Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — China announced a 90-day suspension on Friday of tariff hikes on $126 billion of U.S. cars, trucks and auto parts following its cease-fire in a trade battle with Washington that threatens global economic growth.

The suspension is China’s first step in response to President Donald Trump’s Dec. 1 agreement to suspend U.S. tariff hikes for a similar 90-day period while the two sides negotiate over American complaints about Beijing’s technology policy and trade surplus.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese envoy to the United Nations said Wednesday that the Iran nuclear deal has proved its worth and deserves full and effective implementation.

At a Security Council meeting on Iran, Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Ma Zhaoxu said the deal as a major multilateralism achievement serves the common interest of the international community.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian national car maker Proton launched its first SUV on Wednesday in a fresh effort to transform its stale brand and turn around its fortunes, more than a year after China’s Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd. bought a key stake in the company.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad launched the 1.8 liter (0.48 gallon) -engine X70 and expressed hopes for Proton’s recovery.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Thursday confirmed it has detained two Canadian men, raising the stakes in a three-way international dispute over the case of a Chinese telecoms executive facing possible extradition from Canada to the United States.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were taken into custody on Monday on suspicion of “engaging in activities that endanger the national security” of China.

TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday that five missing crew members have been declared dead after their refueling plane collided with a fighter jet last week off Japan’s southern coast, and that search and recovery operations have ended after finding only one survivor.

The five were on a KC-130 Hercules refueling aircraft that collided last Thursday with an F/A-18 Hornet during regular training. The warplanes crashed into the sea south of Japan’s Shikoku island.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — For over a century, the Bells of Balangiga have not rung in the Philippines, a silence that the president last year called “painful.” Now, the revered bells will once again be heard in the country.

10 Dec 2018; AFP: China summoned the US ambassador on Sunday to protest the arrest of a top executive from telecom giant Huawei in Canada, as Washington's top trade negotiator rejected suggestions that the case could affect talks aimed at settling a trade war.

The arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has infuriated Beijing, which demanded Washington drop its extradition request, and stoked tensions during the trade war truce between China and the United States.

BEIJING (AP) — A former foreign policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Chinese pressure on the Canadian government to release a top executive of Huawei won’t work.

In a tweet, Roland Paris says, “Perhaps because the Chinese state controls its judicial system, Beijing sometimes has difficulty understanding or believing that courts can be independent in a rule-of-law country. There’s no point in pressuring the Canadian government. Judges will decide.”

8 Dec 2018; AFP: China's trade surplus with the United States ballooned to a record $35.6 billion in November, official data showed Saturday, as exports across the Pacific remained strong despite a raft of US tariffs while imports shrank.

Relations between the world's top two economies continue to be tense despite a trade war truce struck between US President Donald Trump and his counterpart President Xi Jinping last week.

Beijing, Dec 7 (AFP) Chinese state-run media on Friday condemned the arrest in Canada of a top executive of telecoms giant Huawei on a US extradition request as a "despicable rogue's approach" to contain Chinese high-tech ambitions.

The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, has angered the Chinese government and raised concerns that it could disrupt a trade war truce between the world's two biggest economies.