Asia Specific

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City rank among the world’s most polluted cities. The millions of petrol motorbikes are huge contributors to the pollution. Vietnam’s government now says it has the answer: electric bikes.

Vietnam is betting on one of the boldest electric mobility plans, pushing more than 70 million riders to switch from petrol motorbikes to e-bikes, starting in the capital. The aim is to clear the air - but the transition rais...

Singapore doesn’t just have the best passport in Asia. By some metrics, it has the best passport in the world. What does that really mean though?

Singaporeans can travel to 193 countries without a visa. Chinese passport holders, in contrast, can travel to just over 80 countries visa-free. In fact, the top three countries with the strongest passport are all in Asia: Singapore, Japan, and South Korea.

How did these countries rise to t...

Myanmar’s military is holding a stage-managed election, but will it change anything?

A raging civil war, a popular former leader detained, and an exodus of citizens abroad aren't ideal conditions for holding an election.

Yet Myanmar’s military junta government is pressing ahead with a three-stage vote that many outside observers say is being held in a climate of fear.

With early results confirming the military-backed party dominatin...

As South Korea's entertainment and cultural soft power surges abroad, the country's cosmetics industry is also riding the wave of growing popularity. South Korea's 'K-beauty' skincare and makeup brands have gone mainstream in the US and UK, with sales worth billions of dollars and social media platforms driving global demand. But behind the glossy packaging and viral trends is a society long associated with intense, high pressure ...

China has given its clearest sign so far at how it would blockade and forcefully take Taiwan, with large-scale military drills surrounding the island.

The live-fire exercises disrupted up to 100,000 airline passengers as Chinese forces simulated blockading ports and stopping cargo ships carrying American weapons to help the Taiwanese defend themselves.

China claims the drills show its military’s increasing ability to control the Ta...

Palau is a tiny Pacific nation of just 18,000 people but its location has made it a strategic prize in the diplomatic contest between China and Taiwan, and the broader strategic battle between Beijing and Washington.

In this episode, BBC's Global China Unit reporter Shawn Yuan takes us inside Palau, where he found a country grappling with diplomatic pressure from Beijing and growing concerns about China from its long-time security g...

You might think food brings people together. But online, it has sparked some of Asia’s fiercest cultural disputes. From Singapore and Malaysia arguing over Hainanese chicken rice and hawker centres, to China and South Korea clashing over kimchi and bibimbap, food has become a proxy for deeper debates about history, identity and power.

Dishes migrate across borders and governments now stake claims over recipes and food cultures - eve...

It’s a grand promise by Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto - a free meal every day for 83 million school children and pregnant women.

But one year into one of the boldest free meal programmes in the world, the policy is facing budget challenges and several mass food poisoning cases affecting thousands of children. 

The success or failure of the programme will define the legacy of a leader who pledged to end malnutrition during hi...

How tycoon Jimmy Lai went from pro-democracy activist to national security criminal is a story that, some say, mirrors the changes in Hong Kong itself. The 78-year-old once published the city's most widely-read tabloid Apple Daily, which played a pivotal role in encouraging and supporting pro-democracy protestors during a prolonged and violent uprising in 2019.

But for the past six years, he’s been the target of the Chinese governm...

A deadly shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach - one of Australia’s most iconic public spaces - has raised urgent questions about how such an attack could happen in a country known for strict gun control. With more than a dozen people killed, the attack has shocked the nation and sharpened concerns about security failures, gun ownership and the targeting of Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah.

From Sydney, the BBC’s Phil Merc...

What made flooding in Indonesia and South East Asia so deadly and how to prevent a repeat of it? With close to a thousand people killed across the region, South East Asia’s late-2025 wet weather events were particularly devastating. And scientists say climate change is shaping weather patterns in a way that will likely make future rain and flooding events worse. With a relatively high number of densely populated sinking cities, th...

President Trump seeks to intervene again as Thailand and Cambodia conflict intensifies. As hundreds of thousands are displaced, we bring you a special episode on why the deadly border dispute has re-ignited, shattering a peace accord signed in October.

Asia Specific host Mariko Oi unpacks why the peace deal unravelled so quickly, with reporting at the border from BBC South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head plus analysis from Se...

Has an American leader who cut aid and imposed tariffs changed US ties with Asia forever? Or will it be business as usual with the region once the Trump era is over? Except for China, most Asian countries have been at pains to placate President Trump with offerings of crowns, gold golf clubs, and even a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Does the special treatment suggest a region seeking to get closer to America under Donald Trump’s l...

As Australia moves to restrict children under 16 from accessing social media, several Asian countries are signalling they may follow suit. Malaysia’s government plans to stop under-16s from creating social media accounts, while Indonesia has also expressed interest in adopting a similar policy. But does banning teenagers really address online harms, or does it raise new questions about enforcement, digital rights, and growing up on...

Hong Kong mourns 150 victims of its worst fires in decades amid mounting anger. As residents grieve for those lost, authorities are working to control and contain the public response to the tragedy. The arrest of a young man demanding answers, along with reports that two others have also been detained, has highlighted how politically sensitive the aftermath has become for China’s government. Six years ago Beijing criminalised polit...

Japan gave us Hello Kitty and Pokémon. China is making waves with micro-dramas and cutting-edge tech. But it’s South Korea that is currently the region’s reigning cultural superpower. From KPop Demon Hunters and Squid Game to BTS and Blackpink, the Korean Wave seems unstoppable. And with its Oscar-winning films and Nobel Prize-winning literature, its influence is global. But how much further can it go? Are other countries in the re...

A Taiwan comment by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has sparked the deepest diplomatic clash in more than a decade between the Asia neighbours. She indirectly implied that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response. The Chinese government called it “shocking,” suspending some Japanese imports and urging its citizens to avoid Japan for tourism. But what does it really mean for relations b...