Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan and Britain have agreed not to force their companies to disclose algorithms or set up local data servers, as part of talks aimed at a bilateral trade deal, the Nikkei said on Saturday.

A Japan-Britain agreement on advanced digital standards would pave the way for creating an international framework to protect intellectual property and the free flow of data, the business daily reported, without citing sources.

CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - Security was tight outside the U.S. consulate in the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday as staff inside prepared to leave, a day after China ordered it to close in response to a U.S. order for China to shut its consulate in Houston.

The tit-for-tat consulate closures have brought a sharp deterioration in relations between the world’s two largest economies.

A consulate emblem inside the compound was taken down and staff could be seen moving about. Three removal vans later entered the compound.

BEIJING (AP) — South Korea on Saturday reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases for the first time in four months while South Africa announced a surge in infections and some U.S. states tightened anti-disease controls.

South Korea’s 113 new cases included 36 workers returning from Iraq and 32 crew members of a Russian freighter, the government said. Authorities had warned to expect a spike in cases from abroad and appealed to the public not to be alarmed.

BEIJING (AP) — Four decades after the U.S. established diplomatic ties with Communist China, the relationship between the two may have reached a turning point.

Tensions have reached new heights on what has always been a rocky road, as the ambitions of a rising superpower increasingly clash with those of the established one. China ordered the closing of the U.S. Consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Friday, in rapid retaliation for the closing of its consulate in Houston.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (NNN) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon the international community to reform multilateral institutions like the United Nations to make it more representative of the current world order.

“Today the fury of the pandemic (COVID-19) provides the context for its (UN’s) rebirth and reform. Let us not lose this chance,” he was quoted saying at the recently held United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) virtual meeting.

Beijing, Jul 24 (PTI) China on Friday asked the US to close down its Consulate in Chengdu in retaliation to Washington's decision to shut the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

A statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China has informed the US Embassy here of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the US Consulate General in Chengdu.

HONG KONG, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Thursday that it deplores and opposes the announcement by the British government on providing a pathway for Chinese nationals in Hong Kong who are holders of the British National Overseas (BNO) passport or eligible for it to reside and obtain citizenship in Britain.

BEIJING (AP) — The former chairman of a state-owned real estate company who publicly criticized President Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and will be prosecuted on corruption charges, the party announced Friday.

Ren Zhiqiang, who had become known for speaking up about censorship and other sensitive topics, disappeared from public view in March after publishing an essay online that accused Xi of mishandling the outbreak that began in December in the central city of Wuhan.

BEIJING, July 23 (APP): Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secretary General Vladimir Norov has expressed his hope that joint efforts would manage to stop the spread of the COVID-19 in the SCO member states.

He made these remarks at a ceremony held here at the SCO Secretariat to mark China’s donation of humanitarian aid to SCO Member States as part of the efforts to counter the coronavirus.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea should postpone military exercises with the United States in the hope of drawing North Korea back into talks, the South Korean politician set to take over responsibility for relations with the North said on Thursday.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in wants to get dialogue with North Korea back on track after negotiations between the United States and North Korea on its nuclear programme broke down.