Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, June 7 (APP): The Chinese peacekeeping medical team treated Pakistani peacekeeping soldiers who recently sustained injuries in Mikingi, Democratic Republic of Congo, local Chinese media reported.

Two Pakistani soldiers were injured by illegal armed gunmen in an attack on Pakistani peacekeeping camp in Mikingi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and were soon transported to the secondary hospital of Chinese peacekeeping force, “China Military the only official English-language news website of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reported.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has decided not join the United States, Britain and others in issuing a statement scolding China for imposing a new security law, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, citing officials from countries involved.

The United Kingdom, the U.S., Australia and Canada condemned China on May 28 for imposing a law that they said would threaten freedom and breach a 1984 Sino-British agreement on the autonomy of the former colony.

BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- China has granted market access to a self-developed cancer drug, according to the National Medical Products Administration.

The drug, known as Brukinsa (zanubrutinib) in capsule form, was developed by the biotechnology company BeiGene. It is for the treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have received at least one prior therapy, and also for adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

BEIJING (AP) — Senior Chinese officials, releasing a lengthy report on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, defended their government’s actions and said that China provided information in a timely and transparent manner.

National Health Commission Chairman Ma Xiaowei said Sunday that a recent news media report that the Chinese government didn’t initially share the genome sequence for the virus “seriously goes against the facts.”

BEIJING (AP) — China’s exports and imports both fell in May as the coronavirus and trade tensions with the U.S. weighed on demand both at home and abroad.

Exports fell 3.3% compared to a year earlier to $206.8 billion and imports dropped 16.7%to $143.9 billion, the Chinese customs agency said Sunday.

The plunge in imports drove the country’s trade surplus up to $62.9 billion. The surplus with the United States reached $27.9 billion.

BEIJING — China has reported its first non-imported case of the new coronavirus in two weeks, an infected person on the island of Hainan off the southern coast.

The National Health Commission said Sunday that there were also five imported cases in the previous 24-hour period, bringing the nation’s total case count to 83,036.

ALMATY (Reuters) - Police in Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty detained dozens of anti-government protesters who took to the streets on Saturday even as a new, more liberal law on demonstrations was expected to come into force.

The Central Asian nation has frequently been criticised by human rights groups for requiring public rallies to have been approved by authorities. However President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law late last month removing this provision.

HONG KONG, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) Charles Li said on Friday that Hong Kong's status as an international financial center will not be affected by the national security legislation for Hong Kong or the sanctions threatened by the United States.

BEIJING (AP) — China is advising its citizens not to visit Australia, citing racial discrimination and violence against Asians, in what appears to be Beijing’s latest attempt to punish the country for advocating an investigation into the coronavirus pandemic.

A notice issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism late Friday said there has “been an increase in words and deeds of racial discrimination and acts of violence against Chinese and Asians in Australia, due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.”

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In the latest blow for inter-Korean cooperation, North Korea threatened to permanently shut a liaison office with South Korea as it continued to condemn its rival for failing to prevent activists from sending anti-North Korean leaflets across the border.