Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

JAKARTA, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 6.9 magnitude rocked East Nusa Tenggara province in central Indonesia on Friday, but would not potentially trigger a tsunami, the meteorology and geophysics agency said here.

The quake struck at 11:09 a.m. Jakarta time (0409 GMT) with the epicenter at 171 km northeast Larantuka sub-district of Flores district in the province and the depth of 670 km under sea bed.

The agency did not issue a warning for a tsunami.

BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday urged the United States to stop suppressing Chinese enterprises and do more things that are conducive to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and the well-being of the two peoples.

Gao Feng, spokesperson for the ministry, made the remarks at a press conference while commenting on the U.S. ban on Chinese video-sharing app TikTok.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were higher Friday on hopes for development of a coronavirus vaccine, although worries remained about long-term economic damage from the pandemic.

The rise in regional benchmarks echoed the gains on Wall Street, which were led by big technology companies that are benefiting from people staying home during the outbreak.

BEIJING, Aug 20 (APP): The 18th meeting of the China-India Border Affairs consultation and coordination mechanism was held via video, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

Director of the Department of Boundary and Maritime Affairs of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hong Liang and Joint Secretary of East Asia Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India Naveen Srivstava co-chaired the meeting.

Representatives from the foreign affairs, defense, immigration and other departments of the two countries participated.

BEIJING, Aug 20 (APP): The second Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue was highly relevant and it will help the two countries enhance strategic mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation and strengthen close coordination on international, regional affairs, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will co-host the dialogue scheduled to be held in Hainan, China on August 20th and 21st, he announced during his regular briefing held here.

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China urges relevant U.S. politicians to take into account the well-being of the people in China, the U.S. and all other countries, heed calls from the international community, and work with China to bring China-U.S. relations back on the track of coordination, cooperation and stability, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on recent remarks by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the relationship between the U.S. and China.

SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating rose this week, marking the first rebound in three weeks, a weekly poll showed Thursday.

According to the Realmeter survey, support for Moon gained 1.8 percentage points over the week to 45.1 percent this week.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs slipped 0.3 percentage points to 52.3 percent.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party went up 4.1 percentage points over the week to 38.9 percent this week.

TOKYO (AP) — The case against former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn may have taken another turn as Japanese media report allegations that the automaker declared as expenses 1.15 billion yen ($10.8 million) in his taxable personal income.

Japan’s National Tax Agency said Thursday it was aware of the reports but declined comment on an individual case.

Nissan Motor Co. confirmed it had received a notice of a tax investigation from Japanese authorities.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea will hold a rare ruling party congress in January where leader Kim Jong Un will announce a new five-year plan to develop the country’s dismal economy ravaged by U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, state media said Thursday.

The plans were confirmed Wednesday during a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party’s decision-making Central Committee where Kim acknowledged economic shortcomings caused by “unexpected and inevitable challenges in various aspects and the situation in the region surrounding the Korean Peninsula.”

BEIJING, Aug 19 (APP): The participants of the 5th model international youth conference held in a video format discussed intra-cultural entrepreneurship as a post-COVID-19 economic development tool in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) region.

Young experts working in various business fields from the SCO member states and observer countries took part in it.

The event was organized by the SCOLAR Network Youth Platform with the support of the SCO Secretariat. Attendees included 200 spectators using Zoom, and 800 people who watched live via Facebook.