Myanmar coup latest: Military lifts age limit for Min Aung Hlaing position
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.
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In Modi's India self-reliance means you are on your own
Rupa Subramanya is a researcher and commentator.
On May 8, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a virtual meeting with leaders of the European Union taking place in Porto, Portugal.
Aside from the usual boilerplate, the main takeaway from the joint statement was a commitment "to enhance our trade and investment relationship to realize its untapped potential."
Specifically, the two sides agreed to resume talks on a bilateral trade agreement. Talks on such an agreement took place between the EU and the previous Indian government of Prime Minister
China ex-central banker Zhou downplays e-yuan and birthrate worries
TOKYO -- China's former central bank Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan on Thursday sought to defuse concerns about his country's new digital currency and its declining birthrate, in remarks to Nikkei's Future of Asia conference.
Zhou, who serves as vice chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, also said the region's countries need to strengthen digital infrastructure and improve regulatory frameworks to attract more capital. He was speaking in a video message to the annual event, being held in Tokyo and online through Friday.
Zhou
China tech crackdown casts pall over June '618' shopping spree
SHANGHAI -- China's antitrust watchdog has ramped up its crackdown on internet companies, raising concerns about Beijing's tightening grip on the tech sector ahead of a major online shopping bonanza held every June.
E-tailer Pinduoduo and food-delivery-app operator Meituan were summoned by the Shanghai Consumer Council last week for what it sees as practices "severely damaging the rights of consumers."
The regulators accused the two companies of pressuring partner companies and listing counterfeit products, among other misconduct. The two were ordered to
Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa rejects China-backed port's 'debt trap' image
TOKYO -- Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday vowed to balance diplomatic ties between China and India -- the two Asian giants competing for strategic influence in the Indian Ocean -- while defending controversial Chinese infrastructure projects.
"We are aware of the world power rivalry and regional power dynamics, but our foreign policy is to remain neutral," Rajapaksa said while addressing Nikkei's Future of Asia conference, which is being held in Tokyo and online through Friday.
"We will not jeopardize Indian security," he stressed
Thailand's Prayuth says COVID vaccines should be 'public goods'
TOKYO -- Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Thursday called on global leaders to allow COVID-19 vaccines to flow freely -- rather than using them as political or diplomatic tools -- and to cooperate on measures to restore travel.
"Thailand hereby calls for COVID-19 vaccines to be considered global public goods," Prayuth said in a recorded speech to Nikkei's Future of Asia forum, held in Tokyo and online through Friday. "We need collective action toward a global vaccination campaign,
Taiwan's Powertech happy at home as chipmaking peers head overseas
HSINCHU, Taiwan -- The world's biggest provider of memory chip packaging and testing services says Taiwan is still the ideal location from which to serve global customers, bucking the global trend of tech supply chain diversification.
Powertech Technology CEO Boris Hsieh said the island boasts an unrivaled chip supply chain and that it is "too early" to expand to the U.S.
"When it comes to total operation cost and a complete chip supply chain ... Taiwan is still the most competitive in the world,"
Cambodia's Hun Sen: 'If I don't rely on China, who will I rely on?'
TOKYO -- Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has defended his close relationship with China, pointing to Beijing's large injections of financial support to his small nation.
China is Cambodia's key political patron and largest source of development assistance, having helped funnel billions of dollars for infrastructure projects. This has fueled criticism that Phnom Penh has become over-reliant on, and a proxy for, Beijing. But Hun Sen, speaking remotely to Nikkei's Future of Asia conference, called that criticism "unjust.
China supply chains give birth to potent global brands
TOKYO -- A number of Chinese consumer goods startups have spent the past decade zipping along an expressway created by the country's famed supply chains as well as the world's big online retailers, one that has recently begun delivering them to global prominence.
The new brands are appealing to young people not only in China but also in Japan, the U.S. and Europe, where they began generating revenue in 2020.
GenBridge Capital, a Chinese venture capital company, took note of the trend
ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming to hand over CEO role
HONG KONG -- Zhang Yiming, one of the two co-founders of the global short-video sensation TikTok, told employees on Thursday that he will step down as chief executive at the app's parent company, ByteDance, by the end of this year and hand over the role to his university classmate Liang Rubo, the other co-founder.
The 38-year-old software engineer by training said he will take up a new role, focusing on long-term strategy, corporate culture and social