Top Asian News 3:04 a.m. GMT

China and Russia reaffirm their close ties as Moscow presses its offensive in Ukraine

BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday reaffirmed their “no-limits” partnership that has deepened as both countries face rising tensions with the West, and they criticized U.S. military alliances in Asia and the Pacific region. At their summit in Beijing, Putin thanked Xi for China’s proposals for ending the war in Ukraine, which have been rejected by Ukraine and its Western supporters as largely following the Kremlin’s line. Putin’s two-day state visit to one of his strongest allies and trading partners comes as Russian forces are pressing an offensive in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in the most significant border incursion since the full-scale invasion began on Feb.

Violence rages in New Caledonia as France rushes emergency reinforcements to its Pacific territory

PARIS (AP) — Violence raged across New Caledonia for the third consecutive day Thursday, hours after France imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory, boosting security forces’ powers to quell unrest in the archipelago that has long sought independence. French authorities in New Caledonia and the interior ministry in Paris said five people, including two police officers, were killed after protests earlier this week over voting reforms pushed by President Emmanuel Macron’s government turned deadly. At least 60 members of the security forces were injured and 214 people were arrested over clashes with police, arson and looting Thursday, the territory’s top French official, High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, said.

Kim’s sister denies North Korea has supplied weapons to Russia

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again denied Friday that her country has exported any weapons to Russia, as she labeled outside speculation on North Korea-Russian arms dealings as “the most absurd paradox.” The U.S., South Korea and others have steadfastly accused North Korea of supplying artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for advanced military technologies and economic aid. Both North Korea and Russia have repeatedly dismissed that. Foreign experts believe North Korea’s recent series of artillery and short-range missile tests were meant to examine or advertise the weapons it was planning to sell to Russia.

USS Ronald Reagan leaves its Japan home port after nearly 9 years

YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — A U.S. Navy strike group’s flagship aircraft carrier left its Japanese home port on Thursday, wrapping up nearly nine years of deployment in the Indo-Pacific, where it served a key role in the U.S. effort to bolster defense ties with Japan and other partners in the region. The departure of USS Ronald Reagan — one of America’s largest warships and a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier — comes at a time of growing tension in the face of increasingly assertive China in the Indo-Pacific. It will be replaced later this year by USS George Washington, another Nimitz-class carrier, now on assignment near South America.

AP Week in Pictures: Asia

May 10-16, 2024 Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing during his two-day state visit to one of his strongest allies and trading partners. Flash flooding and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island caused dozens of deaths. Artists performed during a roadshow by Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi before the fourth round of voting in India’s general elections. This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images in the Asia-Pacific region made or published by The Associated Press in the past week.

South Korean court rejects effort to block plan that would boost medical school admissions

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court ruled in favor of the government’s contentious push to drastically boost medical school admissions on Thursday, posing a setback to concerted efforts by incumbent doctors to spike the plan. A standoff between the government and doctors opposed to the plan has shaken the country’s medical system for months. With broad support from senior doctors, more than 12,000 junior doctors, who are medical interns and residents, remain off the job since February. The Seoul High Court rejected a request from striking doctors and other opponents to block the plan, which would raise the yearly medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 from the current cap of 3,058.

Filipino activists decide not to sail closer to disputed shoal, avoiding clash with Chinese ships

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — About 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Thursday to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area. Accompanied by journalists on four boats, the activists will distribute food packs and fuel to Filipino fishermen about 58 nautical miles (107 kilometers) southeast of Scarborough Shoal and then sail back home, Emman Hizon and other organizers said. Chinese and Philippine coast guard and accompanying ships have had a series of increasingly hostile territorial faceoffs at Scarborough, which is surrounded by the Chinese coast guard, and at Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal since last year.

Human rights group urges Thailand to stop forcing dissidents to return home

BANGKOK (AP) — A leading international human rights organization on Thursday urged the Thai government to stop forcing political dissidents who fled to Thailand for safety to return to authoritarian home countries, where they may face torture, persecution or death. In a new report, Human Rights Watch said Thai authorities repeatedly violated international law by expelling the dissidents, many of whom were registered with the United Nations as refugees and were awaiting resettlement in third countries. The report, titled “We Thought We Were Safe,” analyzed 25 cases that took place in Thailand between 2014 and 2023. Many of the cases involved the forcible repatriation of Cambodians, with the suspected involvement of Cambodian security personnel.

Justice Dept. makes arrests in North Korean identity theft scheme involving thousands of IT workers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department announced Thursday multiple arrests in a series of complex stolen identity theft cases that officials say are part of a wide-ranging scheme that generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program. The conspiracy involves thousands of North Korean information technology workers who prosecutors say are dispatched by the government to live abroad and who rely on the stolen identities of Americas to obtain remote employment at U.S.-based Fortune 500 companies, jobs that give them access to sensitive corporate data and lucrative paychecks. The companies did not realize the workers were overseas.

China and Cambodia begin 15-day military exercises as questions grow about Beijing’s influence

SVAY CHOK, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia and China began 15-day military exercises on Thursday as questions grow about Beijing’s increasing influence in the Southeast Asian nation. About 1,315 Cambodian military personnel and 760 Chinese are participating in the regular “Golden Dragon” ground and sea maneuvers, including three Chinese and 11 Cambodian ships. As the first stage of the exercises got underway at a Cambodian military base with a forested and mountainous training area about 90 kilometers (55 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodian army commander in chief Gen. Vong Pisen thanked China for providing new equipment and helping to upgrade military facilities, including the Ream Naval Base.