SINGAPORE -- An undercurrent of unease over the intensifying superpower rivalry and the new AUKUS alliance is running through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' summits this week, with some members taking the opportunity to voice their concerns.

In a highlight of three days of virtual meetings, ASEAN will host the East Asia Summit on Wednesday evening with leaders from two of the three AUKUS members -- the U.S. and Australia -- along with China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and South Korea. This will

HONG KONG -- Shares of PAX Global Technology plunged 43.3% in Hong Kong on Wednesday before going into a trading halt amid media reports of a law enforcement raid on a Florida warehouse belonging to the Chinese payment terminal maker.

In a statement to local media, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said that it was "executing a court-authorized search... in furtherance of a federal investigation."

The agency said the raid was "in partnership" with the departments of Homeland Security

TOKYO -- Japanese vaccine makers are racing to release COVID vaccines next year as they anticipate new virus variants and further outbreaks.

KM Biologics, a Meiji Holdings subsidiary, said on Wednesday that it is aiming for the release of its inactivated vaccine for use as booster shots next year. The Kumamoto-based company began a Phase 2/3 trial last week.

Inactivated vaccines have been used for influenza and other infectious diseases for years. An initial clinical trial on KM Biologics' vaccine has shown that it has fewer side effects

TOKYO -- Hitachi Construction Machinery shares climbed 7% on Wednesday after the company released first-half earnings that beat market expectations and included an upgraded profit forecast.

The stock rallied for a fourth straight day to close at 3,715 yen, near the intraday high and not far off the year-to-date high of 3,750 yen marked in June. The Nikkei Stock Average was roughly flat Wednesday, while rival Komatsu's shares gained 2.5%. Caterpillar shares dipped 1

TOKYO -- It's a phenomena rarely seen in commodity markets. As natural gas prices skyrocket across the world, Europe and Asia are paying up to nearly six times more for natural gas than the U.S., as a lack of American liquefaction capacity fragments global markets.

On Tuesday in New York, front month contracts for Henry Hub gas futures closed above $5.88 per million BTUs, more than doubling in the year to date.

The fuel topped $6.46 on Oct.

HANOI -- Vingroup, Vietnam's largest conglomerate, is pulling out all the stops as it prepares to break into Western auto markets with its first electric vehicles, just a few years after its first foray into auto manufacturing.

Two electric models from subsidiary VinFast will be on display at next month's Los Angeles Auto Show in California. The company will begin taking orders in the U.S. and Europe in the first half of next year. Pricing and other details are expected to be announced on Nov.

DALIAN/GUANGZHOU, China -- China is ramping up its push to end a coronavirus outbreak with less than 100 days until the Winter Olympics in Beijing, an event President Xi Jinping considers a key steppingstone toward solidifying a rare third term as leader.

On the outskirts of the southern industrial hub of Guangzhou, the final touches are being put on an expansive complex consisting of rows upon rows of white buildings.

Construction on the Guangzhou International Health Station, China's first dedicated quarantine facility for arrivals from overseas,

Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff writer and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.

TOKYO -- A long-held belief in China is that as long as the Communist Party stays in power, housing prices will continue to rise. Ordinary Chinese, however, are now debating whether this conviction is about to be turned upside down.

The debate was

Frederik Kristensen is deputy CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

As world leaders gather this week at the ASEAN and the Group of 20 summits, they must not only demonstrate their determination to protect the world against the continuing ravages of COVID-19, they must also prepare for the next pandemic.

The goal should be nothing less than a future in which epidemic and pandemic diseases no longer pose an existential threat to our ways of life.

COVID-19 spurred tremendous scientific breakthroughs. We saw the development