires

Taiwan prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for the chief executive officer of Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus, alleging he was involved in illegal business and recruitment activities in Taiwan. Taiwan’s Shilin District Prosecutors Office said in a document it had indicted two Taiwanese citizens for helping OnePlus CEO Pete Lau illegally operate a business and […]

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Could the Iran crisis push Global South blocs to deepen security ties?

By Zhao Ziwen in Hong Kong and Vanessa Cai in Shanghai As the US considers taking military action over a crackdown on unrest in Iran, there has been no official response from either the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or Brics. Iran is a member of the two Beijing-backed forums for the Global South, and analysts said […]

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South Korea prosecutor seeks death penalty for ex-president Yoon over martial law

South Korea’s special prosecutor on Tuesday requested the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of masterminding an insurrection over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. The crime carries a tough punishment in South Korean law, extending up to the death penalty if found guilty, although South Korea has […]

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Why China may not act in Iran even though it has ‘more to lose’ than in Venezuela

By Dewey Sim in Beijing and Zhao Ziwen in Hong Kong China has “more to lose” compared with Venezuela if Iran’s rulers should fall, according to diplomatic observers, but it is expected to avoid direct intervention. The country is facing a wave of anti-government protests fuelled by economic hardship in which hundreds, if not thousands, […]

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Did a bowl of millet help end a migrant crisis in China 1,500 years ago?

By Dannie Peng in Beijing Human migration is as old as history and as current as today’s headlines of law enforcement operations and tragedy. Amid the encounters, the question remains: how do strangers become a single people? Today, more than 90 per cent of China’s population identifies as Han Chinese, despite centuries of migration and […]

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