Asia Pacific | Latest News & Updates

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a press conference in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

US will push China to change a policy threatening American jobs, Treasury Secretary Yellen says

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the Biden administration will push China to change an industrial policy that poses a threat to U.S. jobs.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, left, shakes hands with Governor of the People's Bank of China Pan Gongsheng as they meet at the People's Bank of China in Beijing Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, Pool)

What’s behind the latest US-China trade fight?

FILE - This photo combination shows U.S. President Joe Biden, left, taken in Washington on April 3, 2024, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, taken in Tokyo on March 28, 2024. Prime Minister Kishida is making an official visit to the United States this week. He will hold a summit with President Biden that's meant to achieve a major upgrading of their defense alliance.(AP Photo/File)

What’s expected at Japanese PM Kishida’s US visit? A major upgrade in defense ties

In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korea's second military spy satellite lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Sunday, April 7, 2024. South Korea has launched its second military spy satellite into space, days after North Korea reaffirmed its plan to launch multiple reconnaissance satellites this year. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

South Korea launches its 2nd military spy satellite amid animosities with North Korea

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, left, reacts with his party's candidate Kwak Sang-eon during a campaign rally for the upcoming parliamentary election on April 10, in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 8, 2024. As South Koreans head to the polls to elect a new 300-member parliament on this week, many are choosing their livelihoods and other domestic concerns as the most important election issues. It's in a stark contrast from past elections that were overshadowed by security and foreign policy issues like North Korean nuclear threats and U.S. security commitment for South Korea.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Here’s what South Koreans are concerned about as they vote for parliament this week

FILE - A Hong Kong cityscape is pictured on March 19, 2024. The United States sees Hong Kong's new national security law as a tool to potentially silence dissent both at home and abroad, but has tread carefully so far in responding, a disappointment to those fighting for democracy and freedoms in the Chinese territory. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, File)

US treads carefully in responding to Hong Kong’s new national security law

The U.S. has denounced Hong Kong’s new national security law as a tool to potentially silence dissent both at home and abroad, but so far the action from Washington has been notably muted.

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Monday, April 8, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, center, walks from the plane upon his arrival in Beijing, China. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is visiting Beijing to display the strength of ties with close diplomatic ally China amid Moscow's grinding war against Ukraine. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visits Beijing to highlight ties with key diplomatic partner

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is visiting Beijing to display the strength of ties with close diplomatic partner China amid Moscow’s grinding war against Ukraine.

FILE - U.S. Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, Commanding General of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division, gestures during an interview with The Associated Press on Feb. 8, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. The U.S. Army is introducing a new joint battlefield training in the Philippines aimed at boosting combat readiness and efficiency, including the adequate provision of ammunition and other supplies in difficult tropical jungle and archipelagic conditions, Evans said Sunday, April 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

The US Army will hold combat training in the Philippines to hone skills as maritime tensions rise

The U.S. Army is introducing a joint battlefield training in the Philippines to improve combat readiness including by ensuring adequate supply of ammunition and other needs in difficult conditions in tropical jungles and on scattered islands.

Sweden expels a Chinese journalist, calling her a threat to national security, report says

Sweden has expelled a Chinese journalist, saying the reporter was a threat to national security. Swedish broadcaster SVT reported Monday that a 57-year-old woman was arrested by the Swedish security service in October and expelled by the government in Stockholm last week.

Uproar in Malaysia over shoes bearing logo resembling Arabic word for God. Company head apologizes

A Malaysian shoe company has apologized and stopped selling some of its footwear after some Muslims said the logo resembled the Arabic writing for the word God.

Daihatsu President Masahiro Inoue speaks during a press conference in Tokyo Monday, April 8, 2024. Daihatsu, the Japanese automaker mired in a scandal over fraudulent vehicle tests, will hand over its model certification duties to parent company Toyota, to regain trust among dealers, customers and workers, its new president said Monday. (Kyodo News via AP)

Toyota will oversee model certification at subsidiary Daihatsu after safety testing scandal

The new president of Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu says its parent company will oversee model certification to regain trust after a safety testing scandal.

This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. (AP Photo)

Motorcycle bomb kills 2 people and wounds 5 in Pakistan’s restive southwest

A police official says a motorcycle bomb has killed two people and injured five in Pakistan’s restive southwest.

