Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

30 May 2019; AFP: China accused the United States of "naked economic terrorism" on Thursday as Beijing ramps up the rhetoric in their trade war.

The world's top two economies are at loggerheads as trade talks have apparently stalled, with US President Donald Trump hiking tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods earlier this month and blacklisting telecoms giant Huawei.

30 May 2019; DW: Supermarket chain Aldi is set to open its first store in China. The German discounter is reportedly hoping to tap into a more affluent customer base by touting sought-after products from Europe.

German discount chain Aldi Süd is preparing to launch a flagship store in the coastal metropolis of Shanghai next week, according to trade reports.

A second store is expected to follow in the near future, the Lebensmittel Zeitung newspaper reported.

BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- China hopes the United States will respect facts and market laws, and refrain from politicizing the issue of currency exchange rates, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"China has repeatedly advised the U.S. to act according to multilateral international rules instead of unilaterally assessing other countries' currency exchange rates," spokesperson Lu Kang said at a daily press briefing.

29 May 2019; AFP: Myanmar's military is guilty of committing new "war crimes", extrajudicial killings and torture in its fight against ethnic Rakhine rebels, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

The armed forces have deployed thousands of troops and heavy artillery across northern Rakhine state in recent months where Arakan Army (AA) rebels are fighting for more autonomy for the state's ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.

29 May 2019; AFP: Chinese state media on Wednesday dangled the threat of cutting exports of rare earths to the United States as a counter-strike in the trade war, potentially depriving Washington of a key resource used to make everything from smartphones to military hardware.

Tokyo, May 29 (AP) Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is wooing Japan for aid, trade and investment in a visit that highlights cordial relations with the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Hasina, who is beginning a third consecutive five-year term, arrived late Tuesday and is set to meet Abe and hold a joint news conference Wednesday. A dinner is also being held in her honour.

The leaders will discuss the Bay of Bengal development project and strengthening economic and security partnerships, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian shares slipped Wednesday on expectations that a trade dispute between China and the United States would simmer and possibly weigh on growth.

With a lull in economic releases closer to home, investors digested President Donald Trump’s comments that the country was “not ready” for a trade deal with China. Trump spoke to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gave up 1.1% to 21,020.72. The Kospi in South Korea tumbled 1.3% to 2,021.84 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 0.5% lower at 27,267.94.

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei filed a motion in U.S. court Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of a law that limits its sales of telecom equipment, the latest action in an ongoing clash with the U.S. government.

Huawei’s chief legal officer Song Liuping said at press briefing that Huawei had filed a motion for summary judgment asking the court to rule on whether it is constitutional for the U.S. to implement a military spending provision that bars the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment.

BEIJING, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Tariff hikes by the United States will to some extent result in an increase of enterprise operation costs, lower competitiveness and fewer orders, but their impact on China's manufacturing sector is generally controllable, a senior official told Xinhua in an interview.

The 200 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese goods on which the United States imposed additional tariffs accounts for 41.8 percent of China's exports to the country, but only 8 percent of China's total exports, said Wang Zhijun, vice minister of industry and information technology.

TOKYO, May 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday jointly inspected Japan's largest warship south of Tokyo at the Yokosuka-based Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Aboard the Japanese J.S. Kaga destroyer, a helicopter carrier designed to carry submarine-hunting helicopters to distant waters, Trump, winding up his four-day state visit to Japan, made a joint speech with Abe to address some 500 Japanese and U.S. personnel inside the warship's hangar.