Top Asian News 3:17 a.m. GMT

From overcapacity to TikTok, the issues covered during Janet Yellen’s trip to China

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her team are leaving China and returning to Washington after trying to tackle the major questions of the day between the countries. Here’s a look at what she tried to accomplish, what was achieved, and where things stand for the world’s two largest economies: Yellen said she wanted to go into the U.S.-China talks to address a major Biden administration complaint that Beijing’s economic model and trade practices put American companies and workers at an unfair competitive disadvantage by producing highly subsidized solar products, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries at a loss, dominating the global market.

Culinary diplomacy: The internet is obsessed with what Janet Yellen eats in China

BEIJING (AP) — Ever since she ate mushrooms that can have psychedelic effects in Beijing last July, Janet Yellen has united Americans and Chinese in wanting to know what she will eat next. And now that the U.S. Treasury secretary is back in China this week, having stopped in Guangzhou and Beijing, many people are less interested in her travels to rebuild relations between the world’s two biggest economies, and more fascinated with what she’ll eat next and where. From her forays into Sichuan dumplings to Peking duck, mouth watering chicken or twice cooked pork — even Chinese politicians at the highest ranks of the party are taking notice of her popularity on the culinary arts scene.

What’s expected at Japanese PM Kishida’s US visit? A major upgrade in defense ties

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is making an official visit to the United States this week. He will hold a summit with President Joe Biden that’s meant to achieve a major upgrading of their defense alliance. He will also join a first-ever summit of the U.S., Japanese and Philippine leaders in Washington to showcase their cooperation in the face of an increasingly assertive China. The Associated Press explains the significance of Kishida’s visit and the two summits. The biggest event during the weeklong trip is his summit with Biden on Wednesday. Kishida hopes to further strengthen the alliance as China’s influence grows in the Indo-Pacific.

South Korean parliamentary elections: Here’s what people are worried about as they vote this week

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Soaring green onion prices. Striking doctors. A politician’s allegedly sexist jab at a female candidate. These are among the issues animating voters in South Korea as they go the polls on Wednesday to elect a new 300-member parliament. Many are choosing to focus on jobs and other domestic worries as the most important election issues, staying away from traditional topics such as North Korean nuclear threats and the U.S. security commitment for South Korea. “I feel drawn to someone who talks about things that can be truly helpful to our neighborhoods,” said Kim Yun-ah, a 45-year-old Seoul officer worker.

AP PHOTOS: Indonesia expects biggest-ever Eid homecoming, a mass movement of over 190 million people

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Millions of Indonesians are packing bus and train stations, airports and highways as they head to hometowns to celebrate Thursday’s Eid al-Fitr festival with family. The Transportation Ministry expects the largest movement of people in Indonesia’s history. The agency is projecting the number of travelers heading home could reach 193 million, or nearly 72% of the population — up from 124 million, or 46%, last year. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. And every year, there is a vast exodus of people from urban centers across the vast archipelago to more rural hometowns to celebrate the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The US Army will hold combat training in the Philippines to hone skills as maritime tensions rise

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The U.S. Army is introducing a joint battlefield training in the Philippines to improve combat readiness including by ensuring adequate supply of ammunition and other needs in difficult conditions in tropical jungles and on scattered islands, a U.S. general said. The Biden administration has been strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan. The U.S. moves dovetail with Philippine efforts to shore up its territorial defenses amid disputes with China in the South China Sea and ability to respond to frequent natural disasters. About 2,000 U.S.

Ethnic guerrillas in Myanmar look set to seize an important town on the Thai border from military

BANGKOK (AP) — Guerrilla fighters from Myanmar’s Karen ethnic minority claimed Monday to be close to seizing control of a major trading town bordering Thailand, as soldiers and civil servants loyal to the military government appeared to be preparing to abandon their positions. The occupation of Myawaddy town by the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Karen National Union, or KNU, appeared imminent as the guerrillas seized or besieged strategic army outposts on the town’s outskirts, a spokesperson and members of the KNU said Monday. Myawaddy, in Kayin state, is Myanmar’s most active trading post with Thailand, and its fall would be the latest in a series of shock defeats suffered by the army since last October, when an alliance of three other ethnic rebel groups launched an offensive in the country’s northeast.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visits Beijing to highlight ties with key diplomatic partner

BEIJING (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Beijing Monday to display the strength of ties with close diplomatic partner China amid Moscow’s grinding war against Ukraine and an ongoing effort to align their foreign policies against the U.S. and its allies. The two continent-sized authoritarian states, increasingly in dispute with democracies and NATO, seek to gain influence in Africa, the Middle East and South America. China has backed Russia’s claim that President Vladimir Putin launched his assault in 2022 because of Western provocations, without producing any solid evidence. Russian state news agency Tass said the ministers would “discuss the situation in Ukraine and the Asia-Pacific region, issues of bilateral cooperation and interaction in the international arena,” quoting Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

US treads carefully in responding to Hong Kong’s new national security law

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has denounced Hong Kong’s new national security law as a tool to potentially silence dissent both at home and abroad, but so far the action from Washington has been notably muted, disappointing those fighting for the Chinese territory’s democracy and freedoms. Since the law’s swift passage on March 19, the U.S. has announced visa restrictions on an unspecified number of unnamed Hong Kong officials but taken no further action. That’s a far cry from 2020, when Beijing imposed national security restrictions to end months of unrest on Hong Kong streets. The U.S. responded by hitting the city’s highest-ranking officials with sanctions and depriving the territory of its preferential trading status.

Anger in Malaysia over shoes bearing logo resembling Arabic word for God. Company head apologizes

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian shoe company has apologized and stopped selling some of its footwear after some Muslims said the logo resembled the Arabic writing for the word God. Vern’s Holdings said the logo stamped on the soles of some high-heeled shoes depicted the silhouette of a stiletto heel with an ankle spiral wrap. It acknowledged, however, that shortcomings in the design may have led to the logo being misinterpreted. The company also said it acted immediately to stop sales of the shoes and issue refunds to customers who bought them. “We have absolutely no intention of designing a logo aimed at belittling or insulting any religion or belief,” Vern’s said in the statement posted on social media.