Top Asian News 3:57 a.m. GMT

Publisher Jimmy Lai will testify in his defense at Hong Kong national security trial, lawyer says

HONG KONG (AP) — A defense lawyer said Thursday that prominent publisher Jimmy Lai will testify in his defense in the landmark national security trial brought under a Beijing-imposed law that has all but wiped out public dissent. Lai, the 76-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on the mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019. He was charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to put out seditious publications. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. On Wednesday, Lai’s lawyer Robert Pang argued his client had no case to answer because the prosecutors’ evidence was insufficient.

Myanmar violence, South China Sea tensions are top issues as Southeast Asian diplomats meet in Laos

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian foreign ministers and top diplomats from key partners including the United States and China were gathering in the Laotian capital on Thursday for the start of three days of talks expected to focus on the increasingly violent civil war in Myanmar, tensions in the South China Sea and other regional issues. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are expected to hold one-on-one talks on the sidelines of the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Vientiane, which come as both Beijing and Washington are looking to expand their influence in the region.

Inquiry finds 200,000 people were abused in care in New Zealand over decades in ‘national disgrace’

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s independent inquiry into decades of abuse of children and vulnerable adults released a blistering final report Wednesday finding the country’s state agencies and churches failed to prevent, stop or admit to the mistreatment of those in their care. The scale of abuse was “unimaginable” with an estimated 200,000 people abused over seven decades, many of them Māori, New Zealand’s Indigenous people, the report said. In response to the findings, New Zealand’s government agreed for the first time that historical treatment of some children in a notorious state-run hospital amounted to torture, and pledged an apology to all those abused in state, foster and religious care since 1950.

New Zealand’s inquiry into systemic abuse follows 2 decades of similar probes worldwide

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand is the latest country to wrestle with its history of the cruel, systemic and commonplace abuse of children and vulnerable adults in the care of state and faith-based institutions. Its six-year independent inquiry, presented to Parliament on Wednesday, also considered mistreatment of children in foster care and vulnerable adults. The authors said it is the widest-ranging exploration of abuse and neglect of people in care ever conducted worldwide. They decried the widespread abuse and neglect of hundreds of thousands of people in care between 1950 and 1999 as a “national disgrace” and made 138 recommendations.

Japan’s population falls for the 15th year in a row. Births hit a record low, deaths a record high

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s total population marked the 15th straight year of decline, according to government data released Wednesday, dropping by more than a half-million people as the population ages and births remain low. Births in Japan hit a record low of 730,000 last year. The 1.58 million deaths last year were also a record high. Japan’s population was 124.9 million as of Jan. 1. The data released by the Internal Affairs Ministry also showed that the 11% increase in foreign residents helped their population surpass 3 million for the first time. They now make up nearly 3% of the total population and are mostly of working age from 15 to 64.

Plane crashes just after takeoff from Nepal’s capital, killing 18 people. Pilot is lone survivor

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A plane crashed Wednesday just after taking off from Nepal’s capital, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor. All the people aboard the Saurya Airlines flight including the co-pilot were Nepali except for one passenger, who was a Yemeni national, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said. Authorities have pulled all 18 bodies from the wreckage, police official Basanta Rajauri said. The Bombardier CRJ 200 plane was heading to Nepal’s second-most populous city of Pokhara for maintenance work and most of the passengers aboard were either mechanics or airline employees, airport officials said.

Bangladesh crawls back to normalcy after violent clashes that killed nearly 200 people

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh was crawling back to normalcy with limited internet and office hours Wednesday after more than a week of chaos triggered by student protests over government job quotas. Nearly 200 deaths were reported in just over a week of violence. Most of the country remained without internet access, but thousands of cars were on the streets of the capital Dhaka after authorities relaxed a curfew for seven hours. Offices and banks opened for a few hours Wednesday, while authorities restored broadband internet in some areas in Dhaka and the second-largest city of Chattogram. Authorities said the curfew would continue in Dhaka and elsewhere until the situation improves.

A typhoon kills 3 as it nears Taiwan. It killed 13 in the Philippines, where people plead for rescue

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A typhoon killed three people in Taiwan as it approached the island on Wednesday, while people trapped by rising floodwaters in the Philippines called for help in the Southeast Asian nation where at least 13 died. Taiwan’s Central News Agency said more than 220 other people were injured as Typhoon Gaemi gathered strength and brought strong winds and heavy rain. Schools, offices and tourist sites closed across Taiwan, while air travelers rushed to board overseas flights. Airlines said many flights to Japan, China and other regional destinations would be canceled on Thursday. No trains will operate until 3 p.m., the Central News Agency reported.

A prominent Myanmar Christian leader is released from prison for a second time in 4 months

BANGKOK (AP) — A prominent Christian church leader and human rights advocate from Myanmar’s Kachin ethnic minority was released from prison earlier this week, a member of a Kachin peace organization said Wednesday. The Rev. Hkalam Samson was first arrested in December 2022. In April last year he was handed a six-year prison term after being convicted of unlawful association, incitement and counter-terrorism. He was released in April of this year under a general amnesty but detained again just a few hours later. Samson, a former head of the Kachin Baptist Convention, also chairs the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, an umbrella organization uniting religious and civil society groups with political organizations promoting Kachin rights, including autonomy from Myanmar’s central government.

Trash dropped by a North Korean balloon falls on South Korea’s presidential compound

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound on Wednesday, raising worries about the security of key South Korean facilities during North Korean provocations. The rubbish that landed on the presidential compound in central Seoul contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt, South Korea’s presidential security service said. While North Korea likely lacks sophisticated technology to drop balloons on specific targets, some experts say South Korea should shoot down incoming North Korean balloons next time to protect major facilities because they might contain hazardous substances in the future.