Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

JAKARTA, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders will on Tuesday converge on the Indonesian capital for an annual summit amid rifts within the 10-member regional bloc over stalled peace efforts in Myanmar and a sharpening U.S.-China rivalry in the region.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is seeking to clarify its relevance as cracks emerge in its response to the conflict in Myanmar, where the military seized power in a bloody coup in 2021.

BEIJING, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping's first major reform plans a decade ago were also his boldest, envisaging a transition to a Western-style free market economy driven by services and consumption by 2020.

The 60-point agenda was meant to fix an obsolete growth model better suited to less developed countries - however, most of those reforms have gone nowhere leaving the economy largely reliant on older policies that have only added to China's massive debt pile and industrial overcapacity.

ULAANBAATAR, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Monday wrapped up a historic trip to Mongolia which took on international connotations because of his overtures to its neighbour China over freedom of religion.

At the end of a Mass on Sunday, the pope sent greetings to China, calling its citizens a "noble" people and asking Catholics in China to be "good Christians and good citizens".

On Monday, China's foreign ministry said it has taken a positive attitude on improving relations with the Vatican.

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies and China's top chipmaker SMIC (0981.HK) have built an advanced 7-nanometer processor to power its latest smartphone, according to a teardown report by analysis firm TechInsights.

Huawei's Mate 60 Pro is powered by a new Kirin 9000s chip that was made in China by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), TechInsights said in the report shared with Reuters on Monday.

SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lee Jae-myung, leader of the South Korean main opposition Democratic Party, on Monday urged Japan to stop dumping radioactive wastewater into the ocean, which will endanger the safety of people around the world.

Lee made the remark during a meeting with global experts and activists, including those from Japan and the United States, who participated both online and offline at the parliamentary building in Seoul.

BEIJING, Sep 3 (APP): Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has introduced connected flights between Pakistan and 16 captivating cities of China via Beijing in partnership with Air China, PIA Country Manager, Bilal Afzal said on Sunday.

These Chinese cities include Guangzhou, Wuhan, Urumqi, Shenzhen, Xian, Shenyang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nanjing, Harbin, Hangzhou, Hohhot, Dunhuang, Chengdu, Changchun, and Chongqing, he told APP on the sidelines of China International Fair for Trade in Service (CIFTIS) in Beijing.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept 4 (NNN-BBN) – Brunei recorded 1,745.8 million Brunei dollars (1,290.1 million U.S. dollars) total trade in May, this year, a 41.2 percent year-on-year decrease, due to a drop in both export and import value.

The latest International Merchandise Trade Statistics, released yesterday by the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics, at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, showed that, Brunei’s exports in May decreased by 42.3 percent yearly, to 1,078.5 million Brunei dollars, which was mainly due to a drop in exports of mineral fuels and chemicals.

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired two long-range strategic cruise missiles at dawn on Saturday, in a simulated tactical nuclear attack drill designed to send a warning against another round of U.S.-South Korea joint exercises, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday.

BEIJING (AP) — Aspiring Taiwanese independent presidential candidate Terry Gou has resigned from the board of Foxconn, the Apple supplier he founded nearly a half-century ago.

The company, officially registered as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., issued a news release late Saturday saying Gou, its former chair, had resigned for personal reasons.

It wasn’t clear what, if any, immediate effect Gou’s decision would have on the operations of Foxconn, ranked 20th in the 2023 Fortune Global 500 and considered one of the world’s largest technology companies.

BEIJING (AP) — Much of southern Taiwan came to a standstill Sunday as Typhoon Haikui churned over towns and farmland. Residents were urged to stay home and flights, rail transport, ferry services, classes and outdoor events were suspended, but there were no reports of injuries or serious damage.

The storm made landfall in Taitung county on the Pacific-facing east coast around 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) Sunday, bringing sustained winds of 155 kph (96 mph) and gusts of 190 kph (120 mph).