Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday urged India to cease taking any actions that may complicate the boundary question between the two countries, and to take steps to safeguard peace and stability in border areas.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing when asked to comment on India's Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu's recent tour to the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh."

BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The establishment of "diplomatic relations" between the United States and China's Taiwan is a pipe dream, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said Wednesday.

Ma made the statement when commenting on a Taiwan official's remarks about establishing "diplomatic relations" with the United States by 2028.

The Taiwan question is China's internal affair and the core and most sensitive issue in Sino-U.S. relations, Ma said.

YINCHUAN/XINING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- On the western fringes of Maowusu, a major desert in northern China, rows of power towers stand on an area of about 26.7 hectares.

Every day, nearly 100 million kWh of electricity is transmitted from the facilities to the eastern coastal city of Qingdao about 1,300 km away.

The infrastructure is part of China's massive power network often termed "power highways," built to transmit electricity from its resources-rich west to the more developed, power-thirsty east.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s exports rose at a slightly faster pace in September while demand for imports of iron ore and other commodities eased as a property construction boom cooled and authorities enforced curbs on energy use.

Customs data showed exports rose 28.1% to $305.7 billion. That was slightly faster than the 26% increase logged in August, and above economists’ forecasts. Imports rose 17.6% to $240 billion, less than the previous month’s 33% increase.

Beijing, Oct 12 (PTI) Calling for ambitious, pragmatic and balanced global environmental protection targets, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday announced a USD 233 million fund to support biodiversity protection in developing countries

Xi was addressing a UN conference- Leaders' Summit of the 15th meeting of Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity- via a video link in Beijing

BEIJING, October 12 (APP): The harshly worded statement issued by the Chinese government on China and India failing to reach an agreement during their latest round of corps commander-level talks showed China’s subtle change of attitude toward India, and the country’s staunch determination to protect its territorial and sovereign integrity, said analysts.

Observers also noted that India has been triggering new incidents along the eastern section of the border recently.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia maintains its stand that the formation of a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS) raises concerns as it has the potential to disrupt peace and stability in Southeast Asia.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said it was consistent with the stance voiced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob that AUKUS could provoke other powers to act more aggressively in the region, especially in the South China Sea.

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Myanmar's deposed president testified on Tuesday that the military tried to force him to relinquish power hours before its Feb. 1 coup, warning him he could be seriously harmed if he refused, according to his lawyer.

The testimony of Win Myint, his first public comments since he was overthrown, challenges the military's insistence that no coup took place, and that power had been lawfully transferred to the generals by an acting president.

HONG KONG, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group (9988.HK) founder Jack Ma, largely out of public view since a regulatory clampdown started on his business empire late last year, is currently in Hong Kong and has met business associates in recent days, two sources told Reuters.

The Chinese billionaire has been keeping a low profile since delivering a speech in October last year in Shanghai criticising China's financial regulators. That triggered a chain of events that resulted in the shelving of his Ant Group's mega IPO.

JAKARTA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia will have the world's largest smelter with a capacity of 1.7 million tons of copper concentrate per year, President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday.

The groundbreaking for the construction of the smelter owned by PT Freeport Indonesia with a single line design was carried out Tuesday on an area of 103 hectares in the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate in East Java province's district of Gresik.