Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, Sept 25 (Reuters) - North Korea is willing to consider another inter-Korean summit if mutual respect between the rivals can be assured, state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday, citing Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The comment comes just a day after North Korea urged the United States and South Korea to abandon what it called their hostile policy and double standards towards it before formal talks can be held on ending the 1950-53 Korean War. 

BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A new COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Clover Biopharmaceuticals has proven to be 67 percent effective against COVID-19, and 79 percent against the Delta variant in a mass clinical trial, Reuters reported recently.

The vaccine "was 67 percent effective against COVID-19 of any degree of severity and 79 percent against the highly infectious Delta variant in a large trial," the international news organization said in a report published Wednesday, citing Clover's statement.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Fraught relations with neighboring China are dominating Saturday’s election for the leader of Taiwan’s main opposition Nationalist Party.

Four candidates, including incumbent Chairman Johnny Chiang, are competing for the leadership of the party that has advocated closer relations with Beijing.

That means agreeing to Beijing’s demand that it regard Taiwan as a part of China, something Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party has refused to do.

BEIJING, Sep 24 (APP): Deputy Head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Ning Jizhe said on Thursday that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has reaped fruitful results over the past eight years, bringing a direct investment of US$ 25.4 billion to Pakistan and creating numerous jobs in Pakistan.

TOKYO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Japan's widening wealth gap has emerged as a key issue in a ruling party leadership contest that will decide who becomes the next prime minister, with candidates forced to reassess the legacy of former premier Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" policies.

Under Abenomics, a mix of expansionary fiscal and monetary policies and a growth strategy deployed by Abe in 2013, share prices and corporate profits boomed, but a government survey published earlier this year showed households hardly benefited.

TAIPEI, Sept 24 (Reuters) - China is an "arch criminal" intent on bullying Taiwan and has no right to oppose or comment on its bid to join a pan-Pacific trade pact, Taiwan's government said in an escalating war of words over Taipei and Beijing's decision to apply.

Chinese-claimed Taiwan said on Wednesday it had formally applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), less than a week after China submitted its application.

BEIJING, Sept 24 (Reuters) - China on Friday listed more than 100 instances of what it said was U.S. interference in Hong Kong affairs, including President Joe Biden's show of support for a pro-democracy newspaper.

U.S. politicians and officials have denounced China over its tightening control of the former British colony of Hong Kong, especially the imposition of a sweeping national security law last year cracking down on dissent.

BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have developed an artificial method of synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide, the first of its kind globally.

The study, conducted by the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in the journal Science on Friday.

As a major component of food, starch is generally produced by crops through photosynthesis. Starch synthesis in nature needs about 60 metabolic reactions and complex physiological regulation.

BEIJING (AP) — Seeking to dispel fears of financial turmoil, some Chinese banks are disclosing what they are owed by a real estate developer that is struggling under $310 billion in debt, saying they can cope with a potential default.

The announcements came as Evergrande Group promised to talk with some individual investors who bought its debt while creditors waited to see whether Beijing will intervene to oversee a restructuring to prevent financial disruptions.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s benchmark advanced but other Asian markets were lower Friday amid concerns over troubled Chinese real estate developer Evergrande and the pandemic.

Some Chinese banks have disclosed what they are owed by Evergrande, seeking to dispel fears of financial turmoil as it struggles under $310 billion in debt. The lenders say they can cope with a potential default. Evergrande’s announcement that it was making a payment due Thursday seemed to help ease some worries.