FILE - A Filipino port worker looks as the Japanese Ship Akebono (DD-108), a Murasame-class destroyer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, prepares to dock for a goodwill visit at Manila's south harbor, Philippines on Sept. 27, 2018. The United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval exercises, including anti-submarine warfare training, in a show of force Sunday, April 7, 2024 in the South China Sea where Beijing’s aggressive actions to assert its territorial claims have caused alarm. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

China says it patrolled the South China Sea in an apparent response to US naval drills with allies

China’s military says it has conducted air and sea patrols and that all activities that “disrupt the South China Sea” are under control.

Security forces kill 2 Papuan rebel leaders in shootout near jointly owned US-Indonesian gold mine

Police say two Papuan separatist leaders were killed in a shootout between security forces and their rebel group near one of the world’s largest gold mines in Indonesia’s restive Papua region.

Bhaskar Rao, a farm worker, sprays natural pesticide at a multi-crop farm belonging to Meerabi Chunduru, an avid practitioner and advocate of natural farming techniques, in Aremanda village in Guntur district of southern India's Andhra Pradesh state, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. The area has become a positive example of the benefits of natural farming, a process of using organic matter as fertilizers and pesticides that makes crops more resilient to bad weather. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Farmers in India are hit hard by extreme weather. Some say expanding natural farming is the answer

Andhra Pradesh state has become a positive example of the benefits of natural farming, a process of using organic matter as fertilizers and pesticides that makes crops more resilient to bad weather.

A search is underway in Pakistan for attackers who ambushed a police car, killing 2 and injuring 2

A Pakistani police officer says a search is underway after armed gunmen ambushed and opened fire on a police vehicle, killing two people and injuring another two.

FILE - In this undated and unknown location photo, the new leader of Taliban fighters, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada is photographed. The Taliban's reclusive supreme leader is urging his officials to set aside their differences. Public dissent within the Taliban is rare, but some senior figures have expressed their disagreement with the leadership's decision making, especially the ban on female education. The written statement on Saturday April 6, 2024 from Hibatullah Akhundzada was published ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. (Afghan Islamic Press via AP, File)

Reclusive Taliban leader releases Eid message urging officials to set aside their differences

The Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader is urging his officials to set aside their differences. Public dissent within the Taliban is rare, but some senior figures have expressed their disagreement with the leadership’s decision making, especially the ban on female education.

US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines to stage military drills in disputed South China Sea

The United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval exercises, including anti-submarine warfare training, in a show of force Sunday in the South China Sea where Beijing’s aggressive actions to assert its territorial claims have caused alarm.

FILE - Youths light firecrackers and flares as they celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan on a street in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Islam follows a lunar calendar and so Ramadan and Eid cycle through the seasons. In 2024, the first day of Eid al-Fitr is expected to be on or around April 10; the exact date may vary among countries and Muslim communities. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

What is Eid al-Fitr and how do Muslims celebrate the Islamic holiday?

Muslims around the world will soon bid farewell to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and start celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

A building is seen partially collapsed, two days after a powerful earthquake struck the city, in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, Friday, April 5, 2024. Rescuers searched Thursday for missing people and worked to reach hundreds stranded when Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years sent boulders and mud tumbling down mountainsides, blocking roads. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Earthquake aftershocks halt the demolition of a leaning building in Taiwan. Death toll rises to 13

The demolition of a building that is leaning precariously after an earthquake in Taiwan has been halted because of aftershocks that made it lean even more.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, right, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng arrive to a bilateral meeting at the Guangdong Zhudao Guest House in southern China's Guangdong province, Saturday, April 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool)

New US-China talks will address a top American complaint about Beijing’s economic model, Yellen says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says upcoming U.S.-China talks will tackle a top Biden administration complaint that Beijing’s economic model and trade practices put American companies and workers at an unfair competitive disadvantage.

FILE - A resident drives motorbike to Naypyitaw International Airport as security police stand guard, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Myanmar’s main pro-democracy resistance group said Thursday, April 4, 2024, its armed wing launched drone attacks on the airport and a military headquarters in the capital, Naypyitaw, but the country’s ruling military said it destroyed or seized more than a dozen drones used in the attacks. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

UN chief appoints former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop as UN special envoy for Myanmar

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop as his special envoy for Myanmar.

