Top Asian News 3:32 a.m. GMT

Blinken, in Shanghai, begins expected contentious talks with Chinese officials

SHANGHAI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his first full day of meetings in China on Thursday by talking with local government officials in Shanghai. Blinken discussed local and regional issues with Chen Jining, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai. He also planned to speak to students and business leaders before flying to Beijing for what are expected to be contentious talks with national officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday shortly before President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger the Chinese, including $8 billion to counter China’s growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Dozens of pilot whales beach on western Australian coast

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Dozens of pilot whales beached on the western Australian coast and wildlife authorities were trying to rescue them, officials said Thursday. Between 50 and 100 whales were stranded at Toby’s Inlet near the tourist town of Dunsborough, the Parks and Wildlife Service of Western Australia state said in a statement. Staff from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and Perth Zoo veterinarians were being deployed, the statement said. Dunsborough is 285 kilometers (177 miles) by road south of Perth, the state’s capital and largest city. Officials urged the public not to try to rescue the whales on their own.

Australia and New Zealand honor their war dead with dawn services on Anzac Day

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people gathered across Australia and New Zealand for dawn services and street marches Thursday to commemorate their war dead on Anzac Day. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon attended a dawn service in his country’s largest city, Auckland, while Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saw the sun rise at a World War II memorial in the wilds of Australia’s nearest neighbor, Papua New Guinea. April 25 is the date in 1915 when the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli, in northwest Turkey, in an ill-fated campaign that was the soldiers’ first combat of World War I.

TikTok may be banned in the US. Here’s what happened when India did it

NEW DELHI (AP) — The hugely popular Chinese app TikTok may be forced out of the U.S., where a measure to outlaw the video-sharing app has won congressional approval and is on its way to President Biden for his signature. In India, the app was banned nearly four years ago. Here’s what happened: In June 2020, TikTok users in India bid goodbye to the app, which is operated by Chinese internet firm ByteDance. New Delhi had suddenly banned the popular app, alongside dozens other Chinese apps, following a military clash along the India-China border. Twenty Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed, and ties between the two Asian giants plunged to a new low.

Ethnic Karen guerrillas in Myanmar leave a town that army lost 2 weeks ago as rival group holds sway

BANGKOK (AP) — Guerrilla fighters from the main ethnic Karen fighting force battling Myanmar’s military government have withdrawn from the eastern border town of Myawaddy two weeks after forcing the army to give up its defense, residents and members of the group said Wednesday. Their withdrawal came after a contending armed Karen group, which has occupied the town and claimed responsibility for its security, provided assistance to army soldiers who had fled to a riverside spot there for safety. The soldiers came from the army’s Infantry Battalion 275, whose base, about 4 kilometers (3 miles) to the west of Myawaddy, was captured on April 11 by the armed wing of the Karen National Union —- or KNU — and allied pro-democracy forces.

Australian police charge 5 teens in investigation stemming from stabbing of Sydney bishop

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Five teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology have been charged with a range of offenses in an investigation that began with the stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church, police said Thursday. The five, aged from 14 to 17, were among seven boys arrested across southwest Sydney on Wednesday in a major operation by the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team. The team includes federal and state police as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation’s main domestic spy agency, and the New South Wales Crime Commission, which specializes in extremists and organized crime.

Pakistan and Iran vow to enhance efforts at a ‘united front’ against Afghanistan-based militants

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Neighbors Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday pledged to enhance efforts at a “united front” against Afghanistan-based militants, saying their presence poses a serious threat to regional and global security. The countries, which share a long and porous border, made the commitment in a joint statement issued after a three-day visit by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi to Islamabad. The visit was aimed at mending ties that were strained in January when each carried out strikes in the other’s territory, targeting militants accused of attacking security forces. The Iranian president met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other officials, including powerful army chief Gen.

Chinese student given 9-month prison sentence for harassing person posting democracy leaflets

BOSTON (AP) — A former Berklee College of Music student from China was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in prison for stalking and threatening a person who posted a flyer in support of democracy in the Asian country, authorities said. The leaflet that was posted on the campus in Boston on Oct. 22 read, “Stand with Chinese People,” along with other statements such as “We Want Freedom” and “We Want Democracy,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston said. In response, Xiaolei Wu, 26, threatened to chop off the person’s hands, reported their family to China’s public security agency, asked others to find out where the person was living and publicly posted their email address, prosecutors said.

Volkswagen revamps its approach in China in bid to overtake upstart EV makers

BEIJING (AP) — As auto giant Volkswagen AG races to catch up with upstart Chinese competitors, it has drivers like 26-year-old Ren Yiling in mind. She is young and wants to play video games in her car. The digital features of her Zeekr 001, a European-designed electric car from China’s Geely Holding Group, appeal to her. She uses her smartphone to help her parents adjust their seats and tells an animated voice assistant to open the window or play music. “I once sung karaoke in the car when travelling a long way with my family,” she said. “To me, the car is more like an entertainment place.

North Korea sends a delegation to Iran in a growing effort to break its diplomatic isolation

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A high-level North Korean economic delegation was on its way to Iran, the North’s state media said Wednesday, for what would be the two countries’ first known talks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Embracing the idea of a “new Cold War,” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is pushing to build up cooperation with countries confronting the United States, as his intensified weapons tests prompted the U.S. and South Korea to expand their military drills. Pyongyang’s delegation led by Yun Jung Ho, North Korea’s minster of external economic relations, flew out Tuesday for the trip to Iran, official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday.