Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) — More than 60 members of a Chinese Christian church have been detained in Thailand, supporters said Friday, raising fears they may be returned to their home country, where they face possible persecution.

Deana Brown, one of two American supporters detained along with the church members, told The Associated Press that Thai authorities in the coastal city of Pattaya detained the 63 church members, many of whom are children, Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine coast guard commander said Friday that the tragic scenes of death his team saw aboard a gutted ferry, including adults clutching children, had moved them to tears and sparked fears other passengers could be found dead in the still-smoldering ship.

BEIJING, Mar 30 (APP):China on Thursday felicitated Saudi Arabia on becoming a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

“We congratulate Saudi Arabia on becoming a dialogue partner of the SCO”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning said during her regular briefing.

She said, China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with Saudi Arabia within the SCO to contribute more to safeguarding regional peace and stability and promoting common development.

BEIJING, March 30. /TASS/: The US Armed Forces must stop provoking China in the South China Sea, otherwise they will bear responsibility for any potential incidents, Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Tan Kefei warned on Thursday.

The comment was Tan’s response to a US Navy vessel that allegedly sailed near the China-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

PHNOM PENH, Mar 30 (NNN-AKP) – The National Assembly of Cambodia today began its ninth plenary session of the sixth legislature after a three-month recess.

Some 105 lawmakers took part in the session.

Nation’s King, Norodom Sihamoni, sent a royal message to mark the opening session, praising the legislators for adopting 109 draft laws in the sixth legislature (2018-2023).

After the opening session, the National Assembly also ratified the treaty on the delimitation of the state border between Cambodia and Laos.

TAIPEI, March 30 (Reuters) - Taiwan and China must do everything possible to avoid war and it is the responsibility of both sides' leaders to ensure peace, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou told a senior Chinese official on Thursday.

Ma arrived in China on Monday, the first time a former or sitting Taiwanese president has visited the country since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists.

SEOUL/TAIPEI, March 30 (Reuters) - The criteria for new U.S. semiconductor subsidies is worrying companies such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and SK Hynix Inc (000660.KS), South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, a concern shared by the world's leading contract chipmaker in Taiwan.

Conditions include sharing excess profit with the U.S. government, and three industry sources said the application process itself could expose confidential corporate strategy.

SOROWAKO, Indonesia, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. carmaker Ford (F.N) has joined PT Vale Indonesia (INCO.JK) and China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt's as their new partner in a $4.5 billion nickel processing plant in Indonesia, the companies said on Thursday.

The investment is Ford's first in the Southeast Asian country and underscores growing appetite among automakers for raw materials used in producing electric vehicle (EV) batteries, which account for about 40% of a vehicle's sticker price, aiming to cut costs and close the gap on EV market leader Tesla (TSLA.O).

SEOUL, March 30 (Reuters) - North Korea executes people for drugs, sharing South Korean media, and religious activities as it stifles its citizens' human rights and freedom, its rival, South Korea, said in a report on Thursday.

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, based the 450-page report on testimony collected from 2017 to 2022 from more than 500 North Koreans who fled from their homeland.

"North Korean citizens' right to life appears to be greatly threatened," the ministry said in the report.

BEIJING (AP) — As Taiwan’s president began a stopover in the United States on her way to Central America, China said it was closely watching developments and would “resolutely safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China claims Taiwan as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and portrays the self-governing island democracy of 23 million people as the most sensitive issue in its increasingly fraught relationship with the U.S.