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SCMP

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Why South Korea is celebrating a Canada submarine deal it lost
South Korea may have lost Canada’s multibillion-dollar submarine order, but analysts say its close-run contest with Germany has handed Seoul a different prize: proof that it can challenge one of the world’s traditional undersea warfare powers on a stage watched closely by defence buyers.
2. BN cruises to victory in Malaysia’s Johor, in blow to Anwar and PH

The coalition of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was dealt a blow after state rival Barisan Nasional (BN) trounced Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the Johor election.
3. Why the Philippines is losing out in Southeast Asia’s investment boom
The Philippines still lags behind its neighbours in attracting foreign direct investment, with inflows stagnating in 2025 even as a financing influx swept the region.
4. Japan wants 60 million tourists, but China isn’t sending them

Japan has found a new export industry and it does not come off an assembly line. It arrives by plane, spends freely and is, increasingly, what Tokyo is banking its economic future on.
5. Wombs for hire: the painful price of Asia’s lawless baby trade

Commercial surrogacy is illegal in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It is also worth an estimated US$15 billion a year.
6. Do Singapore ministers watch films? Joke raises hackles amid dialect debate
A Singapore minister’s quip in parliament that top officials had no time to go to the cinema has drawn heated public discussion, with some in the local arts scene saying the comment risked downplaying the importance of the cultural sector.
7. After China sanctions Philippines’ defence chief, Marcos breaks his silence

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has broken his silence on China’s sanctions against his defence chief, in remarks seen as a closing of ranks that could complicate diplomacy between Manila and Beijing in the near term.


South Korea’s lost Canadian deal; BN’s election win in Malaysia’s Johor: 7 Asia highlights

Filipino helpers as surrogates, Chinese scientist’s death in US: 5 weekend reads you missed

10 scientists and experts who have left the US and UK for China so far in 2026

China sets July 4 precedent with US; Cathay plane triggers Nato alert: SCMP’s 7 highlights

SCMP Highlights

Media attend a press briefing where Thai police showed pictures of surrogate babies in 2014, the year before Thailand banned commercial surrogacy. Photo: AP

The Royal Canadian navy hosts the South Korean navy’s Dosan Ahn Chang-ho during a welcome ceremony in Esquimalt, British Columbia, on May 25. Photo: The Canadian Press/AP

Barisan Nasional leaders cheer at the coalition’s command centre in Johor Bahru as unofficial results show BN leading in the state election in Malaysia on Saturday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof

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

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

Myanmar edges out of isolation as Asean steps up engagement

Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and his Myanmar counterpart U Tin Maung Swe attend talks on Saturday, a day before an informal meeting with Asean foreign ministers in Bangkok. Photo: Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP

Myanmar’s foreign minister, Tin Maung Swe, (far right) with his Asean counterparts at their informal meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sunday. Photo: Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Reuters

Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow (right) meets his Myanmar counterpart U Tin Maung Swe on Saturday, a day before an informal meeting with Asean foreign ministers in Bangkok. Photo: Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP

Aung San Suu Kyi pictured in 2015. Myanmar’s deposed civilian leader is being kept under house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw. Photo: AFP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) shakes hands with Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing before their meeting in New Delhi on June 1. Photo: EPA

Military personnel stand guard at the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sot, Thailand’s Tak province, as hundreds of refugees fleeing the fighting crossed over in April 2024. Photo: Reuters

Thai beer heir opens up, Philippine ube’s ‘purple gold rush’: 7 Asia highlights

“Ubi kinampay” is especially prized for its distinctive taste and aroma. Photo: Facebook/National Museum of the Philippines Bohol

F-15SG fighters of the Singapore military perform during the National Day celebrations on August 9 last year. Photo: Xinhua

A model of a Hellfire missile attached under the wing of an MQ-9 Reaper military drone during a demonstration in Chateaubernard, France. Photo: AFP

Kuala Lumpur at twilight. Hong Kong ranked as the third-largest source of applications last year under the Malaysia My Second Home long-stay visa scheme. Photo: Getty Images

Siranudh “Psi” Scott, a fourth-generation member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the Singha beer brand, pictured in Bangkok last month. Photo: AFP

Tourists spend time at a beach in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Chinese tourists high on Malaysia, why Europe is praising Lee Kuan Yew: 7 Asia highlights

A woman sprays water to cool down the alley by her home in Leeds, northern England, on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Hot air balloons float near Putra Mosque (left) in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Photo: EPA-EFE


People cool down near water misters in Cologne, Germany, on Thursday. Photo: AFP

South Korean fans react after their team lost the 2026 World Cup football match against South Africa at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul last week. Photo: AFP

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt hands out leaflets while on the campaign trail in the Thai capital. Photo: Aidan Jones

Southeast Asian scammers’ new disguise: your leader’s face

Illustration: Kevin Wong

AI-generated deepfakes of Southeast Asian leaders are increasingly being used by online scam syndicates. This illustration was produced with the assistance of Google’s Nano Banana. Illustration: Greg Fountain

On criminal forums and Telegram channels, chatter about deepfakes surged 600 per cent in just one five-month period in 2024. Photo: Reuters

“Cybercrime exists wherever anyone is using a smartphone or laptop”, law enforcement officials say. Global losses hit US$10.5 trillion in 2025. Photo: Shutterstock

AI and other tech tools are increasingly being integrated into scam operations across Southeast Asia and further afield, experts say. Photo: Shutterstock

An emergency warning alert alarm on a mobile phone. Artificial intelligence has not built a new criminal underworld, it has retooled an old one – at speed. Photo: Shutterstock

News

Asia

This Week in Asia

From Japan’s bid for a massive tourism boom to a look at the illegal baby trade, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting


From Japan’s bid for a massive tourism boom to a look at the illegal baby trade, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.


South Korea’s lost Canadian deal; BN’s election win in Malaysia’s Johor: 7 Asia highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Japan’s bid for a massive tourism boom to a look at the illegal baby trade, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting

1. Why South Korea is celebrating a Canada submarine deal it lost

From Japan’s bid for a massive tourism boom to a look at the illegal baby trade, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting