Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) - China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that the South China Sea is not a "safari park" for countries outside the region or a "fighting arena" for major powers to compete in.

The South China Sea issue should be handled by countries in the region themselves, Wang said in opening remarks at a virtual seminar commemorating the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) - China on Monday gave conditional approval to domestic firm Genuine Biotech's Azvudine pill to treat certain adult patients with COVID-19, adding another oral treatment option against the coronavirus.

The availability of effective COVID vaccines and treatments is crucial in laying the groundwork for China's potential pivoting from its "dynamic COVID zero" policy, which aims to eliminate every outbreak - however small - and relies on mass testing and strict quarantining.

July 25 (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling military announced on Monday it had executed four democracy activists accused of aiding "terror acts", sparking widespread condemnation of the country's first executions in decades.

Sentenced to death in secretive trials in January and April, the men were accused of helping a civilian resistance movement that has fought the military since last year's coup and bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Monday issued a level-one alert against monkeypox as the first case was detected in the country, according to local media.

The alert level, the lowest on the country's four-tier scale, was issued earlier in the day, ahead of the announcement Monday evening that the health ministry here had detected the first case of the disease in the Tokyo area.

BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhua) -- On Monday at 10:03 a.m. (Beijing Time), the Shenzhou-14 astronauts opened the hatch door of Wentian, the first lab module of China's space station, and entered the module, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

It was the first time the Chinese astronauts had entered the lab module in orbit.

The Wentian module, launched on Sunday afternoon, docked with the front port of the Tianhe core module at 3:13 a.m. Monday.

BEIJING (AP) — Taiwan’s capital staged air raid drills Monday and its military mobilized for routine defense exercises, coinciding with concerns over a forceful Chinese response to a possible visit to the island by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

While there was no direct link between China’s renewed threats and Taiwan’s defensive moves, they underscore the possibility of a renewed crisis in the Taiwan Strait, considered a potential hotspot for conflict that could envelop the entire region.

TOKYO (AP) — The alleged assassin of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be detained until late November for mental evaluation so prosecutors can determine whether to formally press charges and send him to trial for murder, officials said Monday.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested immediately after he allegedly shot Abe from behind when the former leader was making a campaign speech outside a busy train station in western Japan on July 8.

BEIJING (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo was heading to Beijing on Monday for a rare visit by a foreign leader under China’s strict COVID-19 protocols and ahead of what could be the first overseas trip by Chinese President Xi Jinping since the start of the pandemic more than two years ago.

Xi, who has participated in international meetings only by video link during the pandemic, may end his COVID-19 isolation and attend a Group of 20 summit in Indonesia in mid-November, analysts both inside and outside China said.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to considerably ease poverty, boost economic recovery and defend the country’s territory in his first key policy speech Monday that avoided contentious issues like human rights and pervasive corruption.

Amid soaring costs of living following the coronavirus pandemic and the global fallout from the Ukraine war, Marcos Jr. said “we can no longer afford another lockdown.”

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar has carried out its first executions in nearly 50 years, hanging a former National League for Democracy lawmaker, a democracy activist and two men accused of a targeted killing after the country’s takeover by the military last year.

The executions, announced Monday in the state-run Mirror Daily newspaper, were carried out despite worldwide pleas for clemency for the four political prisoners, including from United Nations experts and Cambodia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.