Category: Asia Focus

Malaysia began enforcing new online safety rules on Monday that bar children younger than 16 from owning social media accounts, placing responsibility on major platforms to verify users’ ages and block underage account registration.

The measures apply to online platforms with at least 8 million users in Malaysia, bringing Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube within the scope of the rules. Companies must introduce age-verification systems for new users and checks for existing account holders, while strengthening safeguards against harmful content, cyberbullying,

Sri Lanka raised fuel prices by up to 6 per cent on Sunday, days after securing a $695 million instalment from the International Monetary Fund, as Colombo moved to align energy pricing with bailout conditions aimed at reducing subsidies and restoring fiscal discipline.

The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation increased the price of 92-octane petrol to 434 Sri Lankan rupees a litre from 410 rupees, while auto diesel rose to 407 rupees from 392 rupees. The revision adds to household and transport

Malaysia has sharpened its criticism of Norway’s cancellation of export licences for Naval Strike Missiles, casting the dispute as a test of whether international contracts and security partnerships still carry weight when smaller states deal with stronger powers.

Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Oslo’s decision had moved beyond a procurement setback and raised wider questions about trust in global relations. He argued that rules and agreements lose credibility when advanced economies can withdraw from signed deals after payments, integration work

Seoul’s push to turn humanoid robots into mainstream entertainers moved onto the fashion runway as Galaxy Corporation paired human models with Unitree G1 machines in a staged show of cowboy hats, silk dresses, metallic jackets and 1970s-inspired trousers.

The Mach33: Physical AI Fashion Show, held on 28 May at Galaxy Robot Park in Gangdong District, was presented as more than a novelty catwalk. Galaxy Corporation framed the event as an experiment in coexistence, asking how people and robots might share cultural

Jakarta has moved to accelerate one of Southeast Asia’s most ambitious renewable energy programmes, preparing a 100-gigawatt solar power project that officials estimate will require about $71.3 billion in investment and reshape Indonesia’s electricity strategy over the next several years.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is working with the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning, state electricity company PLN and other agencies to identify land, grid links and storage systems needed for the programme. About 24,000 hectares on

Super Micro Computer Inc. has sought to turn a Taiwan enforcement action into evidence of active cooperation with authorities after three suspects were arrested and 50 servers were seized over an alleged attempt to divert advanced AI hardware towards restricted China-linked markets.

The California-based server maker said the equipment had first been sold through an authorised reseller before being deceptively acquired and targeted for illicit diversion. Its statement framed the case as a successful intervention rather than a failure of internal

China’s Communist Party has named Guan Zhiou, the country’s natural resources minister, as Party secretary of Hubei, placing a cabinet-level official with land, forestry and planning experience in charge of one of central China’s most important industrial provinces.

Guan replaces Wang Zhonglin, who has been removed from the posts of Hubei Party secretary, standing committee member and provincial committee member, with a further assignment to be announced. The decision was conveyed at a provincial leadership meeting in Wuhan on May 30,

Sea Ltd has created a dedicated investment team to identify artificial intelligence opportunities, marking a deeper push by the Singapore-based technology group to find a new growth engine beyond online retail, gaming and digital financial services.

The unit sits under the president’s office and is evaluating AI start-ups globally, with long-serving executive Zhang Endong leading the effort. The move places investment activity closer to Sea’s top management at a time when the company is trying to convert its scale across Shopee,

Humanoid robots shared the catwalk with human models in Seoul as Galaxy Corporation turned a fashion show into a test of how artificial intelligence, entertainment and daily life may begin to overlap.

The Mach33 Physical AI Fashion Show, staged on May 28 at Galaxy Robot Park in Gangdong District, placed robots in coordinated outfits beside models wearing matching designs. The display was built around a simple proposition from the company: if robots are moving into public spaces, homes, workplaces and entertainment

Phuket’s private-island hospitality market has gained a sharper luxury edge as The Naka Island, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Phuket, rolls out upgraded villas, refreshed dining venues, expanded wellness facilities and a Michelin One Key distinction that places the property among Thailand’s recognised high-end stays.

The resort, located on Naka Yai Island off Phuket’s east coast, has completed a series of enhancements designed to strengthen its appeal to affluent leisure travellers seeking privacy, wellness and destination-led experiences. The upgrades cover

Binance has opened a supervised route back into the Philippines through a partnership with BlockShoals Technologies Inc., placing the world’s largest crypto exchange inside the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission’s Strategic Sandbox after two years of regulatory tension over unlicensed offshore platforms.

The arrangement makes BlockShoals the approved local intermediary under the SEC’s StratBox framework, while Binance supplies technology, security systems, operational support and compliance expertise developed across regulated markets. The sandbox phase is expected to begin in the second half

China’s e-commerce industry expanded steadily in the first four months of 2026, reinforcing its role as a major support for consumption even as the broader economy showed signs of uneven demand and weaker momentum in traditional retail channels.

Online retail sales of goods and services rose 6.6 per cent year on year in January-April, reaching about 6.53 trillion yuan, as digital platforms continued to draw shoppers through discounts, livestreaming, faster delivery and wider service offerings. Online retail sales of goods contributed

China’s artificial intelligence market is entering a faster and more expensive phase, with enterprise spending forecasts pointing to a surge that could reshape global competition in cloud computing, semiconductors, robotics and industrial automation.

