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September 15, 2025
 

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James Pomfret
Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 6, 2025
With diplomatic tour de force, China's Xi shows he's 'totally in charge'
The recent display of geopolitical ambition has helped quell concerns about the 72-year-old president's vitality and so-far-unknown succession plans.
A correctional services van holding media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrives at the West Kowloon court for his national security trial in Hong Kong on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 28, 2025
Hong Kong wraps up pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai's security trial
The 156-day trial has become the most high-profile example of China's crackdown on rights and freedoms in the Asian financial hub.
A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts building for the closing submissions in the national security collusion trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, in Hong Kong on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 18, 2025
Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai given heart monitor for final stretch of marathon trial
Lai's lawyer told the court last Friday that Lai had some episodes where he felt that he was collapsing and had heart "palpitations."
A Hong Kong-flagged tanker is seen leaving the Panama Canal on the Pacific side near Panama City on July 28.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2025
U.S. could resist Cosco inclusion in CK Hutchison port sale
An inclusion of the Chinese shipping giant would be a win for Beijing, but Washington might oppose it on perceived geopolitical risks.
Lawrence Lau arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building, ahead of hearing appeals from 13 jailed pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 14, 2025
Twelve Hong Kong activists appeal convictions in landmark '47 democrats' case
The court found 45 of defendants guilty of organizing an unofficial primary election in in 2020 after massive pro-democracy protests brought the city to a standstill.
Zheng Yanxiong, former director of China's Hong Kong Liaison Office, speaks during the National Security Education Day opening ceremony in Hong Kong on April 15, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Hong Kong leader calls sudden removal of top China official 'normal'
No explanation by Beijing or Chinese state media was given for the change.
Land at an address identified on the U.S. entity list, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on Oct. 31, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 6, 2025
U.S. blacklist on China is riddled with errors and outdated details
Five former U.S. officials acknowledged difficulties in evaluating possible cases of mistaken identity and updating information on the entity list, due in part to limited staffing.
Lo Kin-hei (center), chairman of the Democratic Party, attends a news conference after an extraordinary general meeting to seek members' views on the potential dissolution of the party in Hong Kong on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 14, 2025
Hong Kong's last major opposition party moves toward disbanding
The head of the Democratic Party says 90% of its 110 members had voted for disbandment arrangements to begin, followed by a final vote in the coming months.
Balboa Port, operated by Panama Ports Company, at the Panama Canal. Conglomerate CK Hutchison, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has agreed to sell its ports network, including assets along the Panama Canal, to a U.S. consortium led by BlackRock.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 7, 2025
As Trump hails taking back of Panama Canal, Hong Kong Inc. walks tightrope
Firms in the former British colony are increasingly under pressure to shake off any connection with China amid tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Chris Tang speaks to the media over the landmark national security trial, in Hong Kong on Nov. 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 24, 2024
Hong Kong offers bounties for six more democrats in security squeeze
The move to add more names to Hong Kong's wanted list comes as the city strives to revive its economic growth and international reputation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Syrian President Bashar Assad in eastern Hangzhou city in September 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 10, 2024
Assad's fall in Syria exposes limits of China's Middle East diplomacy
Chinese experts and diplomats say Beijing will now bide its time before recognizing a new government in Damascus.
Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court. Former Guangming Daily editor and journalist Dong Yuyu, 62, was detained by police in Beijing in February 2022 while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2024
China court sentences journalist Dong Yuyu to seven years on spy charges, family says
Former editor and journalist Dong Yuyu was detained by police in Beijing in February 2022 while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat.
Armed police stand guard as a prison van arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building, ahead of the sentencing of 45 convicted pro-democracy activists charged under the national security law, in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 19, 2024
Hong Kong jails 45 democracy activists in landmark trial
The ruling, which critics have said tarnishes Hong Kong's role as a global financial hub, comes as the city is hosting an international financial summit.
In a June paper, six Chinese researchers from three institutions, including two under the People's Liberation Army's leading research body, the Academy of Military Science (AMS), detailed how they had used an early version of Meta's Llama as a base for what it calls "ChatBIT."
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 2, 2024
China researchers develop AI model for military use on back of Meta's Llama
The evidence was believed to be the first showing that Chinese military experts have been systematically trying to leverage the power of open-source LLMs.
Supporters of badmington gold medalists Wang Chi-Lin and Lee Yang at the victory ceremony on Sunday in Paris
OLYMPICS / Badminton
Aug 5, 2024
Taiwan cheers Olympics badminton triumph over China in politically charged contest
Wang Chi-Lin and Lee Yang of Taiwan, the reigning champions from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, won a three-game thriller against China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.
The U.S. and its allies have accused China of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, in part by exporting parts and equipment needed by Moscow's weapons makers, including semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 22, 2024
Illicit chip flows to Russia seen slowing in China
Both mainland China and Hong Kong are seen by the U.S. government as key global nodes for Russia to source materials for its military.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam speaks during a ceremony marking the new legal year in Hong Kong on Jan. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 11, 2024
British judges' resignations put Hong Kong rule of law in spotlight
Foreign judges have been described as a "canary in the coalmine," generating confidence in Hong Kong's judiciary system.
A Correctional Services vehicle arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts ahead of the verdict hearing in Hong Kong on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2024
Fourteen Hong Kong democrats found guilty in landmark subversion trial
Critics say the trial could deal another blow to the city's rule of law and its reputation as a global financial hub.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee speaks during a press conference, in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2024
Hong Kong seeks details on overseas trade office official detained in U.K.
Hong Kong leader John Lee confirmed one of the men was a university classmate who was photographed with him in a group graduation photograph in 2002.
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen visits army bases ahead of the Lunar New Year in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Feb. 6. Over 400 stories portraying Taiwan's military exercises as rehearsals for its leadership to desert in the event of war have been uncovered by an NGO based on the island.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2024
Chinese state media stoked allegation Taiwan's president would flee war
They are among the many unsupported tales that have been fed into the island by Chinese state media outlets, according to an analysis by Taiwan-based NGO.
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Convenience stores are a fixture of Japanese life and 7-Eleven, a chain that began in the U.S. in 1927, opened its first store in Japan in 1974 — and then became wholly Japanese-owned in 2005 through parent company Seven & I Holdings.
Japan's cutting-edge railgun successfully strikes target vessel
The Defense Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) conducted a ship-board railgun shooting test from June to early July this year with the support of the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
‘Fairytale’ Shirakawago ranked one of the world’s most beautiful villages
Forbes and Unforgettable Travel Company have ranked Shirakawago in Gifu Prefecture as Asia's most beautiful village.
People rush to make furusato nozei donations ahead of tighter rules
A booth from the town of Betsukai in Hokkaido at an Amazon Japan furusato nо̄zei promotion event, on Sept. 5 in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Strikes on Qatar and Poland shake U.S. sway among friend and foe
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Museum of the Bible in Washington on Sept. 8. Israeli strikes in Qatar and Russian drone incursions into Poland have challenged the U.S. leaders claims of global respect.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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