Asia - Page 6

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday elbowed its way into the debate over President Donald Trump’s effort to acquire Greenland, slamming the U.S. for “using other countries as an excuse for pursuing its own selfish interests.”

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday announced the creation of a new “special police unit” in Islamabad that will be dedicated to protecting Chinese nationals from terrorist attacks.

At least two people were killed on Thursday, 12 were injured, and 35 are still missing after a landfill in the central Philippines collapsed and buried a village beneath an avalanche of garbage.

The Chinese Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday that its military, alongside those of Russia and South Africa, would engage in drills known as “Will for Peace 2026” off the coast of South Africa.

Wednesday’s seizure of a rogue Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic marked a significant escalation of U.S. efforts to shut down the dangerous “shadow fleet” of sanctions-defying invisible ships created by Russia, China, Iran, and other hostile powers – a fleet that poses serious threats to the environment, maritime safety, legitimate global shipping, and the world’s economic security.

Russia’s response to the arrest of its ally in Venezuela, narco-terrorist kingpin Nicolás Maduro, has been low-key as of Tuesday afternoon.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on Monday, during Lee’s first visit to Beijing as president. Lee said he wanted 2026 to become “the first year of the full-scale restoration of Korea-China relations.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued an incensed statement on Saturday condemning the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) offered a dismaying projection for Japan’s economy on Friday, projecting mediocre growth in the first half of 2026 that will cause Japan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to fall behind India’s.

Genocidal communist dictator Xi Jinping proclaimed that the Chinese oppressed by his Communist Party and the nation of Taiwan “share a bond of blood and kinship,” insisting that China’s colonization of Taiwan was “unstoppable” in an address to mark the new year.

The South Korean Ministry of Education revealed this week that over 4,000 schools have shut down nationwide between 1980 and March 2025, responding to the rapid collapse of the child population in the past generation.

Multiple news outlets noted at the end of the year that the communist government of North Korea is prominently featuring the Wonsan Kalma Tourist Area on its official calendars, including those meant for Chinese tourists – an indication that it will be heavily promoting travel to the beach resort region in the next year.

Australia’s New Years Eve celebration was a more solemn affair than usual this year, with a heavy security presence on the streets and a nationwide minute of silence for the victims of the Bondi Beach massacre.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has announced new regulations that will prohibit the use of retractable door handles, popularized by Elon musk’s Tesla, on new vehicles sold in the country citing safety concerns over occupants being trapped during collisions or power loss. Authorities in the United States are also currently investigating Tesla’s door handles.

Coupang, the e-commerce giant often called the “Amazon of Korea,” has announced a compensation plan worth $1.17 billion for 34 million users affected by a massive data breach disclosed in November.

The National Citizens’ Party (NCP) of Bangladesh, which grabbed headlines in 2024 as part of the worldwide “Gen Z” youth movement against corrupt dynasties, is facing a revolt from many of its members after announcing a political alliance with the Islamic supremacist Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Communist dictator Kim Jong-un of North Korea reportedly led the testing of long-range cruise missiles, the country’s state media outlets revealed on Monday, intended to preserve Pyongyang’s ability to conduct nuclear bombings.

China’s state-run Global Times on Sunday sought to give Beijing credit for the ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand negotiated by President Donald Trump.

The Chinese embassy in Panama on Sunday expressed its “deep dismay, strong indignation, and firm opposition” to the recent demolition of a Chinese monument in the city of Arraiján this weekend.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China on Monday launched “Justice Mission 2025,” a series of live-fire military drills around Taiwan simulating a blockade of the independent island-nation as a purported “warning to separatist forces.”

President Donald Trump said the United Nations should become more involved in creating world peace amid the clash between Thailand and Cambodia.

The Chinese Communist government on Friday imposed sanctions against 20 American defense-related companies over arms sales to Taiwan.

Fifteen people were injured severely enough to require hospitalization in a bizarre attack on a rubber factory in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture on Friday. A lone suspect was arrested for attempted murder in a rampage that included eight stabbings and seven people injured by a “spray-like liquid.”

“If you want peace, prepare for war” is a Latin credo attributed to Roman writer Vegetius. Japan has heeded that advice, announcing Friday it has approved a record defense budget plan exceeding 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for the coming year.

One of China’s oldest and most reliable business partners in Latin America, the nation of Chile, just elected a hardline conservative who supports a military overthrow of the Venezuelan socialist regime, a core Chinese ally, as its president.

Reuters claimed on Monday to have viewed a draft report from the Pentagon that said China “is likely to have loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) across its latest three silo fields” which are located near the Mongolian border.

Hindus in the Indian capital of New Delhi protested on Tuesday after a Hindu man was lynched and burned alive by a mob in Bangladesh.

The Japanese government is preparing to revise its immigration rules to make it more difficult for foreigners to obtain citizenship, including doubling the required period of residency in Japan and adding a requirement for Japanese language proficiency.

The assembly of Japan’s Niigata prefecture on Monday passed a vote of confidence in Governor Hanazumi Hideyo’s plan to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which has been shut down ever since the earthquake that caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

Hu Haitao, a former associate professor of microbiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), revealed in an interview with the South China Morning Post published on Monday that he is leaving the United States to return to his native China, where he will work for the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).