Asia News

The Daily Signal delivers Asia-Pacific news with reporting and conservative commentary on regional security challenges, U.S. military alliances, China containment strategy, Taiwan defense, North Korea threats, economic competition, and America’s vital interests in the Indo-Pacific region.
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  • news

    ‘Horrendous Racial Discrimination’: Asian Activists Explain What’s at Stake in Supreme Court Cases
    The United States Supreme Court heard two affirmative action cases Monday related to allegations of discrimination at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The organization Students for Fair Admissions has sued both universities over their policies favoring race as a factor in deciding admissions, otherwise known as affirmative action, which…
    Mary Margaret Olohan
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  • opinion

    A Victory for Life Over Euthanasia in Europe’s Human Rights Court
    Euthanasia was on the docket Tuesday at the European Court of Human Rights, and the right to life won. Although the human rights court didn’t rule against Belgium’s euthanasia law, it held that the country violated the right to life enshrined in Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the euthanasia of…
    Elyssa Koren
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  • news

    ‘Poison of Bigotry’: Lawsuit Claims Texas A&M Discriminates Against White, Asian Men
    A lawsuit filed Saturday alleges that Texas A&M University's hiring practices discriminate against white and Asian men applying for faculty positions. Richard Lowery, an associate professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin, filed a complaint in federal court in Houston, saying the policies at Texas A&M prevented him from being hired at the university….
    Reagan Reese
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  • opinion

    US, South Korea to Resume Military Exercises
    Washington and Seoul are poised to resume large-scale combined military exercises for the first time in four years. Doing so will repair the degradation to allied deterrence and defense capabilities wrought by years of canceled or reduced military training. While the U.S. and South Korea constrained their militaries, North Korea continued its own military exercises,…
    Bruce Klingner
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  • opinion

    Conserving, Advancing Freedom Is Central to South Korea’s Alliance With US
    In his Aug. 15 Independence Day speech marking the 77th anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol underscored the fundamental importance of freedom to his country. “As we celebrate the 77th Liberation Day, we must remind ourselves of the historic significance of this independence…
    Anthony B. Kim
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  • opinion

    Biden Wrong to Question Pelosi’s Taiwan Visit, Asia Expert Says
    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled with a congressional delegation to Taiwan this week, where she met with President Tsai Ing-wen and national lawmakers despite aggressive rhetoric and threats from the Chinese Communist Party. Pelosi, D-Calif., the first current U.S. leader to visit Taiwan since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., did so in 1997, tweeted…
    Samantha Aschieris
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  • opinion

    Killing of Former Prime Minister Shocks Japan, but Shinzo Abe’s Legacy Lives On
    Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot Friday at a campaign rally ahead of Japan’s elections Sunday for the upper house of its parliament. The event has shocked Japan, which has extremely tight gun control laws and one of the world’s lowest rates of gun violence. Abe, who was 67, was a towering…
    Bruce Klingner
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  • opinion

    An Assassin Kills Japanese Leader Shinzo Abe. Here’s What You Need to Know.
    Shinzo Abe, a former prime minister of Japan, was slain Friday by an assassin at a campaign event. Abe, who was 67, served two stints as the Asian island nation’s leader, leaving office in 2020, and his legacy loomed large over Japan. The longest-serving Japanese leader’s killing sent shock waves throughout the country and across…
    Douglas Blair
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  • opinion

    US Ally South Korea Is NATO’s Trusted, Capable Partner
    The U.S.-South Korean alliance has been the linchpin of peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia for generations. Now, that pivotal partnership is about to be elevated to a next level, particularly through South Korea’s greater and more strategic engagement with NATO.  At the invitation of the organization, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will attend…
    Anthony B. Kim
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  • opinion

    Time to Elevate US-South Korea Partnership With Strategic Refinement
    Forging greater pragmatic cooperation between willing allies necessitates timely, forward-looking strategic clarity in terms of paving an elevated trajectory of the alliance. That’s why the upcoming May 21 summit between President Joe Biden and South Korea’s recently inaugurated President Yoon Suk Yeol matters. Biden, on his first presidential trip to Indo-Pacific, will make his first…
    Anthony B. Kim
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  • opinion

