Top Asian News 3:09 a.m. GMT

Japan warns of China’s military moves as biggest strategic challenge

TOKYO (AP) — Japan raised strong caution against China’s rapid acceleration of military activity in extensive areas from its southwestern coasts to the Pacific, describing the moves as the biggest strategic challenge. China’s growing joint operations with Russia also pose serious security concerns to Japan, along with increasing tension around Taiwan and threats coming from North Korea, the Defense Ministry said in an annual military report submitted to Cabinet on Tuesday. “The international society is in a new crisis era as it faces the biggest challenges since the end of World War II,” the report said, citing significant changes to the global power balance while raising concerns about an escalation of the China-U.S.

Cambodia will start military conscription next year as tensions with Thailand persist

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet said Monday that his country will implement military conscription starting next year, in an announcement that coincides with persistent border tensions with Thailand. Relations between the neighbors have deteriorated sharply following an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed in one of several small contested patches of land. The sides have agreed to de-escalate their dispute to avoid further clashes, but continue to implement or threaten measures that have kept tensions high, alongside exchanging sharp words. The dispute has also roiled Thailand’s domestic politics. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office after making what critics saw as a disparaging comment about her country’s military in a phone call to Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who leaked a recording of it.

Chinese economy grows at a 5.2% annual pace in April-June quarter despite trade war

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s economy slowed in the last quarter as President Donald Trump’s trade war escalated, but it still expanded at a robust 5.2% pace, the government said Tuesday. That compares with 5.4% annual growth in January-March. The government said Tuesday that in quarterly terms, the world’s second largest economy expanded by 1.1%. In the first half of the year, the Chinese economy grew at a 5.3% annual pace, the official data show. However, some analysts said actual growth may have been significantly slower. Zichun Huang of Capital Economics noted that investments in fixed assets such as factory equipment rose only 2.8% in the first half of the year, implying 2.9% annual growth in May and a mere 0.5% increase in June.

India wants air conditioners to be made with milder temperature settings to save energy

BENGALURU, India (AP) — India’s government is seeking to limit temperature settings on new air conditioners to save electricity in the country that is considered the fastest-growing market for them. The power minister proposed a rule in June requiring air conditioners sold in the country to have thermostats that can be set no lower than 20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit). Officials hope the small change will create massive energy savings in the country of more than 1.4 billion people. About 10 million to 15 million air conditioners are sold annually as incomes and urbanization increase along with the temperatures. The current lowest setting is 17 C (62 F).

Vietnam will ban fossil-fuel motorcycles from central Hanoi over pollution concerns

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam will ban fossil-fuel motorcycles and mopeds in the heart of the capital, Hanoi, starting July 2026, as part of a nationwide effort to curb air pollution, state media reported. The directive issued by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh applies to the area inside and along the main ring road that encircles the center of Hanoi. The local government has been tasked with phasing out the two-wheelers by the deadline. Like the rest of Vietnam, motorcycles are the main mode of transport for most of Hanoi’s 8 million residents. The city has nearly 7 million motorcycles and just over a million cars.

Australia hosts military drills with US and other nations, likely to draw Chinese surveillance

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The largest-ever war-fighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, are underway and expected to attract the attention of Chinese spy ships. Australia launched missiles from its M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, on Monday during live-fire exercises at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, a 4,500 square kilometer (1,700 square mile) Outback expanse in Queensland state. The HIMARS launchers were recently bought from the United States. “Today was the first time the Australian Army has live-fired our long-range, multi-domain platforms being the HIMARS, so it is a remarkable day,” Brig. Nick Wilson told reporters. Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia.

Japan’s former Emperor Akihito hospitalized to adjust his heart medication

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s 91-year-old former Emperor Akihito was hospitalized Monday to adjust his heart medication, palace officials said. Akihito was diagnosed in May with myocardial ischemia, an asymptomatic heart condition of reduced blood flow from the coronary arteries to the heart muscle. He has since been on medication to improve blood flow to his heart while avoiding excessive exercise and reducing liquid intake. Akihito abdicated in 2019, handing over the Chrysanthemum Throne to his son, current Emperor Naruhito and now holds the title of Emperor Emeritus. After two months on the medication, doctors found little improvement in Akinito’s condition and decided to give him an additional treatment to alleviate the burden on his heart, the Imperial Household Agency said.

With temporary protections for some Afghans set to expire, appeals court steps in

WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court late Monday stepped in to keep in place protections for nearly 12,000 Afghans that have allowed them to work in the U.S. and be protected from deportation after they were set to expire as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to make more people eligible for removal from the country. The Department of Homeland Security in May said it was ending Temporary Protected Status for 11,700 people from Afghanistan in 60 days. That status had allowed them to work and meant the government couldn’t deport them. CASA, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy group, sued the administration over the TPS revocation for Afghans as well as for people from Cameroon — those expire August 4.

14 million children did not receive a single vaccine in 2024, UN estimates

LONDON (AP) — More than 14 million children did not receive a single vaccine last year — about the same number as the year before — according to U.N. health officials. Nine countries accounted for more than half of those unprotected children. In their annual estimate of global vaccine coverage, released Tuesday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said about 89% of children under 1 year old got a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine in 2024, the same as in 2023. About 85% completed the three-dose series, up from 84% in 2023. Officials acknowledged, however, that the collapse of international aid this year will make it more difficult to reduce the number of unprotected children.

Philippine defense chief renounced Maltese citizenship before his appointment, department says

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. had renounced his Maltese citizenship and disclosed it to Filipino authorities before taking office, the Defense Department said Monday. Philippine law generally disqualifies candidates for high public office who have dual citizenship, especially those with foreign citizenship acquired through naturalization, unless they renounce their foreign citizenship. Teodoro, who was appointed defense chief by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2023, is one of the most vocal critics of China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea and elsewhere in Asia. He has led efforts by the Philippines to deepen its treaty alliance with the United States and build new security ties with other countries to deter China.