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SCMP

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Inside the Tokyo vice clubs tricking women into sex work: a victim’s story

2. Will stronger Manila-Canberra ties lead to Western support in South China Sea?

3. ‘Definitely stronger’: why 2024 could be Southeast Asia’s year for tourism

4. How Asian women are challenging bias to carve out entrepreneurial success

5. Taiwan’s forgotten disco era and how it changed the course of Mandopop

6. Beach clubs in Bali: from ‘a little slice of heaven’ to big business



US, Iran sign peace deal; China’s C919 jets grounded for safety checks: SCMP’s 7 highlights

TCM for a new generation, Dragon Boat Festival top picks: 7 Lifestyle highlights

PLA’s plan to destroy US carriers; world’s largest whale graveyard: 7 science highlights

Korean’s racist World Cup experience, India’s military revamp: 7 Asia highlights

SCMP Highlights

The dark side of Japanese nightlife, Taiwan’s forgotten disco era, beach clubs in Bali: 6 weekend reads you may have missed

Kabukicho red light district in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Getty Images

Yu, not her real name, is a Japanese woman who previously visited a Kabukicho host club in Tokyo regularly, became heavily indebted and was forced to do sex work to repay her debts. Photo: Julian Ryall

Chinese coastguard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel on March 5 in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters

Chinese tourists pose for a group photo at a museum in Samut Prakan, Thailand, on March 1. Photo: Xinhua

Women across Asia are challenging bias to carve out entrepreneurial success. Photo: Shutterstock

A disco single by Frankie Kao. As Taiwan’s younger generation dust off disco records from the 1970s and 80s, scholars are looking into how the island came to embrace the Western music genre at a time when even dancing in public was illegal. Photo: CYP

In 2000, Ku De Ta (pictured) in Bali set off a trend of the Indonesian island hosting beach clubs. It is not, however, the only place in Southeast Asia with a thriving beach club scene. Photo: Facebook/Ku De Ta

China’s GDP gap with US, Malaysians mock Starbucks franchisee, Japan’s geisha visitors ban: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

China’s rise, exemplified by the size of its GDP, was thought to be inevitable. But questions have arisen over whether it will close a gap with the United States that is now widening. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Celia Wong (second left) and Witman Hung (centre) during the latter’s 53rd birthday party at Reserva Iberica Tapas Bar and Cafe in Wan Chai. Photo: Handout

Vincent Tan pictured in 2013. The now 72-year-old is Malaysia’s 28th richest person, according to Forbes. Photo: AFP

Japanese geisha visit Minamiza Theatre in Kyoto to watch a kabuki performance. Photo: Kyodo

Piano Mok explains how Korean table settings feature chopsticks and an elongated spoon, which is used to eat rice and stew. Photo: Piano Mok

International Women’s Day: China’s gender-equality failings still hold back women and economic growth, Beijing told

A rural woman farms land in China’s Hubei province. Photo: Getty Images

A poster from China in 1966 features women with an underlying message to “Temper yourself, challenging high waves and strong winds”. Photo: Getty Images

Malaysia seeks to revive MH370 plane search, the Nepalis paid to fight for Russia: 6 weekend reads you may have missed

A person looks at the names of passengers and crew on doomed flight MH370, during a memorial in Malaysia on March 3. Photo: Hadi Azmi

Singapore couple Corinne Chow and Ryan Tan posted a video on TikTok showing their viewers what a day in their life as a DINK couple looks like. Photo: Handout

Khim Bahadur Thapa in a Russian army uniform at an unidentified location. Photo: Khim Bahadur Thapa

A version of the Disney-designed logo which adorned the planes of the Flying Tigers, volunteer American and British fighter pilots who took to the skies to protect Free China from the Japanese during World War II. Photo: EJ Hersom/US Department of Defense

Crowds galore on a Saturday at Tai Po Hui Cooked Food Centre, Tai Po, on January 13, 2024. Photo: Sam Evans

An imperial throne in the Wang Shu Room, at the Humboldt Forum, in Berlin, Germany. Photo: David von Becker

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From the Japanese vice clubs tricking women into sex work to why 2024 could be Southeast Asia’s year for tourism, here are stories you may have missed over the weekend


From the Japanese vice clubs tricking women into sex work to why 2024 could be Southeast Asia’s year for tourism, here are stories you may have missed over the weekend.


The dark side of Japanese nightlife, Taiwan’s forgotten disco era, beach clubs in Bali: 6 weekend reads you may have missed

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}From the Japanese vice clubs tricking women into sex work to why 2024 could be Southeast Asia’s year for tourism, here are stories you may have missed over the weekend

1. Inside the Tokyo vice clubs tricking women into sex work: a victim’s story

From the Japanese vice clubs tricking women into sex work to why 2024 could be Southeast Asia’s year for tourism, here are stories you may have missed over the weekend