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From left, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. Photo: Reuters
2026 Xi-Trump summits

US tightens Japan, South Korea ties ahead of Trump-Xi summit

Days before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in Washington, the US underscored relations with Japan and South Korea.

Malaysia

Anwar was on song in India. Will Malaysia reap the rewards?

China-India relations

Xi in India, bank capital injections, EU-China trade

2026 Xi-Trump summits

China ready to help Trump meet North Korea’s Kim

Donald Trump’s efforts to meet Kim Jong-un have received a boost from China even amid doubts about what such an encounter could achieve.

US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in June 2019. Photo: Reuters
US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in June 2019. Photo: Reuters
Vietnam

Vietnam’s To Lam visits Russia and France amid South China Sea tensions

Visiting Moscow and Paris in succession allows To Lam to rally support for Hanoi’s maritime stance without taking sides, analysts say.

India

‘Important part of India’: the phrase rattling US-Pakistan ties

Whether a slip or a calculated trade tactic, Sergio Gor’s remark upended decades of studied American neutrality on Kashmir.

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Myanmar

Myanmar’s president heads to Moscow seeking Russian arms and oil

Fresh off a five-year military deal, Min Aung Hlaing is meeting Vladimir Putin for talks on further economic and security cooperation.

Myanmar’s President Min Aung Hlaing waves as he boards a plane bound for Russia on Monday. Photo: Myanmar’s Presidential Press and Information Bureau / AFP
Myanmar’s President Min Aung Hlaing waves as he boards a plane bound for Russia on Monday. Photo: Myanmar’s Presidential Press and Information Bureau / AFP
China-Russia relations

In Focus | Why the Arctic sea route has become so important for China and Russia

Global shipping disruptions, along with oil and gas projects, have added to the strategic value of the Northern Sea Route.

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Pacific nations

New Zealand’s Pacific defence diplomacy shifts into overdrive

Wellington’s four-month diplomatic blitz aims to lock down regional allies as Washington’s commitment wavers.

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China-India relations

India and China revive Himalayan trade at high-altitude pass

Six years after Nathu La’s closure and the deadly Galwan border clashes, its reopening throws local traders a lifeline.

A Chinese soldier stands guard while Indian troops work at the Nathu La Pass in July 2006. Photo: AP
US-China relations

Top Chinese South Pacific security partner to let US patrol its waters

Agreement will allow US vessels to patrol with local police as Honiara expands maritime ties with Washington despite close Beijing links.

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Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale has announced plans for a maritime agreement allowing the US Coast Guard to patrol the country’s waters alongside local police. Photo: EPA
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale has announced plans for a maritime agreement allowing the US Coast Guard to patrol the country’s waters alongside local police. Photo: EPA
North Korea

North Korea paves way for possible Kim trip to Moscow

Pyongyang’s top diplomat met Putin to discuss the Ukraine war, munition shipments and a likely Kim visit, analysts say.

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Myanmar

Myanmar edges out of isolation as Asean steps up engagement

Bangkok talks spark warnings that Southeast Asian diplomats are legitimising a military regime still waging a bloody war on its own people.

Japan

Japan wants 60 million tourists, but China isn’t sending them

Tokyo is banking on a massive visitor boom to do what its factories and financiers increasingly cannot: carry the economy forward.

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Tourists throng a shopping street in front of Sensoji Temple in the popular Asakusa district of Tokyo, Japan, last month. Photo: Kyodo
The Philippines

After China sanctions Philippines’ defence chief, Marcos breaks his silence

For weeks, Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said nothing about the sanctions on Gilberto Teodoro. Then, on a work trip to Vancouver, he finally did.

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr pictured on Thursday during his visit to Vancouver, Canada. Photo: The Canadian Press/AP
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr pictured on Thursday during his visit to Vancouver, Canada. Photo: The Canadian Press/AP
2025 Cambodia-Thailand conflict

Can Asean keep the Thailand-Cambodia peace?

With zero enforcement powers, monitors risk being used to simply validate rival propaganda campaigns, analysts say.

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The Philippines

Inside Germany’s plan to transform a Philippine Cold War relic

A multimillion-dollar aviation deal at Clark highlights European economic investment as a tool of strategic power.

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India

3 killed, no apology: the strike straining India-US relations

Instead of showing remorse, Washington ordered New Delhi to obey its blockade, stoking public outrage.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during his visit to New Delhi on May 26. Photo: AP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during his visit to New Delhi on May 26. Photo: AP
Thailand

Costly Malaysia-Thailand seafood stand-off nears an end

Talks are advancing on resolving the dispute, but every day of delay is costing thousands of Thai shrimp farmers.

South China Sea

What is Marcos’ diplomatic end game? Inside Philippines’ South China Sea shift

By making undersea cables and fisheries the issue, analysts say Manila is trying to give all Asean members ‘skin in the game’.

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Thailand

Thailand and Vietnam team up in an Asean ‘plus or minus’ gamble

Southeast Asia’s second- and third-largest economies opt for bilateral insurance over reliance on the regional bloc.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul welcomes Vietnam’s President To Lam to Bangkok’s Government House complex on May 28. Photo: Sopa Images/Zuma Press Wire/dpa
Japan

Japan adds Indonesia to its ‘network of navies’ after Australia, Philippines

By exporting warships, analysts say Tokyo is sidestepping military pacts to bind partners through shared hardware.

JS Asagiri, lead ship of Japan’s Asagiri-class destroyers, heads a fleet review in Sagami Bay, Japan, in 1997. Photo: AFP
JS Asagiri, lead ship of Japan’s Asagiri-class destroyers, heads a fleet review in Sagami Bay, Japan, in 1997. Photo: AFP
Asean

Asean at 60: peace, prosperity and polite paralysis

Non-interference bought decades of stability, but now breeds inaction. Is Asean due an overhaul?

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China-North Korea relations

Xi lands in North Korea with denuclearisation likely off the table

Chinese President Xi Jinping is making a rare trip to North Korea having stepped back from efforts to deter his host from building nuclear weapons.

India

Quad’s proposed port project in Fiji risks being ‘another empty promise’

Analysts warn that a lack of commitment by the four-member bloc on the project could open the door for China to expand its economic clout.

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Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pose before a Quad meeting in New Delhi on May 26. Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
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