Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Jul 26 (APP): Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend the upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, from July 28 to 29, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the foreign ministers of other SCO member states have already confirmed their readiness to attend the meeting.

BEIJING, July 26 (APP): Pakistan’s rice export to China in the first six months of this year is worth around US$345 million, compared with the US$ 258 million in the same period last year, according to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC).

Pakistan’s rice exports witnessed a 23% growth in the fiscal year 2021-2022 and reached US$2.511 billion compared with the US$2.041 billion in the fiscal year 2020-2021.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (NNN-Bernama) — In urging the ASEAN Foreign Ministers to keep the Rohingya issue high on their agenda, the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer also highlighted the community’s need for education to prevent a “lost generation”.

A media advisory issued on Tuesday during her two-day mission to Kuala Lumpur at the invitation of Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah noted that, Noeleen had also stressed on the importance of legal employment and protection for Myanmar migrant workers and refugees in Malaysia.

BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Tianzhou-3 cargo craft is scheduled to re-enter the atmosphere in a controlled manner on Wednesday, the China Manned Space Engineering Office announced on Tuesday.

A small amount of debris is expected to fall into the sea in the South Pacific, the office said.

The cargo craft separated from China's space station combination on July 17 and later carried out in-orbit tests of space technology as planned, the office added.

BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Tuesday said the China-related part of Japan's 2022 defense white paper shows a total disregard for facts and is full of bias.

Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a press inquiry regarding the white paper.

The white paper made irresponsible remarks on China's national defense and military development, hyped up the so-called "military threat of China," stirred up regional tensions, and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, Wu said.

BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese military will not sit back if U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan, a Chinese defense spokesperson warned on Tuesday.

Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a press inquiry regarding the issue.

BEIJING (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday formally invited Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Group of 20 summit in Bali this fall, although it’s unclear whether he would attend in person.

The invitation came during a meeting in Beijing where the two discussed issues ranging from trade to maritime cooperation.

“President Xi expressed his thanks and wished complete success for the summit,” China’s state broadcaster CCTV said, without giving further details. The summit is to be held on the Indonesian resort island on Nov. 15-16.

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were mixed Tuesday as investors braced for another sharp interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve to cool inflation.

London and Shanghai advanced while Tokyo and Frankfurt declined. Oil rose nearly $2 per barrel.

Wall Street futures were lower after the benchmark S&P 500 index gained 0.1% on Monday.

BEIJING, July 25. /TASS/: Washington should assist in promoting a Russian-Ukrainian dialogue for peace instead of working towards including Russia in its list of state sponsors of terrorism, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

HONG KONG, July 25 (Reuters) - China's population has slowed significantly and is expected to start to shrink ahead of 2025, the state backed Global Times reported, citing a senior health official.

Birth data released late on Sunday showed that the number of new births in 2021 was the lowest in decades in several provinces.

The number of births in central Hunan province fell below 500,000 for the first time in nearly 60 years, the Global Times said. Only China's southern Guangdong province has had more than 1 million new births, it said.