https://www.scmp.com/rss/325300/feed en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Wang Qing Wang Qing On November 22, 2021, President Xi Jinping and the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) jointly announced the establishment of a China-Asean Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, marking a new milestone in the history of this important relationship. Guided by the vision of a closer community with a shared future and with sustained efforts to build a peaceful, secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable region as our common home, China and Asean have jointly nurtured one of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3373793/china-asean-partnership-helping-build-common-home-and-shared-future https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3373793/china-asean-partnership-helping-build-common-home-and-shared-future Tue, 10 Nov 2026 21:30:07 +0000 Aidan Jones,Ushar Daniele Aidan Jones,Ushar Daniele Eurovision, the live song contest that has launched the likes of Abba, Celine Dion and Olivia Newton-John onto the world stage, is set to make its Asia debut in Bangkok this weekend, with a coterie of singers from South Korea and Bangladesh to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Organisers of the 11-country contest are hoping to tap Asia’s thriving fan culture and love of music – and at the same time sidestep some of the gaffes and geopolitical controversies that have made the European event an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3373933/eurovision-makes-historic-asian-debut-will-gen-z-fans-tune https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3373933/eurovision-makes-historic-asian-debut-will-gen-z-fans-tune Tue, 10 Nov 2026 08:46:45 +0000 CNA CNA A cruise ship left stranded in Southeast Asia after its US-based operator ran out of money has been arrested in Singapore, the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said on Monday. The Odyssey, meant to take passengers on a continuous voyage around the world, was arrested after arriving on Sunday from Cambodia, where around 200 guests were told to disembark. “The vessel has been placed under arrest pursuant to a court order,” MPA said in a statement, without giving further details. “The crew on... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3373862/odyssey-cruise-ships-voyage-ends-singapore-arrest-after-owner-goes-bust https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3373862/odyssey-cruise-ships-voyage-ends-singapore-arrest-after-owner-goes-bust Tue, 10 Nov 2026 01:21:55 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Thai authorities have vowed to seize more than US$1 billion in assets from a group accused of laundering proceeds from Southeast Asia-based scam syndicates. A criminal court issued arrest warrants on Tuesday for the alleged ringleader, South African Benjamin Mauerberger, his Thai wife Cattaliya Beevor, Cambodian businessman Yim Leak and four others, police said. Media reports have previously linked Mauerberger, also known as Ben Smith, to transnational scam operations in Cambodia, part of a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3372504/thailand-moves-seize-us1-billion-scam-assets-money-laundering-group https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3372504/thailand-moves-seize-us1-billion-scam-assets-money-laundering-group Thu, 29 Oct 2026 02:50:03 +0000 Reuters Reuters Hundreds of people permanently living aboard a touring cruise ship were forced to disembark in Cambodia this week after the vessel’s operator said fuel price increases from the Iran war had made operations prohibitively expensive. The Villa Vie Odyssey had been cruising the world for at least ‌755 days as one of only a handful of ships that offered passengers the opportunity to rent or buy long-term or even permanent residences on board. On Tuesday, the ship’s owner, Villa Vie Residences,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3372472/cruise-ship-suspends-global-voyage-cambodia-over-fuel-prices-hundreds-disembark https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3372472/cruise-ship-suspends-global-voyage-cambodia-over-fuel-prices-hundreds-disembark Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:50:34 +0000 Phoebe Zhang Phoebe Zhang A Chinese investigative blogger who exposed telecoms fraud and other illegal activity was killed by criminals hired on social media, according to media reports, prompting calls for heavier punishment for the perpetrators. The body of Wu Kai, who used the name “Huijian” on social media and had written for years about telecoms fraud in Southeast Asia, was discovered in southern China in November 2024. His death and details of the case were revealed this week. In August 2024, Wu accused Liu Ren – a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3372403/chinese-anti-scam-blogger-killed-contractors-hired-online-silence-his-work https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3372403/chinese-anti-scam-blogger-killed-contractors-hired-online-silence-his-work Wed, 28 Oct 2026 06:30:31 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Fresh from walking down red carpets laid out by his Southeast Asian neighbours, Myanmar’s ex-military chief Min Aung Hlaing appears to have a new diplomatic feather in his cap: re-engagement with the United States. Washington slapped sanctions on Min Aung Hlaing just 10 days after his February 1, 2021 coup and the ensuing bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. Waves of subsequent sanctions targeted military-linked companies and cronies. Yet since last month, two rounds of talks with US... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3371605/whats-behind-quiet-us-diplomatic-thaw-myanmar https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3371605/whats-behind-quiet-us-diplomatic-thaw-myanmar Wed, 21 Oct 2026 05:58:55 +0000 The Star The Star Malaysia is negotiating with Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia to establish overland transit routes for fresh durian exports to China, according to Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu. The minister said the move would reduce transport costs and improve access to the lucrative Chinese market. “Durian is a favourite among Chinese consumers, but they sometimes find it difficult to get the fruit at a more affordable price,” he said during parliament’s question and answer time on... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3371573/stinking-rich-malaysia-eyes-land-routes-boost-durian-trade-china https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3371573/stinking-rich-malaysia-eyes-land-routes-boost-durian-trade-china Wed, 21 Oct 2026 03:49:06 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to dial down the rhetoric and use a hotline between their navy commanders to avoid flashpoints over a vast contested patch of energy-rich seas in the Gulf of Thailand, according to a UN-backed mediation panel at The Hague tasked with helping to settle the dispute between the neighbours. The Southeast Asian countries have also squabbled for decades over the demarcation of their 800km (500-mile) land border, where clashes last year killed scores on both sides and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3371443/thailand-cambodia-seek-calm-escalating-dispute-over-us300-billion-seabed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3371443/thailand-cambodia-seek-calm-escalating-dispute-over-us300-billion-seabed Tue, 20 Oct 2026 02:43:06 +0000 Jimmy Chow Jimmy Chow Years of volunteering to serve elderly people and disadvantaged communities have informed medical student Alfred Lam’s approach to medicine, teaching the University of Hong Kong undergraduate to look beyond symptoms and understand the people he may one day treat. Lam is a finalist in the youth category of this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, which recognise the city’s unsung heroes and organisations whose work might otherwise escape public attention. The awards are co-organised by Sino Group... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3371291/spirit-hong-kong-awards-medical-student-draws-experience-volunteer-work https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3371291/spirit-hong-kong-awards-medical-student-draws-experience-volunteer-work Mon, 19 Oct 2026 02:15:06 +0000 Jimmy Chow Jimmy Chow About 300 Hong Kong students applied this year for roughly 30 places on an overseas programme to help children in need, up from about 50 applicants last year. Dream Compassioneers co-founder Chan Yik-yeung said the response also showed what students could achieve when trusted with responsibility. Founded in 2020, the organisation runs local and overseas service programmes and is a member of the International Association for Volunteer Effort. Its recent projects have taken volunteers to Cambodia,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3370817/small-acts-shared-dreams-students-find-purpose-helping-children-need https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3370817/small-acts-shared-dreams-students-find-purpose-helping-children-need Wed, 14 Oct 2026 06:15:06 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Ripe mangosteen and rambutan hang unpicked from trees in eastern Thailand, where a shortage of migrant workers is forcing growers to decide which crops are valuable enough to harvest and which will be left to rot. For Jomsak Putirattana, who also grows durian in Chanthaburi province, the departure of his five Cambodian workers after a border dispute disrupted crossings has intensified competition for labour. Daily wages have more than doubled in some cases, from about 350 baht to 400 baht (US$10... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3370655/thailands-deepening-labour-shortage-roils-harvest-unpicked-fruits-rot https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3370655/thailands-deepening-labour-shortage-roils-harvest-unpicked-fruits-rot Tue, 13 Oct 2026 01:36:39 +0000 Gabriel Dominguez Gabriel Dominguez Chinese military aircraft may already be using a new joint aviation facility in Laos, with satellite imagery showing twice as many K-8/JL-8-family trainer aircraft there as the Laotian air force is assessed to possess. Eight of the two-seat trainer and light-attack aircraft were visible at Ban Keun Airport in commercial satellite imagery taken on September 30, according to Reuters, which first reported the images. More than two dozen military and support vehicles were also visible. The image was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3370439/are-chinese-military-aircraft-already-using-new-joint-air-facility-laos https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3370439/are-chinese-military-aircraft-already-using-new-joint-air-facility-laos Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:00:06 +0000 Jimmy Chow Jimmy Chow When Professor Lam Hon-ming returned to Hong Kong after completing postdoctoral work in the United States in 1997, he was fixated on one question: how can science help feed the country and the world? He found that soybeans offered part of the answer. In addition to its nutritional value, the crop can fix nitrogen levels in the soil, reducing reliance on chemical fertiliser, and some varieties can be bred to tolerate drought and salinity. Lam went on to spend almost three decades studying soybean... