East Asia

A complex system of corruption disguised as educational trips and remedial courses that never took place has come to light after complaints from the families of some students at the Technology and Business College. Faced with the nationwide outcry over the case, local authorities are shifting the blame. There are currently around 800 private universities operating in the country, with popularity levels now on a par with public universities.

Established by Pope Gregory XIII on 23 January 1576, it was the first in East Asia in the modern era and played a key role in the region’s evangelisation. St. Joseph's Seminary Church has been designated as a place of pilgrimage due to a special indulgence granted by the pope for this occasion. “Let the memory of the past become a compass for” today’s mission, writes Bishop Stephen Lee Bun-sang.

Three issues dominated online discussions in China at the end of last year, as do discussions about the crises in Venezuela and Iran today, reflecting an awakening in Chinese public opinion and a renewed thirst for the truth, beyond government propaganda about phoney prosperity.

The agreement, the result of lengthy negotiations with the Trump administration, has been announced. Taiwan will receive the same treatment as Japan, South Korea and the European Union, but its companies are committed to building plants in the United States: TSMC is expected to open at least five factories. Beijing: ‘Taipei is like a turtle in a jar to us.’

Construction has been completed on a 145,000-square-metre area in the Yizhuang District. The goal is to create a full-industrial chain that includes launch vehicles, satellite production, new materials, and space technology applications, making the race for the commercial exploitation of aerospace a new strategic sector for China’s economy.

The main opposition party and Komeito, which left the governing coalition government, plan to create a new political entity to stand against the ruling LDP. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to call a snap election to capitalise on her current honeymoon with voters to get a strong majority. The vote, which could come as early as 8 February, risks complicating the short-term management of the country’s economic crisis.

More than a thousand people who survived the Tai Po Towers fire that killed 161 people on 26 November 2025 have submitted a petition to the Legislative Council and China’s Liaison Office demanding on-site redevelopment, rejecting financial compensation. For them, leaving would mean betraying the memory of what happened.

At the trial for the attempted imposition of martial law in December 2024, special prosecutors have requested the maximum sentence for the deposed former head of state. A verdict is expected in February. South Korea has not carried out capital executions since 1997. The precedent was set with Chun Doo-hwan, whose death sentence was commuted to life in prison (followed by a pardon).

An app that suddenly shot to the top of the download charts has lifted the veil on the anxiety of many Chinese people, not just the elderly, who find themselves living alone in large cities. If no one responds within 48 hours, their smartphone sends a notification to a contact. By 2030, China will have 200 million single-person households.

With 4.62 births per thousand people and a fertility rate set to fall below 0.8, Taiwan reported the worst demographic figures in the world in 2025. Births have dropped by half in 10 years, and today more than 20 per cent of the population is over 65. In response, the government has proposed reforms in healthcare, welfare, and social assistance.

The South Korean president's trip to China marked a significant diplomatic rapprochement between Seoul and Beijing after years of frostiness, but leaves fundamental strategic issues unresolved. Despite attempts to engage on the Pyongyang dossier, the Chinese government avoids any reference to denuclearisation. Economic agreements signed by Korean conglomerates on rare earths and strategic minerals

On Tuesday, the authorities began cracking down on the leaders of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, an underground Evangelical community founded by Rev Wang Yi, who has been in prison since 2018. In October, the Zion Church suffered the same fate.