Rebecca Tan
@rebtanhs.bsky.social
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Southeast Asia bureau chief at The Washington Post Snaps from bikes and boats instagram.com/rebtanwp
Despite being one of the world’s staunchest China supporters, Cambodia is embracing President Donald Trump with a level of enthusiasm virtually unmatched in Asia. “The Trump way of operating is something that the Cambodian leadership understands."
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
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How Cambodia, a staunch ally of China, became infatuated with Trump
Cambodia’s elite is taken with Trump, partly thanks to his disregard for democratic processes, but also due to his efforts to secure ceasefire in a border conflict with Thailand.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/09/10/cambodia-trump-relationship/
16 days ago
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Budots is invading your feeds, whether you know it or not… 💿🪩🎧 We went to Davao, birthplace of the viral genre, to interview the legendary DJ Love. Now in
@washingtonpost.com
!
wapo.st/4ndb7DT
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How sounds from a Philippine slum gave rise to a viral music genre
Budots, a genre of deliberately tacky dance music from the slums of the Philippines, is shaped by the noise, joy and violence of the streets. Take a listen.
https://wapo.st/4ndb7DT
28 days ago
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Illicit gold mining is surging across the globe. Across the operations in Ghana, Indonesia, French Guiana, there’s a connecting thread: Chinese syndicates. New investigation in
@washingtonpost.com
:
wapo.st/41GgjHP
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about 2 months ago
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Chinese illicit mining syndicates are ransacking gold deposits across the world, from Ghana to Indonesia. An unchecked "mining mafia" has left behind a trail of environmental devastation. New investigation for the
@washingtonpost.com
:
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
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Global ‘mining mafia’ feeds China’s appetite for gold, investigation shows
To reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar and build its own capacity to influence the international monetary system, China is procuring gold at a voracious pace.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/08/12/china-gold-illicit-mining-indonesia/
about 2 months ago
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“It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” said Philippine Defense Sec Teodoro, who has backed a proposal to view the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula as a single “theater” of battle.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
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The Philippines is quietly working with Taiwan to counter China
Manila’s significant shift could pave the way for the Philippines, an American treaty ally, to play a bigger role in regional defense if China invades Taiwan.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/14/philippines-taiwan-security-ties-china/
3 months ago
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Rebecca Tan
The Washington Post
3 months ago
The World Hongmen History and Culture Association, which says it is devoted to promoting Chinese culture abroad, is not just an alleged criminal front. It is entwined with the Chinese Communist Party, according to a Post investigation.
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Chinese association accused of mixing crime and patriotism as it serves Beijing
A Washington Post investigation found that China has selectively used criminal actors for geopolitical purposes, as long as they proclaim loyalty to the Communist Party.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2025/china-hongmen-organized-crime-geopolitics/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
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The Vietnam War ended 50 years ago today. It took decades for the two countries to normalize relations, then decades more for the U.S. to begin redressing what it left behind. These efforts at reconciliation are being eroded under Trump. A 🧵on our
@washingtonpost.com
story today:
5 months ago
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Red Cross in Myanmar: Nearly 200,000 people displaced from the quake still living outdoors under 40-degree heat. "Myanmar’s cyclone season starts within days, exposing coastal populations to strong winds and rains – leaving families to face the risks of floods and landslides."
5 months ago
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American businessman Michael Laskau said if the proposed tariffs are imposed, the impact on his garment business in Vietnam would be dramatic. “If we were to assume the 46 percent, it would be a huge, huge loss, as it would be for anybody in the supply chain.”
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
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Asian markets extend losses amid Trump tariff uncertainty
President Donald Trump suggested he might be open to doing deals over tariffs, raising hopes in Japan, Vietnam and Taiwan. But China is preparing to retaliate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/04/03/asian-markets-fall-trump-tariff/
6 months ago
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Rebecca Tan
Hunter Marston
6 months ago
Powerful piece by
@rebtanhs.bsky.social
@washingtonpost.com
#MyanmarEarthquake
#USAID
:
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
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Trump’s USAID cuts cripple American response to Myanmar earthquake
Three days after the quake, there are no U.S. teams on the ground in Myanmar, a stark illustration of how Trump has upended America’s role in disaster response.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/03/31/myanmar-earthquake-thailand-usaid-trump/
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UN humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar: "The humanitarian response in Myanmar has been chronically underfunded for years. Four months into the year right now, less than 5 per cent of the required US$1.1 billion of the Humanitarian Response Plan has been received."
6 months ago
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The tangible effects of Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts are on display right now in Myanmar, say USAID officials. America’s disaster relief capabilities, the biggest and best in the world, are immobilized while the death toll in Myanmar’s earthquake climbs up and up.
@washingtonpost.com
6 months ago
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Rebecca Tan
Matthew Hay Brown
6 months ago
Hours after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake devastated Myanmar on Friday, the U.S. officials charged with responding received their termination letters. Most of the personnel who would have made up a U.S. response team were already on indefinite leave
@rebtanhs.bsky.social
reports
wapo.st/3E3PiFR
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Trump’s USAID cuts cripple American response to Myanmar earthquake
Three days after the quake, there are no U.S. teams on the ground in Myanmar, a stark illustration of how Trump has upended America’s role in disaster response.
https://wapo.st/3E3PiFR
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reposted by
Rebecca Tan
Senator Chris Van Hollen
6 months ago
We're seeing in real time the terrible consequences of Musk & Trump's dismantling of USAID. A devastating earthquake has killed thousands — and many more will die without vital U.S. aid. The AID officials in charge had just gotten their termination letters. America in retreat.
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Trump’s USAID cuts cripple American response to Myanmar earthquake
Three days after the quake, there are no U.S. teams on the ground in Myanmar, a stark illustration of how Trump has upended America’s role in disaster response.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/03/31/myanmar-earthquake-thailand-usaid-trump/
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reposted by
Rebecca Tan
The Washington Post
6 months ago
Three days after the quake, there are no U.S. teams on the ground in Myanmar, a stark illustration of how Trump has upended America’s role in disaster response.
loading . . .
Trump’s USAID cuts cripple American response to Myanmar earthquake
Three days after the quake, there are no U.S. teams on the ground in Myanmar, a stark illustration of how Trump has upended America’s role in disaster response.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/03/31/myanmar-earthquake-thailand-usaid-trump/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
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Rebecca Tan
The Washington Post
9 months ago
Fakhri Abu Diab led the effort to protect homes in East Jerusalem’s al-Bustan neighborhood from demolition. In November, Israel destroyed his house.
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After decades fighting demolitions, Palestinian sees own home wrecked
Jerusalem officials say they are razing structures as part of an “urban renewal” project. Rights groups fear Israel is pressuring Palestinian residents to leave.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/24/israel-demolitions-palestinians-east-jerusalem/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=threads?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
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When Israel ordered citizens to evacuate border regions more than a year ago, it allowed poor migrant farmworkers, most of them from Thailand, to stay put — to water crops, prune trees and harvest fruit as rockets fell around them. Six have died this year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
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Asian farmworkers are being killed in Israel’s embattled border regions
Despite repeated protests from their countries, Israel has continued to let migrant laborers work in high-risk military zones.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/07/israel-migrant-workers-war-casualties/
10 months ago
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No shortage of devastating stories. But this one, for me, was wrenching to report: Asian farmworkers are being killed in Israel's borders, dying in a war a world away from home. Their governments are desperate for this to stop. In
@washingtonpost.com
today:
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
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Asian farmworkers are being killed in Israel’s embattled border regions
Despite repeated protests from their countries, Israel has continued to let migrant laborers work in high-risk military zones.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/07/israel-migrant-workers-war-casualties/
10 months ago
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reposted by
Rebecca Tan
Michelle Ye Hee Lee
10 months ago
Starter pack for our excellent journalists on the
@washingtonpost.com
international team, courtesy of
@matthewhaybrown.bsky.social
. Follow along for stories and skeets from our team around the world:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
add a skeleton here at some point
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Hi! My name is Rebecca and I cover Southeast Asia for The Washington Post, with occasional stints elsewhere. I’ve reported from nickel mines in Indonesia, rebel command centers in Myanmar, and loads of places in between. Follow along for stories on (imo) the most interesting place in the world 🌅
10 months ago
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Rebecca Tan
Rachel Chason
10 months ago
Hey all 👋🏼 I love covering West Africa, which recently has meant a lot of trips to the Sahel and stories about the changes underway there. It’s also meant finding the unexpected gems, like this dance troupe competing in Burkina Faso A free link to one of my favorite stories:
wapo.st/4i7p4kO
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