Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, widely expected to become prime minister next week, said on Saturday he will consider topping up payouts to households and companies to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic.

Suga also defended his experience in diplomacy, an area where experts say his resume is rather thin, while steering clear of clues to whether he would call a snap election if he takes over from outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s state media condemned raids on the homes of Chinese journalists working in Australia, as relations between the two major trading partners become increasingly strained.

China News Service said on Saturday that the raids “grossly violated the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese media reporters stationed in Australia, and caused serious damage to the physical and mental health of journalists and their families.”

BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday called on some U.S. politicians to do away with their arrogance and bias toward China, spare a thought for American people's well-being and work harder to fix their problems at home.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a routine news briefing when asked to comment on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's allegations that the Communist Party of China (CPC) used COVID-19 to weaken democracy.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Mars probe Tianwen-1, which blasted into space in July, is now more than 15 million kilometers (9 million miles) from Earth en route to the red planet, the National Space Administration said Saturday.

The administration said that Tianwen-1 was in stable condition, having completed its first mid-course orbital correction early last month. It will be about 195 million kilometers (118 million miles) from Earth when it arrives at Mars around February, having traveled 470 million kilometers (292 million miles) in all to get there.

BEIJING (AP) — China has announced new restrictions on the activities of U.S. diplomats working in mainland China and Hong Kong, in what it called a justified response to similar measures imposed on Chinese diplomats in the U.S. last year.

In a statement posted online late Friday, a foreign ministry spokesperson said the rules would apply to senior diplomats and all other personnel at the American Embassy in Beijing and consulates throughout China.

BEIJING, Sep 11 (APP): Opposing attempts to link terrorism to any specific country, China on Friday commended Pakistan for making tremendous efforts and sacrifices in fighting terrorism and called upon the international community to fully recognize and respect such efforts.

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine authorities are investigating 57 foreign and local "persons of interest" potentially involved in a scandal at German payments firm Wirecard AG WDIG.DE, an official at the country's anti-money laundering agency said on Friday.

The Southeast Asian nation became embroiled in the collapse of Wirecard in June, with the payments firm initially claiming it kept $2.1 billion in two Philippine banks, which the central bank and the lenders denied.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Friday said it had imposed restrictions on staff at the U.S. Embassy and its consulates in mainland China and Hong Kong, responding to U.S. measures announced early this month.

China’s Foreign Ministry did not specify the measures, which it described as reciprocal.

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] plans to introduce its Harmony operating system (OS), viewed as its replacement to Google’s Android mobile operating system, on smartphones next year, as it seeks to overcome curbs placed on it by the U.S..

The company first unveiled its proprietary HarmonyOS last year which it has billed as a multi-device platform across watches, laptops and mobiles, rather than as a like-for-like challenger to Google’s Android mobile OS.

TOKYO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The chief of the main opposition party Yukio Edano on Thursday was named as the leader of a new main opposition party that will be formed through a merger with another opposition party in a bid to better challenge the ruling coalition.

Edano, 56, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), beat the only other candidate in the leadership race, Kenta Izumi, 46, the policy chief of the second-largest opposition Democratic Party for the People (DPP).