CNN – Asia/Pacific

By Tara Subramaniam and Eric Cheung, CNN Taiwan confirmed Tuesday that President Tsai Ing-wen will transit the United States en route to Central America at the end of the month, but there was no word on whether a highly anticipated meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will take place. Tsai will head to New

By Jessie Yeung and Teele Rebane, CNN Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has made a surprise trip to Ukraine to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — a day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Kishida arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon local time, and also traveled to Bucha,

By Eric Cheung and Kathleen Magramo, CNN Taiwan’s former President Ma Ying-jeou will visit mainland China next week, the first such trip by a former Taiwanese leader since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Ma, a senior member of Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) opposition party, will be in mainland China between March 27

By Jonny Hallam, Kathleen Magramo and Yoonjung Seo, CNN North Korea must be ready to launch nuclear counter strikes at any time to deter war, state media quoted leader Kim Jong Un as saying on Monday, as he accused the United States and South Korea of expanding joint military drills near the country’s doorstep. Kim’s

By Sophia Saifi, CNN Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan marked his presence at a much-awaited court appearance on Saturday in the capital city of Islamabad, leaving after the scheduled proceedings. Clashes between supporters of Khan and the police broke out in Islamabad as Khan attempted to enter the capital’s High Court. Clashes also broke

By Junko Ogura, Emiko Jozuka, Tara Subramaniam, Yoonjung Seo and Heather Chen, CNN US strategic bombers took part in joint air drills with South Korean forces on Sunday, the same day as North Korea carried out a suspected ballistic missile test, according to the South Korean military. The exercise featured US B-1B strategic bombers, F-35A

By Heather Chen, Yoonjung Seo and Andrew Raine, CNN Shorter workweeks to boost employee mental health and productivity may be catching on in some places around the world, but at least one country appears to have missed the memo. The South Korean government was this week forced to rethink a plan that would have raised

By Eric Cheung, CNN Avai Yata’uyungana was just 12 when the soldiers dragged his father away to be executed. More than 70 years later, he remembers that feeling of helplessness, confusion and fear as if it were yesterday. “On that day, the military surrounded our family home,” recalled the retired schoolteacher, age 83. “The county

By Heather Chen, CNN With its balmy beaches, laid back lifestyles and holiday vibe, the tropical paradise of Bali has much to offer any world weary traveler — let alone those fleeing a war zone. So perhaps it should be no surprise that since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February

By Will Ripley, Junko Ogura and Natsumi Sugiura, CNN When Kentaro Yokobori was born almost seven years ago, he was the first newborn in the Sogio district of Kawakami village in 25 years. His birth was like a miracle for many villagers. Well-wishers visited his parents Miho and Hirohito for more than a week —

By Chris Lau, CNN Japan has moved hundreds of troops, including missile units, into a new base built on a remote island near China and Taiwan as its seeks to bolster its defensive capabilities in the region. Up to 570 Ground Self-Defense Force members will be stationed at the newly established garrison on Ishigaki island

By Nectar Gan and Anna Chernova, CNN Chinese leader Xi Jinping will fly to Moscow next week to meet with President Vladimir Putin in his first visit to Russia since Putin launched his devastating invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago. The visit will be seen as a powerful show of Beijing’s support for

By Nectar Gan, Gawon Bae and Junko Ogura, CNN The leaders of South Korea and Japan promised to resume ties in a fence-mending summit — the first such meeting in 12 years — as the two neighbors seek to confront threats from North Korea and rising concerns about China. “From now on, I would like

By Gawon Bae, CNN North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile early Thursday, the same day leaders from the two US allies were due to meet in Tokyo for the first such summit in 12 years. The missile was fired into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula early Thursday morning local

By Tara Subramaniam and Junko Ogura, CNN A YouTube star who became a Japanese lawmaker has been stripped of his role after he failed to show up for a single day of work in parliament. At a plenary session on Wednesday, Japan’s parliament expelled Yoshikazu Higashitani for his continued absence, the first time it has

By Hannah Ritchie, Kocha Olarn, Heather Chen and Angus Watson, CNN At least 22 people, including three monks, were killed at a monastery in Myanmar’s Southern Shan State on Saturday as local insurgent groups and the military-backed junta accused each other of carrying out a massacre. Myanmar has been mired in political violence since military

By Eric Cheung, CNN A Taiwanese state-owned military weapons developer unveiled five new types of indigenous military drones on Tuesday, as the self-ruled island looks to boost its asymmetric warfare capabilities against China’s growing military threat. A CNN team was among reporters invited to the National Chung-shan Institute of Science and Technology, where the Taiwanese

