Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting (AMM Retreat) kicked off here on Thursday in a hybrid format to discuss issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, inclusive economic recovery, and relations with dialogue partners.

Chaired by Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, the retreat was attended in person by foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Laos, and online by foreign ministers of Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam, while Myanmar did not designate a non-political representative for it.

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States labeling China's economic system as "non-market" has no grounds in terms of international economic and trade rules, and is entirely against the facts, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

MOC spokesperson Gao Feng made the remarks at a press conference when commenting on a report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which claimed that the United States needs to seek new strategies and update its domestic trade tools to address China's "state-led, non-market policies and practices."

TAIYUAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Not long after metaverse became a buzzword in the tech world, generating hopes that it may unlock new potentials of the internet, the term has made its way into the industry policies of China's local governments.

As part of their economic planning for 2022, local decision-makers have vowed to further develop future industries, from metaverse and blockchain to artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality, a move reflective of their growing desire to look to innovation as a key driver of growth.

NEW ECONOMIC MILESTONES

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States should reflect deeply on and address the problem of systemic racial discrimination and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of ethnic minorities, including people of Asian descent, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a daily press briefing that both the so-called "China Initiative" and the anti-Asian words and deeds in the United States are manifestations of systemic racial discrimination and reflect deep-seated problems of the U.S. society.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s hospitals reached 90% capacity on Thursday and quarantine facilities were at their limit, authorities said, as the city struggles to snuff out a record number of new cases by adhering to China’s “zero tolerance” strategy.

To ease the strain on the city’s healthcare system, officials said they would take a different approach to hospitalization and isolation policies and allow some patients to be discharged sooner. The move comes amid reports of patients being treated on beds outside a hospital in the city’s working-class neighborhood of Sham Shui Po.

Singapore, Feb 16 (PTI) Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong invoked India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru while arguing how democracy should work in the city-state during a passionate debate in Parliament.

BEIJING, Feb 16 (Reuters) - China accused the United States of "playing up the threat of warfare and creating tension", as U.S. President Joe Biden warned that more than 150,000 Russian troops were still massed near Ukraine's borders following Moscow's announcement of a partial pullback.

Western nations have suggested arms control and confidence-building steps to defuse the stand-off, which has prompted them to urge their citizens to leave Ukraine because an attack could come at any time. Russia denies it has any plans to invade.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will distribute free coronavirus rapid test kits at schools and senior care facilities starting next week as it weathers an unprecedented wave of infections driven by the fast-moving omicron variant.

Health officials on Wednesday reported its highest daily jump in coronavirus infections with 90,443 new cases, shattering the previous one-day record set on Tuesday by more than 33,000 cases. Some experts say the country could see daily cases of around 200,000 in March.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hospitals in Hong Kong were struggling Wednesday to keep up with an influx of new coronavirus patients amid record numbers of new infections as the city’s leadership doggedly sticks to its “zero-COVID” strategy, and China’s leader Xi Jinping said it was the local government’s “overriding task” to control the situation.

Hong Kong is facing its worst outbreak of the pandemic, topping 2,000 new COVID-19 cases per day this week. The city government has already instituted strict rules, banning gatherings of more than two households.

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (APP): The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said that Afghan assets belonged to Afghan people and should be returned to Afghanistan for benefit of its people.

The United States should not exacerbate the suffering of the Afghan people. It should unfreeze their assets, lift unilateral sanctions on Afghanistan as soon as possible, and assume due responsibility to ease the humanitarian crisis in the country,