Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Jan 20 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Naghmana Hashmi has hoped that the friendship between China and Pakistan could reach even greater heights in 2020.

“As Chinese President Xi Jinping has himself said that Pakistan and China have a very unique all weather strategic cooperative partnership which is like no other relationship between two states in the world,” she told China Global Television Network (CGTN).

TOKYO, January 20. /TASS/: The Japanese government is determined to achieve a solution to the territorial issue and sign a peace treaty with Russia, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in his program speech at the parliamentary session’s opening on Monday.

"Step-by-step, the agreements, which we reached with Russian President [Vladimir] Putin are being implemented," Abe said. "Former residents of the [Southern Kuril] Islands go on a pilgrimage tour by plane to their relatives’ graves and joint economic activity is being cultivated on the four islands."

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Driven out of China after losing a civil war, Taiwan’s main opposition party faces another crisis following an election drubbing this month, seeking to re-invent itself and rethink its unpopular policy of trying to accommodate Beijing.

The Kuomintang, which ruled all of China until forced to flee to Taiwan in 1949, soundly lost both the presidential and parliamentary elections to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), whose promises to stand up to China’s threats contrasted with its own platform to be more conciliatory toward Beijing.

LANGKAWI, Malaysia, Jan 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the concept of Malaysia Incorporated (Malaysia Inc), which integrates the private and public sectors into one common objective, is now more important than ever to achieve the country’s big and ambitious goals.

In his speech at the launch of 5G Demonstration Projects here, Dr Mahathir said the concept introduced by him during his first stint as the prime minister still applies to this day.

LANGKAWI, Malaysia, Jan 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The launching of the 5G Demonstration Projects (5GDP) here Sunday night is an important milestone as Malaysia moves a step closer towards implementing 5G in the near future, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

He said 72 use cases were being demonstrated across 56 5G live sites in six states and added that in Langkawi alone, there were 35 use cases at 25 live sites.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — There is no plan for a formal meeting between Malaysian and Indian officials to discuss issues regarding palm oil during the World Economic Forum’s summit in Davos, Switzerland next week, says Datuk Darell Leiking.

However, the International Trade and Industry Minister did not discount the possibility of an encounter with officials from India during the event which may lead up to a discussion on matters concerning bilateral interests. 

JAKARTA, Jan 20 (NNN-ANTARA) – Rescuers recovered nine bodies and were searching for another missing person, after a suspension bridge collapsed, in Indonesia’s western Bengkulu province on Sunday, Head of the Search and Rescue Office of the province, Abdul Malik, said today (Monday).

Torrential rains triggered flash floods that hit the bridge, in the district of Kaur, at 3:00 p.m. Jakarta time, the National Disaster Management Agency, said.

BEIJING (AP) — China reported Monday a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital. The outbreak coincides with the country’s busiest travel period, as millions board trains and planes for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Health authorities in the central city of Wuhan, where the viral pneumonia appears to have originated, said an additional 136 cases have been confirmed in the city, which now has a total of 198 infected patients. As of the weekend, a third patient had died, bringing the death toll to three.

PENANG, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mainly rich countries since the third quarter last year, with the environment minster warning on Monday that those who want to make the country a rubbish bin of the world can “dream on.”

Shipments of unwanted rubbish have been rerouted to Southeast Asia since China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018, but Malaysia and other developing countries are fighting back.

Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said another 110 containers are expected to be sent back by the middle of this year.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will negotiate with American companies and increase imports of U.S. goods and products according to market principles, an official with its state planner said on Sunday.

The United States has high quality supply in the fields of energy, manufactured goods, agricultural products, medical care and financial services, said Meng Wei, spokesperson for China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), at a press conference on Sunday.