Erdogan lets envoys stay after embassies affirm noninterference
ISTANBUL -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday walked back his weekend threat to expel 10 Western ambassadors, including Washington's, following apparent last-minute diplomatic maneuvering behind the scenes.
"The embassies, with their new statement, have retreated from their slander toward our judiciary and country," Erdogan told a news conference after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, the capital.
The about-face came the day that the 10 embassies, starting with the U.S., affirmed their noninterference in Turkish
Taiwan foreign minister embarks on EU trip to bolster ties
TAIPEI/BRUSSELS -- Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu visits Central Europe this week as Taipei and the European Union pursue closer political ties along with economic partnerships in areas such as semiconductors.
On his first trip to Europe since 2019, Wu is set to speak Tuesday at an international conference in Slovakia and meet with the president of the Czech Republic Senate, who went to Taiwan himself last summer.
Like the two European countries, "we similarly aspire to freedom, human rights & rule of law," Wu
Bankrupt HNA clears creditor hurdle in $170bn debt restructure
GUANGZHOU -- HNA Group took a major step forward over the weekend in what is believed to be China's largest bankruptcy case to date, with creditors greenlighting an investment by a lesser-known conglomerate that has been involved in a series of turnarounds.
At 1.1 trillion yuan ($172 billion), HNA's debt dwarfs that of China's other high-profile bankruptcy cases, including Baoshang Bank's roughly 200 billion yuan and Tsinghua Unigroup's 160 billion
From Japan to U.S., thieves grab car parts worth more than gold
TOKYO -- In a city near Toyota Motor's hometown, police were recently confronted by a rare kind of theft, even for low-crime Japan.
A Toyota Prius hybrid reported stolen last month in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, was later recovered with its catalytic converter cut out.
"I'd never heard of such a case in this prefecture until now," a source close to the police said.
American and British police would be unlikely to say the same. Emissions-reducing catalytic converters have become a
Can ASEAN coexist with the Quad?
Richard Maude is executive director of policy at Asia Society Australia.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations begins three days of intense regional summitry today, facing a barrage of tests to its relevance, internal cohesion and social and economic health.
Chaired by Brunei, Southeast Asian leaders will meet virtually for their end-of-year summit and a suite of meetings that have ASEAN at their core. Most important of these is the annual leaders' meeting of the 18-member East Asia Summit, which includes the U.S
ASEAN set for 3 days of summits as Myanmar threatens credibility
SINGAPORE -- Top leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will gather for a series of virtual summits from Tuesday to Thursday, with multiple challenges hanging over the region's premier diplomatic events of the year.
The meetings -- including regionwide discussions as well as talks with key individual partners like China, Japan and India -- come amid prolonged political unrest in Myanmar that has cast doubt on the bloc's international relevance. At the same time, the intensifying security rivalry between the U.S. and China
Posco Q3 operating profit quadruples on rising steel prices
SEOUL -- Steel giant Posco's operating profit more than quadrupled in the third quarter from a year ago thanks to rising global steel prices, resulting in record-high quarterly earnings.
South Korea's biggest steelmaker said on Monday operating profit hit 3.1 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in the July-September quarter, up 365.7% from the previous year. Revenue jumped 44.7% to 20.6 trillion won during the same period. Net profit
Indian edtech battle heats up as Vedantu joins unicorn club
TOKYO -- India's online education startup Vedantu is aiming to double its revenue even as the boost the company received from pandemic-related restrictions fades, its CEO told Nikkei Asia.
The aggressive expansion strategy comes after the company joined the country's club of unicorns -- private companies worth $1 billion or more -- in September following a $100 million funding round led by an investment fund affiliated with Singapore's Temasek Holdings. Indian edtech giants are emerging at a time when their Chinese peers
International rules make US-China conflict more likely
Ben Scott is director, Australia's security and the rules-based order project at the Lowy Institute.
Unlike previous great power contests, competition between the U.S. and China is being waged through, and over the content of, international rules.
The winners of the First World War sought to reorder the world in the form of the League of Nations. They did so again after the Second World War, although more inclusively, by establishing the United Nations. Something similar happened after the Cold War, as
Amnesty International to shut Asia headquarters in Hong Kong
HONG KONG -- Human rights advocacy group Amnesty International plans to close its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong by the end of the year due to constraints on its operations from the national security law imposed on the city last year by Beijing.
Research, advocacy and campaigning work will move to other offices in the region, a step that will affect about 30 staff members. Local fundraising and human rights education work is to come to an end by Sunday.
"Hong Kong has long been an ideal regional base for