Top Asian News 4:23 a.m. GMT

Stress and fear roil a tiny, rapidly militarizing Japanese island near Taiwan

YONAGUNI, Japan (AP) — This tiny island on Japan’s western frontier has no convenience store. Nature lovers can dive with hammerhead sharks and watch miniature horses graze on a hill. But the wooded mountain ranges now carry radar sites. A southern cattle ranch has been replaced with the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force’s Camp Yonaguni. Japan and its ally, the United States, hold joint military exercises here. Plans are underway to add a new missile unit and expand a small airport and port. All of the buildup has cemented the island’s as a front line in a potential clash over Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island that China claims as its own.

South Korea’s Yoon defends his martial law decree as impeachment trial nears end

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In a final statement at his impeachment trial, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree that plunged the country into chaos as a bid to inform the public of the danger of the opposition-controlled parliament as he vowed Tuesday to push for political reform if reinstated. Yoon spoke at the Constitutional Court as it wrapped up arguments in his impeachment trial. The court is expected to rule by mid-March on whether to remove Yoon from office or reinstate his presidential powers. The liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached Yoon, a conservative, after his short-lived Dec.

Son of Chinese journalist jailed for espionage calls for his father’s release

WASHINGTON (AP) — The son of a Chinese journalist accused of espionage called for his father’s release from a seven-year prison sentence in the high-profile case that signaled Beijing’s tighten grip on journalism. Dong Yuyu, then a senior editor at a Communist Party-run newspaper that was increasingly out of step with the party’s hardening line, was arrested in February 2022 as he was having lunch with a Japanese diplomat in Beijing. Dong Yifu said at the National Press Club in Washington on Monday that his father is planning to appeal his convictions. He urged Japanese authorities to help show that the senior Dong’s meetings with Japanese diplomats had nothing to do with espionage.

An elevated part of a highway being built in South Korea collapses, killing 4 workers

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Elevated parts of a highway under construction collapsed in South Korea on Tuesday, killing four workers and injuring six others, officials said. Ten people were working on the site near the city of Cheonan, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Seoul. They fell when it collapsed and were trapped in the rubble, the National Fire Agency said. One was found dead in the rubble. Eight injured workers were sent to hospitals before two of them were declared dead there later. The 10th worker who was missing for hours was eventually discovered dead, according to fire agency officials.

‘Puppy Mountain’ photo draws onlookers to a Chinese riverside

When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei province in late January. When reviewing the photos, he saw something he hadn’t noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.

Taiwan is investigating a Chinese-crewed ship believed to have severed an undersea cable

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese authorities are investigating a Chinese-crewed ship suspected of severing an undersea communications cable in the latest such incident adding to tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Taiwan’s coast guard intercepted the Togolese-flagged cargo ship Hongtai in waters between its main island’s west coast and the outlying Penghu Islands early Tuesday, according to a statement by the coast guard. The coast guard had earlier been notified by telecommunications provider Chunghwa Telecom that one of its undersea cables had been severed 6 nautical miles (11 kilometers) northwest of Jiangjun Fishing Harbor. The Hongtai had been anchored in that same area since Saturday evening, the coast guard said.

Russia and Indonesia hold talks to strengthen ties on defense and security

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Russia and Indonesia took steps on Tuesday to strengthen their defense ties with a meeting between a top Russian security official and Indonesia’s defense minister in the capital of Jakarta as Moscow’s war on Ukraine entered its fourth year. Ahead of the visit by Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti said he would discuss ways to deepen a defense partnership with Indonesia’s Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. The two officials would also discuss “cooperation in other areas of mutual interest,” the agency said, citing a Russian government statement. Shoigu’s visit, the first stop in a five-day Asia tour that also includes Malaysia, comes after Indonesia — the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy — was admitted as full member to the BRICS bloc of developing economies, an alliance where Russia is one of the founding members.

Trump’s abrupt change of US policy on Ukraine raises questions about Taiwan support

BANGKOK (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal of three years of American policy toward Ukraine has raised concerns China might become emboldened to push its territorial claim on Taiwan, though experts say Beijing is most likely in a wait-and-see mode right now to see how the situation in Europe plays out. In the past two weeks, Trump has falsely claimed Ukraine “should have never started the war,” said Ukraine “may be Russian someday” and questioned the legitimacy of President Volodmyr Zelenskyy’s government, while upending the longstanding American position of isolating Russia over its aggression by beginning direct talks with Moscow and voicing positions sounding remarkably like the Kremlin’s own.

Here’s why Chinese warships near Australia and New Zealand have prompted alarm

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Leaders in Australia and New Zealand say China should have given them more warning before its navy conducted an unusual series of live fire exercises in the seas between the two countries, forcing flights to divert on short notice. The drills by three naval ships happened in international waters beneath a busy commercial flight path over the Tasman Sea on Friday and Saturday, and at least once involved live fire. There’s no suggestion China broke any laws, but analysts say the episode highlights escalating regional tensions over China’s influence. The Tasman Sea spans 1,200 miles (2,000 km) between Australia and New Zealand, the largest Western powers in the South Pacific Ocean.

Chinese fishing vessels used North Korean crews in breach of UN bans, a report says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A fleet of Chinese fishing vessels used North Korean crews between 2019 and 2024 in violation of U.N. bans, and many people were apparently subjected to abuses including being trapped at sea for years, a report said Monday. The Environmental Justice Foundation, a London-based group specializing in environmental and human rights issues, said it identified the presence of North Koreans on 12 Chinese tuna long-liners operating in the southwest Indian Ocean. The report was mostly based on interviews with 19 Indonesians and Filipinos who worked alongside them. “The testimony received from Indonesian and Filipino crew members suggests that concerted efforts were made to hide the presence of North Koreans on these vessels, and that those North Koreans on board were forced to work for as many as 10 years at sea — in some instances without ever stepping foot on land,” the report said.