Global enterprise AI expenditure is expected to reach about $940 billion in 2026 and climb to roughly $2.1 trillion by 2029, reflecting a shift from experimental deployments to large-scale use across manufacturing, finance, logistics, health care, energy and public services. China is emerging as one of the fastest-expanding

Hong Kong’s artificial intelligence market gained a locally built workplace automation product on Tuesday as Sentimento Technologies launched MonoClaw, a Mac-based AI secretary aimed at professionals and small and medium-sized businesses seeking tighter control over data, costs and daily administrative work.

The product, built around a personal AI assistant called Mona, is being positioned as a “local-first” alternative to cloud-based generative AI tools. Rather than routing most tasks through remote servers, MonoClaw runs large language models on a user’s own Apple

Chinese retail investors are scrambling to keep access to overseas equities after Beijing imposed its toughest enforcement action yet against cross-border stock trading channels used to buy shares in Hong Kong, New York and other offshore markets.

Regulators have moved against Futu Securities International, Tiger Brokers and Longbridge Securities, accusing them of operating securities businesses on the mainland without approval, soliciting domestic clients and processing offshore trading orders in breach of securities, fund and futures rules. The action has disrupted a

Jensen Huang’s arrival in Taipei ahead of Computex has put Nvidia’s next AI platform at the centre of a widening test for Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain, as the company seeks more production capacity for Vera Rubin while riding record demand for data-centre chips.

Huang is expected to meet Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company chairman and chief executive C. C. Wei as Nvidia prepares a second-half production ramp for Vera Rubin, the next-generation platform that combines new Vera CPUs, Rubin GPUs, advanced memory

SoftBank Group shares rose to a record high as investors priced in the prospect of major gains from potential public listings of OpenAI and SB Energy, reinforcing Masayoshi Son’s return to the centre of the global artificial intelligence trade.

The Tokyo-listed investment group has become one of the most closely watched proxies for AI demand after committing tens of billions of dollars to OpenAI and building exposure across chips, power infrastructure, robotics and data-centre supply chains. The latest rally extended a

Qatar has stepped up its investment campaign in China with high-level business meetings in Shanghai and Hangzhou aimed at turning long-standing trade links into deeper industrial, technology and financial partnerships.

Invest Qatar’s delegation, led by its chief executive Sheikh Ali bin Alwaleed Al-Thani, held executive-level meetings, site visits and closed-door business discussions with Chinese companies across advanced manufacturing, life sciences, industrial technologies and digital platforms. The engagements included WuXi Biologics, Shanghai SUS Environment, Cainiao Group and Ant International, placing the tour

Hong Kong’s competitive weekend dining market is getting a sharper culinary edge as Lobster Bar & Grill at Island Shangri-La turns its Sunday roast brunch into a guest-chef platform linking hotel dining with some of the city’s most recognisable restaurant names.

The 2026 Sunday Roast Guest Chef Series runs across selected Sundays from February to October, with further dates expected for November and December. Priced at HK$898 per guest, plus a 10 per cent service charge, the programme gives each participating

AMD has committed more than $10 billion to Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem, targeting advanced packaging and manufacturing capacity as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure intensifies across global data centres.

The investment is designed to strengthen the chipmaker’s partnerships with foundries, packaging houses, substrate suppliers and server manufacturers that are central to its next generation of AI systems. The programme places Taiwan at the centre of AMD’s effort to scale production of high-performance processors, accelerators and rack-level systems built for increasingly complex AI

Polymarket has appointed a representative in Japan and is preparing to press policymakers for a route to authorise prediction markets, marking a significant step in its effort to turn a crypto-native trading platform into a regulated global financial venue.

The New York-founded company, led by Shayne Coplan, is seeking to open discussions around whether event-based contracts can be permitted under Japan’s financial and digital-asset framework rather than treated purely as gambling. The move comes as prediction markets draw heavier institutional interest,

Japan’s government bond market has become the centre of a global debt selloff as higher oil prices, stubborn inflation and expectations of tighter monetary policy push borrowing costs across major economies to levels not seen for years.

The sharpest pressure has fallen on long-dated Japanese government bonds, where the 30-year yield has climbed above 4 per cent, reaching a record since the maturity was introduced in 1999. The 10-year yield has also risen to around 2.8 per cent, its highest level

China’s market regulator has set 34 priorities for 2026 aimed at strengthening private sector growth, placing fair competition, legal safeguards and more efficient supervision at the centre of Beijing’s effort to restore business confidence.

State Administration for Market Regulation said the agenda would focus on removing market barriers, promoting a unified national market, improving law enforcement practices and curbing destructive price wars that have weighed on corporate margins. The measures form part of a broader policy push to reassure entrepreneurs after

Sri Lanka has imposed a temporary 50 per cent surcharge on customs import duty for imported vehicles, aiming to slow demand for foreign exchange as higher oil prices and Middle East tensions put pressure on the rupee.

The measure, effective from 16 May for three months, applies to selected motor vehicles including passenger cars, jeeps, vans, buses, goods transport vehicles, ambulances, electric vehicles and hybrids. Vehicles for which letters of credit were opened on or before 15 May are exempt, limiting