Top Asian News 4:26 a.m. GMT

North Korea will no longer pursue reconciliation with South because of hostility, Kim Jong Un says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would no longer pursue reconciliation with South Korea and called for rewriting the North’s constitution to eliminate the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided countries, state media said Tuesday. The historic step to discard a decades-long pursuit of unification, which was based on a sense of national homogeneity shared by both Koreas, comes amid heightened tensions where the pace of both Kim’s weapons development and the South’s military exercises with the United States have intensified in a tit-for-tat. North Korea also abolished the key government agencies that had been tasked with managing relations with South Korea in a decision made during a meeting of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament on Monday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

What a new president in Taiwan means for the island, China, the US and the world

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s incoming president is promising more of the same. The question is what that will bring, not only for Taiwan but also for its relations with China, the United States and others with an interest in the island of 23 million people that supplies many of the advanced semiconductors that keep the world running. Lai Ching-te, the winner of Saturday’s presidential race, has pledged to continue the policies of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, who built up the military and strengthened ties with the United States and other sympathetic countries. He has also pledged to do a better job of addressing domestic issues such as affordable housing and economic inequality.

Nauru switches diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Pacific Island nation of Nauru said Monday that it is switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China, a move that reduces the dwindling number of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to 12 around the world. China claims self-governing Taiwan as its territory and has been peeling off the island’s diplomatic allies, often with promises of development aid. It’s a long-running competition between the two that has swung in China’s favor in recent years. A statement from the government of Nauru said it was severing ties with Taiwan and seeking a resumption of relations with China. “This policy change is a significant first step in moving forward with Nauru’s development,” the statement said.

North Korean foreign minister visits Moscow for talks as concern grows over an alleged arms deal

MOSCOW (AP) — North Korea’s foreign minister is visiting Russia on Monday for three days of talks, as international concern grows over an alleged arms cooperation deal between the two countries. A delegation led by Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui arrived in Moscow on Sunday, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency. She is to meet her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said. Choe is visiting at Lavrov’s invitation, the ministry said. The United States and South Korea say North Korea has provided Russia with arms, including artillery and missiles, to help its fight in Ukraine.

Arakan Army resistance force says it has taken control of a strategic township in western Myanmar

BANGKOK (AP) — A powerful ethnic armed group fighting Myanmar’s military that is based in the country’s western state of Rakhine has seized a township bordering India and Bangladesh, the group declared Monday, confirming accounts by local residents and media. Paletwa is the first township reported to fall to the Arakan Army, which launched surprise attacks beginning in mid-November on military targets in Paletwa, which is in Chin state, and townships in Rakhine. Paletwa is just north of Rakhine and borders both Bangladesh and India. Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, told The Associated Press on Monday that the entire Paletwa region has become a “Military Council-free area,” referring to the ruling military government.

Presidential hopeful Baswedan says Indonesia’s democracy is declining and pledges change

BANDAR LAMPUNG, Indonesia (AP) — A former Jakarta governor seeking Indonesia’s presidency said democracy is declining in the country and pledged to make changes to get it back on track. Anies Baswedan said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that concerns about neutrality in the current government and the institution arose when the frontrunner in the presidential race, Prabowo Subianto, picked the son of the current president as his running mate. The issue of neutrality has not existed in Indonesia’s elections since the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998, Baswedan said. “This means that there is a decline in trust, it means that our democracy is experiencing a decline in quality, it means that many legal rules are being bent,” he said.

Horse racing in China’s gaming hub of Macao to end in April, after over 40 years

HONG KONG (AP) — The government in China’s gambling hub of Macao said Monday that after more than 40 years, there will be no more horse racing in the city and announced plans to terminate its contract with the city’s jockey club in April. The gaming hub on China’s south coast near Hong Kong is a home to various gambling businesses, which form a major pillar of its economy. But its jockey club, acquired by a consortium led by late casino tycoon Stanley Ho in 1991, has faced financial woes in recent years. Cheong Weng Chon, a Macao official, told reporters that the Macao Horse Race Company had asked last year that the contract with the government be terminated, citing operational difficulties and the “impossibility of aligning horse racing activities with the current developmental needs of society.” “Considering that these activities have progressively lost their appeal to local residents and tourists in recent years, the government, after thorough research, decided to accept the application from the Macao Horse Race Company,” he said.

Former chairman of state-owned bank China Everbright Group arrested over suspected corruption

HONG KONG (AP) — The former chairman of state-owned Chinese bank China Everbright Group has been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement and bribery, prosecutors said in a statement Monday, amid an intensified campaign against corruption. The investigation into Tang Shuangning, the former party secretary and chairman of China Everbright Group has ended and the case would be “transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution,” China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in a statement. Tang, 69, was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party earlier this month over violations of disciplines and laws, amid a crackdown on corruption in China’s financial sector. He retired in 2017.

Philippine president congratulates Taiwan’s president-elect, strongly opposed by China

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday congratulated the winner of Taiwan’s presidential election, Lai Ching-te, saying in a statement shared on social media that he was looking “forward to close collaboration” and “strengthening mutual interests.” Marcos’s congratulatory message is likely to be frowned upon by China, which claims the self-governing island as its own territory to be taken under Beijing’s control by force if necessary. President-elect Lai has vowed to safeguard the island’s de-facto independence from China and further align it with other democracies. After U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Lai on his victory, China’s Foreign Ministry said that message “sends a gravely wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces,” claiming it goes against a U.S.

Shih Ming-teh, Taiwan activist who pushed for democracy, dies at 83

BANGKOK (AP) — Shih Ming-teh, a democracy activist who helped lead Taiwan from authoritarianism to democracy and a former chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, died on Monday, his family said. He was 83. According to a statement from his family on his official Facebook page, he was being treated at Taipei’s Veterans General Hospital. No cause of death was provided. “Our father, Shih Ming-teh, set off today on his birthday, reuniting with his family members and the comrades-in-arms that he had fought with through thick and thin,” said the family. “Whether it’s here or on the other side, he is not alone.” Shih was born in Kaohsiung, in Taiwan’s south, and became an activist at a young age.