Smoke from trash burning in a village outside the Lao UNESCO heritage site of Luang Prabang joins the heavy haze over much of inland Southeast Asia due to crop and waste burning, Saturday, April 6, 2024. ASEAN finance ministers met in Luang Prabang this week to discuss economic and financial issues including ways to help finance reductions in carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. (AP Photo/Elaine Kurtenbach)

ASEAN finance leaders end meetings in Laos, pointing to challenges from geopolitics, volatile prices

Southest Asian finance ministers and central bank governors have ended meetings in the Laotian city of Luang Prabang citing progress in building stronger regional institutions, but also noting serious challenges due to geopolitical tensions and volatile commodity prices.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida smiles during an interview with foreign media members ahead of an official visit to the United States at the Prime Minister's official residence Friday, April 5, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Japan’s Kishida, ahead of US trip, seeks stronger military ties with Washington and other partners

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says he wants to strengthen military and weapons development cooperation with the United States as well as with other countries such as the Philippines, as he prepares for a visit to the U.S. next week to meet with President Joe Biden.

Liu Zhong-da, a worker of Taroko National Park gets a physical examination after being rescued in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024. Zhong-da had been driving in a open tunnel that winds through the mountainous Taroko National Park when he saw a giant rock crash down in front of the tunnel's end when one of the strongest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years struck. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Survivors of Taiwan’s historic quake recall harrowing moments of tremors, being trapped under rocks

Taiwan residents endured harrowing experiences when the ground shook with the strongest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati delivers her statement during a hearing on the presidential election result dispute at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, April 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Indonesian Cabinet ministers deny claims by losing presidential candidates of misused government aid

Four Indonesian Cabinet members have testified that no rules were violated in the distribution of government aid during the recent election campaign, despite claims by the two losing presidential candidates that it was used for the benefit of the election winner.

Visitors look at the seasonal cherry blossoms at the Ueno Park Friday, April 5, 2024, in Tokyo. Crowds gathered Friday in Tokyo to enjoy Japan’s famed cherry blossoms, which are blooming later than expected in the capital because of cold weather. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Crowds picnic to see Tokyo’s cherry blossoms at full bloom

Crowds are gathering in Tokyo to enjoy Japan’s famed cherry blossoms, which are blooming later than expected in the capital because of cold weather.

Debris surrounds a titled building a day after a powerful earthquake struck, in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

AP Week in Pictures: Asia

March 29 - April 4, 2024

Rescuers searched for missing people and worked to reach hundreds stranded following Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, left, shakes hands with Wang Weizhong, deputy party secretary and governor of Guangdong prior to a meeting at the Baiyun International Conference Center (BICC) in southern China's Guangdong province, Friday, April 5, 2024. Yellen has arrived in China for five days of meetings in a country that's determined to avoid open conflict with the United States. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool)

Yellen calls for level playing field for US workers and firms during China visit

The U.S. treasury secretary has called for a level playing field for American companies and workers as she opened a five-day visit to China in a major industrial and export hub.

FILE - Soldiers stand to provide security near a road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Feb. 1, 2021. The U.N.'s leading human rights body agreed Thursday, April 4, 2024, to measures aimed at putting pressure on Myanmar and Iran, whose governments have been accused of using violence against their own people. The Human Rights Council, made up of 47 member countries, backed by consensus a measure that calls on governments to avoid exporting or selling jet fuel to Myanmar if they believe its ruling military junta might use the fuel to violate human rights in the war-wracked southeast Asian country. (AP Photo, File)

Myanmar’s worst violence since the military takeover is intensifying the crisis, the UN says

U.N. officials say that Myanmar’s escalating conflict and worst violence since the military takeover in 2021 are having a devastating impact on human rights, fundamental freedoms and basic needs of millions of people.

FILE - Protesters run after police shot warning shots and used water cannon to disperse them during a protest in Mandalay, Myanmar on Feb. 9, 2021. The U.N.'s leading human rights body agreed Thursday, April 4, 2024, to measures aimed at putting pressure on Myanmar and Iran, whose governments have been accused of using violence against their own people. The Human Rights Council, made up of 47 member countries, backed by consensus a measure that calls on governments to avoid exporting or selling jet fuel to Myanmar if they believe its ruling military junta might use the fuel to violate human rights in the war-wracked southeast Asian country. (AP Photo, File)

UN human rights body backs measures against Myanmar and investigations in Iran

The U.N.’s leading human rights body has agreed to measures aimed at putting pressure on Myanmar and Iran, whose governments have been accused of using violence against their own people.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court complex escorted by prison officers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Jailed former Malaysia premier Najib Razak seeks to serve remaining sentence under house arrest

Malaysia’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak is seeking to serve the rest of his prison term under house arrest, two months after his graft sentence was halved.

Park Dan, head of an emergency committee at the Korean Intern Resident Association, center right, is seen during a meeting at the Korean Medical Association in Seoul, South Korea, March 31, 2024. South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol met the leader of thousands of striking junior doctors on Thursday, April 4, 2024, and promised to respect their position during future talks over his contentious push to sharply increase medical school admissions. The meeting between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Park Dan, head of an emergency committee for the Korea Intern Resident Association, was the first of its kind since more than 90% of the country’s 13,000 trainee doctors walked off the job in February, disrupting hospital operations. (Choi Jae-gu/Yonhap via AP)

South Korea’s president meets leader of doctors’ strike as he seeks to end their walkouts

South Korea’s president has met the leader of thousands of striking junior doctors and promised to respect their position during future talks over the government’s contentious push to sharply increase medical school admissions.

Myanmar resistance group says its drones hit targets in the capital, but army says it shot them down

Myanmar’s main pro-democracy resistance group says its armed wing launched drone attacks on the airport and a military headquarters in the capital, Naypyitaw.

FILE - President Joe Biden, center, poses for a photo with Pacific Island leaders on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Sept. 29, 2022. From left, New Caledonia President Louis Mapou, Tonga Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni, Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr., Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano, Micronesia President David Panuelo, Fiji Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Biden, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, Marshall Islands President David Kabua, Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, French Polynesia President Edouard Fritch and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Tonga’s prime minister says he’s open to Chinese help with security support at an upcoming summit

Tonga’s prime minister says he is open to Beijing’s offer of security support for the South Pacific kingdom hosting a major regional leaders’ summit, raising concerns in the United States as it strives to counter China’s growing influence.

In this photo provided by Malaysia's Prime Minister's Office, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, left, shakes hands with Indonesian president-elect and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto at the Prime Minister's office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (Sadiq Asyraf/Malaysia's Prime Minister's Office via AP)

Indonesia’s president-elect holds talks with Malaysian leader on bolstering ties

Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto has held talks with Malaysia’s leader on bolstering bilateral ties as part of a regional visit that has also taken him to China and Japan.

Smoke rises from a ferry in Surat Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, April 4, 2024. The ferry caught fire off the southern Thailand coast on Thursday morning while carrying more than a hundred people, sending panicking passengers to jump into the sea to escape the raging blaze. (Maitree Promjampa via AP)

People jump into the sea to escape raging ferry fire in Gulf of Thailand. All 108 on board are safe

Panicked passengers have jumped into the sea to escape a raging ferry fire in the Gulf of Thailand, and all 108 people on board are safe.

A farmer tends their fields in stifling temperatures as surrounding hills are choked by smoke from field and hill fires across the region, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Luang Prabang, Laos. Financial officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were meeting in the city to discuss ways to secure financing to help shift to more sustainable and less polluting agriculture and energy. (AP Photo/Elaine Kurtenbach)

Southeast Asian countries consider ways to boost ‘green financing’ as region chokes on smog

Senior finance and central bank officials from Southeast Asia and major economies are meeting in the scenic Laotian city of Luang Prabang to discuss ways to help the region build resilience against shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters brought on by climate change.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, left, shakes hands with Lisa Heller, U.S. Consul for Guangzhou after arriving at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport in southern China's Guangdong province, Thursday, April 4, 2024. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is heading to a China that is determined to avoid open conflict with the United States. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool)

US treasury secretary is in China to talk trade, anti-money laundering and Chinese ‘overproduction’

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has arrived in a China for five days of meetings in a country that’s determined to avoid open conflict with the United States.

Two trapped workers of Taroko National Park have a physical examination after being rescued in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024. Rescuers are searching for dozens of people still missing a day after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Rescuers in Taiwan search for those missing or stranded after major earthquake kills 10

Rescuers are searching for missing people and working to reach hundreds who became stranded when Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years sent boulders and mud tumbling down mountainsides, blocking roads.

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