Top Asian News 3:54 a.m. GMT

Civilian casualties rise in Myanmar’s civil war as resistance forces tighten noose around military

BANGKOK (AP) — Six months into an offensive against Myanmar ’s military government, opposition forces have made massive gains, but civilian casualties are rising sharply as regime troops increasingly turn toward scorched-earth tactics in the Southeast Asian country’s bitter civil war. There is pressure on all fronts from powerful militias drawn from Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups and newer resistance forces. Troops are retaliating with air, naval and artillery strikes on hospitals and other facilities where the opposition could be sheltered or aided. “When the mass of people rise up against them, I think it terrifies them,” said Dave Eubank, a former U.S.

PR executive reportedly departs China’s Baidu after comments glorifying overwork draw backlash

HONG KONG (AP) — A top Baidu public relations executive has reportedly departed the Chinese technology company after she drew public outcry over her comments that were seen as glorifying a culture of overwork. Baidu’s head of communications Qu Jing had implied in a series of videos that she was not concerned about her employees as she was “not their mom” and said she only cared about results. She also said that the relationship between her and her subordinates was purely an “employer-employee relationship.” The backlash was swift, with many on social media platforms like Weibo saying Qu lacked empathy. Chinese online media outlet 36Kr first reported late Thursday that Qu had left her position at Baidu, citing unnamed sources.

Japan proposes expanding commercial whaling to fin whales, a larger species than the 3 allowed now

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Fisheries Agency has proposed expanding commercial whaling along the country’s coast to fin whales, a larger species than the three currently permitted. The proposal comes five years after Japan resumed commercial whaling within its exclusive economic zone after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission in 2019. It ended 30 years of what Japan called “research whaling” that had been criticized by conservationists as a cover for commercial hunts banned by the commission in 1988. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, whose electoral district is traditionally known for whaling, said Thursday the government supports sustainable use of whales as part of Japan’s traditional food culture and plans to promote the industry.

Air Vanuatu files for bankruptcy protection after canceling all international flights

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Air Vanuatu filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday a day after the South Pacific state-owned carrier cancelled all international flights, stranding thousands of travelers. The airline on Wednesday cancelled more than 20 flights to and from the Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane, and the New Zealand city of Auckland for the rest of the week. The airline said it was the result of “extended maintenance requirements” on their aircraft. Ernst & Young Australia’s Morgan Kelly, Justin Walsh and Andrew Hanson were appointed liquidators in an equivalent of a U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the firm said in a statement.

India says Canada has shared no evidence of its involvement in killing of a Sikh separatist leader

NEW DELHI (AP) — India said Thursday that Canada has shared no evidence to back its allegation that the Indian government was involved in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada last year, despite the recent arrests of three Indian men in the crime. India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal also reiterated India’s longstanding allegation that Canada harbors Indian extremists. Three Indian nationals who had been living in Canada temporarily were arrested on Tuesday in the slaying last June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had set off a diplomatic spat with India last September when he cited “credible allegations” of India’s involvement in the slaying of the Sikh separatist.

Hungary and China sign strategic cooperation agreement during visit by Chinese President Xi

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary and China signed a number of new agreements on Thursday to deepen their economic and cultural cooperation during a visit to the Central European country by Chinese President Xi Jinping, a trip meant to solidify China’s economic footprint in the region. Xi and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks in the capital Budapest as part of the Chinese leader’s final stop on a five-day European tour that also took in Serbia and France. During a press briefing following the talks, Orbán praised the “continuous, uninterrupted friendship” between the two countries since his tenure began in 2010, and promised that Hungary would continue to host further Chinese investments.

Yoon rejects South Korean opposition’s calls for special investigation of his wife and top officials

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president on Thursday dismissed calls for independent investigations into allegations involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals. After his conservative ruling party suffered a heavy loss in the recent April 10 parliamentary elections, President Yoon Suk Yeol faces what appears to be his biggest political challenge yet as opposition parties would extend their control of the National Assembly to 2028. The opposition has recently stepped up its demand for an independent investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee over various scandals, such as her alleged involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and the release of spy camera footage showing her receiving a luxury bag from a Korean American pastor.

China criticizes US for ship’s passage through Taiwan Strait weeks before new leader takes office

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s military criticized a U.S. destroyer’s passage through the Taiwan Strait less than two weeks before the island’s new president takes office and while Washington and Beijing are making uneven efforts to restore regular military exchanges. Navy Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesperson for China’s Eastern Theater Command, accused the U.S. of having “publicly hyped” the passage of the USS Halsey on Wednesday. In a statement, Li said the command, which oversees operations around the strait, “organized naval and air forces to monitor” the ship’s transit. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Halsey “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on May 8 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.” The guided-missile destroyer transited through a corridor in the strait that is “beyond the territorial sea” of any coastal state, the fleet said in a statement.

Militants bomb a girls school in northwestern Pakistan, once a Taliban stronghold. No one was harmed

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Militants detonated a bomb at a girls school in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s volatile northwest, badly damaging the structure, police said Thursday. No one was harmed in the overnight attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack late Wednesday that targeted the only girls school in Shawa, a town in the North Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, local police chief Amjad Wazir said. UNICEF condemned the bombing as “despicable and cowardly act that could jeopardize the future of many young and talented girls.” According to the police chief, the attackers first beat up the school guard before setting off the explosives at the private Aafia Islamic Girls Model School, which has 150 students.

India urges pro-China Maldives to ease tensions and improve their strained relationship

NEW DELHI (AP) — India urged pro-China Maldives on Thursday to ease tensions and improve their strained relationship. The foreign ministers of India and Maldives met in New Delhi a day ahead of a deadline set by the Maldives’ new president, Mohamed Muizzu, for India to withdraw dozens of its soldiers from the archipelago nation. Tensions between India and Maldives have grown since pro-China Muizzu came to power last year. Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told his Maldives counterpart, Moosa Zameer, that India has been a key provider of development assistance, including infrastructure projects, medical care and health facilities. “It is in our common interest that we reach an understanding on how best we can take our relationship forward,” a statement by India’s External Affairs Ministry quoted Jaishankar as saying.