ISTANBUL/SEOUL -- After K-pop and K-drama, the latest Korean export surging in popularity in Turkey and the Middle East is K-beauty.

According to data from Turkey's largest e-commerce company, Trendyol, shared exclusively with Nikkei Asia, sales of South Korean cosmetics on its platform have been running five times higher than a year ago.

The figures suggest the South Korean beauty industry is opening up another new export market, as its sales rise across the globe.

Last year was "

HONG KONG -- Profit growth for Chinese internet group Tencent Holdings beat analyst expectations thanks to thriving advertising and financial services revenues despite mounting regulatory pressure on issues ranging from data privacy to protection of minors.

Total revenues for the Shenzhen-based company rose 20% in the April-June quarter to 138.3 billion yuan ($21.33 billion) from a year ago, largely in line with the average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. Net income rose 29% to

HONG KONG -- A Chinese government fund has taken a small stake in a domestic operating unit of ByteDance, creator of the global hit short-video app TikTok, as Beijing tightens its grip over major internet platforms.

WangTouZhongWen (Beijing) Technology, owned by a Cyberspace Administration of China investment vehicle as well as two other state agencies, invested 2 million yuan ($308,770) in April for a 1% stake in Beijing ByteDance Technology, according to public records from the National Enterprise Credit

WILHELMSHAVEN, Germany -- 15 days into the maiden Indo-Pacific voyage of the German navy's Bayern frigate, its captain is still awaiting for an answer from Beijing on whether the vessel will be allowed to make a port call in Shanghai.

The German navy's press kit handed out at the Bayern's departure from Wilhelmshaven in northwestern Germany on August 2 listed port calls in Djibouti, Karachi, Diego Garcia, Perth, Guam, Tokyo, Incheon, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Colombo and

BANGKOK -- Along its border with Myanmar, China is taking a stab at containing the spread of COVID-19 by ramping up ties with armed groups operating in rural ethnic enclaves, completely ignoring the military regime in Myanmar.

The Kachin Independence Army, Shan State Army-North and United Wa State Army -- the largest of Myanmar's rebel forces -- have become conduits for doses of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines, bolstering alliances that Beijing has cultivated in a corner of Southeast Asia that is

TOKYO -- The findings of a government report on the death of a Sri Lankan detainee have trained a spotlight on the glaring issues in Japan's immigration system, reigniting calls to reform the way the country treats people held for deportation.

The death in March of 33-year-old Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali while she was detained at the Nagoya immigration center could be attributed to multiple causes, a report by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan released last week said. The conclusion stressed serious shortcomings in medical care at

KUALA LUMPUR -- The search for Malaysia's next prime minister appears to have narrowed to two leading candidates -- Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Anwar Ibrahim -- with the former widely believed to have the edge.

Ismail, who served as deputy prime minister in the Muhyiddin Yassin-led government before its collapse on Monday, has overcome a rift within his own United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to secure the party's full support. Some, including Ismail, had continued to back Muhyiddin while others abandoned him,

TOKYO -- The Taliban's lightning return to power in Afghanistan raises the prospect that the ungovernable country will again become a hotbed of Islamic extremism.

Why then did the U.S. -- which more than any country on Earth should have seen this possibility -- push ahead with its speedy drawdown of troops after a 20-year military adventure?

"We've succeeded in [our] mission, and in fact, we succeeded a while ago," said U.S. Secretary of State

SINGAPORE -- Amid the great U.S.-China tech divide, Southeast Asia and its fast-growing digital markets have become a main battleground for the digital behemoths of both superpowers.

There, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba Group Holding and other players are investing heavily in cloud computing -- services that provide processing power and data storage to all sizes of corporations and government institutions.

A massive 170,000-sq.-meter structure is going up in Tanjong Kling,