CNN – Asia/Pacific

By Nectar Gan and Wayne Chang, CNN Former NBA player Dwight Howard has become the latest international sports star to be caught in the crosshairs of Chinese nationalist wrath after he referred to Taiwan as a “country” in a promotional video alongside the democratic island’s vice president. The 37-year-old eight-time NBA All-Star has enjoyed huge

By Sophia Saifi, Azaz Syed and Rhea Mogul, CNN Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, has been granted bail by the Islamabad High Court, days after his dramatic arrest over corruption charges set off a deadly outpouring of anger against the country’s military. Khan left the court on Friday under police protection to return to

By Kathleen Magramo, CNN A Philippine court has dismissed a drug charge against Leila De Lima, a former senator who has spent the past six years in detention and is one of the most vocal critics of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs.” The court on Friday acquitted De Lima, 63, on one of

By Helen Regan and Allison Chinchar, CNN A tropical cyclone is strengthening in the Bay of Bengal and is on course to hit western Myanmar and Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, where around 1 million people live in flimsy shelters in what many consider to be the world’s largest refugee camp. Cyclone Mocha is the first to

By Brad Lendon and Junko Ogura, CNN A Chinese naval flotilla led by a powerful destroyer has been on a 12-day circumnavigation of Japan’s main islands in a display of military power as tensions simmer over Taiwan and as Japan prepares to host G7 leaders next week. Japan’s Defense Ministry on Thursday released a map

By Helen Regan and Kocha Olarn, CNN As Thailand heads to the polls on Sunday a “lost generation” of young voters fired up by a yearning for change are keeping alive previously taboo topics, including the military’s stranglehold on the levers of power — and even royal reform. The May 14 poll is the first

By Rhea Mogul and Sophia Saifi, CNN Pakistan is teetering after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was dramatically arrested by paramilitary troops on corruption charges, sparking a deadly outpouring of anger against the powerful military that has put the country on edge. Unrest has spread across multiple major cities, resulting in unprecedented scenes of defiant

By Heather Chen, CNN It was a late night joyride that thankfully ended without anyone getting seriously hurt. Two brothers, ages 6 and 3, took their parents’ car for a spin late Wednesday night on the Malaysian island of Langkawi, where they were picked up by local police after losing control and crashing into a

CNN By Jessie Yeung and Marc Stewart, CNN Japan is in talks to open a NATO liaison office, the first of its kind in Asia, the country’s foreign minister told CNN in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made the world less stable. “We are already in discussions, but no

By Jessie Yeung and Marc Stewart, CNN Japan is in talks to open a NATO liaison office, the first of its kind in Asia, the country’s foreign minister told CNN in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made the world less stable. “We are already in discussions, but no details

By Sophia Saifi, Rhea Mogul and Azaz Syed, CNN Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has appeared in court to answer corruption charges, a day after he was dramatically arrested by paramilitary troops, sparking nationwide clashes. The charge relates to the sale of gifts sent to him by foreign leaders while in office. His lawyer

By Brad Lendon, CNN The United States opened an embassy in the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Tuesday, Washington’s latest move to broaden its diplomatic footprint in a region where China has been increasing its influence in recent years. The announcement came the same day the White House confirmed President Joe Biden will travel

By Sophia Saifi and Jerome Taylor, CNN Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday by paramilitary troops who smashed their way into a courthouse in Islamabad to detain him on multiple corruption charges. The dramatic and sudden arrest of the former cricket star turned leader is the latest chapter in months of

By Tara Subramaniam and Hilary Whiteman, CNN Rescue workers trying to locate a high school student who went missing in a flooded cave system after a school trip during heavy rain on New Zealand’s North Island, have found a body, according to a statement released Wednesday morning local time from police superintendent Tony Hill, a

By Jessie Yeung, CNN Friends and family of Australian television anchor Cheng Lei renewed calls for her release from detention in China, 1,000 days after she was taken into custody on espionage charges — a move that has cast a black mark on the two countries’ already tense relationship. Cheng, a former business anchor for

By Nectar Gan and Mengchen Zhang, CNN China’s foreign minister said Monday a “series of erroneous words and deeds” by the United States had placed relations between the two superpowers on “cold ice,” but stabilizing ties is a “top priority.” Qin Gang made the comments during a meeting in Beijing with US ambassador Nicholas Burns,

By Tara Subramaniam, CNN Temperature records tumbled across Southeast Asia over the weekend as the region swelters under a weekslong heat wave that has brought misery to millions. All-time highs were recorded in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand’s capital, where the heat has been compounded by an intense smoggy season that has caused pollution levels to

By Heather Chen, CNN An Australian man arrested in a conservative area of Indonesia over an alleged violent rampage faces the possibility of prison time and a public flogging, authorities have said. Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, from Noosa in southern Queensland, was arrested after allegedly attacking and injuring a local fisherman while drunk. Wearing an