    US-South Korea Free Trade Agreement Turns 10. It Is Key to Further Elevating Both Countries’ Alliance.
    The free trade and investment agreement between the U.S. and South Korea will hit the 10-year mark on March 15. With bilateral trade having expanded nearly 70% over the past decade, the agreement between the two long-time allies deserves renewed support and greater strategic utilization for years to come.  The U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement…
    Anthony B. Kim
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  • opinion

    South Korea’s New President Is Welcome Development for US Policy on North Korea, China
    South Korea concluded a bitterly divisive presidential campaign season Wednesday with the election of Yoon Suk Yeol. Both he and his opponent, Lee Jae-myung, engaged in a battle of mudslinging and accusations, making this an acrimonious campaign. Both candidates were highly unfavorable, making this a true “election of the undesirables.” The contest was unusual since,…
    Bruce Klingner
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  • opinion

    Japan Is Becoming Increasingly Valuable Partner in Resistance to China’s Authoritarian Advances
    As Communist China increases hostilities in the Indo-Pacific region, Japan is stepping up, not only with bold statements against China’s intimidation but with action—including military contingency planning with the U.S. and joint defense agreements with regional allies. Foreign policy successes aren’t always flashy. But several recent accomplishments in the Indo-Pacific region are collectively affirming a…
    Bruce Klingner
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  • opinion

    North and South Korea Just Test-Fired Missiles. Here’s What You Need to Know.
    North Korea followed its weekend test launch of long-range cruise missiles by firing two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday. Shortly afterward, South Korea conducted another successful test of its submarine-launched ballistic missile. The nearly concurrent launches simply reflect continued missile development by both Koreas, but will likely be interpreted as responsive…
    Bruce Klingner
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  • news

    Chinese Bots on Social Media Encouraged Asian Americans to Protest, Researchers Find
    Thousands of fake pro-China accounts used dozens of social media platforms to mobilize Asian American protesters in the United States, according to a report by U.S. cybersecurity researchers. A coordinated network of pro-China bot accounts spanning 30 social media platforms and over 40 additional websites and forums have made posts in at least seven different…
    Ailan Evans
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  • opinion

    3 Seas Initiative Gets Big Boost From Japan’s Strong Interest
    The Three Seas Initiative has scored another notable achievement in Tokyo, following the successful gathering of the sixth Three Seas Summit and Business Forum in Sofia, Bulgaria, earlier this month. During his visit to Japan last week for the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, Polish President Andrzej Duda—one of the founding members of the…
    Anthony B. Kim
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  • opinion

    New C5+1 Commitment Highlights the Importance of Central Asia to the United States
    The five-year old C5+1—forum that connects the five Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and the United States—has become a platform of growing importance for dialogues and cooperation. At a conference held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, last week, the C5+1 nations took a positive step forward to expand economic freedom and…
    Anthony B. Kim
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  • opinion

    Reform-Minded Uzbekistan Becoming Strategic US Partner in Central Asia
    Leaders and governments in Central Asia, particularly Uzbekistan, have opened the doors for more significant interaction with Washington, signaling a serious desire for elevated bilateral engagements with the United States. Uzbekistan’s foreign minister, Abdulaziz Kamilov, recently made an eight-day trip to the United States, which included meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary…
    Anthony B. Kim | Terry Miller
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  • opinion

    G-7 Summit Cannot Overcome Strained South Korean-Japanese Relations
    The Biden administration’s efforts to use the G-7 summit meeting to soothe relations between South Korea and Japan were unsuccessful because of long-standing sensitive historic issues and sovereignty disputes between America’s Asian allies. Washington had encouraged a bilateral meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. South Korea’s foreign ministry…
    Bruce Klingner
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  • opinion

    ‘White Supremacy’ Doesn’t Explain Minorities Attacking Asian Americans
    The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, released findings in March that showed a rise of 149% in reported anti-Asian American hate crimes from 2019 to 2020. PolitiFact wrote: “The report doesn’t mention former President Donald Trump. However, it does show that Google searches found spikes for…
    Larry Elder
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