All Asia Pacific
China, Taiwan presidents plan rare meeting as Taiwan election loomsPresident Xi Jinping is due to meet Taiwan's Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore on Saturday. Taiwan is holding elections in January and Mr. Ma's party is trailing in the polls.
Comfort women clash: Progress on Japan and S. Korea's thorniest dispute?After three years of frosty relations and no meetings, the two nations' leaders say they will try to end an impasse on a World War II issue that has roiled relations and frustrated Washington, their mutual ally.
History by fiat? South Korea's Park pushes conservative schoolbooksIn a society divided over the past, President Park Geun-hye wants to revise history texts used in middle and high schools that conservatives say are distorted and left-leaning. Critics fear a whitewash of past dictatorships.聽
Calming waters? Why Japan, S. Korea, and China are suddenly talkingSunday's meeting of East Asia's top powers, their first in three years, is mostly about starting up cordial relations. But that alone is progress.聽
Hague court takes up Philippines dispute in South China SeaIn a blow to China, the tribunal agreed to hear a case in which the Philippines has challenged China's broad claims over disputed areas of the South China Sea.聽
UN investigator urges Myanmar to allow Muslims to voteThe special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar said the Nov. 8 legislative elections聽won't be free and fair unless they are inclusive.
China adds one to 'one-child' policyThe Asian nation has officially ended its 'one-child' strategy to control its population. Now, couples may have two children.
First LookPalau closes off fishing in nearly all of its coastal watersThe Pacific island nation's newly established marine sanctuary will be the 6th largest protected area of ocean in the world.聽
China warns US Navy after ship sails past Chinese-made islandChina says the USS Lassen sailed into what China claims as a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago in the South China Sea.
China's Ai Weiwei starts a global LEGO hunt: Can you spare a brick, brother?Danish toymaker LEGO declined to sell bricks to dissident artist Ai Weiwei for an exhibition in Australia. Now he plans to collect donated plastic bricks around the world.聽
Confusion over Confucius? Zimbabwe's Mugabe wins Chinese peace prizeSince 2010, China has given an annual award to recipients such as Fidel Castro and Vladimir Putin, in an apparent riposte to the Nobel Peace Prize.聽
Divided by conflict, North and South Korean families briefly uniteUnder heavy surveillance, South Koreans allowed to visit long-lost family members in the ravaged, totalitarian North.
11 dead after Typhoon Koppu slams into PhilippinesHundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers have converged on Nueva Ecija, a landlocked, rice-growing province in the heart of Luzon island, to help villagers whose homes had been flooded.
No way out for Bao: US chides China detention of lawyer's sonBao Zhuoxuan, a middle school student who was caught earlier this month after escaping to Myanmar, is the son of a prominent lawyer detained in July. US officials say his case is part of a 'systematic campaign' of abuse.聽
Myanmar elections: Kachin minority mix hope and skepticismPresident Thein Sein signed a cease-fire this week with eight rebel groups ahead of a Nov. 8 national election for parliament. But in northern Kachin state, rebels refused to sign and fighting continues.聽
Q&A: Can Presidents Park and Obama disrupt North Korean tests?President Park Geun-hye's visit to the White House today will likely focus on coordinating US and South Korean responses to Pyongyang's nuclear program, says Korea expert Scott Snyder.
South Korea: 20 years later, California son faces trial for Seoul murderA 1997 brutal stabbing in the Itaewon expat district was never solved. But this year the US extradited Arthur Patterson, 17 at the time, to face trial.
Are Japan's crime clans going out of business? Tea with a yakuza.Often romanticized for a strict chivalrous code, the yakuza still operate openly in Japan, handing out name cards at meetings. But as public opprobrium rises, their numbers are falling sharply.聽
Will China's $2 billion in UN aid buy international respect?President Xi Jinping's announcement of billions of dollars for poverty reduction around the world signals a different approach, one closer to international expectations.
Reviving Shinto: Prime Minister Abe tends special place in Japan's soulConservatives seek to expand the role of Japan's indigenous faith in public life. But critics warn that could feed a simmering nationalism.聽
