Published: 12:40pm, 2 Sep 2025Updated: 12:53pm, 2 Sep 2025
We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. What Vietnam’s South China Sea island-building spree means for Asean
Vietnam’s rapid expansion of artificial island construction in the disputed Spratly Islands has put it on track to surpass China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea, according to new satellite imagery.
2. Flood of anger: why Filipinos turn to social media to expose ‘nepo babies’
As public scrutiny intensifies over anomalous flood control projects in the Philippines, Filipinos have turned to social media spaces such as Reddit to expose the lavish lifestyles of the children of the contractors and public officials linked to the ongoing investigations.
3. ‘Alarmist’: Japan simulates catastrophic Mount Fuji eruption
Tokyo shrouded in midday darkness, trains derailed, roofs collapsing under volcanic ash: this is the vision Japan’s Cabinet Office laid before the public this week in a chilling simulation of a catastrophic eruption of Mount Fuji.