Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

July 13 (Reuters) - When Ma Yati felt weak and feverish and lost her sense of smell, she had no doubt she had COVID-19.

But even with up to 30 people a day dying of the coronavirus in her home town of Kale in western Myanmar, she decided it was better to hole up in a room at home than get an official test or enter a quarantine centre.

“My trust in this junta healthcare system is 0%,” the 23-year-old told Reuters by telephone from her home, where she is now recovering and trying not to infect others.

Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Jul 13 (AP-PTI) Malaysia shut down a mass vaccination center Tuesday after more than 200 medical staff and volunteers tested positive for the coronavirus.

Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said it was difficult to determine if the infections occurred at the center, while stressing that swift government action had stopped the cluster.

TOKYO, July 13 (Reuters) - Growing military tension around Taiwan as well as economic and technological rivalry between China and the United States raises the prospect of crisis in the region as the power balance shifts in China's favour, Japan said in its annual defence white paper.

China rejected Japan's conclusions about what it said was normal military activity, calling them irresponsible.

The Japanese defence review, which was approved by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government on Tuesday, points to China as Japan's main national security concern.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday denounced an appeal by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for a U.S.-European “unified front” against Chinese “unfair economic practices” and human rights abuses.

“China strongly deplores and rejects Treasury Secretary Yellen’s remarks,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian.

Yellen issued the appeal Tuesday during a meeting with European Union officials in Brussels. President Joe Biden is trying to revive traditional alliances following the “America First” policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump.

TOKYO (AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach appeared in public on Tuesday for the first time since arriving in Tokyo last week and with the pandemic-postponed Olympics opening in just 10 days.

Bach spent his first three days in isolation at the International Olympic Committee’s five-star hotel in central Tokyo, and his movements are limited — like almost everyone entering for the Olympics — for the first 14 days.

His first stop was the headquarters of the organizing committee to deliver a pep talk with the beleaguered games set to go ahead without fans in almost all venues.

DUSHANBE, July 12 (APP): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Monday to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM).

The foreign minister was received by Tajikistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharf Sher Alizada, Pakistan’s ambassador in Tajikistan Imran Haider at Dushanbe International Airport.

During his three-day visit, the foreign minister will lead Pakistan’s delegation at the SCO-CFM.

BEIJING, July 12 (APP): China and Pakistan are expected to sign a framework agreement for Industrial Cooperation (IC) during the 10th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPECT), scheduled to be held via video-link this month.

Both countries have already signed MOU on industrial cooperation and now in the upcoming meeting of JCC, it is likely to be taken to next level, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Monday.

PHNOM PENH, Jul 12 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia reported 26 landmine and explosive remnant of war (ERW) casualties, in the first half of 2021, down 32 percent compared with 38 over the same period last year, said a report released yesterday.

During the Jan-Jun period this year, eight people were killed and 18 others were either injured or limbs amputated, said the report, issued by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authorities (CMAA). They included 23 men, one woman, and two children, the report added.

Hong Kong, Jul 12 (AP-PTI) Hong Kong's national security police on Monday arrested five more people in relation to an alleged bomb plot, as political tensions rise amid Beijing's tightening control over the city.

The five four males and one female were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to plan terrorist activities under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing a year ago as part of a crackdown on dissent in the former British colony, which has enjoyed freedoms not experienced on the Chinese mainland.

July 12 (Reuters) - Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi is "gravely concerned" about the country's worsening coronavirus situation, her lawyer said on Monday.

Khin Maung Zaw said Suu Kyi voiced her concern during a meeting of her legal team before a court appearance on Monday. Suu Kyi has been detained since a Feb. 1 coup and is on trial charged with multiple offences, which her legal team reject.