VIENNA/BEIJING -- Enthusiasm for China has cooled in much of central and eastern Europe, leaving Beijing alarmed as human rights concerns and stalled investments push disillusioned partners toward the U.S.

Politburo member Yang Jiechi, China's top diplomat, met with Slovenian President Borut Pahor on Wednesday during a visit to the country. The two called for stronger relations between China and the European Union and for regular Brussels-Beijing dialogues, according to the president's office. Yang traveled to Croatia the following day to speak

TOKYO/OSAKA -- In the race to produce the next generation of advanced batteries for electric vehicles, Japan Inc.'s rivals are gathering.

Toyota Motor, the world's biggest car producer in 2020, has long been considered a front-runner to produce a commercially viable solid-state battery -- which would be more stable and faster to charge than the lithium-ion batteries used today by carmakers from Tesla of the U.S. to China's BYD. Toyota plans to

TOKYO -- Japan's push for a bigger voice at the United Nations and other global organizations has contributed to a double-digit increase in positions held by Japanese nationals, but rising Asian power China has logged even faster growth.

Japanese nationals held 912 specialist positions or higher-ranking posts at international organizations as of the end of 2019, a gain of 23% from 2015 and nearly double the 2001 figure, U.N. data shows. This

TOKYO -- With the U.S. economy starting to bounce back from a coronavirus-induced chill, Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman is bullish about a recovery both on Wall Street and Main Street.

In a wide-ranging remote interview with Nikkei, Gorman identified ultralow interest rates and record government stimulus as key driving forces behind the U.S. economy, and predicted that inflationary pressures could push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in 2022.

Asked about how Morgan Stanley's market

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's legislature on Thursday passed a new election law introduced by Beijing in the near-absence of opposition lawmakers, a move that critics describe as a regression of the city's democracy.

Forty lawmakers voted in favor of the so-called Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Bill, while two independent lawmakers voted against it.

The National People's Congress, China's top decision-making body, approved the overhaul in March during its annual parliamentary meeting. Local officials have

HANOI -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is urging his government to focus on controlling the spread of COVID-19 in Bac Giang and Bac Ninh as a top priority, as the two provinces which are home to key industrial zones remain at "very high risk."

Chinh said the two provinces form the "fortress to counter the epidemic for the whole country" and that the government's "highest goal" should be on quelling the spread in the two provinces.

The prime minister convened an urgent online

Vincent Peng is a senior vice president at Huawei, and a member of the company's board.

Two years ago this month, the Trump Administration placed Huawei Technologies on a blacklist that blocked U.S. companies from selling us the tech components we need to make smartphones and other products as well.

That restriction was followed by others, including a move last year to prevent Huawei from buying chips from the world's largest maker of semiconductors Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), a Taiwan-based manufacturer

TAIPEI -- Key Apple supplier Foxconn and other big Taiwanese tech companies are attempting to purchase COVID-19 vaccines in a bid to keep business running smoothly amid a recent spike in coronavirus infections.

Foxconn is in talks with a number of vaccine makers to procure doses, multiple sources told Nikkei Asia, while executives at other companies are considering banding together to buy surplus doses from overseas.

Foxconn had earlier approached Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group, the sales arm of BioNTech-Pfizer, as first reported by Taiwan's Storm Media

YANGON/BANGKOK -- Myanmar's military on Feb. 1 detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country's first coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.

The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had won a landslide in a general election in November . But the military has claimed the election was marred by fraud.

For all our coverage, visit our Myanmar Coup page.

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-- Myanmar