HO CHI MINH CITY/TAIPEI -- Factories in Vietnam making products for Netflix, Ikea and Nike have joined a list of companies forced to halt production as the country battles its deadliest wave of the virus, while other facilities are setting up COVID "bubbles" in an attempt to keep running.

After Samsung and footwear major Pou Chen suspended some production at their factories last week, Vietnam authorities have expanded the number of factories subject to rules requiring them to either house staff on-site or suspend operations.

Apple supplier GoerTek

TAIPEI/HONG KONG -- China's No. 2 mobile chip developer Unisoc is searching for new anchor investors at a high valuation as it tries to distance itself from its troubled parent Tsinghua Unigroup and pave the way for a long-awaited initial public offering.

Unisoc is hoping to find buyers willing to pay 20 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) for Tsinghua's 35.2% stake, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Tsinghua is under pressure to sell after missing a

Boonsithi Chokwatana is chairman of Saha Group, Thailand's leading consumer products conglomerate . This is part 2 of a 30-part series.

The Chokwatana family's history in Thailand began when my grandfather, Li Fook Ho, the eldest son of a farmer in China's Guangdong Province, moved to Bangkok with his family around 1900. He was one of many overseas Chinese who scattered throughout Asia to escape poverty.

My grandfather was a man of robust health. He worked all kinds of jobs

BANGKOK -- Asian food delivery giant Foodpanda has become the target of a boycott by pro-democracy protesters in Thailand after the subsidiary of Frankfurt-listed Delivery Hero made a remark against rallygoers' freedom of speech.

On Monday, #BanFoodpanda was listed for a second straight day as one of the most trending hashtags in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy. Over a million tweets were made using the hashtag.

A boycott could deal a heavy blow to the food delivery operator in a highly competitive market. The country

TOKYO -- The political climate is heating up in South Korea as potential presidential candidates draw their battle lines. The outcome of the March 9 vote for the successor to President Moon Jae-in will go a long way toward defining the political path of the nation for the next five years and will have huge implications for Japan's traditionally prickly relationship with its neighbor.

As presidential hopefuls across the political spectrum announce their candidacies for the single term allowed, one political neophyte has emerged as a potential agent of change for the

HONG KONG -- International use of the yuan has set a new record by one measure for the first time in more than five years, thanks to a recent jump in foreign investment in Chinese equities and bonds denominated in the currency.

The Renminbi Globalization Index, developed by Standard Chartered, had slumped in 2015 following China's tightening of capital controls after its devaluation of the yuan. But it has rebounded over the past year, and by March it had beaten its September 2015 high.

TOKYO -- The Summer Olympics bring home a win for the host nation's stock market -- so suggests past market data, at least.

But 2021 is no ordinary Olympic year. With the Summer Games just days away from starting in coronavirus-clouded Tokyo to empty venues, no tourists and tepid public support, past performance may be no indicator of gains this time.

Of the eight Summer Games held since 1988, host nations saw their benchmark stock indexes rise in the year following

TAIPEI/HONG KONG -- China's No. 2 mobile chip developer Unisoc is searching for new anchor investors at a high valuation as it tries to distance itself from its troubled parent Tsinghua Unigroup and pave the way for a long-awaited initial public offering.

Unisoc is hoping to find buyers willing to pay 20 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) for Tsinghua's 35.2% stake, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Tsinghua is under pressure to sell after missing a

TOKYO -- Countries typically splurge on their athletic teams to win medals at the Olympics. But how has this improved their athlete's performance?

An analysis involving investment by governments and Olympic-related bodies and the number of medals won shows that money spent on track and field, swimming and similar sports is the best way to get a return in medals, as opposed to other events.

Based on the results of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the analysis looked at Japan, the U