South East Asia

President Donald Trump is expected to cut a significant number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and a smaller number in Iraq by the final days of his presidency, U.S. officials said Monday. The plan would run counter to military commanders’ advice over the past year, while still falling short of …

Pakistan authorities sealed off a major road into the capital Islamabad for a second day Monday as a far-right religious party held fresh anti-France protests. A rally in the neighboring city of Rawalpindi which attracted up to 5,000 people on Sunday spilled over into Monday, with around a thousand protesters …

Above the Asian skies, along with the growing tensions in Sino-American relations, it is getting crowded with machines performing reconnaissance missions and collecting intelligence.

The Trump administration unleashed new sanctions on companies that contribute to China’s military-industrial base, the White House announced Thursday. The executive order will prohibit Americans from owning shares of 31 companies that support the industrial, communications, and technological capabilities of China’s People’s Liberation Army. Pentagon officials designated the firms as …

A surge of targeted killings and assassinations has swept Afghanistan, where violence has soared despite peace efforts aimed at ending the war. Many of those being targeted are civilians — journalists, rights activists, cultural figures, moderate religious leaders, and women in public roles.

China hit out on Friday at comments from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said the democratic island of Taiwan wasn’t a part of China, vowing to strike back at any attempts to harm its interests, while Taipei welcomed the top American diplomat’s support.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi may visit Japan later this month to meet his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi for talks on cooperation over the coronavirus crisis and the East China Sea situation, the Mainichi newspaper said on Saturday.

Asia-Pacific leaders voiced concern over the situation in the resource-rich South China Sea at a regional summit on Saturday, a Japanese government official said, as security tensions between the United States and China have shown no sign of easing.

The defense chiefs of Japan and the United States on Saturday confirmed that the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea fall under the scope of a security treaty between the two countries.

The United States on Friday urged Japan and South Korea to speak out against China’s treatment of minority Muslims and its actions toward Hong Kong and Taiwan, despite their trading relationships with Beijing.