Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

YEREVAN, August 3. /TASS/: The president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Arayik Harutyunyan, on Wednesday signed a decree on partial mobilization in the light of soaring tensions on the line of engagement with Azerbaijan, Armenia’s government news agency Armenpress reports.

"The President of the Republic of Artsakh (the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic - TASS) has signed a decree declaring partial mobilization on August 3," the news agency quotes Harutyunyan's press service as saying.

BEIJING, August 3. /TASS/: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi slammed on Wednesday the recent visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan as an ‘absolute farce.’

"This is an absolute farce," the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted as saying Wang Yi as saying during the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Cambodia.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia and the United States (US) value their longstanding bilateral ties and will continue working together on economic prosperity and security.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (picture) said this during a luncheon hosted in honour of the latter at a leading hotel here, Tuesday.

Pelosi and her congressional delegation arrived in Malaysia early Tuesday as part of the official visit to four Asian countries.

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China and Greece pledged here on Wednesday to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly work for better bilateral relations for the next 50 years.

While meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' meeting, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it has been 50 years since China and Greece established diplomatic relations between the two countries.

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases hit the highest in 110 days, bringing the total number of infections to over 20 million, official data showed Wednesday.

The country reported 119,922 new COVID-19 cases for the past 24 hours as of midnight Tuesday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

It was the highest daily figure in 110 days since mid-April amid a rapid spread of the new COVID-19 sub-variant.

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The 55th ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Foreign Ministers' Meeting and related meetings kicked off here on Wednesday, with a focus on post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery and key regional and global challenges.

Cambodia is the chair of ASEAN for 2022, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday made clear here China's solemn position on Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan region.

Wang, who is attending meetings on East Asia cooperation and on a visit to Cambodia, told reporters that Pelosi's tour is a complete farce.

Wang said the U.S. side, under the guise of so-called "democracy," is doing the heinous deeds of violating China's sovereignty.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Top Southeast Asian diplomats meeting in Cambodia’s capital intensified efforts Wednesday to stop the escalating violence in Myanmar and to address other pressing — and often divisive — regional issues.

BEIJING (AP) — China blocked imports of citrus, fish and other foods from Taiwan in retaliation for a visit by a top American lawmaker, Nancy Pelosi, but has avoided disrupting one of the world’s most important technology and manufacturing relationships.

The two sides, which split in 1949 after a civil war, have no official relations but multibillion-dollar business ties, especially in the flow of Taiwanese-made processor chips needed by Chinese factories that assemble the world’s smartphones and other electronics.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meeting leaders in Taiwan despite warnings from China, said Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in a visiting delegation are showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island.

“Today the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy,” she said in a short speech during a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. “America’s determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad.”