Bloomberg The Philippines is taking a page out of China’s book by building up its own fleet that includes fishing boats in the South China Sea, the Southeast Asian nation’s top diplomat said. “We are swarming the areas because that’s the Chinese strategy — to swarm the areas also with the fishing boats,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said in ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s king called on all lawmakers to support the government’s 2021 budget, in a move that could lend some stability to embattled PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership ahead of a key parliament vote. The monarch expressed “full confidence” in the prime minister’s ability to lead the country through the crisis, and urged all politicians to cease their bickering, Indera Ahmad ...

Bloomberg Tanzanians started voting in general elections, with President John Magufuli’s party likely to extend its decades-long rule on the country that’s one of Africa’s top four gold producers. Magufuli, 61, whose Chama Cha Mapinduzi has governed for more than half a century, is seeking a second five-year term to continue major infrastructure works, including an expansion of Tanzania’s road ...