Laos

A medical staff takes samples at a drive-thru testing center in Daegu, South Korea, on Mar. 3; the U.S. can learn from its partners.
Opinion

US can outshine China at coronavirus medical diplomacy

Washington needs to boost existing anti-pandemic research networks in Asia

21 April 2020
Director-writers Xaisongkham Induangchanthy, left, and Anysay Keola, center, and actor Khamhou Phanludeth at the Lao New Wave Cinema offices in Vientiane. (Johanna Son)
Arts

Laos goes to the movies

Local filmmakers are starting to overcome financing and censorship constraints

9 April 2020
A girl from the Khmu tribe in northern Laos works burned land cleared for crops. (Photo by Robert Bociaga)
Belt and Road

Chinese investment upheavals anger Laos' indigenous tribes

Rural communities face lifestyle changes as authoritarian state develops

5 March 2020
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for trade and travel between China and ASEAN to return to normal as soon as possible. (Photo by Yohei Muramatsu)
Coronavirus

ASEAN members pressed by China to lift travel curbs

Foreign ministers agree to cooperate on virus but show mixed feelings for Beijing

21 February 2020
G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Chantilly, France, July 17, 2019.
Your Week in Asia

G-20 finance ministers, Nissan shareholders and a China-ASEAN meeting

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest political and business events

17 February 2020
Hun Sen is adamant that Cambodia is not going to bow to European demands. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Opinion

Punishing Cambodia is going to backfire on EU

Removing tariff-free access will drive Phnom Penh toward Beijing's orbit

14 February 2020
A nurse checks the temperature of a visitor as part of the coronavirus screening procedure at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 5.
Coronavirus

Coronavirus exposes Southeast Asia's public health shortfalls

Experts say health infrastructure remains 'systematically underfinanced'

13 February 2020
The Westerdam cruise ship anchored near Sihanoukville port in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia, on Feb. 13. It had been denied permission to dock at five ports before Cambodia agreed to accept it. 
Coronavirus

Westerdam finally arrives in Cambodia after 5 ports refused

Prime Minister Hun Sen says decision is "humanitarian"

13 February 2020
Kenta Takada, center, launched a business in Myanmar, believing in the country's growth potential. (Photo by Yuichi Nitta)
Companies

Japan millennial ditches suit to seek fortune in Myanmar deliveries

After launch of Hi-So bicycle-based service, battle with Singapore's Grab looms

13 February 2020
Women work on a  production line at a shoe factory in Kampong Speu, Cambodia.
Trade

Cambodia loses EU tariff privileges on $1bn worth of trade

Southeast Asian nation's top trading partner cites human rights violations

13 February 2020
Rosewood Yangon, the city's first "ultraluxury" hotel.
Life

Discreet boom highlights Yangon's resilience

Politics have fueled Western criticism, but new investors are flocking

12 February 2020
Foreign students in Japan are allowed to work in unskilled-labor positions, such as convenience store work, for up to 28 hours per week. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
Japan immigration

Japan intensifies crackdown on student visa overstayers

Number of countries subject to stricter checks to increase tenfold

11 February 2020
A passenger wearing a mask walks outside a railway station in Shanghai on Feb. 8  as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus.
Your Week in Asia

China's partial reopening, SoftBank results and Singapore Airshow

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

9 February 2020
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's human rights record has been criticized by the European Union, which is set to announce its decision Wednesday on removing trade privileges on some Cambodian exports. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
Trade

EU to end privileges on some Cambodia exports: lawmaker

Decision due Wednesday could hurt nation's $9.5bn apparel sector

9 February 2020
Medical staff work in the isolated intensive care unit in a hospital in Wuhan, China on Feb. 6. 
Coronavirus: Free to read

Coronavirus: Week of Feb. 1 to Feb. 8 brings supply chain strain

US citizen dies in Wuhan as impact on business begins to crystallize

8 February 2020
Supporters hold portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi as they gather in front of City Hall in Yangon on Dec. 10, 2019: Suu Kyi has reemerged as the protector of the Burmese people, the nation and the Myanmar military.
Opinion

Aung San Suu Kyi comes out on top in ICJ Rohingya ruling

Military finds a defender in Myanmar's de facto leader, but pays a price

8 February 2020
Watermelons in front of Myanmar's border with China in Muse in 2018: For the immediate future, farmers will have to find other markets for their produce as borders with China remain closed.
Coronavirus

Coronavirus leaves tropical fruit rotting at China border crossings

Farmers in Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam hit hard as city lock-downs disrupt trade

6 February 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Feb. 5.
International relations

'A friend in need is a friend indeed,' Xi tells visiting Hun Sen

Cambodian leader flies to Beijing to show solidarity amid coronavirus

6 February 2020
A view of a bridge that collapsed in Bali, Indonesia in 2016. The new insurance aims to offer protection for such Asian infrastructure. 
Economy

Asia's bridges and piers to be insured against disasters

Singapore, Japan and World Bank team to protect infrastructure

6 February 2020
A worker stands next to robotic arms in a factory in Zhangjiakou, China: robots often supplement and support humans rather than replace them.
Opinion

Asia's economies must learn to accommodate rise of robots

Technology can complement humans but it can also eliminate their jobs

5 February 2020
A Myanmar woman spreads out fish to dry in the sun. (Photo by Lindsay Stubbs)
Tea Leaves

In Myanmar's remote north, China is the key

Irrawaddy town that inspired Orwell's 'Burmese Days' hopes for BRI prosperity

5 February 2020
U.S. national security adviser Robert O'Brien attended the ASEAN summit and related events in Bangkok in November 2019, in place of President Donald Trump.
International relations

Five ASEAN leaders to attend 'olive branch' summit with US

Members want South China Sea in spotlight as Washington refocuses on region

4 February 2020
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Jan. 30 that Phnom Penh's decision not to evacuate students from Wuhan is a form of "soft diplomacy."
Coronavirus

Hun Sen offers Wuhan visit, while Pakistan resumes China flights

Beijing's clout generates measured responses to the virus crisis with some allies

4 February 2020
Amata halted a $1 billion "smart city" project outside Yangon, Myanmar due to the coup. (Source photos by Reuters and Shinya Sawai) 
Companies

Thai developer invests $1bn to put Myanmar industry on global map

Amata aims to woo foreign manufacturers with modern industrial zone in Yangon

3 February 2020
Cambodia's garment industry employs 750,000 workers. Losing tariff-free access to the EU could threaten some of those jobs. 
Business trends

As EU decision on tariffs looms, Cambodia garment industry gets nervous

Factories hit back at international brands' 'disappointing' criticism of human rights progress

3 February 2020