ASEAN News

US prosecutors requested a judge on Thursday, December 1, to dismiss bank fraud and other charges against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, whose arrest in 2018 soured relations between the US and China. The accusations against Meng will be dropped on December 1, 2022, four years after her detention on a US warrant in Canada, as …

According to sources cited by Reuters, China is about to announce an easing of its COVID-19 quarantine protocols and a decrease in mass testing, marking a significant shift in policy after widespread protests were sparked by resentment over the strictest curbs in the world. Cases nationwide are still near record highs, but there have been changes recently as some cities …

Former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, who oversaw a decade of strong economic growth following the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, passed away on Wednesday, November 30, at the age of 96, according to Chinese state media. Jiang died of leukemia and multiple organ failure shortly after noon on Wednesday in his hometown of Shanghai, according to Xinhua news agency, which published …

In a show of sympathy with rare demonstrations of disobedience in China over the weekend, protests against China’s stringent zero-COVID policy and limits on liberties have spread to at least a dozen locations worldwide. Students and expatriate dissidents have organized small-scale vigils and rallies in cities in Europe, Asia, and North America, including London, Paris, Tokyo, and Sydney, according to …

Monday, Hong Kong’s highest court ruled that a British attorney can defend pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai in a national security trial, rejecting a government appeal to prohibit foreign counsel from such cases. Hong Kong’s Department of Justice made repeated attempts to prevent British attorney Timothy Owen from representing Lai, arguably Hong Kong’s most outspoken opponent of Chinese Communist Party leaders …

A Japanese filmmaker who was imprisoned for over four months in Myanmar described parts of his captivity there as “hell” and urged Tokyo to take a harder stance against human rights violations in the military-controlled country. Since the military ousted an elected government in Southeast Asia a year ago, the nation has been in disarray. In an effort to stifle …

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has reached a new low, according to a poll released on Sunday, November 27. A string of cabinet resignations has exacerbated outrage over the ruling party’s ties to a controversial religious group. In a Kyodo news poll conducted one month ago, support for Kishida’s cabinet dropped from 37.6% to 33.1%, his lowest …

The government of South Korea planned to meet with the country’s striking truckers’ union on Monday (Nov 28) for the first time since a statewide strike began five days ago, as supply chain problems deteriorated and construction sites experienced concrete shortages. The government has upgraded its warning of cargo transport disruptions caused by the strike to “severe,” the highest rating …

The visit of US Vice President Kamala Harris to Palawan and yet another instance of China’s aggressive actions in our waters have once again brought to the fore the enduring tensions over the South China Sea and the underlying cultures that form the outlines of this war. The Philippine government has announced its intention to write a note verbale in …

Chuu was kicked out of the K-pop girl group LOONA after her agency Blockberry Creative (BBC) reported that she was verbally harassing business workers. BBC made the revelation on the group’s fancafé on Friday, November 25. The firm noted in the letter that the decision was taken after accusations of Chuu reportedly “assaulting her power” and verbally abusing the personnel …