Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

HONG KONG (AP) — China promised that for 50 years after Britain gave up control of its last colony, this shimmering financial enclave would get to keep freedoms absent in the communist-ruled mainland. Twenty-two years on, those are rights many here believe Hong Kong cannot live without.

The hundreds of thousands who marched in a June 16 protest over a now-shelved extradition bill, and those still demonstrating, are raising alarm that Hong Kong may become just another Chinese city as those protections unravel and Beijing’s influence in the territory expands.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has a plastic problem.

In a country where cleanliness and neat packaging have long been considered good service, almost everything, from single bananas to individual pieces of vegetables, pastries, pens and cosmetics is sold plastic-wrapped.

But as world leaders descend on Osaka for the two-day G-20 summit that starts Friday, Japan will attempt to become a leader in environmental policy at the same time it plays catch-up with countries that already have well-defined goals in place.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong activists opposed to contentious extradition legislation on Wednesday called on leaders of the U.S., the European Union and others to raise the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping at this week’s G-20 summit in Japan.

Beijing has strongly opposed such a development, saying Hong Kong matters are strictly an internal Chinese affair.

Groups of protesters gathered outside the U.S. and EU consulates Wednesday morning to deliver petitions stating their requests.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday it won’t surrender to U.S.-led sanctions and accused Washington of trying to “bring us to our knees.”

The statement is yet another reminder that North Korea keeps mistrust of the U.S. though its leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump recently exchanged letters.

Their second summit in Hanoi in February ended without any agreement due to disputes over the extent of sanctions relief North Korea should win in return for a limited denuclearization step.

TOKYO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya apologized yet again on Tuesday that new mistakes were found in explanation materials to Akita Prefecture, which is a candidate site for the land-based interceptor missile system Aegis Ashore.

Iwaya said at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting that transcription errors were found in the material that investigated the influence of the radar signal on the surrounding environment.

BEIJING, June 25 (Xinhua) -- China sent a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 2:09 a.m. Tuesday.

Launched on a Long March-3B carrier rocket, the satellite was sent to the inclined geosynchronous earth orbit. It is the 46th satellite of the BDS satellite family and the 21st satellite of the BDS-3 system.

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- China is ready to work with relevant sides to firmly uphold multilateralism, and oppose unilateralism and protectionism at the upcoming Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Osaka, Japan, said senior officials in Beijing Monday.

BEIJING, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a telephone conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday at the request of the U.S. side.

The two sides exchanged opinions on economic and trade issues in line with the instructions made by the two heads of state.

The two sides agreed to continue to maintain contact.

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AP) — A court in Cambodia has charged four Chinese people with crimes over a building collapse that killed 28 construction workers who were sleeping in the unfinished structure that doubled as their housing.

The Preah Sihanouk provincial court said Tuesday the building owner was charged with involuntary homicide, involuntarily causing injuries and aggravating circumstances that cause injury. The construction builder and the daily overseers of the workers were charged with conspiracy to commit those crimes.

BEIJING (AP) — Major Asian stock markets declined Tuesday as traders looked ahead to a meeting between the American and Chinese presidents amid hopes for renewed trade talks.

Benchmarks in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong declined. Seoul and Sydney were little-changed.

Investors were encouraged by the announcement that top U.S. and Chinese negotiators, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Vice Premier Liu He, talked Monday by phone. No details were released.