Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

MANILA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday people who have not taken COVID-19 shots will be arrested if they disobeyed stay-at-home orders as infections hit a three-month high.

Duterte in an televised address to the nation said he was asking community leaders to look for unvaccinated people and make sure they were confined to their homes.

"If he refuses, if he goes out his house and goes around the community, he can be restrained. If he refuses, the captain is empowered now to arrest recalcitrant persons," Duterte said.

BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Using Xinjiang-related issues as an excuse to force multinational companies to pick a side between China and the United States is out-and-out political coercion, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

BISHKEK, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan-China friendly relations have been upgraded and become a role model of interstate relations, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov said here Wednesday.

Zhaparov made the remarks at a commemorative party marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kyrgyzstan and China.

Zhaparov in his speech spoke highly of the economic and social development of China and the traditional friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower on Thursday after investors saw minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting as a sign the U.S. central bank might hike interest rates faster to cool inflation.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney retreated. Oil prices fell.

On Wednesday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell by its biggest daily margin in four months.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea claimed Thursday to have conducted the second successful test flight of a hypersonic missile, days after leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster his military forces despite pandemic-related difficulties.

Wednesday’s launch, the North’s first known weapons test in about two months, indicates the country will press ahead with plans to modernize its nuclear and missile arsenals rather than return to disarmament talks anytime soon.

BEIJING, Jan 5 (APP): India, from time to time, seeks reasons to wantonly hype China-India relations in order to create border tension, set off an anti-China wave and continue its policy of territorial expansion.

India is indeed making troubles all the time, undermining relations with its neighbors and the regional peace atmosphere.

These views were expressed by Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, former Defence Attache in South Asian countries in an article issued here on Wednesday.

BEIJING, Jan 5 (APP): China’s veteran diplomat, Zhang Ming has assumed charge as new secretary general of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), one of the world’s largest political and economic groupings.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin during his regular briefing held on Wednesday confirmed the appointment, describing Zhang as an experienced diplomat who was capable of pushing the development of the bloc.

SHANGHAI, Jan 5 (Reuters) - China's top market regulator said on Wednesday it has fined units of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK), Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), and Bilibili Inc for failing to properly report about a dozen deals.

According to public filings, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) placed penalties of 500,000 yuan ($78,692) on the companies per deal, the maximum under China's 2008 anti-monopoly law.

Alibaba, Bilibili, and Tencent did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CHIAYI, Taiwan, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Taiwan air force jets screamed into the sky on Wednesday in a drill simulating a war scenario, showing its combat readiness amid heightened military tensions with China, which claims the island as its own.

Before takeoff, flight crews at a base in the southern city of Chiayi - home to U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets that are frequently scrambled to intercept Chinese warplanes - rushed to ready aircraft as an alarm sounded.

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania is right to recognize its mistake, but it is more important to take action to correct this mistake and get back to the right track of upholding the one-China principle, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to media reports that Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Tuesday that it was a mistake for the Lithuanian government to allow the Taiwan authorities to set up a "representative office" in Lithuania.