Top Asian News 4:50 a.m. GMT

China sets an economic growth target of 5% and pledges help for consumers and property developers

BEIJING (AP) — China’s official growth target for this year is around 5%, Premier Li Qiang said Tuesday in an annual report on the government’s plans and performance that prioritized both security and the economy. Li said the government would continue with a “pro-active fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy,” suggesting no major change in the leadership’s approach to pursuing what it calls “high quality” development. The ruling Communist Party has been emphasizing the need to raise consumer spending to help drive the economy. But the consumer-led recovery it was counting on after anti-pandemic controls ended in late 2022 faltered midway through last year.

China raises defense budget 7.2% as it pushes for global heft and regional tensions continue

BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday announced a 7.2% increase in its defense budget, which is already the world’s second-highest behind the United States at 1.6 trillion yuan ($222 billion), roughly mirroring the rise of the last year. Tensions with the U.S., Taiwan, Japan and neighbors who share claims to the crucial South China Sea are seen as furthering growth in increasingly high-tech military technologies from stealth fighters to aircraft carriers and a growing arsenal of nuclear weapons. The official budget figure announced Tuesday at the opening of the legislature’s annual meeting is considered only a fraction of spending by the People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the ruling Communist Party, once spending on research and development and foreign weapons purchases are considered.

Shehbaz Sharif sworn in as Pakistan’s prime minister after contentious vote

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as Pakistan’s new prime minister on Monday after being elected a day earlier in a raucous parliamentary session. He held the same position from April 2022 to August 2023, replacing archrival Imran Khan who was kicked out of the job after a no-confidence vote. Shehbaz is the younger brother of three-time premier Nawaz Sharif. His appointment is controversial because of parliamentary elections last month that his opponents claimed were rigged in his favor. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, the PTI, insists it did better in the poll but that electoral theft and other irregularities deprived it of a parliamentary majority.

What’s next for South Korean doctors who face license suspensions because of walkouts

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government is pressing ahead with its vow to suspend the licenses of thousands of junior doctors who ignore its repeated demands to end their collective walkouts. Nearly 9,000 out of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been refusing to work for about two weeks to protest a government plan to increase South Korea’s medical school admission quota by about two thirds. Here are some questions and answers about what’s next in the strike: __ After their walkouts caused hundreds of surgeries and other treatments to be canceled, the government ordered the junior doctors to return to work by Feb.

South Korea takes steps to suspend licenses of striking doctors after they refuse to end walkouts

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government began steps Monday to suspend the medical licenses of thousands of striking junior doctors, days after they missed a government-set deadline to end their joint walkouts, which have severely impacted hospital operations. Nearly 9,000 medical interns and residents have been on strike for two weeks to protest a government push to sharply increase the number of medical school admissions. Their action has led to hundreds of canceled surgeries and other treatments and threatened to burden the country’s medical service. On Monday, officials were sent to dozens of hospitals to formally confirm the absence of the striking doctors as the government began steps to suspend their licenses for at least three months, Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told a briefing.

Chinese coast guard blocks vessels off South China Sea shoal, causing a collision, Philippines says

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Chinese coast guard ships blocked Philippine vessels off a disputed South China Sea shoal on Tuesday causing a minor collision, in a confrontation that unfolded as regional leaders gathered for a summit in Australia where alarm over Beijing’s aggression at sea was expected to be raised. Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese coast guard ships and accompanying vessels blocked and executed dangerous maneuvers against two Philippine coast guard ships that resulted in a minor collision in the disputed waters. The collision between a Chinese coast guard ship and one of two Philippine coast guard vessels caused minor structural damage to the BRP Sindangan, Tarriela said without providing other details.

Singapore prime minister defends exclusive deal with Taylor Swift that riles some neighbors

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday defended an exclusive deal his city-state struck with Taylor Swift that prevents the pop star taking her current Eras Tour to anywhere else in Southeast Asia. Swift is performing six concerts from March 2 to 9 in Singapore under an exclusive deal that has been criticized by some Southeast Asian neighbors who complain they have been deprived of the tourist boom that her concerts have brought elsewhere. Lee confirmed that Swift was provided with “certain incentives” from a government fund established to rebuild tourism industry after COVID-19 disruptions to make Singapore her only Southeast Asian destination.

North Korea threatens to take military moves in response to US-South Korean drills

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea called the ongoing South Korean-U.S. military drills a plot to invade the country, as it threatened Tuesday to take unspecified “responsible” military steps in response. The North’s warning came a day after the South Korean and U.S. forces kicked off their annual computer-simulated command post training and a variety of field exercises for an 11-day run. This year’s drills were to involve 48 field exercises, twice the number conducted last year. In a statement carried by state media, the North’s Defense Ministry said it “strongly denounces the reckless military drills of the U.S. and (South Korea) for getting more undisguised in their military threat to a sovereign state and attempt for invading it.” An unidentified ministry spokesperson said North Korea’s military will “continue to watch the adventurist acts of the enemies and conduct responsible military activities to strongly control the unstable security environment on the Korean Peninsula.” The spokesperson didn’t say what measures North Korea would take, but observers say North Korea will likely carry out missile tests or other steps to bolster its war capability.

India to build new naval base close to Maldives amid tensions over China ties

NEW DELHI (AP) — India announced plans for a new naval base off the country’s south-west coast and close to Maldives, as tensions are running high between Delhi and the island nation. The Indian Navy said Saturday it plans to build a base called INS Jatayu on Minicoy, the southernmost island in the Lakshadweep archipelago. India’s Lakshadweep islands lie about 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of the Maldives. It said a more detailed plan will be published Wednesday. “The base will enhance operational reach and facilitate the Indian Navy’s operational effort towards anti-piracy and anti-narcotics operations in Western Arabian Sea. It will also augment Indian Navy’s capability as the first responder in the region and augment connectivity with the mainland,” the navy statement said.

Thai court acquits former PM Yingluck Shinawatra on charges of mishandling government funds

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Monday acquitted former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, now living in exile, on charges of mishandling funds for a government project in 2013, the latest legal victory for the powerful family of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The ruling came shortly after Thaksin, Yingluck’s brother, was released on parole on corruption-related offenses. Last year, he returned home after more than a decade of self-imposed exile, and was detained in a hospital for six months before being granted clemency because of his age and ill health. Thaksin’s release, after almost two decades of antipathy between his populist political machine and Thailand’s conservative royalist ruling class, raised speculation that Yingluck also might be returning soon.