Asia & Pacific

WELLINGTON—New Zealand’s Labour-led government said on Friday it plans to impose a tax on most international visitors to fund infrastructure and ease strains on the South Pacific nation’s booming tourist sector. The new tax of up to NZ$35 (US$24.40) per person will start in mid-2019—the middle of the official “China New Zealand Year of Tourism”—and […]

TAIPEI—Taiwan prosecutors indicted the spokesman for a pro-China political party and two other party members for allegedly seeking to recruit Taiwan military officers on behalf of China and violating the National Security Act, a court statement said. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement on June 13 that New Party spokesman Wang Ping-chung […]

In a June 12 press release, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it was initiating an investigation into whether steel propane cylinders from China, Taiwan, and Thailand are being dumped in the United States at much lower prices, stifling competition from American manufacturers. The cylinders are portable tanks of propane commonly used to heat […]

MANAGUA—Nicaragua’s Roman Catholic bishops said on Wednesday they will mediate a new round of talks later this week between the government and civil society groups following deadly protests against President Daniel Ortega. Anti-government protests began in mid-April after a controversial social security overhaul. The demonstrations quickly snowballed into the biggest crisis that Ortega has had […]

An Australian man is awaiting trial in the Philippines after allegedly helping run a pedophile network that included the production of videos in which babies and children were raped, tortured, and even murdered. So far, Peter Scully, 55, has been convicted of one count of human trafficking and five counts of rape by sexual assault, […]

SEOUL—North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat, nor is it the “biggest and most dangerous problem” for the United States, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, June 13, on his return from a summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The summit was the first between a sitting U.S. president and […]

Mount Agung, a volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali has erupted, sending a plume of volcanic ash that reached 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) into the air. Dramatic footage of the eruption was captured by a tourist on Wednesday, June 13 and uploaded to Instagram. The tourist captioned the footage with, “Must admit have […]

The Korean War may finally be coming to a close, with North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons programs and reunification for the Korean Peninsula in the works. Yet, as North Korea begins its transition out of communism, the effects of the ideology based in atheism and struggle have also taken hold in different ways in […]

The United States has unveiled a new $256 million, fortified building in Taiwan’s capital city, Taipei, to be used as its de facto embassy, at a time when the Trump administration has been gradually strengthening its ties with the democratic island nation against Beijing’s increasingly aggressive posturing. Despite not having official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, […]

SINGAPORE—In the end, it was about two men: the leader of the free world, and that of one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. In a handshake, history was made. President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un showed mutual respect as they met for the first time on June 12, alone but […]

HANOI—Nationwide protests over new economic zones for foreigners have spiraled into chaos in the central Vietnamese province of Binh Thuan, where anti-Chinese sentiment boiled over as people hurled bricks and Molotov cocktails at police. The protests, by thousands of people in several cities, were fueled by concerns that a draft legislation to develop economic zones offering […]

A smartphone patent fight between Chinese telecom firm Huawei and South Korean firm Samsung Electronics could reach a global resolution through a ruling by a Chinese court, a development that reflects the trend of corporations turning to China’s opaque legal system as a quick way of winning intellectual property disputes. The size of the U.S. market and […]

MUMBAI/STOCKHOLM—IKEA is set to open its first store in India next month, and the world’s biggest furniture retailer is localizing its offering – from the food menu to its “do-it-yourself” (DIY) assembly model – to ensure success in the country. IKEA, which aims to soon open a 400,000 square feet (37,160 square meter) store in […]

Recent media reports of an alleged proposal to lease a Taiwan-controlled island in the South China Sea to the United State as a military base are completely groundless, according to Taiwan. The allegation originated from a pro-Beijing politician in Taiwan who started to circulate the rumor as early as 2016, The Epoch Times has learned. […]

SINGAPORE—President Donald Trump hasn’t been shy when it comes to human rights in North Korea; he has even hinted he will bring up the topic at the summit with Kim Jong Un on June 12. Before departing the G7 meeting in Canada, Trump was asked by reporters whether he was going to raise the issue […]

A Chinese ship is suspected of spying on Australia’s largest warship while it was visiting the South Pacific nation of Fiji, according to the Australian navy. The news emerges as China continues to expand its presence in the South Pacific. When the aircraft carrier HMAS Adelaide arrived at the Fijian port of Suva on June […]

SINGAPORE—After three months of preparations, negotiations, and stops and starts, the big day is almost upon us. President Donald Trump will meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on June 12 to forge a relationship that he hopes will lead to a new era on the Korean Peninsula. “As the president said on Saturday, […]

A motorcade carrying United States President Donald Trump arrived at a Singapore hotel on Sunday, June 10, after landing at Paya Lebar Air Base. Trump is in Singapore for a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that could lay the groundwork for ending a nuclear stand-off between the old foes and the […]

Among the top items on the agenda of the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on June 12 is the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, which the United States demands Pyongyang liquidate completely, commonly referred to as “denuclearization.” Experts have repeatedly warned, however, that Pyongyang has either never […]

YANGON—Myanmar’s hardline monks will dodge bans on Facebook and keep using it to “tell the truth”, they said on Friday, after the social media giant barred several Buddhist nationalists for hate messages targeting Rohingya Muslims. United Nations officials investigating a possible genocide in Myanmar have said Facebook has been a source of propaganda against the […]