By Emiko Jozuka, CNN The world’s longest-serving death row convict was on Monday granted a retrial by a Japanese court in the latest twist in a legal saga dating back to the 1960s. Iwao Hakamada, 87, spent nearly five decades waiting for the hangman’s call following his 1968 conviction for quadruple murder before new evidence

By Heather Chen, CNN Michelle Yeoh’s history-making Oscar win caused jubilation this week in her native Malaysia, but it also sparked false rumors that a national holiday had been declared — something the country’s government quickly dispelled. In a statement published on its Facebook page Monday, the office of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim debunked a

By Chris Lau, Junko Ogura and Emiko Jozuka, CNN Japanese Nobel Prize-winning author Kenzaburo Oe, a writer who was renowned for a strong pacifist stance that weaved its way into much of his work, has died of “old age”, his publisher confirmed Monday. The publisher, Kodansha, said the 88-year-old had passed away ten days earlier

By Eric Cheung and Nectar Gan, CNN A Taiwanese soldier who went missing last week from an island near the Chinese coast has been found in mainland China, a Taiwan official said on Monday, raising the possibility of a highly unusual defection amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Speaking to reporters, Chiu Tai-san, minister

By Nectar Gan and CNN’s Beijing bureau China’s leader Xi Jinping on Monday vowed to bolster national security and build the military into a “great wall of steel,” in the first speech of his precedent-breaking third term as president. Speaking at the closing of the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, Xi underscored the need

By Kathleen Magramo, CNN Behind the gleaming skyscrapers and multimillion-dollar homes that have made this city the world’s most expensive property market lies a far less attractive parallel reality: one of the world’s seemingly most intractable housing crises. Welcome to Hong Kong, where the average home sells for well north of a million dollars —

By Chris Lau and Jennifer Hauser, CNN A Chinese city has sparked a backlash on social media after saying it would consider the use of lockdowns in the event of an influenza outbreak. The city of Xi’an — a tourism hotspot in Shaanxi province that is home to the famous terracotta warriors — revealed an

By Laura He, CNN Business, and Riley Zhang China’s rubber-stamp legislature has appointed Li Qiang, a long-time aide of leader Xi Jinping, as premier, the man tasked with reviving the world’s second-largest economy after three years of zero-Covid restrictions. The National People’s Congress endorsed Li in a largely ceremonial vote at the Great Hall of

By Angus Watson and Nectar Gan, CNN The outgoing president of Micronesia has accused China of engaging in “political warfare” in the Pacific, in an explosive letter advocating for the the dissolution of diplomatic ties with Beijing. In the 13-page letter, which CNN has obtained, David Panuelo alleges China is preparing to invade the self-ruled

By Yoonjung Seo and Brad Lendon, CNN North Korea fired off at least six short-range missiles on Thursday afternoon in what could be the opening salvo in weeks of military displays on both sides of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, analysts said. Photos released by state-run media on Friday showed North Korean leader

By Simone McCarthy Chinese state-owned defense firms have maintained trade relationships with sanctioned Russian defense companies during the past year, even as many of the world’s leading economies cut ties with Moscow and the companies driving its continued assault on Ukraine. Customs records reviewed by CNN show key companies within both countries’ vast military-industrial complexes

By Nectar Gan, CNN Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term as China’s president was officially endorsed by the country’s political elite on Friday, solidifying his control and making him the longest-serving head of state of Communist China since its founding in 1949. Xi was reappointed Friday as president for another five years by China’s rubber-stamp legislature

By Jessie Yeung, CNN A petition calling for the removal of martial arts star Donnie Yen as a presenter at this year’s Oscar ceremony due to his connections to China’s ruling Communist Party has garnered tens of thousands of signatures. The 59-year-old actor, best known for his role in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’

By Kathleen Magramo, CNN Tens of thousands of liters of oil that’s spilling from a sunken tanker off the coast of the Philippines has coated pristine beaches and diving spots in an island province, sickening dozens of residents and threatening its tourist industry and rich marine biodiversity, officials said. The MT Princess Empress sank off

By Masrur Jamaluddin and Rhea Mogul, CNN Two Indonesian soccer officials were sentenced up to 18 months in prison by a court on Thursday over a deadly stadium crush last year that killed more than 130 people and injured hundreds more in what was one of the sport’s worst disasters. The sentences were the first

By Tara Subramaniam The Australian conservationist Bindi Irwin revealed Wednesday she has undergone surgery for endometriosis after a decade-long battle with the condition that affects the uterus. “For 10 years I’ve struggled with insurmountable fatigue, pain and nausea,” Irwin shared in posts on social media alongside an image of her in a hospital bed. “A

By Brad Lendon and Marc Stewart, CNN China should not be surprised Washington and its allies in Asia are deepening military ties given Beijing’s aggressive behavior toward many of its neighbors, the US ambassador to Japan said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with CNN. “You look at India, you look at the Philippines, you look

