ASIA INSIGHT: Summer arrives earlier amid changing climate across Asia SEOUL, May 15 (AJP) - South Korea is beginning to feel like summer much earlier than usual. This week, temperatures in and around the capital hovered around 30 degrees Celsius in mid-May, a time when spring weather would normally still be mild. The temperatures felt more like late July than the weeks before the annual monsoon season. The heat itself may not seem shocking in a country with four distinct seasons, known for humid summers, but what stands out is how early it arrived. As May 15, 2026

Asia Deep Insight: Trump and Xi in the Shadow of the Thucydides Trap BEIJING, May 14 (AJP) -long the stone paths of the Temple of Heaven, beneath crimson walls and fading imperial roofs, President Donald Trump of the United States and President Xi Jinping of China walked side by side on May 14, 2026. The atmosphere was neither openly confrontational nor genuinely warm. It carried something more consequential: the careful restraint of two powers that understand they are now shaping the architecture of the twenty-first century. Later th May 15, 2026

China Insight: Will the historic Beijing summit mark a new milestone in G2 era? The world once again turned its eyes to the rain-soaked paths of the Temple of Heaven. President Donald Trump of the United States and President Xi Jinping of China walked side by side. There were few aides around them. With only interpreters nearby, the two leaders moved slowly between the red walls and wet stone paths of one of China’s most symbolically charged imperial sites. It was not merely a diplomatic scene. It was an image asking a larger question: where is the wor May 14, 2026

Xi warns Trump on Taiwan at Beijing summit SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - Chinese President Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday that the Taiwan issue could trigger a direct clash if handled improperly, in one of Beijing's strongest warnings yet over its most sensitive geopolitical red line. The remarks came during a summit between the two leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday, where Xi and Trump held talks on trade, AI, Iran and broader regional security issues. "The Taiwan q May 14, 2026

ASIA INSIGHT: Crisis in South Asia, world's petroleum wardrobe The conflict in the Middle East is unraveling the global garment industry, proving that fast fashion is as much a byproduct of crude oil as it is of cotton. In the industrial sprawl of Gazipur, just north of Dhaka, the looms of the world’s second-largest apparel engine are beginning to stutter. For decades, the floor managers of these vast, vertically integrated factories have calculated their margins down to the fraction of a cent. They optimized for labor, they maximize May 14, 2026

Foreign minister vows follow-up response over attack on HMM vessel Namu SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Thursday that South Korea will take necessary follow-up measures over the recent attack on the HMM cargo vessel Namu after conducting an additional government investigation. “Based on the position that attacks on civilian vessels, including the Namu, cannot be justified or tolerated under any circumstances, we will continue consultations with relevant countries,” Cho said during a press briefing at the Foreign Ministry May 14, 2026

ASIA INSIGHT: Lee to meet Japanese PM in Andong where history meets diplomacy SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - Diplomacy, at its best, has a sense of place. When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province next week for a summit with President Lee Jae Myung, it will be more than just another date on the diplomatic calendar. It will be one of those rare moments where history, culture, and politics come together in a way that goes beyond routine diplomatic ritual. Takaichi's upcoming visit to the southern historic city of Andong May 14, 2026

ASIA INSIGHT: What Melania Trump's absence from Beijing means SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - When U.S. President Donald Trump boarded Air Force One for Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, one absence stood out immediately. His wife and first lady Melania did not join him. Technically, that is not unusual. First ladies are neither constitutionally required nor politically obligated to accompany presidents abroad. But presidential trips are never only about policy. They are also about symbolism, optics and public perception. May 14, 2026

ASIA INSIGHT: Trump's Middle East peace formula may lie in Noah Covenant and new Arabian union The Middle East is moving again — not slowly, but with the dangerous speed that often precedes a historic geopolitical realignment. What began as another confrontation between Iran and Israel is no longer confined to missile strikes, proxy warfare, or retaliatory operations. It is becoming a wider struggle over the future architecture of the Middle East itself: who will control the sea lanes, who will shape the post-oil order, and which civilization will define the pol May 14, 2026

Trump-Xi summit to test fragile détente as CEOs descend on Beijing SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) -U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping for two days from Thursday engage a high-stakes and closely-watched summit in Beijing as war in the Middle East, tariff disputes and the global artificial intelligence race reshape the balance between the world’s two largest economies. While both sides are expected to emphasize symbolism and stability in public, the summit is emerging as a transactional negotiation over tariffs, semiconductors, May 14, 2026