SCMP Asia·Tuesday, December 30, 2025

SCMP Asia - Tuesday, December 30, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

South Korea officially bans bear bile farming, but 200 Asiatic black bears in limbo

South Korea said it will formally end its dwindling yet much-criticised bear bile farming industry this week, though about 200 bears are still kept in pens and bred for their gall bladders. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced on Tuesday it will ban breeding and possession of bears and extraction of their bile beginning on January 1. The change is in line with a revised animal rights protection law that imposes up to two or five years of prison sentences for violators. South

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If Trump wants a deal with China, he must rein in US allies in Asia

US President Donald Trump’s hopes for a grand deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping are being undercut by American allies’ self-interested amplification of the “China threat”. This year’s Nanking massacre memorial was particularly poignant in light of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s controversial remarks on Taiwan. Beijing warned that any attempt to challenge the post-war international order or undermine established historical truths would be “doomed to failure”. Meanwhile, Singaporean

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Malaysia’s Anwar says Asean to assess Myanmar after ‘premature’ polls

Asean will assess developments in Myanmar following the first phase of elections and avoid actions that would “confer premature legitimacy” to any party, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday. His comments came as Myanmar’s dominant pro-military party claimed an overwhelming victory in the first phase of the elections after democracy watchdogs warned the junta-run poll would only entrench military rule. The armed forces snatched power in a 2021 coup that triggered civil war, but

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Mile-high crime club: theft syndicates target Asia’s airlines

As a near-weekly flier, Qyira Yusri is attuned to the rising menace of in-flight theft, mainly by Chinese gangs targeting flights across Asia to pilfer cash, credit cards and luxury handbags stored in overhead compartments. She checks everything twice before boarding, puts aside her passport and phone and only places carry-on luggage overhead in her eye line. For the 30-year-old, whose next flight to Bangkok from Malaysia will be her 55th in a work-packed year, a healthy dose of paranoia...

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Tetsuzo Fuwa, ex-Japanese Communist Party chairman, dies at 95

Tetsuzo Fuwa, a former chairman of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) who was considered its “theoretical pillar”, died on Tuesday, according to party sources. He was 95. Fuwa, whose real name was Kenjiro Ueda, joined the JCP in 1947 when he was a high school student and served as the director of the party think tank, the Social Sciences Institute, after stepping down as chairman in January 2006. He quit his post as the party’s top executive due to old age. The Tokyo native worked as a secretary

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Muhyiddin’s shock resignation leaves Malaysia’s opposition facing fresh uncertainty

Malaysia’s opposition was thrown into fresh uncertainty on Tuesday by the surprise resignation of its coalition chairman, former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, capping months of internal bickering over leadership with less than two years left before national polls must be held. Muhyiddin, who formed the Malay nationalist Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition in 2020 while he was still in power, made his announcement after rumours swirled overnight that he had bowed to pressure from coalition...

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After key official’s death, can Philippines’ flood-control probe still deliver answers?

The death of a senior public works official alleged to have played a central role in the billion-peso flood-control scandal in the Philippines has cast fresh doubt over the future of a months-long corruption probe, with investigators now facing questions over lost testimony and compromised evidence. Legal analysts say the investigations now risk unravelling altogether, warning that the probe is “in peril” after the loss of a figure seen as pivotal to understanding how alleged budget manipulation

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India overtakes Japan as world’s fourth largest economy, eyes top 3 in 2026

India has overtaken Japan as the world’s fourth-largest economy – and officials hope to pass Germany within three years, the government’s end-of-year economic review calculates. Official confirmation however depends on data due in 2026 when final annual gross domestic product figures are released, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggesting India will cross over Japan next year. “India is among the world’s fastest-growing major economies and is well-positioned to sustain this...

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Asia’s year of costly climate disasters spurs calls for ‘decisive action’

As Asia counts the cost of one of the world’s most expensive years for weather disasters, aid groups and scientists are warning that poorer countries face even greater risks ahead unless global emissions are cut and spending shifts from disaster response to prevention. Asia accounted for four of the world’s six costliest climate-related disasters in 2025, according to a report by Christian Aid released this month, underlining how heavily the region is being hit by floods, storms and extreme...

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Malaysia’s Najib Razak challenges 15-year jail term in 1MDB case

Jailed former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has filed an appeal against his conviction last week on ‌corruption charges related to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, which saw him ‍sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Najib, 72, has been in jail since 2022 on corruption offences linked to allegations that about US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1Malaysia ⁠Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund he co-founded while serving as prime minister in 2009. US

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