Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to “stabilize” badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but America’s top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries.

After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the U.S. considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan.

BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) — Japanese Emperor Naruhito met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday, the third day of his first official foreign trip since ascending the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.

Widodo and Indonesia’s first lady, Iriana, welcomed Naruhito and Empress Masako at the Bogor presidential palace, along with greeters wearing Indonesian traditional clothes and a military band that played both national anthems.

“I feel very honored because Indonesia is the first destination for the Japanese emperor’s bilateral state visit abroad,” Widodo said.

TOKYO (AP) — Five people were killed and 12 others taken to the hospital after a truck collided with a bus in Hokkaido in northern Japan, according to local media reports.

Police said the truck might have strayed into oncoming traffic, Kyodo news agency reported. The bus was carrying 15 passengers at the time of the accident, which occurred on Sunday.

The drivers of both vehicles died in the crash, Kyodo said.

Video from broadcaster NTV showed the mangled wreckage of the two vehicles stuck on the road in the aftermath of the crash.

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at 4:30 p.m. Monday, the State Department said, as America’s top diplomat wrapped up a two-day visit to Beijing aimed at easing soaring tensions.

A Blinken-Xi meeting had been expected, but neither side had confirmed it would happen until just an hour before the talks, which are seen as key to the success of the trip. A snub by the Chinese leader would have been a major setback to the effort restore and maintain communications at senior levels.

BEIJING, June 18 (APP): The first batch of classic works under the MoU on mutual translation and publication of classics between China and Pakistan was released at the 2023 Beijing International Book Fair held in Beijing.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Translation and Publication of Classic Works signed by both countries, the first batch of 10 classic works includes “I Can Still Live Like the Wind: An Anthology of Pakistani Women’s Writing, “Zeenat” and so on, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Sunday.

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), June 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr Zambry Abd Kadir will not be able to attend an informal discussion on Myanmar scheduled to be held in Thailand, on Monday.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) in a statement cited prior commitment the reason being Zambry’s inability to attend the discussion proposed by Thailand. 

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — All 120 passengers and crew members aboard a Philippine ferry that caught fire at sea on Sunday were rescued safely and the fire was extinguished, the coast guard said.

The M/V Esperanza Star caught fire at dawn while traveling from Siquijor province to Bohol province in the central Philippines with 65 passengers and 55 crewmembers, the coast guard said. It added that it deployed two vessels for rescue and to help put out the flames, which raged for more than five hours.

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday kicked off two days of high-stakes diplomatic talks in Beijing aimed at trying to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge.

Blinken opened his program by meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for an extended discussion to be followed by a working dinner. He’ll have additional talks with Qin, as well as China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping, on Monday.

MANILA, Jun 17 (NNN-PNA) – A Philippine Senate committee, yesterday kicked off an investigation, into the U.S. request for the country to host Afghan nationals, applying for a special immigrant visa to head for America.

Senator Maria Imelda “Imee” Marcos, the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, launched the investigation, to shed light on the U.S. proposal. During the hearing, Marcos questioned the reason why the U.S. wanted to involve the Philippines in processing the entry of Afghan nationals, who previously worked with the American agencies in Afghanistan.

TOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Japan plans to stoke competition in smartphone app payments, dominated by Apple (AAPL.O) and Google, by banning major app store operators from forcing software developers to use the operators' own payment systems, a government panel said.

The final report by the panel, released on Friday, also said major suppliers of smartphone operating systems (OS) should be obliged to offer users alternative ways to obtain apps in a secure manner other than their own app stores.