CNN-Asia Pacific

By Nectar Gan and Steve George, CNN China’s hardline zero Covid strategy is facing a fresh challenge from the rapid spread of the Delta variant, amid concerns over the efficacy of Chinese vaccines against the highly contagious strain. The Delta variant, which appears to cause more severe illness and spreads as easily as chickenpox according

By Jessie Yeung, CNN Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu has been detained by Beijing police on suspicion of rape after allegedly “repeatedly seducing young women into having sex,” police said in a statement Saturday night. The case against Wu, 30 — whose Chinese name is Wu Yifan — is still under investigation, police in the

By Julia Hollingsworth, Nectar Gan and CNN staff, CNN In a meeting room decorated with a stylized hammer and sickle flag, Kelly Hu detailed her shortcomings. Since childhood, the 20-year-old student had wanted to join the longest-running and largest communist party in the world, having grown up hearing “red tales” of its revolutionary past from

By Nectar Gan, CNN Some of Japan’s victorious Olympic athletes have been subjected to a storm of online abuse from Chinese nationalists following the defeat of their Team China opponents in Tokyo. As of Friday afternoon in Japan, China and the hosts occupied the top two places in the medal table, with a number of

By Jessie Yeung and Chermaine Lee, CNN The first person charged and convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law was sentenced to nine years in prison on Friday, setting a likely precedent for how future cases will be tried. Tong Ying-kit, 24, received a six-and-a-half-year prison term for the charge of incitement to secession for

By Sophie Jeong and Brad Lendon, CNN The Philippines is restoring a military agreement with the United States that makes it easier for US forces to move in and out the country and signals to China a renewed commitment to the 70-year-old US-Philippine alliance. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

By Brad Lendon, CNN The South China Sea has been a hotbed of naval activity this week, with a British aircraft carrier strike group, an American surface action group, and forces from China’s People’s Liberation Army all staging exercises in the contested waterway. The British Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has been the

By Ben Westcott and Nectar Gan, CNN Among the recriminations and accusations, there was one point of consensus when American and Chinese diplomats met in the coastal city of Tianjin earlier this week: no one wants to see the world’s most important relationship deteriorate into armed conflict. But there was little consensus on a concrete

By Jessie Yeung, CNN Beijing recorded its first Covid-19 case in nearly six months on Wednesday, as Chinese authorities scramble to prevent the spread of the Delta variant amid an outbreak linked to an airport in the populous eastern city of Nanjing. China recorded 49 new cases on Wednesday, including 24 local infections from three

By Eric Cheung and Ben Westcott, CNN China’s Foreign Minister met with senior leaders of the Taliban in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Wednesday in the latest sign of warming ties between Beijing and the resurgent Islamist group. During a meeting with Taliban’s co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who heads the group’s political

By Kocha Olarn, Helen Regan and Sophie Jeong, CNN Thai citizens seeking Covid-19 treatment in Bangkok are being returned to their hometowns by train, in an effort to alleviate the burden on the capital’s medical system. Thailand is struggling to contain its worst Covid-19 wave of the pandemic, with hospitals in Bangkok becoming overwhelmed by

By Nectar Gan and Steve George, CNN A gold medal-winning Canadian swimmer has made waves in China for her Chinese heritage, sparking heated discussions over the country’s decades-long one-child policy and gender discrimination. Margaret MacNeil shot to international fame Monday after winning the women’s 100-meter butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics, setting an Americas continental record

By Helen Regan, CNN Bhutan has fully vaccinated 90% of its eligible adult population in a week with Covid-19 shots, a feat that has been described as a “success story” and a “beacon of hope” for other countries in the region, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday. The tiny South Asian kingdom of 770,00

By Brad Lendon and Nectar Gan, CNN China is building a second field of missile silos in its western deserts, according to a new study, which researchers say signals a potential expansion of its nuclear arsenal and calls into question Beijing’s commitment to its “minimum deterrence” strategy. Identified via satellite imagery, the new missile base

By Jeevan Ravindran, CNN Civilian casualties in Afghanistan reached record levels in the first half of 2021, the United Nations warned Monday, noting that deaths and injuries spiked markedly from May when the United States and its allies began withdrawing troops from the country. Some 5,183 casualties were recorded in the first six months of