Several blasts have ripped through Kaohsiung, a city in south-western Taiwan, killing 15, injuring over 220 and overturning the cars in the street, the Fire Agency said. The cause is thought to be gas leaks in the sewage system. The number of those injured is expected to rise, the Fire Department said. Many were also taken to schools across the city to take shelter. According to witnesses, gas leaks... 

The American army conducted experiments with biological weapons aimed at destroying rice crops on the Japanese island of Okinawa in the 60s, Kyodo news agency reports. The alleged target of the tests was the China and Southeast Asia region. Citing classified US documents, Japanese news agency Kyodo said the US military carried out experiments on their sovereign territory between 1961 and 1962. At... 

United States Vice President Joe Biden said during a tour of Asia on Tuesday that the US is “deeply concerned” about recent efforts by China to re-draw airspace surrounding a series of islands between Taiwan and Japan. The airspace in that area has traditionally been controlled by Japan, but claimed by the Chinese as well. Late last month China proclaimed a portion of that area in the East China... 

Filipino children scamper across wrecked floating shanties at a village in Paranaque city, south of Manila: The Filipino weather bureau warned that storm surges and heavy waves could cause more heavy damage tonight The most powerful typhoon of the year was eyeing landfall on Hong Kong today as it swept past the Philippines and Taiwan, sparing those countries from the worst of its wrath. Typhoon Usagi... 

The Chinese Indo-Pacific pink dolphins are rare, are getting rarer and are in line for extinction, thanks to Humankind. Welcome to the twenty-first century. These beautiful sea creatures start their lives grey, and gradually turn pink. Soon, this will not matter, will it? The pink dolphin is native to the coasts off Taiwan and Hong Kong. Industrial expansion and sea pollution are creating the conditions... 

According to the latest data, the number of people injured as a result of a powerful earthquake in Taiwan amounted to 86; one woman has died. The earthquake was registered on the island on Wednesday, 6.03, Moscow time. The 6.3 magnitude earthquake’s epicenter was located at 21 kilometers south-east of the city of Puli at a depth of about 15 kilometers. Some fluctuations of the earth’s... 

A Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic showroom in Tokyo. Embattled Japanese consumer electronics giants Panasonic and Sharp have posted more than USD11 billion in combined losses over the nine-month period ending in December. On Friday, Sharp announced its losses had doubled in the nine months leading to December to USD4.6 billion. Panasonic, meanwhile, said it had lost about USD6.77 billion... 

Japan launched 8 fighter jets in response to an airspace “violation” by a Chinese plane that strayed into territory above disputed islands in East China Sea. Japan slammed the move as “deplorable” and lodged a formal complaint against the Chinese. The Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying a Chinese state aircraft had strayed into airspace over the disputed archipelago, prompting... 

Taiwanese fishing boats head to the disputed East China Sea islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu Islands in Chinese, September 24, 2012. Taiwan sends boats to waters around disputed islands. Dozens of Taiwanese vessels and coastguard ships have entered waters around a disputed island chain also claimed by the world’s second and third largest economies, China and Japan. “Tens of... 

The United States might officially be the worst neighbor on Earth: the US now owes its allies $5.2923 trillion, the most money the country has ever been indebted to its foreign friends in the history of the nation. Statistics released this week by the US Treasury indicate that, as of June 2012, the United States has borrowed bucks from most of the world’s major countries and has accumulated a debt... 

A Japanese couple offer prayers for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami at Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture on March 11, 2012. A new study by Maplecroft risk analysis firm says emerging Asian economies face the greatest financial risk from natural disasters. The study suggests that the limited ability of some Asian states has left them exposed to “major destructive natural hazards, such... 

China’s military is developing electromagnetic pulse weapons that Beijing plans to use against U.S. aircraft carriers in any future conflict over Taiwan, according to an intelligence report made public on Thursday. Portions of a National Ground Intelligence Centerstudy on the lethal effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and high-powered microwave (HPM) weapons revealed that the arms are part... 

Now is the time for China to use its “financial weapon” to teach the United States a lesson if it moves forward with a plan to sale arms to Taiwan. In fact, China has never wanted to use its holdings of US debt as a weapon. It is the United States that is forcing it to do so. The US House of Representatives just passed a debt ceiling bill on Aug. 1. On the next day, a total of 181 members... 

You thought Dubai and Shanghai had the craziest, most futuristic architecture in the planet. Sorry Taiwan, you and your Taiwan Tower—a 984-foot (300 meter) high structure with mechanized observation platforms that float using helium and propellers—win. Originally conceptualized by Romanian architect Stefan Dorin, the tower will be the tallest building in Taichung, Taiwan. At its base, the tower... 

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is welcomed by Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Conference on Security Friday before the start of the 46th Conference on Security Policy in Munich. Speaking with uncharacteristic bluntness, Mr. Yang accused the US of violating international law with its proposed arms sale to Taiwan. Today Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi, speaking with unusual bluntness...