China urged non-Asian nations to avoid sowing "distrust" and division over contested seas Wednesday in a swipe at the United States (US) shortly before its top diplomat was due to arrive at a Bangkok summit bearing a message of reinvigorated American trade and security engagement in the region. The big power rivalry, framed by a trade war that has withered global growth, has dominated the summit of Southeast Asian foreign ministers, which opened Wednesday.Beijing's mil

The US-China rivalry is set to be sharpened at a Bangkok summit starting Wednesday, where Washington's top diplomat will insist his nation remains a key Asia-Pacific power in the face of Beijing's military machinations in contested seas and airspace.Foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian countries are meeting in the Thai capital this week.They will be joined by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Chinese and Russian counterparts, with old flashpoints in the disputed South C

Cambodia has purchased "tens of thousands" of weapons from China, premier Hun Sen said Monday, providing rare details of arms deals with Beijing just days after denying a secret agreement to allow Chinese warships to use a local naval base.The Wall Street Journal last week reported on a draft deal letting China access Ream base near Sihanoukville to dock warships and store weapons, apparently confirming months of rumours.Cambodia tried to knock down the report on Friday by taking do

55 pieces of rhino horn were found encased in plaster at an airport in the Vietnamese capital, authorities said Sunday, as the country tries to crack down on sophisticated wildlife smuggling routes.The communist state is both a consumption hub and popular transit point for the multibillion-dollar trade in animal parts.The 125-kilogram (275 pound) haul of rhino horn discovered at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport on Thursday was found after the carefully disguised shipment aroused suspicion.Images

The Philippines is aiming to strengthen its claims in the South China Sea by potentially building hotels for tourists on its biggest island in the disputed waterway, officials said Tuesday.Manila has administrative control over Thitu – the second-largest naturally occurring landmass in the Spratly archipelago – and wants to bolster its sovereignty by adding new infrastructure.In doing so it will be following in the footsteps of China, which also stakes ownership claims to the Spratlys – along

Shares on Shanghai's new Nasdaq-style technology board soared Monday, with one firm rocketing more than 500 percent, as investors rushed to grab a piece of China's latest market liberalisation in a frenzied debut.All 25 components on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Sci-Tech Innovation Board, or STAR Market, were driven sharply higher in a hearty initial endorsement of China's plan to use the board to help fund fast-growing tech firms and discourage them listing abroad.Anji T

In a previous article, The ASEAN Post highlighted the fact that today, in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Chinese mainlanders own more than 90 percent of all businesses. While this has increased land prices in the once sleepy-coastal town, the fact that the Chinese are willing to pay millions of dollars to buy land there only serves to heighten worries that Sihanoukville is becoming a small Chinese colony.

A plunge in exports and the worst growth rates for a decade have fuelled concerns about the outlook for Singapore's economy, with analysts saying the figures offer a warning that Asia is heading for a slowdown as China-United States (US) tensions bite.While it may be one of the smallest countries in the world, the export hub is highly sensitive to external shocks and has long been viewed as a barometer of the global demand for goods and services.The affluent city-state is highly dependen

Following the growing number of foreigners who come to invest and work in Cambodia, the country’s Ministry of Labour said that it will make an announcement soon to ban foreigners from self-employment on 10 types of jobs including driving a taxi, tuk-tuk, or motor taxi; or being a street vendor, barber, delivery man, or other small occupations.

50 years after astronauts first walked on the Moon, space wars have gone from Hollywood fantasy to looming threat. Not content with possessing enough nuclear weapons to wipe out all life on Earth many times over, major powers are rapidly militarising space. Given the world’s increasing reliance on space-based assets, the risks are enormous.As with the Cold War-era Space Race between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union, the new global space race has an important symbolic dimension.