Asia/Pacific
As China tracked Muslims, Alibaba showed customers how they could, too
The discovery could thrust one of the world’s most valuable internet companies into the storm of international condemnation surrounding China’s treatment of its Muslim minorities.
With world’s largest radio telescope, China aims to attract international researchers
With its Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the largest such facility in the world, the country is hoping to attract top scientific talent.
Flipping the script: China school reforms spark Mongolian writing revival
A growing number are inspired to learn the ancient letters after protests by their kinsfolk in China's Inner Mongolia region.
Bid to make ‘ecocide’ a crime gains new momentum
The issue was raised by the Maldives and Vanuatu at the ICC general assembly in December 2019.
Rohingya trafficking network sells dreams but delivers violence and extortion
Hundreds looking to escape a Bangladesh refugee camp are believed to have died at sea from beatings, starvation or dehydration.
China prepares for return of lunar probe with moon samples
The spacecraft’s return will mark the first time scientists have obtained fresh samples of lunar rocks since the former Soviet Union’s Luna 24 robot probe ...
With goal of herd immunity, Indonesia will give younger people vaccines first
The country is targeting the people who are most mobile due to their jobs, as well as regions with the highest number of coronavirus cases.
Malaysian palm oil giant counters sexual harassment claims
One of the world’s largest palm oil companies said allegations of sexual harassment on one of its plantations had already been withdrawn and the case ...
Bed shortage looms as South Korea reports record new coronavirus cases
South Korea's highest priority is securing more hospital beds to handle a record surge in coronavirus cases and blunt a corresponding spike in deaths, the ...
South Korean couriers die of overwork as pandemic spurs surge in deliveries
A string of deaths among couriers this year has caused a national uproar, drawing attention to unevenly distributed worker protections.
The virus trains: How lockdown chaos spread COVID-19 across India
Special trains operated by the government to ease suffering — and to counteract a disastrous lack of lockdown planning — instead played a significant role ...
How China’s coal industry is fighting to survive in a greener world
Before long, an uncomfortable truth could push to the forefront: China’s national target of reaching net-zero emissions might not be compatible with another generation of ...
Over 570,000 Uighurs involved in Xinjiang cotton coerced labor: report
Xinjiang is a global hub for the crop, producing over 20 percent of the world's cotton.
Last Japanese standing: Cafe owner in Philippines carries on in pandemic
Jiro Asanuma says the tourism situation on the island of Boracay is far from getting back to normal, and he is barely breaking even each ...
South Korea bans anti-North leaflets, but one defector says he won’t stop
South Korea on Monday banned the launching of propaganda leaflets into North Korea, drawing the criticism of rights activists and defiance from a prominent North ...
In Asia first, Singapore approves Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine
Singapore has become the first Asian country to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and said it expects to start receiving shots by the end of ...
Vietnam leadership wrangling heats up as Communist Party meets
As Vietnam's ruling Communist Party started a weeklong meeting on Monday, discussion has intensified over the top leadership that will emerge and set the tone ...
China’s combative nationalists see a world turning their way
China’s Communist Party, under its leader, Xi Jinping, has promoted the idea that the country is on a trajectory to power past Western rivals.
Chinese dams under U.S. scrutiny in Mekong rivalry
Beijing has dismissed U.S. research saying Chinese dams have retained water to the detriment of downstream nations.
North Korea accused of using virus to crack down on rights
Eight mainly Western nations accused North Korea on Friday of using the pandemic "to crack down further on the human rights of its own people,” ...