Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

(Reuters) - Thousands of people took to the streets of Yangon on Saturday to denounce this week’s coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi despite a blockade on the internet by the junta.

In an upwelling of anger in the country’s largest city protesters chanted, “Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win” and held banners reading “Against military dictatorship”. Bystanders offered them food and water.

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi on Saturday held a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The development of China-U.S. relations has brought great benefits to the people of the two countries and also promoted world peace and prosperity, said Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee.

Yangon, Feb 6 (AP-PTI) Military authorities in charge of Myanmar broadened a ban on social media following this week's coup and shut Twitter and Instagram, as residents in the biggest city again banged pots and plastic bottles to show their opposition to the army takeover.

In addition to Facebook and related apps, the military government on Friday ordered communications operators and internet service providers to cut access to Twitter and Instagram. The statement said that some people are trying to use both platforms to spread fake news.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea unveiled a 48.5 trillion won ($43.2 billion) plan to build the world’s largest wind power plant by 2030 as part of efforts to foster an environmentally-friendly recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project is a major component of President Moon Jae-in’s Green New Deal, initiated last year to curb reliance on fossil fuels in Asia’s fourth-largest economy and make it carbon neutral by 2050. [S6N29P01A]

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A U.S. warship sailed near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea on Friday in a freedom of navigation operation, the U.S. Navy said, the first such mission under President Joe Biden’s new administration.

China’s military condemned the move, saying it had dispatched naval and air units to follow and warn away the ship.

The busy waterway is one of a number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S. sanctions, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Yangon, Feb 5 (AP-PTI) A senior member of Myanmar's deposed ruling party has become the latest prominent politician arrested as the country's new military government confronts continuing resistance to its seizure of power.

Win Htein, 79, is a longtime confidante of the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and had publicly called for civil disobedience in opposition to Monday's coup.

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee withdrew her candidacy for the post of the World Trade Organization (WTO) chief, the country's trade ministry said Friday.

Considering various factors, Yoo decided to drop her bid and inform the WTO of the decision, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The coup that removed an elected government and reimposed military control in Myanmar has raised even more uncertainty about a fragile peace process aimed at ending decades of conflict between the military, armed ethnic groups and militias.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s new military government blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday’s coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected government and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Facebook is how most people access the internet in Myanmar and the company urged that it be restored.

TAIPEI, Feb 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Taiwan has set up a trade office in Guyana, officials announced on Thursday, a step the United States called a “milestone” as the island tries to push back against China’s campaign to keep it isolated.

Taipei said it signed an agreement with the South American country last month to set up the Taiwan Office.

“This milestone will benefit both partners and advance security, democratic values and prosperity in the region,” Julie Chung, acting assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, wrote on Twitter.