By Swati Gupta and Jessie Yeung, CNN An explosion ripped through a building in a crowded area of Bangladesh’s capital on Tuesday, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 50 others, according to authorities in the South Asian country. Mahid Uddin Khondekar, additional commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the cause of

By Tara Subramaniam, CNN Parts of Asia’s largest cities could be under water by 2100 thanks to rising sea levels, according to a new study that combines both the impact of climate change with natural oceanic fluctuations. Sea levels have already been on the rise due to increasing ocean temperatures and unprecedented levels of ice

By Kocha Olarn, Angus Watson and Heather Chen, CNN A court in western Thailand on Monday sentenced five poachers to prison terms of five years each for killing a female tiger and her cub in a national park last year. The provincial court ruled the five men broke conservation laws by killing the protected animals

By Brad Lendon, CNN Japan’s maiden launch of its new flagship space rocket ended in failure on Tuesday when controllers issued a destruct command just 15 minutes after liftoff, the country’s space agency said. “A destruct command has been transmitted to H3 around 10:52 a.m. (Japan Standard Time), because there was no possibility of achieving

By Nectar Gan and CNN’s Beijing bureau China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned Tuesday that “conflict and confrontation” with the United States is inevitable if Washington does not change course, delivering a stern and wide-ranging rebuke of US policies for his first press conference in the new role. Qin, who was until recently China’s

By Ehsan Popalzai, Shafi Kakar , Niamh Kennedy and Jessie Yeung, CNN Young Afghan women gathered outside Kabul University on Monday to protest the ruling Taliban’s ban on female education as their male peers returned to school for a new academic year and the United Nations heard the restriction may amount to a crime against

By Brad Lendon and Gawon Bae, CNN South Korea on Monday announced a deal to compensate victims of forced labor by Japan during its occupation of Korea as the two United States allies try to smooth relations in the face of an increasingly turbulent Indo-Pacific security situation. US President Joe Biden hailed the move as

By Asim Khan, Sophia Saifi and Rhea Mogul, CNN At least nine police officers were killed and 11 others injured in a suspected suicide blast in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Monday, authorities said, the latest in a string of recent attacks against security personnel in the South Asian nation. Kachhi Police senior superintendent Mehmood

By Heather Chen, CNN Rescue efforts are underway in parts of Malaysia after seasonal floods killed at least four people and displaced more than 40,000. Among the deaths confirmed Saturday by state authorities in Johor was a man who became trapped in a car that was swept away by rising floodwaters. Footage taken by rescue

By Jessie Yeung, CNN The postcard image of Hong Kong is one of glitzy skyscrapers against lush mountains, dim sum restaurants and investment bankers in suits. But in recent weeks, the international financial hub has again been in the headlines for something darker: the death of model and influencer Abby Choi, whose dismembered body parts

By Mitchell McCluskey and Kathleen Magramo, CNN At least 16 people were killed in a fire at a fuel storage station in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, CNN affiliate CNN Indonesia reported on Friday. The station is operated by Pertamina, Indonesia’s state-run energy company. Social media footage showed a huge flame billowing and people running

By Andrew McNicol, CNN The return of China’s top basketball league to its normal season format following years of Covid disruptions has been marred in controversy after an abrupt no-show from one of its former championship-winning teams amid accusations of mistreatment by its star player. The squabble has sparked a headache for Chinese Basketball Association

By Nectar Gan, CNN A Chinese city says it has destroyed a billion pieces of personal data collected during the pandemic, as local governments gradually dismantle their coronavirus surveillance and tracking systems after abandoning the country’s controversial zero-Covid policy. Wuxi, a manufacturing hub on China’s eastern coast and home to 7.5 million people, held a

By Jessie Yeung and Manveena Suri, CNN Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and the support flooding in to Kyiv from countries across the world, sends a powerful message to “would be aggressors everywhere,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday during a panel discussion in New Delhi. “Part of the reason countries way beyond Europe

By Teele Rebane, CNN A top Cambodian opposition figure was sentenced to 27 years of house arrest on Friday after being convicted of treason in a verdict the United States denounced as a “miscarriage of justice.” Kem Sokha, head of the outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), is the latest of a long line of

By Jessie Yeung and Richard Quest, CNN South Korea doesn’t need nuclear arms to deter the threat from North Korea, the country’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in an exclusive interview with CNN — even as public opinion swings the other way amid Asia’s accelerating arms race. Several recent public surveys “definitely showed that we

By Paula Hancocks, Yoonjung Seo and Gawon Bae, CNN After spending close to five months stuck inside an airport in South Korea, Dmitry is finally able to breathe fresh air. But he is yet to taste freedom — and his real wait may have only just begun. He is one of five Russian men who

