TOKYO -- As Asia struggles to grapple with the impact of a possible annexation of Taiwan by China, Japan as a regional leader faces its own nightmares should that scenario unfold. But all nations must count the costs of involving themselves in a conflict if such a situation occurs.

KUALA LUMPUR -- Creditors of budget carrier AirAsia's long-haul sister airline have approved a debt restructuring arrangement that proposes paying 0.5% of the debt owed and disbanding all existing obligations.

TOKYO -- Toshiba announced on Friday a plan to split itself into three public companies, in a move aimed at sharpening the focus and improving the profitability of key business units.

TOKYO -- Japan will bolster its response to technology leaks and other threats to economic security by stepping up intelligence collection, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said Friday.

TOKYO -- A Maritime Self-Defense Force ship escorted an Australian vessel during this week's bilateral naval drill, Japan's Defense Ministry said Friday, marking the first time Japanese forces protected warships other than U.S. vessels.

TOKYO -- The fate of SBI Holding's $1 billion tender offer for Shinsei Bank now rests on the decision by a government-backed shareholder that bailed out the Shinsei predecessor decades ago.

Paola Subacchi is professor of international economics at the University of London's Queen Mary Global Policy Institute, and the author, most recently, of "The Cost of Free Money," Yale University Press.

TOKYO -- Around two weeks before Toshiba officially announced its three-way separation Friday, it is said to have received a brokerage's final proposal based on discussions by the Japanese conglomerate's strategic review committee.

ISTANBUL -- Leaders of six Turkic states -- spanning Central Asia, the Caucasus and Asia Minor -- plus Hungary gathered in a tightly secured island in Istanbul on Friday, agreeing to explore further cooperation and integration amid fears that the instability in Afghanistan could spill over into the region in forms of radicalism, terrorism and migration.

NEW YORK -- President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their first virtual summit on Monday evening, U.S. time, to discuss cooperation and competition, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Friday.