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3370232/spirit-hong-kong-awards-scientists-soybean-research-pushes-agricultural-frontier https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3370232/spirit-hong-kong-awards-scientists-soybean-research-pushes-agricultural-frontier Fri, 09 Oct 2026 06:15:05 +0000 Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. I refer to the letter, “Hong Kong’s mental health narrative must instil a sense of hope” (September 23). Your correspondent is right. Hope is not simply a personal emotion. It is a social resource shaped by the environments we inhabit, the relationships we build and the futures... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3370153/hong-kong-should-invest-natural-infrastructure-harvest-hope https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3370153/hong-kong-should-invest-natural-infrastructure-harvest-hope Fri, 09 Oct 2026 03:30:09 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado The United States has downgraded Hong Kong to the lowest tier in its annual human trafficking report, citing shortcomings in prosecutions and victim identification, an assessment the city’s government rejected as “entirely unfounded”. The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on Thursday, moved Hong Kong from the Tier 2 Watch List, where it had been listed for two consecutive years, to Tier 3. That places the city alongside mainland China and Macau among 20... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3370244/hong-kong-rejects-us-downgrade-lowest-tier-human-trafficking-report https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3370244/hong-kong-rejects-us-downgrade-lowest-tier-human-trafficking-report Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:43:50 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage From online-gambling rings in eSwatini to SIM swapping in Kenya and cybercrime networks in Zambia, a wave of cross-border fraud is drawing African governments and China into closer security cooperation. China hosted East African security ministers and police chiefs in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, on September 10 for talks on terrorism, kidnapping, online fraud and other cross-border threats. China’s public security minister, Wang Xiaohong, said Beijing would strengthen law-enforcement... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3369660/china-and-africa-boost-law-enforcement-ties-crackdown-cross-border-cybercrime https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3369660/china-and-africa-boost-law-enforcement-ties-crackdown-cross-border-cybercrime Sat, 03 Oct 2026 22:00:12 +0000 Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. The adoption of the Phnom Penh Declaration at last week’s international conference on online scams contains welcome language on international cooperation and victim protection. However, the 11-point statement ultimately leaves some of the hardest questions unanswered. Its... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3369521/phnom-penh-declaration-online-scams-short-details https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3369521/phnom-penh-declaration-online-scams-short-details Sat, 03 Oct 2026 03:30:09 +0000 Liu Zhen,Gabriel Dominguez Liu Zhen,Gabriel Dominguez China has launched an air force support and training centre in Laos, its third overseas military outpost, which observers say could help the PLA expand its footprint and interests in the region. The China-Laos Joint Support and Training Centre and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy are now in operation at the Ban Keun Airport, aiming to help the Laotian Air Force train its pilots, China’s defence ministry said in a statement. The two institutions would be jointly maintained and operated... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3369253/china-expands-overseas-military-presence-new-laos-air-force-centre https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3369253/china-expands-overseas-military-presence-new-laos-air-force-centre Tue, 29 Sep 2026 19:08:41 +0000 Bac Pham Bac Pham A Vietnamese pro-democracy organisation has alleged that two of its members, who hold Norwegian and Australian citizenship, were abducted in Cambodia and taken to the border with Vietnam, where Hanoi authorities later accused them of illegally entering the country. Vietnam has charged the two men, along with a third alleged member of the organisation, with terrorism and document forgery, saying they were caught crossing the border from Cambodia with forged identity documents. The organisation,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3369232/vietnam-charges-3-men-terrorism-abduction-claim-emerges https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3369232/vietnam-charges-3-men-terrorism-abduction-claim-emerges Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:37:08 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Cambodia is set to present the outcome of its crackdown on scams to global governments and security agencies gathering in Phnom Penh this week. Yet questions remain over where the missing billions have gone – as well as the role of the country’s elite, who for many years denied the problem existed at all on Cambodian soil. Scam compounds took over declining mega-casinos during the pandemic. As borders closed, gamblers were replaced with scam workers: many tricked, trafficked and forced to commit... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3368344/cambodia-hosts-anti-scam-summit-scepticism-lingers https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3368344/cambodia-hosts-anti-scam-summit-scepticism-lingers Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:24:52 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Months after deadly clashes that cost dozens of lives along their shared border, the foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand laid out opening arguments on Tuesday over a different kind of territory: 27,000 sq km (10,400 square miles) of seabed thought to hold a fortune in gas and oil. The venue was the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s Singapore office, where the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea’s conciliation commission is being asked to settle who controls a stretch of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3367575/cambodia-thailand-take-us300-billion-seabed-dispute-un https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3367575/cambodia-thailand-take-us300-billion-seabed-dispute-un Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:56:25 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Winston Churchill famously praised the resilience of the British people during the Blitz, describing the nightly bombings of London as a “cruel, wanton, indiscriminate” attempt by Adolf Hitler to break the spirit of a tough “island race”. He was not wrong about the toughness and courage of his fellow citizens. But as one of the United Kingdom’s greatest leaders and historical writers, he created a false impression of the uniqueness of the British wartime experience. Strategic bombing alone,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3366939/us-israeli-failure-bomb-iran-submission-was-preordained https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3366939/us-israeli-failure-bomb-iran-submission-was-preordained Sun, 13 Sep 2026 12:30:04 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng Chinese researchers have modelled a war game scenario suggesting that a complete economic decoupling between the US and China could, unexpectedly, yield dividends for most other nations. Using a quantitative trade model – a data-based economic framework that estimates how changes in trade affect economies – two researchers based in southern China’s Guangdong province found that if the world’s two largest economies were to sever trade relations entirely, a number of other countries, including... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3367290/us-china-decoupling-could-benefit-other-countries-china-trade-war-game-suggests https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3367290/us-china-decoupling-could-benefit-other-countries-china-trade-war-game-suggests Sat, 12 Sep 2026 12:00:05 +0000 Kolette Lim Kolette Lim As Singapore considers joining a China-led body on artificial intelligence, analysts say membership would give the city state a bigger say in global governance matters related to the technology but may invite an unfriendly response from Washington. Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo revealed in parliament earlier this week that Singapore had received an invitation to join the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (Waico). Singapore would consider the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3367253/singapore-weighs-joining-china-led-ai-body-does-it-risk-us-retaliation https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3367253/singapore-weighs-joining-china-led-ai-body-does-it-risk-us-retaliation Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:53:24 +0000 Makane Moïse Mbengue Makane Moïse Mbengue The ocean looks like peace from afar and truth up close, they say. But beneath the waves, the map of the world’s oceans is far less settled than it looks. Today, dozens of sea borders remain unresolved. Like so many conflicts, they owe their origins to complicated questions of where one country’s territory ends, and another’s begins. Many involve overlapping claims to areas rich in resources; and a disproportionate number concern the waters of the Global South. Africa’s coastline is a stark... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3366221/global-south-cannot-afford-let-its-maritime-border-disputes-fester https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3366221/global-south-cannot-afford-let-its-maritime-border-disputes-fester Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin The Trump administration sanctioned Chinese-language marketplace Xinbi Guarantee on Wednesday, along with two affiliated organisations, as part of a wider crackdown on transnational cybercrime. The US Department of Justice also announced it had seized Telegram channels and cryptocurrency wallets tied to the platform, which has over 650,000 users, freezing more than US$52 million in potentially laundered funds in just one day. “This is not a distant overseas crime story,” said Jeanine Pirro, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3366977/us-sanctions-chinese-language-xinbi-guarantee-marketplace-over-cyber-scams https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3366977/us-sanctions-chinese-language-xinbi-guarantee-marketplace-over-cyber-scams Wed, 09 Sep 2026 21:48:23 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Thai authorities arrested 12 South Koreans and a Chinese national accused of running a scam call centre from a high-end rented house south of Bangkok, police said on Tuesday. The alleged scammers “entered Thailand from a neighbouring country and were hiding in Samut Prakan province, renting a luxury house”, Thai police said in a statement, without naming the country. Cambodia and Myanmar, which border Thailand, have become hubs for criminal groups operating fake romance, investment and other... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3366814/12-south-koreans-arrested-thailand-scam-centre-crackdown https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3366814/12-south-koreans-arrested-thailand-scam-centre-crackdown Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:46:55 +0000 Connor Mycroft Connor Mycroft The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Cambodian education authorities to expand a computational training programme to cover early childhood learning in the Southeast Asian nation. The MOU, which builds on an agreement signed last year to roll out the club’s CoolThink@JC programme in the country’s primary schools, was signed at the PBC (Philanthropy for Better Cities) Forum on Tuesday. The programme was launched in 2016 and originally... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3366790/hong-kong-jockey-club-offer-computer-training-more-children-cambodia https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3366790/hong-kong-jockey-club-offer-computer-training-more-children-cambodia Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:19:15 +0000 SCMP 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. Southeast Asia’s scam gangs regroup after Cambodia’s crackdown Cambodia says it has flushed out a scam industry estimated to have stolen tens of billions of US dollars last year alone, but a string of arrests in recent days suggests the gangs behind it may have simply... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3366764/cambodias-scam-gangs-filipino-americans-decry-xenophobia-games-7-asia-highlights https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3366764/cambodias-scam-gangs-filipino-americans-decry-xenophobia-games-7-asia-highlights Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:59:10 +0000 Marissa Carruthers Marissa Carruthers Under the cloak of darkness, runners gather in their hundreds at the entrance to the Angkor Wat temple complex, in Cambodia’s Siem Reap. They wait in groups, stretching muscles to pumping house music while a little way off, apsara dancers and traditional Khmer musicians help lift the early-morning energy. Volunteers, many of whom have been at the site since 2am, hand out bottles of water to a crowd of runners and spectators that started arriving at 3.30am, ahead of the staggered starts of the... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3365857/angkor-wat-marathon-6500-runners-race-through-cambodias-ancient-khmer-empire https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3365857/angkor-wat-marathon-6500-runners-race-through-cambodias-ancient-khmer-empire Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:00:10 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Cambodia says it has flushed out a scam industry estimated to have stolen tens of billions of US dollars last year alone, but a string of arrests in recent days suggests the gangs behind it may have simply changed address. Scam centres proliferated across Cambodia during the pandemic, when hundreds of thousands of jobless young people were pulled into defunct casino complexes to target victims worldwide with bogus romance, cryptocurrency and investment frauds. Chinese criminal networks found an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3366072/southeast-asias-scam-gangs-regroup-after-cambodias-purge https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3366072/southeast-asias-scam-gangs-regroup-after-cambodias-purge Wed, 02 Sep 2026 06:19:05 +0000 Han Li Han Li US lawmakers are trying to identify which foreign countries are the biggest sources of unlawful robocalls targeting Americans, as Congress steps up efforts to combat a surge in phone scams. The inquiry follows a string of US government reports tying much of the financial damage from scams to Chinese criminal networks based in Southeast Asia. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee passed the bipartisan “Foreign Robocall Elimination Act” on Tuesday,... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3366036/us-congress-seeks-identify-foreign-countries-behind-scam-calls https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3366036/us-congress-seeks-identify-foreign-countries-behind-scam-calls Tue, 01 Sep 2026 22:30:49 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Every bloc needs a chair capable of getting things done – and Southeast Asia watchers say that description fits no country better than Singapore. The city state will get the chance to prove it in the bloc’s 60th anniversary year, after it takes the Asean helm from the Philippines on January 1. Speaking at Singapore’s National Day Rally on August 22, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the world was becoming more fractured and dangerous – one that the city state would have to “endure and survive... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3365626/small-state-big-agenda-singapore-prepares-steer-asean-through-crisis https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3365626/small-state-big-agenda-singapore-prepares-steer-asean-through-crisis Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini How is a legacy defined? Of the many profound, poetic and compelling words that far more eloquent scribes have strung together to capture that notion and its palpable impact, perhaps American songwriter, actor, filmmaker and librettist Lin-Manuel Miranda summed it up best when he penned the following lines, for his hit musical Hamilton: “It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me.” Legacy is intertwined with that... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/article/3365660/week-postmag-hong-kongs-leading-tech-hub-marks-25th-anniversary-focus-future https://www.scmp.com/postmag/article/3365660/week-postmag-hong-kongs-leading-tech-hub-marks-25th-anniversary-focus-future Sat, 29 Aug 2026 22:00:12 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo Japan plans to provide defence equipment and other supplies to the armed forces of at least 12 like-minded countries under its Official Security Assistance programme in the current financial year, up from eight countries the previous year, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The military of Kenya, which sits on the western Indian Ocean, is expected to be a first-time recipient under the programme, with the Japanese government seeking to strengthen maritime security cooperation,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3365517/japan-double-security-aid-12-indo-pacific-nations https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3365517/japan-double-security-aid-12-indo-pacific-nations Fri, 28 Aug 2026 02:35:06 +0000 Richard Heydarian Richard Heydarian In arguably his most important foreign trip, Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary for defence policy, visited key Southeast Asian capitals this month. In a speech in Manila, the Pentagon policy chief extolled America’s “flexible realism”, which he said serves “the practical, concrete interests of regular Americans” and echoes Southeast Asian nations’ commitment to “pragmatism, an openness to dialogue, respect for counterparts, proud nationalism, and a focus on economic prosperity”. Amid the United... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3365070/why-southeast-asia-isnt-buying-us-offer-flexible-realism https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3365070/why-southeast-asia-isnt-buying-us-offer-flexible-realism Thu, 27 Aug 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Orange Wang Orange Wang China should forge a national consensus on “regaining mastery of the oceans” and direct overseas investment returns into defence spending to brace for sea-power competition with the US, according to a prominent Chinese academic. Di Dongsheng, associate dean of Renmin University’s school of international studies in Beijing, warned on Tuesday that as economic ties between the United States, the dominant maritime power, and China, which relies heavily on sea-bound trade, shifted towards... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3365443/what-china-can-do-secure-trade-routes-its-coming-high-seas-struggle-us https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3365443/what-china-can-do-secure-trade-routes-its-coming-high-seas-struggle-us Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:55:56 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Cambodia is preparing to restart joint military exercises with the United States next year, in a move analysts described as a pragmatic reset of defence ties strained since 2017 – though not a pivot away from China. Senior officials from both countries discussed restarting the Angkor Sentinel drills last weekend, alongside expanded training and military reforms, Cambodian media reported. Washington has also signalled interest in further visits to Ream, a strategically located Cambodian naval... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3364865/why-cambodia-reviving-us-military-drills-despite-close-china-ties https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3364865/why-cambodia-reviving-us-military-drills-despite-close-china-ties Sun, 23 Aug 2026 06:00:12 +0000 Dewey Sim,Laura Zhou Dewey Sim,Laura Zhou Southeast Asian leaders have long insisted they will not be forced to pick sides in the great-power rivalry between the US and China. But their posture is about to be further tested. This time, the battleground is AI. While Washington wants the region locked into Pax Silica – its bid to build a China-free artificial intelligence supply chain – Beijing wants its neighbours to join China’s own World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (Waico). Sources told the South China Morning Post... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3364853/china-and-us-push-southeast-asia-over-their-ai-blocs-will-it-test-regions-non-alignment https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3364853/china-and-us-push-southeast-asia-over-their-ai-blocs-will-it-test-regions-non-alignment Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:00:05 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Online scam syndicates that rely on trafficked workers, guarded compounds and vast call-centre-style operations could soon become more threatening by exploiting agentic AI to run some fraud operations autonomously, a cybercrime expert has warned. Unlike earlier uses of artificial intelligence to write scripts, translate messages or produce deepfakes, agentic AI systems can carry out multi-step tasks with limited human prompting, raising the prospect of scams that are faster, cheaper, more... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3364789/asia-faces-scam-epidemic-threat-gangs-exploit-agentic-ai-cybercrime-expert-warns https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3364789/asia-faces-scam-epidemic-threat-gangs-exploit-agentic-ai-cybercrime-expert-warns Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:29:20 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial The White House has raised the alarm over what it terms a “shadow” network of over 40 nations allegedly facilitating a massive transshipment scam, claiming that these countries are mislabelling the origin of Chinese exports to deceive American customs officials. While Washington frames this as an international conspiracy to rob the American economy of tens of billions of dollars, it is, in reality, a glaring admission of the ineffectiveness of its own trade policies. Titled “The Great... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3364529/transshipment-scam-not-global-conspiracy-warning-us https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3364529/transshipment-scam-not-global-conspiracy-warning-us Wed, 19 Aug 2026 23:15:06 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press En Poy was minding cattle in a former Khmer Rouge stronghold in Cambodia when he set off his first landmine. The blast from the rusty relic he picked up cost him an arm and an eye. It also inspired his career with non-profit organisation Cambodian Self Help Demining, which clears landmines and unexploded ordnance across the country, deadly remnants of wars from the last century. Groups like Poy’s that rely on foreign aid are struggling as donors shift funding for humanitarian demining towards... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3364510/southeast-asias-landmine-clearers-face-closure-global-aid-shifts-new-wars https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3364510/southeast-asias-landmine-clearers-face-closure-global-aid-shifts-new-wars Wed, 19 Aug 2026 04:35:04 +0000 SCMP 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. How Southeast Asia’s monarchies stay relevant in a volatile region The kings in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Brunei have to be attuned to societal or economic changes to survive, analysts say. 2. ‘Islamic Nato’? Why Pakistan’s new defence pact has India on edge A... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3364374/how-monarchies-stay-relevant-pakistans-new-defence-pact-7-asia-highlights https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3364374/how-monarchies-stay-relevant-pakistans-new-defence-pact-7-asia-highlights Tue, 18 Aug 2026 06:18:39 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Southeast Asian exporters may soon face a heavier burden of proof to show they are not helping Chinese goods dodge US tariffs after the White House named nine countries in the region as part of what it called a global “Shadow Transshipment Network”. The warning came in a White House report titled “The Great Transshipment Scam”, which alleged that Chinese-origin goods were being routed through lower-tariff jurisdictions and re-entering the US market under new national identities. Analysts said... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3364381/us-transshipment-scam-claims-put-asean-exporters-bind https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3364381/us-transshipment-scam-claims-put-asean-exporters-bind Tue, 18 Aug 2026 05:13:59 +0000 Vincent Tan Vincent Tan After last year’s border conflict with Cambodia, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers left Thailand, exposing how dependent parts of its economy had become on cross-border labour. Thailand has tried to ease the squeeze by holding on to workers already in the country, especially Myanmar nationals. But figures from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and warnings from employer groups point to a deeper problem: a workforce built around proximity, familiarity and low travel costs cannot... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3364128/how-cambodian-worker-exodus-exposes-thailands-fragile-labour-model https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3364128/how-cambodian-worker-exodus-exposes-thailands-fragile-labour-model Sun, 16 Aug 2026 04:00:12 +0000 Vincent Tan Vincent Tan When Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah recently stripped his daughter-in-law of a royal title, the move drew attention for its unusually public glimpse into discipline inside one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchies. But it also offered a small example of what analysts who study Southeast Asia’s royal families describe as a wider challenge for the region’s monarchies: how to preserve authority through tradition and adaptation as public expectations change. An official announcement... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3363319/how-southeast-asias-monarchies-stay-relevant-volatile-region https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3363319/how-southeast-asias-monarchies-stay-relevant-volatile-region Sat, 15 Aug 2026 02:00:32 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Thailand’s possible acquisition of a supersonic cruise missile from India would help the Southeast Asian country defend its interests against Cambodia and could even fuel a “mini-arms race” between the two neighbours, analysts have said. The BrahMos system could strengthen Thailand’s deterrence at sea while giving Bangkok more options as tensions with Cambodia persist and neighbouring navies modernise, they added. Several defence-focused news outlets have reported that Thailand is evaluating the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3363896/will-thailands-potential-brahmos-deal-fuel-mini-arms-race-cambodia https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3363896/will-thailands-potential-brahmos-deal-fuel-mini-arms-race-cambodia Thu, 13 Aug 2026 08:01:12 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Fears of a new industrial revolution in which artificial intelligence replaces manual labour have yet to materialise in Southeast Asia – but white-collar workers should brace themselves. Nearly one in four workers in the region face generative AI (GenAI) disrupting or affecting their jobs, according to a July report by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Clerical, administrative and professional positions were most at risk, the report stated. Manual trades, craft and agricultural work... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3363748/ai-threatens-nearly-quarter-southeast-asias-workforce-all-not-lost https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3363748/ai-threatens-nearly-quarter-southeast-asias-workforce-all-not-lost Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:08 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has pressed Southeast Asian nations to join a “flexible realism” strategy in the Indo-Pacific, as the United States prioritises practical defence cooperation and deterrence over ideology. Speaking at a forum in Manila on Monday, Colby said he would travel to Jakarta, Bangkok and Phnom Penh as part of his first official trip to Asia, delivering a message he called “realistic and perhaps bracing, but also reassuring”: that America’s interests were “more engaged... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3363596/us-swaps-ideology-flexible-realism-and-hard-deterrence-southeast-asia https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3363596/us-swaps-ideology-flexible-realism-and-hard-deterrence-southeast-asia Tue, 11 Aug 2026 04:00:15 +0000