Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday urged the United States to match its words with action, including not seeking confrontation or conflict, not seeking a new Cold War, and not seeking an Asian NATO or a region split into hostile blocs, and to stop saying or doing things that could create division and confrontation.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily news briefing in response to a query regarding the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares fell across the board Tuesday after Wall Street tumbled into a bear market, indicating that major U.S. benchmarks and individual stocks have fallen 20% or more from a recent high for a sustained period of time.

Benchmarks fell in Japan, Australia, South Korea and China. The Japanese yen’s continuing slide against the dollar paused.

SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stressed American support for Taiwan on Saturday, suggesting at Asia’s premier defense forum that recent Chinese military activity around the self-governing island threatens to change the status quo.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Austin noted a “steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan,” including almost daily military flights near the island by the People’s Republic of China.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 (NNN-Bernama) — The Malaysian government has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty and to substitute it with other sentences which are subject to the discretion of the court.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the decision was reached after he presented the Report on Substitute Sentences for the Mandatory Death Penalty at the Cabinet meeting last Wednesday.

SINGAPORE, June 10 (Reuters) - The defence chiefs of China and the United States held face-to-face talks for the first time on Friday, with both sides standing firm on their opposing views over Taiwan's right to rule itself.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore for nearly an hour, double the time initially allotted.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday eased its borders for foreign tourists and began accepting visa applications, but only for those on guided package tours who are willing to follow mask-wearing and other antivirus measures as the country cautiously tries to balance business and infection worries.

Friday is the first day to start procedures needed for the entry and arrivals are not expected until late June at the earliest, even though airport immigration and quarantine offices stood by for any possible arrivals.

SINGAPORE, June 9 (Reuters) - The United States and China are expected to use Asia's top security meeting this week to trade blows over everything from Taiwan's sovereignty to the war in Ukraine, although both sides have indicated a willingness to discuss managing differences.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, which attracts top-level military officials, diplomats and weapons makers from around the globe, will take place June 10-12 in Singapore, the first time the event has been held since 2019 after it was postponed twice because of COVID-19.

TAIPEI, June 9 (Reuters) - The United States has approved a possible $120 million sale of parts to help Taiwan maintain its warships, which the island's defence ministry said would help ensure combat readiness in the face of China's "frequent activities" near the island.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement it had delivered the required certification notifying Congress following State Department approval for the sale, which was requested by Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington.

SINGAPORE, June 9 (Reuters) - Indonesian naval officers have asked for $375,000 to release a fuel tanker they detained last week, accusing it of anchoring illegally in Indonesian waters off Singapore, two people involved in negotiations over the unofficial payment said.

The incident comes after Reuters reported a dozen similar detentions last year. In those cases, the ship owners made unofficial payments of about $300,000 each and the vessels detained by the Indonesian navy east of Singapore were released.

BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have found a highly active, repeating Fast Radio Burst (FRB), only the second example of its kind, which is hinting at the evolutionary picture of those mysterious cosmic events.

FRBs are the brightest millisecond-duration astronomical transients in radio bands with yet unknown origins. Less than five percent of them ever detected have been seen to repeat and only a few are persistently active.