TAIPEI -- Taiwan has dispatched a top member of its COVID response team to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. as concern grows over a coronavirus outbreak at the world's largest chipmaker.

Wang Pi-sheng was sent to TSMC's Hsinchu base on Monday after the chipmaker reported three confirmed cases to the government, sources told Nikkei Asia.

The central government took over the COVID response at TSMC from the Hsinchu government the same day the possible cluster was announced, a sign of the chipmaker's importance to the global semiconductor

An Pich Hatda is chief executive officer of the Mekong River Commission Secretariat.

The Mekong River is Southeast Asia's beating heart, coursing almost 5,000 km through China, where it is known as the Lancang River, and onward through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before entering Vietnam and flowing into the sea.

More than 70 million people rely on the river, partly or entirely, for their livelihood, and its central role in the economies of the Lower Basin countries cannot be understated. Taken

BANGKOK -- A number of Chinese-backed highway projects are underway in the small Southeast Asian country of Laos, generating both hope and fear among a nation desperately trying to raise itself from the ranks of the world's least developed countries.

The new infrastructure projects are believed to be part of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative -- a massive economic zone linking it to Europe by land and sea. But concern is growing that the loans incurred to finance the projects may drive Laos into a "debt trap

TOKYO -- India's leading online retailer Flipkart on Monday said it raised $3.6 billion from a group of investors in a deal that valued the Indian e-commerce company at $37.6 billion.

The funding round was led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, SoftBank Group's Vision Fund 2 and U.S. retailer Walmart, according to Flipkart. Tencent Holdings, Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Berhad and other investors also participated.

The deal comes more

SINGAPORE -- Singapore is on the verge of becoming Asia's first major country to fully vaccinate the majority of its population against COVID-19, stepping closer -- at least in theory -- to exiting the pandemic.

A government that once spared no effort to trace every case and contain transmission is now drawing up a road map for "living with" the virus. Rather than focusing on "herd immunity," officials now say the disease is unlikely to disappear but can be managed as a less threatening

If headlines are anything to go by, the Chinese startup generating the most excitement these days isn't in ride hailing or addictive short videos but rather the venerable trade of selling women's clothes.

As with Didi Chuxing and TikTok parent ByteDance, Shein is drawing attention in part as an initial public offering candidate among investors searching for the next big thing.

While Didi is now feeling pressure from Chinese regulators, Shein's app has overtaken that of Amazon.com as the most downloaded shopping app in monthly U.

MANILA -- Patrolling the disputed South China Sea on June 30, a Philippine Coast Guard vessel approached a ship and blasted a radio warning: "You are within the Philippine exclusive economic zone. You are required to provide the following: name of vessel, intention, last and next port of call."

The coast guard later reported that it had dispersed five Chinese and two Vietnamese vessels, enabling Filipino fishermen to get on with "normal fishing."

The episode was documented in a video clip uploaded to Facebook,

HO CHI MINH CITY -- After years of warning its citizens not to "gamble" on virtual money, the Vietnamese government has decided to explore creating its own digital currency.

The surprise policy move came buried near the bottom of Prime Minister Decision 942, which lays out a strategy for digitizing the government by 2030. Released last month, it directs the State Bank of Vietnam to research, "develop, and pilot the use of virtual currency based on blockchain technology."

The move comes amid

TAIPEI -- Foxconn and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said on Monday morning they have signed $350 million worth of contracts to buy coronavirus vaccines from a Chinese distributor to help the government ramp up its inoculation drive amid a surge in local cases.

The top two Taiwanese companies by market cap said they will spend up to $175 million each to buy 10 million BioNTech vaccines that they will then donate to the government, according to stock exchange filings. TSMC is the world's most valuable chip