Top Asian News 3:53 a.m. GMT

Japan says China will resume Japanese seafood imports it halted over Fukushima water discharge

TOKYO (AP) — China will resume Japanese seafood imports that it banned in 2023 over worries about Japan’s discharge of wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, a Japanese official said Friday. The issue has been a significant political and diplomatic point of tension for the wary Asian powers. Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the two sides reached an agreement after Japanese and Chinese officials met in Beijing and the imports will resume once the necessary paperwork is done. China did not immediately comment. China blocked imports of Japanese seafood because it said the release would endanger the fishing industry and coastal communities in eastern China.

US is leaving open the possibility of a troop drawdown in South Korea

SINGAPORE (AP) — The United States is not ruling out a reduction in forces deployed to South Korea as the Trump administration determines what presence it needs in the region to best counter China, two senior American defense officials told reporters traveling with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Singapore. There are 28,500 U.S. troops deployed to South Korea as part of the U.S. long-term commitment to help defend Seoul from any attack from North Korea. But the U.S. is also trying to array its forces and ships optimally across the Indo-Pacific as a credible deterrent against China for any potential attack on Taiwan and other acts of aggression against allies in the region.

Chinese students anxious and angry after Rubio vows to revoke visas

HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese students studying in the U.S. are scrambling to figure out their futures after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that some of them would have their visas revoked. The U.S. will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students, including those studying in “critical fields” and “those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party,” according to the announcement. China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the United States, behind only India. In the 2023-2024 school year, more than 270,000 international students were from China, making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the U.S.

The US academic partnership with China, under strain for years, faces its biggest threat

WASHINGTON (AP) — Frayed by tariff wars and political battles, the academic ties between the U.S. and China are now facing their greatest threat yet as the Trump administration promises to revoke visas for an unknown number of Chinese students and tighten future visa screening. In a brief statement Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. will “aggressively” revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or studying “critical fields.” Rubio’s statement threatened to widen a chasm between the two nations, building on a yearslong Republican campaign to rid U.S. campuses of Chinese influence and insulate America’s research from its strongest economic and military competitor.

Macron will kick off Singapore security conference with Hegseth in attendance

SINGAPORE (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are among the world leaders, diplomats and top defense officials in Singapore this weekend for a security forum that will focus on China’s growing assertiveness, the global impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the flare-up of conflicts in Asia. Macron opens the conference with a keynote address Friday night that is expected to touch on all of those issues, as well as the pressure the hefty tariffs announced by President Donald Trump’s administration is putting on Asian allies. It’s Hegseth’s first time to the Shangri-La dialogue, hosted by the International Institute for Security Studies, which is taking place against the backdrop of heightened rhetoric between Beijing and Washington due to the Trump administration’s threat of triple digit tariffs on China, and some uncertainty in the region over how committed the U.S.

Ex-Goldman Sachs banker gets 2 years in prison for plot to fleece billions from Malaysia’s 1MDB fund

NEW YORK (AP) — A former Goldman Sachs banker was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison for his role in a $4.5 billion scheme to ransack a Malaysian state investment fund. Tim Leissner, at his sentencing in Brooklyn federal court, apologized to the people of Malaysia, who he called the “real victims” of the scheme. “The funds raised more than a decade ago could have profoundly benefited the nation and its citizens,” he said in a statement read in court and provided by his lawyers. “Instead, due to my greed — and the greed of those involved alongside me — they were misappropriated.” Prosecutors said Leissner and other Goldman Sachs bankers helped the Malaysian investment fund known as 1MBD, or the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund, raise $6.5 billion through bond sales.

Tens of thousands demonstrate in Nepal seeking restoration of ousted monarchy

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Tens of thousands of protesters demanding the abolished monarchy be restored and the former king be made the head of state of the Himalayan nation demonstrated in Nepal Thursday. The protesters, waving flags and chanting slogans, demanded the return of the king and the restoration of Hinduism as a state religion as they marched through the main circle in the capital, Kathmandu. Just a few hundred meters (yards) from the pro-monarchy protesters, their opponents, who are supporters of the Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, had gathered at the exhibition grounds to celebrate Republic Day. There was fear that these two groups could likely clash and create trouble in the city.

Thai and Cambodian armies agree to seek peaceful solutions at disputed border after deadly clash

BANGKOK (AP) — The army chiefs of Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Thursday to a withdrawal and to seek a peaceful solution to the disputed border area where a brief clash a day earlier killed one Cambodian soldier, Thai officials said. Cambodian troops were conducting a routine patrol along the border when the Thai side opened fire, Cambodia said Wednesday. The Thai army said that the Cambodian soldiers entered a disputed area and opened fire when Thai soldiers approached to negotiate. The clash lasted about 10 minutes until local commanders spoke to each other and ordered a ceasefire, the Thai army said.

Cambodian American chefs are finding success and raising their culture’s profile. On their terms

Chef Phila Lorn was not necessarily aiming for “quote-unquote authentic” Cambodian food when he opened Mawn in his native Philadelphia two years ago. So when he approached some Cambodian teen patrons, he braced himself for questioning. “Someone’s going to say something like, ‘That’s not how my mom makes her oxtail soup,’” Lorn said. “So I walk up to the table. I’m like, ‘How is everything?’ And the kid looks up to me and he goes, ‘It doesn’t even matter, dude. So glad you’re here.’” It was at that moment that Lorn realized Mawn — the phonetic spelling of the Khmer word for “chicken” — was more than a noodle shop.

AP PHOTOS: Hundreds scale Mount Everest in a weather-hit climbing season

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Hundreds of climbers and their Sherpa guides scaled Mount Everest this month in Nepal, struggling against harsh weather to make it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain before the climbing season finishes at the end of May. Though several climbers did manage to reach the summit in mid-May, weather conditions deteriorated for days, forcing a retreat to base camp for many, including Kami Rita Sherpa, who was attempting to break his own record by scaling the peak for a 31st time. He did manage to scale the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak on May 27, but several climbers were not so lucky.