Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO (AP) — President Joe Biden told fellow Indo-Pacific leaders assembled for a four-country summit Tuesday that they were navigating “a dark hour in our shared history” due to Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine and he urged the group to make a greater effort to stop Vladimir Putin’s aggression.

“This is more than just a European issue. It’s a global issue,” Biden said as the “Quad” summit with Japan, Australia and India got under way.

Tokyo, May 24 (PTI) US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that Quad is "not just a passing fad but it means business," asserting that the four leaders of the grouping are here to get things done for the strategic Indo-Pacific region and that he is proud of what they are building together.

Addressing the second in-person meeting between Quad leaders, Biden attacked Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, saying Moscow is trying to extinguish a culture.

BEIJING, May. 23 (APP): The first batch of 120 12m Higer buses were delivered to Karachi, Pakistan. As one of ‘Made in China’ representatives, the buses will guarantee Pakistan’s daily transportation, providing the locals with comfortable and perfect public transportation experience.

BEIJING, May 23. /TASS/: The total value of US weapons shipments to Taiwan has exceeded $70 billion, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a news conference on Monday.

"US arms sales to Taiwan are incessantly growing in both volume and quality," he said. "Their total value has already exceeded $70 billion."

"That violates the US commitment to gradually reduce arms supplies to Taiwan," the spokesman continued.

May 22 (Reuters) - Representatives of seven nations, including those who walked out of an Asia-Pacific trade ministers meeting in Bangkok to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said on Sunday they support the organization and host nation Thailand.

Representatives of the United States, Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand said in a joint statement that they had "grave concerns" over the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

TOKYO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday launched the so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which a number of countries including Japan have joined, as the new economic initiative raised concerns in the Asia-Pacific.

"In order to prepare our economies for the future, we are launching the process to establish the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity," said a joint statement by member nations of the United States, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

MANILA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A ferry with 124 passengers and 10 crew members on board caught fire on Monday while traveling to a town in Quezon province on the main Luzon island, leaving at least seven dead, a spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

Commodore Armand Balilo said the vessel Mercraft 2 left at 5:00 a.m. local time in Polillo, an island town in the province, and was heading to a port of Real town when it caught fire around 6:30 a.m. local time approximately 900 meters from the port.

TOKYO (AP) — President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan, saying the burden to protect Taiwan is “even stronger’ after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was one of the most forceful presidential statements in support of self-governing in decades.

Biden, at a news conference in Tokyo, said “yes” when asked if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded. “That’s the commitment we made,” he added.

BEIJING, May 22 (APP): Executive member of the Asia and Pacific Seed Association and General Manager of Wuhan Qingfa Hesheng Seed Company, Zhu Xiaobo said that the hybrid canola variety developed by her company has been planted in Pakistan about 10,000 hectares of land, covering around 6000 households.

In the next three to five years, we expect it to expand to over 40,000 hectares and provide more, healthier edible oil to Pakistani people, she told China Economic Net (CEN) in an interview.

BANGKOK, May 22 (NNN-TNA) – Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister, Jurin Laksanavisit, called for enhanced efforts from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies, to respond to future crises and achieve better and more inclusive economic growth in the region.