By Heather Chen, CNN Indonesian security forces say they have surrounded armed rebels holding a New Zealand pilot captive in the restive Papua region but will refrain from taking any action that could endanger his life. Security minister Mahfud MD said Tuesday that New Zealand authorities have asked for there to be no violence in

By Simone McCarthy, CNN Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko — a close ally of Vladimir Putin — vowed to deepen defense and security ties and expressed shared views on the war in Ukraine during a Wednesday meeting in Beijing, as geopolitical tensions around Russia’s war continue to rise. Lukashenko endorsed China’s

By Jessie Yeung and Mayumi Maruyama, CNN The number of births registered in Japan plummeted to another record low last year — the latest worrying statistic in a decades-long decline that the country’s authorities have failed to reverse despite their extensive efforts. The country saw 799,728 births in 2022, the lowest number on record and

By Kathleen Magramo, CNN Friends and relatives of Hong Kong model Abby Choi on Tuesday paid their final respects at the scene where police say they found what are believed to be the socialite’s dismembered body parts, public broadcaster RTHK reported. Choi’s mother and widower lit incense and brought Taoist paper offerings used in traditional

By Simone McCarthy, CNN A key autocratic ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China for a state visit on Tuesday, amid warnings from United States officials that Beijing may be considering aiding Moscow in its ongoing assault on Ukraine. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will stay in China until Thursday and meet with Chinese

By Jessie Yeung and Kocha Olarn, CNN Last Thursday, Thai investigative police raided a condo in the suburbs of Bangkok — the hideout of an alleged drug smuggler who had been on the run for months. The man, who went by the name Jimin Seong, was described to police as a “good looking Korean man,”

By Brad Lendon, CNN A US Navy reconnaissance jet flew over the Taiwan Strait on Monday, in a maneuver intended to assert the right to operate in international airspace despite strong objections from the Chinese military. In a statement Monday, the US 7th Fleet said the flight of the P-8A Poseidon over the waterway that

By Kathleen Magramo, CNN Four members of the same family charged in connection with the gruesome killing of Hong Kong model Abby Choi appeared in court Monday, after police said they found what are believed to be parts of her dismembered body, public broadcaster RTHK reported. Choi’s ex-husband Alex Kwong, 28, his brother Anthony, 31,

By Angus Watson and Jake Kwon, CNN A group of hostages being held for ransom by armed criminals in a remote region of Papua New Guinea have all now been freed, the country’s Prime Minister James Marape said Sunday. “We apologize to the families of those taken as hostages for ransom, it took us a

By Nectar Gan, CNN Want to send your faraway lover a kiss? A Chinese contraption with warm, moving silicon “lips” appears to have just the answer. The device, advertised as a way to let long-distance couples share “real” physical intimacy, is causing a buzz among Chinese social media users, who have reacted with both intrigue

By Kathleen Magramo, Wayne Chang, Jake Kwon and Tara Subramaniam, CNN Police in Hong Kong say they have arrested the ex-husband of model and influencer Abby Choi, following the discovery of parts of her dismembered body at a rental unit in the north of the city. Choi, 28, was reported missing on Wednesday, and pieces

By Kathleen Magramo, CNN All four people aboard a light aircraft that crashed in the Philippines at the weekend have been confirmed dead, authorities in the Southeast Asian country said Thursday, following a treacherous search mission atop a restive volcano. The bodies of pilot Rufino James Crisostomo Jr., crew member Joel Martin, and Australian technical

By Xiaofei Xu and Irene Nasser, CNN Search and rescue operations continued in northern China Thursday, after a collapsed coal mine left at least five dead and dozens trapped. Chinese state media reported that six were injured and 48 people remain missing as of Thursday evening. The incident took place Wednesday in Alxa League in

By Jessie Yeung and Gawon Bae, CNN South Korea’s fertility rate, already the world’s lowest, has dropped yet again in the latest setback to the country’s efforts to boost its declining population. The national statistics body reported Wednesday that the fertility rate, or the average number of children expected per woman, fell to 0.78 in

By Nectar Gan and Simone McCarthy, CNN Russian President Vladimir Putin said relations between his country and China are “reaching new milestones” as Beijing’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, wrapped up a visit to Moscow on Wednesday. “Russian-Chinese relations are developing as we planned in previous years. Everything is moving forward and developing,” Putin told reporters

By Brad Lendon and Haley Britzky, CNN China’s navy has significant advantages over its US rival, including a bigger fleet and greater shipbuilding capacity, as Beijing seeks to project its power across the oceans, the head of the United States Navy said Tuesday. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, US Navy Secretary