WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is set to travel to the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore later this month, people familiar with the matter told Nikkei, in the first visit to Southeast Asia by a top member of the Biden administration.

With territorial tensions smoldering in the South China Sea as Beijing looks to extend its reach, Washington hopes to cooperate with countries in the region for a more unified approach to China policy.

Preparations are in the final stages for the visit, which aims to serve as

NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 vaccine exports have been at a standstill for three months so far -- with little prospect of their resumption anytime soon -- after a deadly second wave of the virus ravaged the South Asian nation of over 1.3 billion people in April and May.

Global supplies of made-in-India jabs were part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vaccine diplomacy for contesting regional and global influence with China. The disastrous resurgence of the pandemic has stalled not only New

SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in decided not to travel to Tokyo this week for the Olympics, the presidential Blue House announced Monday, withdrawing an initial plan to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

The Blue House said Moon decided not to go to Japan as talks between Seoul and Tokyo over holding a summit collapsed.

"We decided like this because we could not have enough accomplishments for the summit, although the meetings were held in friendly atmosphere and we narrowed our gaps considerably," Park

TOKYO -- Japanese compact car maker Suzuki Motor will release its first all-electric vehicle by fiscal 2025, Nikkei has learned, a move that is likely to accelerate an EV shift in the category of compact cars.

The new EV will be released first in India, Suzuki's stronghold, to be followed by launches in Japan and Europe. The first EV model will be made available for 1.5 million yen ($13,700) or less, after government subsidies are

SEOUL -- Fintech company Kakao Pay said on Monday that its initial public offering may be delayed after the financial regulator demanded it correct its filing -- the second time in a month for a major IPO to be upended in South Korea.

The affiliate of online messaging giant Kakao canceled an online news conference on its IPO scheduled for next week, saying it will announce a new date when one is fixed.

The Financial Supervisory Service on Friday ordered Kakao Pay to rewrite its IPO registration form within three months, saying it could

JAKARTA -- GoTo, Indonesia's largest tech company, is leading an effort to create a facility dedicated to providing oxygen to those suffering from COVID-19, as hospitals suffer a supply shortage due to a surge in cases sweeping the country.

Jakarta-based GoTo, Aneka Gas Industri, an Indonesia Stock Exchange-listed industrial gas company, and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce on Monday jointly announced the initiative.

Located in East Jakarta, it will "be able to provide an ongoing, uninterrupted oxygen supply for

TOKYO -- Nikkei Inc. on Monday announced that together with the Financial Times it will open a bureau in the U.S. city of Houston in October.

The bureau will strengthen Nikkei's coverage of the energy industry, which is heavily concentrated in the state of Texas, but will undergo a major transformation as the world shifts toward a low-carbon economy.

Nikkei's overseas bureau network will expand to 37.

Texas is home to energy giant Exxon Mobil, but has recently also seen an influx

William Bratton is author of "China's Rise, Asia's Decline." He was previously head of equity research, Asia-Pacific, at HSBC.

Afghanistan is not the first country to find itself on the wrong side of a change in U.S. foreign policy, and nor will it be the last. Like other great powers throughout history, America has a rich tradition of discarding allegiances once they are no longer important to its changing political, ideological or economic priorities.

Afghanistan may now be discovering

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. has installed a new representative in Japan to handle ambassador duties until President Joe Biden's presumed nominee, Rahm Emanuel, can be sworn in.

Raymond Greene assumed the role of U.S. charge d'affaires ad interim in Japan on Saturday, filling the post vacated by predecessor Joseph Young in June.

Greene, a 25-year career diplomat at the State Department, previously held such posts as director for Japan and East Asian economic affairs at the National Security Council