Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PHNOM PENH, Aug 18 (NNN-AKP) – The number of road fatalities in Cambodia declined to 942 people in the first half of 2022, a decrease of 9 percent from 1,033 over the same period last year, Ministry of Public Works and Transport’s secretary of state, Min Manavy said, here today.

“Among the dead, 759, or 80.5 percent, were motorcyclists, and 558 of them did not wear helmet,” she said, during the biannual meeting of the National Road Safety Committee.

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chips and Science Act passed by the U.S. Congress contains provisions that restrict relevant companies' normal economic, trade and investment activities in China, which is discriminatory and will distort the global semiconductor supply chain and disrupt international trade, China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

The U.S. legislation is a typical differentiated industry supporting policy with huge sums of subsidies to be provided to the U.S. chip sector, ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting told a press conference.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Thursday after the Federal Reserve said U.S. inflation is too high, suggesting support for more aggressive interest rate hikes.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined. Oil prices edged higher.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese and Japanese officials have met in northern China amid renewed tensions over Beijing’s military threats against Taiwan and after Tokyo protested China’s firing of missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone during recent military drills.

HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. government on Thursday announced trade talks with Taiwan in a sign of support for the island democracy China claims as its own territory, prompting a warning by Beijing that it will take action if necessary to “safeguard its sovereignty.”

The announcement comes after Beijing fired missiles into the sea to intimidate Taiwan after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this month became the highest-ranking American official to visit the island in 25 years.

BEIJING, Aug 17 (APP): The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday appreciated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his words uttered on multiple occasions on Pak-China bilateral relations and the China-Pakistan Economic Cooperation (CPEC).

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke highly of China-Pakistan relations and CPEC on multiple occasions. He is very committed to the practical cooperation between our two countries. China appreciates that,” Spokesperson Wang Wenbin in a response to a question asked by APP during his regular briefing.

HUALIEN, Taiwan, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Taiwanese F-16 fighters roared into the night sky on Wednesday in a show of force in front of the media, demonstrating the military's determination to defend the democratically governed island in the face of days of Chinese war games.

China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has been carrying out military exercises around the island after a visit earlier this month by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was followed by five U.S. lawmakers on Sunday and Monday.

BANGKOK, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Explosions and fires ripped through at least 17 locations in southern Thailand on Wednesday, authorities said, in what appeared to be multiple coordinated attacks that injured seven people.

The bombings and arson attacks happened after midnight and targeted convenience stores and a gas station across three provinces, lightly injuring at least seven, according to police and military statements.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.

BEIJING, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint military exercises led by the host and including India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan and other countries, China's defence ministry said on Wednesday.

China's participation in the joint exercises was "unrelated to the current international and regional situation", the ministry said in a statement.

JAKARTA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Six tenants died after allegedly being trapped in a fire at a rooming four-story house in Indonesia's capital Jakarta on Wednesday morning, local authorities reported.

Three other tenants were also injured in the incident that started at around 6:30 a.m. local time (2330 GMT on Tuesday) in the densely-populated residential area of Duri Selatan in Tambora sub-district.

It took firefighters an hour to bring the fire under control.