The Latest Breaking News from East Asia

Ancient humans arrived in East Asia hundreds of thousands of years earlier than thought

Findings suggest human ancestors spread across Asia earlier, faster and possibly more successfully than commonly believed

The Independent UK · Feb 19

'Absolute surprise': Homo erectus skulls found in China are almost 1.8 million years old — the oldest evidence of the ancient human relatives in East Asia

A new date for Homo erectus skulls found in central China provides new insight into how and when ancient human relatives reached eastern Asia.

LiveScience · Feb 18

Japan’s Farewell to Their Last 2 Beloved Pandas: People get emotional

Japan has never lacked a single giant panda in the past 50 years and now this is what is happening as twin pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei left Tokyo Ueno Zoo to go to China. Their repatriation that was initially planned due to international loan agreements has been accompanied…

Times Pets · Jan 28

China on track for massive population decline

The world's population map is about to flip.

Axios · Dec 16, 2025

China's 'Biggest Military Peacetime Buildups' Threaten America's Allies In East Asia, Warns Tom Cotton

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) warns that China's rapid "peacetime" military buildup is increasingly aimed at pushing the United States away from its Asian allies and even U.S. territory, pressing Republicans to answer what he calls a growing threat to American interests.

Benzinga · Nov 26, 2025

New study reveals how illegal wildlife trade intersects with organized crime in Canada

When most people hear terms like poaching, wildlife trafficking or illegal wildlife trade, they probably think of threatened species such as elephants, rhinos, tigers or sharks. Geographically, wildlife crime may feel like a problem confined to southern Africa or southeast and East Asia.

The Conversation · Oct 20, 2025

‘Serious threat’ warning as Asian hornets found in part of UK for first time

The Yellow-legged hornet is a harmful invasive species originating from East Asia that feeds on honeybees

The Independent UK · Oct 14, 2025

Super Typhoon Ragasa barrels through Philippines as rescuers work through night to evacuate residents

Super typhoon Ragasa, the most powerful storm recorded this year, has hit the Philippines, causing widespread evacuations and airport shutdowns across East Asia.

The Independent UK · Sep 23, 2025

12,000-year-old smoked mummies reveal world’s earliest evidence of human mummification

Smoke-drying mummification of human remains was practised by hunter-gatherers across southern China, southeast Asia and beyond as far back as 12,000 years ago, my colleagues and I report in new research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Conversation · Sep 15, 2025

China’s WWII anniversary parade rekindles cross-strait battle over war narrative − and fears in Taiwan of future conflict

World War II casts a very long shadow in East Asia. Eighty years after ending with Japan’s surrender to Allied forces on Sept. 2, 1945, the conflict continues to stir debate over the past, in the context of today’s geopolitical tensions.

The Conversation · Sep 2, 2025