Top Asian News 4:59 a.m. GMT

US congressional delegation makes first trip to Taiwan after island’s presidential election

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The co-chairs of the U.S. Congressional Taiwan Caucus on Wednesday opened the first trip by U.S. lawmakers to the island where the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party won a third straight term in presidential elections this month. U.S. Reps. Ami Bera, a Democrat from California, and Florida Republican Mario Díaz-Balart plan to “engage with senior officials and business leaders,” Bera’s office said in a statement, without naming those with whom they would meet. “The aim of the trip is to reaffirm U.S. support for Taiwan following their successful democratic elections, express solidarity in their shared commitment to democratic values, and explore opportunities to further strengthen the robust economic and defense relationship between the United States and Taiwan,” the statement said.

China formally establishes diplomatic ties with Nauru after Pacific island nation cut Taiwan ties

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Beijing has formally restored diplomatic ties with Nauru after the tiny Pacific island nation cut its ties with Taiwan earlier this month. Nauru’s announcement on Jan. 15 came just two days after Taiwan’s presidential election and left the self-governing island republic with just 12 remaining diplomatic allies, although it enjoys strong unofficial relations with the U.S., Japan and other nations. China claims self-governing Taiwan as its territory and doesn’t recognize its government or its right to diplomatic recognition, participation in global bodies such as the United Nations or any official contact with foreign political entities.

Court in Thailand will decide whether politician blocked as prime minister will also lose his seat

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court is set to decide Wednesday whether popular politician Pita Limjaroenrat, who was blocked from becoming prime minister, should now lose his seat in Parliament. The election victory last year by Pita’s progressive Move Forward party reflected a surprisingly strong mandate for change among Thai voters after nearly a decade of military-controlled government. But the party was denied power by members of the unelected and more conservative Senate. Pita was suspended from his lawmaking duties pending the court ruling Wednesday on whether he violated election law due to his ownership of shares in ITV, a company that is the inactive operator of a defunct independent television station.

Western countries use UN-backed review to press China on its treatment of activists and minorities

GENEVA (AP) — Western countries used a regular U.N.-backed review of China’s human rights record Tuesday to press Beijing to do more to allow freedom of expression, protect the rights of ethnic minorities and to repeal a national security law in Hong Kong that troubles independent activists. China’s ambassador in Geneva, Chen Xu, led a delegation from some 20 Chinese ministries for the “universal periodic review” conducted under the U.N. Human Rights Council. He stressed China’s progress in poverty eradication, said citizens engage in “democratic elections” and gave assurance that freedom of religious belief is safeguarded. “China upholds respect for and protection of human rights as a task of importance in state governance,” Chen said through an interpreter.

‘Very strong’ 7.1 magnitude quake in western China kills 3 as officials cite sparse population there

UCHTURPAN, China (AP) — A magnitude 7.1 earthquake in a remote part of China’s western Xinjiang region killed at least three people and caused extensive damage in freezing weather, officials said Tuesday while suggesting that the area’s sparse population contributed to the “very strong” quake’s low death toll. The quake rocked Uchturpan county in Aksu prefecture shortly after 2 a.m., the China Earthquake Networks Center said. Rescue crews rushed to the area, with about 1,000 on hand by midday. By evening, authorities said three people had died and five were injured, two seriously, in the county that’s also called Wushi in the Mandarin language.

Filipino fisherman to China’s coast guard on disputed shoal: `This is Philippine territory. Go away’

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino fishing boat captain protested on Tuesday the Chinese coast guard’s aggression in the disputed South China Sea, where he asserted that Chinese officers drove him and his men away from a disputed shoal and ordered them to dump their catch in the sea. The face-to-face confrontation on Jan. 12, which Joely Saligan and his men reported to Manila’s coast guard after returning from the voyage, is testing efforts by China and the Philippines to deescalate tensions around a potential Asian flashpoint. At a Jan. 17 meeting in Shanghai, Beijing and Manila agreed to take steps to ease tensions after a year of high-seas confrontations between their ships in one of the world’s busiest seas.

Drone the size of a bread slice may allow Japan closer look inside damaged Fukushima nuclear plant

NARAHA, Japan (AP) — A drone almost the size of a slice of bread is Japan’s newest hope to get clearer footage of one of the reactors inside the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant where hundreds of tons of damaged fuel remain almost 13 years after the disaster. A magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the plant’s power supply and cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt down. Massive amounts of fatally radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside to this day. The plant’s operating company, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, unveiled Tuesday small drones they want to use to gather more data from parts of one of the reactors previously inaccessible.

Collision of gas truck and car in Mongolian capital kills at least 6 and injures 11

BEIJING (AP) — A truck carrying 60 tons of liquified natural gas and a car collided at an intersection in the Mongolian capital, causing an explosion that killed at least six people and injured 11, officials said Wednesday. Images showed a massive fireball at the scene of the crash outside a shopping center, close to an apartment building and international school in Ulaanbaatar. