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May 01, 2026
 

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Mei Mei Chu
A container ship is seen at the port in Lianyungang, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 27, 2026
Under cover of trade truce with Trump, China expands economic pressure toolkit
Beijing is punishing those who shift supply chains from China, tightening rare ?earth licensing, banning foreign AI and cybersecurity tech and weighing curbs on its solar gear.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping talk as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Busan, South Korea, last October.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 18, 2026
China steps up Iran diplomacy while seeking smooth summit with Trump
China is accelerating its efforts to end the Iran war, walking a diplomatic tightrope as it prepares for a summit next month with U.S. President Donald Trump while trying not to alienate Tehran.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands on the day of their bilateral summit in Beijing on Sept. 4.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 12, 2026
China is rebuilding its grip on North Korea. Is Kim Jong Un ready to oblige?
Beijing is deepening ties with North Korea as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to visit China and expresses interest in reviving talks with Kim.
Flames and thick smoke rise from multiple residential blocks at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Hong Kong on Nov. 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 6, 2025
Hong Kong fire came after contractor safety breaches and a residents' revolt
The contractor had been penalized by the city's safety regulator more than a dozen times in the years before it was hired to renovate the complex.
Workers remove scaffolding mesh from a building at Sui Wo Court in Sha Tin, following authorities¡¯ decision to remove the netting amid investigations into a deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court, in Hong Kong on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 4, 2025
Hong Kong races to remove scaffolding nets blamed for fueling deadly fire
The government ordered their immediate removal from all public and private residential buildings, as authorities investigate the cause of the city¡¯s deadliest fire in decades.
People look at the aftermath of a major fire that swept through several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Nov 29, 2025
Hong Kong blaze spotlights enduring role of city's foreign domestic helpers
Among the missing are some of the city's 368,000 foreign domestic helpers, mostly women contracted from low-income Asian countries.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 6, 2025
With diplomatic tour de force, China's Xi shows he's 'totally in charge'
The recent display of geopolitical ambition has helped quell concerns about the 72-year-old president's vitality and so-far-unknown succession plans.
A worker shovels soil next to irrigation channels and recently planted shoots of Xinjiang poplar at the Yangguan state-backed forest farm, on the edge of the Gobi desert on the outskirts of Dunhuang, China's Gansu province, in 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 23, 2024
China's food security dream faces land, soil and water woes
With limited land and water, China will have to sharply increase farming productivity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Sep 19, 2022
Asian farmers plant to boost palm oil output as seedling shortage slows pace
Asia produces more than 90% of the world's cheapest edible oil used in cooking, baking and cosmetics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2021
Rats, drought and labor shortages eat into global edible oil recovery
Malaysia is a microcosm of the difficulties facing producers of various edible oils across several continents, from Canadian canola farmers to Ukrainian sunflower growers.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 31, 2021
U.S. tiremaker Goodyear faces allegations of labor abuse in Malaysia
The tire-maker made wrongful salary deductions, required excessive hours and denied workers full access to their passports, according to officials and former and current staffers.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 20, 2021
At a Malaysian company's dorm, an audit gave the all-clear. Others alleged slavery.
These contrasting conclusions highlight little-known flaws in global efforts to monitor labor conditions.
New Zealand officials reject statue remembering 91²Ö¿â comfort women
A statue symbolizing former South Korean comfort women in Seoul
Head of U.S. military in South Korea calls for ¡®kill web¡¯ linking Seoul, Tokyo and Manila
U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson (center), commander of U.S. Forces Korea, walks on a pontoon bridge with U.S. and South Korean Army soldiers during a U.S.-South Korea joint river-crossing exercise, part of the annual Freedom Shield joint military training, near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on March 14.
Japan considers making language programs a factor in residency screenings
The government is considering creating a Japanese language program for foreign people that would be a factor in residency screenings.
Yen soars as Japan intervenes after issuing 'final' warning
Pedestrians walk past a stock quotation board showing the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Thursday.
'RikuRyu' signs off in emotional farewell
Figure skating pair Riku Miura (left) and Ryuichi Kihara pose for photos at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. The pair have announced their retirement from competitive skating.
Head of U.S. military in South Korea calls for ¡®kill web¡¯ linking Seoul, Tokyo and Manila
U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson (center), commander of U.S. Forces Korea, walks on a pontoon bridge with U.S. and South Korean Army soldiers during a U.S.-South Korea joint river-crossing exercise, part of the annual Freedom Shield joint military training, near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on March 14.
The Japanese dietitian who keeps the Blue Jays¡¯ engines running
Sports dietitian Yuka Sanui works behind the scenes to ensure Blue Jays players get the most out of their bodies when they step on the field.
The American chef reconnecting with Japan through a Kyoto restaurant
SoNoMa chef partner Kyle Connaughton (right) and chef de cuisine Keita Tominaga both have ties to Sonoma County in Northern California, the restaurant¡¯s namesake. Connaughton rose to prominence there with SingleThread, while Tominaga¡¯s father ran a Japanese restaurant in the region.
Inkonbini: Slice-of-life, cozy gaming from Japan¡¯s convenience stores
Alongside the simplified management of a convenience store, Inkonbini asks players to help a small cast of regular shoppers with not only their shopping but problems in their personal lives.
Japanese developers worry over construction supply shortages amid Iran war
Paul Nikel, President of West Canada Homes, with an increasingly rare supply of plastic foam

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin

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