Welcome to Your Week in Asia.

The Biden administration's overtures to Southeast Asia continue this week as Vice President Kamala Harris, its highest ranking envoy so far, visits Singapore and Vietnam. Last month, defense secretary Lloyd Austin ended his three-country tour of the region -- renewing the Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines, a key base for countering China in contested waters.

Three big Chinese makers of electric vehicles will post earnings on Friday. And the Bank of Korea may raise its benchmark rate on Thursday,

NEW DELHI -- Armin Karimi, an Afghan refugee in India's capital, is anguished about the Taliban takeover and deteriorating security situation in his war-torn homeland.

"I came here five years ago with my parents and a brother to rebuild [our lives and return] once things improved back home," said the 19-year-old, who runs a bakery in a city market.

Two of Karimi's older siblings chose to remain in Kabul and continue with their jobs. "My doctor

HANOI -- Leading U.S. chipmaker Intel and other foreign companies operating in Vietnam have expressed concerns that prolonged stringent COVID-19 countermeasures in Ho Chi Minh City could discourage investment, as Hanoi prepares to deploy troops in the southern commercial hub to enforce restrictions.

Representatives of foreign companies met with authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's largest city which has become the epicenter of the nation's worst outbreak. In response to the spiraling case, the central government has announced strict measures in the

TAIPEI -- Chinese electric car maker BYD's plan to list its semiconductor arm has been suspended due to a regulatory probe into the law firm advising the company on the deal, in the latest sign of Chinese authorities tightening their scrutiny of local tech companies and capital markets.

BYD Semiconductor, China's biggest maker of automotive microcontroller chips, filed an application in May to list on Shenzhen's ChiNext, a Nasdaq-style market supervised by Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The company aimed to raise at least 2.6

TOKYO -- Concern is growing in Japan that indispensable foreign workers will turn away from its domestic industry in the near future. Although Japan currently is a popular migration destination for them, its attractiveness will weaken if Southeast Asian countries achieve smooth economic development. In addition, competition for manpower with China is likely as the world's second-largest economy heads toward a decrease in population.

While reluctant to accept immigrants, Japan has a technical intern training program for foreign workers for the official purpose of assisting developing nations. But

NEW YORK/ PALO ALTO -- Peggy from Shanghai remembers well an academic convention she attended during her college years. It wasn't the moving speech by an executive from a well-known public company, but what happened later over dinner.

The businessman turned to Peggy and asked her to drink, but she refused saying she was sick. "He immediately pulled a long face and seemed angry, as if I did something really bad," Peggy, now a finance professional in her mid-20s,

TOKYO -- Total inventory at the world's nine leading chipmakers hit a record high of $64.7 billion as of the end of June, as companies quickly move to ramp up production to alleviate a protracted shortage that has disrupted supply chains in the auto industry and beyond.

Digitization and the rise of fifth-generation wireless have turned chips into an indispensable component across industry lines, while the coronavirus pandemic has forced many chipmakers to suspend production in Southeast Asia. Chipmakers have struggled to keep up despite a mad

BEIJING -- China's new rules on the handling of automotive data will take effect Oct. 1 and build a barrier against foreign companies from accessing driving records and onboard images, a move that will hamper their own efforts to advance self-driving technology.

Draft rules based on the nation's new slew of legislation governing data, were first published in May , with the implementation date announced Friday. The regulations are aimed at preventing vast amounts of personal data generated in China, the world's largest auto market

Malcolm Turnbull is a former Prime Minister of Australia and a director of the International Hydropower Association. His memoir "A Bigger Picture," was published last year.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, report sets out in the starkest possible terms the threats to the planet caused by climate change. If you still doubt the science, just switch on the television and see if you can avoid the news reports of floods, fires or droughts around the world. Unless we stop burning fossil fuels, and dramatically reduce