Top Asian News 3:59 a.m. GMT

Trump threatens more tariffs on China as global markets shudder over how much pain economy can take

WASHINGTON (AP) — Undeterred by a panicked stock market, President Donald Trump threatened additional tariffs on China on Monday, raising fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. Trump’s threat came after China said it would retaliate against U.S. tariffs he announced last week. “If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!” The U.S.

China says it will ‘fight to the end’ after Trump threatens to impose still more tariffs

BEIJING (AP) — China said Tuesday it would “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports. The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.” China, the world’s second-largest economy, has taken retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming. “The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order.

Philippine volcano spews ash plume into the sky, prompting school closures

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A restive Philippine volcano briefly erupted Tuesday on a central island, sending a 4-kilometer (2.4-mile) plume of ash and debris into the sky and forcing authorities to suspend school classes in four villages due to ashfall, officials said. There were no reports of injuries or damage from Mount Kanlaon’s latest eruption after dawn that lasted more than an hour and scattered ash in at least four farming villages southwest of the volcano on Negros island, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. Kanlaon last erupted in December, prompting the evacuation of thousands of villagers, many of whom remained in emergency shelters on Tuesday as the volcano continued showing signs of restiveness, the Office of Civil Defense said.

Asian shares gain and Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumps 6.5% despite uncertainty over tariffs

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian markets opened higher on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 share benchmark shooting up more than 6% after it fell nearly 8% a day earlier. The rebound followed a wild day on Wall Street as U.S. stocks careened after President Donald Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs higher. Early Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said it would “fight to the end” and take unspecified countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports. By late morning Tokyo time, the Nikkei 225 was up 6.5% at 33,148.52.

Contract for Hong Kong company to operate Panama Canal ports had irregularities, audit finds

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama’s comptroller authority said Monday an audit found irregularities in the renewal of a 25-year port concession in the interoceanic canal and it would request an investigation into the authorization of the contract to a Hong Kong company. Comptroller-General Anel Flores said the audit found some payment defaults, accounting miscalculations and some “shadow” operation of companies that the Hong Kong company originally denied, causing Panama around $300 million in lost revenue. The release of the audit of Panama Ports Company, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate subsidiary that operates ports at both ends of the Panama Canal, comes as U.S.

Rescue efforts from Myanmar’s deadly earthquake wind down as death toll hits 3,600

BANGKOK (AP) — Long-shot efforts to find survivors from Myanmar’s devastating March 28 earthquake were winding down Monday, as rescue efforts were supplanted by increasing relief and recovery activity. The death toll surpassed 3,600 and was still climbing. A situation report issued late Monday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said more than 17.2 million people are living in affected areas, and urgently need food, drinking water, health care, cash assistance and emergency shelter. In the capital, Naypyitaw, people cleared debris and collected wood from their damaged houses under drizzling rain, and soldiers removed wreckage at some Buddhist monasteries.

American YouTuber who left a Diet Coke can for a reclusive island tribe is arrested in India

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police have arrested a 24-year-old American Youtuber who visited an off-limits island in the Indian ocean and left an offering of a Diet Coke can and a coconut in an attempt to make contact with an isolated tribe known for attacking intruders. Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island — part of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands — in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe, police said. A local court last week sent Polyakov to a 14-day judicial custody and he is set to appear again in the court April 17.

Japanese emperor visits Iwo Jima to honor the dead in one of WWII’s fiercest battles

IWO-TO, Japan (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito visited Iwo Jima on Monday and paid tribute to thousands of Japanese and Americans who died in one of World War II’s bloodiest battles. Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, prayed at three memorial sites — one for the Japanese soldiers, another for the islanders and a third for both Japanese and American war dead. The couple offered a bouquet of white flowers and poured water over a cenotaph from a ladle to console those who died under the heat while suffering from hunger and thirst. They were due to meet with representatives of bereaved families and descendants of former island residents.

Nations puzzle over how to respond to US trade war as global markets gyrate

BRUSSELS (AP) — America’s trading partners wrestled with responses to U.S. President Donald Trump’s blast of tariff hikes and some planned to send negotiators to Washington, while the head of the European Union’s executive commission offered mutual reduction of tariffs - while warning that retaliation was an option too. “We stand ready to negotiate with the United States,” said commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Indeed, we have offered zero for zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners. Because Europe is always ready for a good deal.” But she warned that “we are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests.” China has already hit back against the U.S.

Australian conservatives withdraw campaign pledge to stop remote work for public employees

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s opposition party Monday withdrew election promises to prevent public servants from working from home and to slash more than one-in-five federal public sector jobs. Opposition leader Peter Dutton announced his conservative Liberal Party had dropped its pledge that public servants would be required to work in their offices five days a week except in exceptional circumstances. “I think we made a mistake in relation to this policy,” Dutton told Nine Network television. “I think it’s important that we say that and recognize it and our intention was to make sure that where taxpayers are working hard and their money is being spent to pay wages that it’s being spent efficiently.” The opposition also withdrew a promise to use forced redundancy payments to slash 41,000 jobs from the 185,000 positions in the Australian Public Service.