Former Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s corruption trial opened in Kuala Lumpur on Monday with a courtroom fight over the admissibility of TikTok videos, which prosecutors hope will link millions of ringgit in illicit funds to his Bersatu party. Among the most keenly observed cases involving Malaysia’s political elite in years, the proceedings come three years after Muhyiddin was first charged in connection with projects under his administration’s Covid-19 recovery efforts. Malaysian...

Baden-Wurttemberg stands on the front line of Germany’s “China shock 2.0”. A hub for carmakers including Mercedes-Benz, the region has faced a wave of job cuts over the past year as Chinese firms rapidly gain global market share. In the German media, some have warned the area risks becoming “Germany’s Detroit”. Yet despite the economic strain – and polls showing the economy was the top issue for local voters – China barely featured in campaigns during the run-up to Baden-Wurttemberg’s state...

China plans to further strengthen its strategic transport network in sensitive border regions over the next five years to fortify and better project power along its remote frontiers amid rising geopolitical uncertainty. One project involves building a 394km (245-mile) highway linking the northern and southern sides of the rugged Tianshan Mountains in far-western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, according to the draft 15th five-year plan released last week. The route will run parallel to a...

Chinese technology firms, including internet giants Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding and ByteDance, are offering easy or inexpensive access to OpenClaw, the popular open-source AI agent software amid a “lobster fever” in the country. Tencent on Tuesday officially launched QClaw, an artificial intelligence assistant built on OpenClaw that can connect to the company’s super app WeChat. After download and installation on a computer that takes about three minutes, users can remotely control...

This year’s government work report delivered by Premier Li Qiang marks a shift from the perennial fixation with growth towards a greater emphasis on effective strategic development, especially social and people-centred outcomes. The “two sessions” have convened against the backdrop of Washington’s military adventure overseas. In contrast to that overextended empire, China will prevail in the competition with the United States by putting its own house in order. Some of the most consequential...

A Bangladeshi man who spent over three years on bail in Malaysia fighting local child pornography charges has been spirited to Alaska by the FBI to face what prosecutors describe as one of the most prolific child exploitation cases in US history. Zobaidul Amin, 28, was brought from Malaysia to the United States last Wednesday and made his initial appearance in a federal court in Anchorage the following day, where he pleaded not guilty to all 13 counts, according to the US Department of Justice...

A Hong Kong police officer has been jailed for 16 months for extorting HK$60,000 (US$7,675) from a rape suspect he believed had been wrongly released by prosecutors. The District Court on Tuesday condemned Constable Ng Wai-fung for taking the law into his own hands while investigating a rape complaint lodged by a 16-year-old girl between January and April 2024. Defence lawyers said Ng, who pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office last month, was frustrated by the Department of Justice’s...