About Asia

SCMP's Washington-based corrrespondent Kinling Lo reports on the diplomatic full-court press delivered by the White House for the two day ASEAN summit, and picks up on the significant omissions in the offers of support from the US. Korea Times journalist Kim Bo-eun analyses the inauguration ceremony of South Korea's new president Yoong Suk-yeol and why the attendance of China's vice premier and Japan's foreign minister made history, amid plans for US president Joe Biden to fly personally to…

SCMP tech desk editor Zhou Xin looks at reports the US Treasury is about to sanction the world’s biggest maker of surveillance tech and why this worries Wall Street and China’s tech sector. Analyst Edward Cavanough, specialising in ties between the Solomon Islands and China, looks at comments by PM Sogavare on China’s links to Christian communities and why Australia’s Pentecostal PM Scott Morrison is now wedged, with few options to redress his foreign policy failure.

Finbarr Bermingham reports onthe EU's legislative tools aimed at trade with China; why Xi Jinping phoned French president Macron; and complications for the UN human rights mission headed to Xinjiang. Hear a deep-dive into the security pact signed by Beijing and Solomon Islands: Dr Anna Powles, geopolitics and security expert analyses the Pacific balance of power; former Solomon Islands diplomat and Melanesian diplomacy expert Mihai Sora on why climate change, not military power, is the primary…

SCMP senior Asia correspondent Maria Siow analyses the geopolitical bombshell deal signed by the Solomon Islands with Beijing for security and a possible military base. What does this mean for the US Asia-Pacific pivot, and is this Australia’s single biggest foreign policy failure? Mark Magnier in New York looks at Chinese ambassador to the US Qin Gang’s courting of conservative opinion over China’s stance on the Russian war in Ukraine, and what actually happened with US House Speaker Nancy…

SCMP Europe correspondent Finbarr Bermingham analyses the fallout of the meeting between the EU senior leadership and China’s Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping, labelled a ‘dialogue of the deaf’ by one attendee. While Beijing refuses to discuss the Ukraine war or China’s state media amplifying alleged Russian disinformation and war crimes denials, Bermingham reveals the US is actively modelling the types of sanctions employed against Russia for use on China’s financial system. Hear also of how the…

SCMP's Brussels-based reporter Finbarr Bermingham previews the China-EU summit, and what the EU leaders want from Xi Jinping regarding the Ukraine war. China desk reporter Shi Jiangtao analyses Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. China desk senior editor Peter Langan reports from Tokyo about Japan’s recent discussions on nuclear weapons, and how Japan being (still) officially at war with Russia since WW2 complicates its multi-billion dollar…

Beijing is under growing pressure to offer diplomatic assistance for peace negotiations as Nato issues a historic statement taking aim at China’s state media for pushing Russian misinformation. Mumbai-based journalist Kunal Purohit unpacks the agenda of Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi as he visits the Taliban before landing in India. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping makes an unprecedented call to South Korean president-elect Yoon Seok-yeol after North Korea’s latest missile launch…

The Post’s Europe correspondent Finbarr Bermingham reports on the one-year anniversary of China’s sanctions on European politicians and diplomats over Xinjiang, as the EU’s foreign and defence ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the war in Ukraine and Beijing’s support for Moscow. North America bureau chief Rob Delaney analyses the words used by Chinese ambassador Qin Gang on US television to balance Beijing’s refusal to condemn Putin’s war, and what Joe Biden had to say about the Russian…

SCMP's EU reporter Finbarr Bermingham analyses Xi Jinping’s phone call with his French and German counterparts and provides the latest on the UN human rights chief visit to Xinjiang. Chad Bray analyses sanctions on Russian oil, its financial system and high-profile resignation of Huawei executives. China foreign policy expert Dr Courtney Fung analyses China’s abstention at the UN General Assembly vote and explains why the ‘no-limits’ Sino-Russian partnership comes with costs for Beijing’s UN…

When China’s foreign minister Wang Yi held his annual extended press conference on the sidelines of the Two Sessions this week, there was one pressing question: what will China do about Russia and Ukraine? SCMP’s Beijing-based reporter Shi Jiangtao analyses Wang’s comments on Ukraine and Russia as well as what his words revealed about Beijing's policy for the EU, India, South Korea and Japan, amid growing international calls for Beijing to step in to end the worsening humanitarian crisis in…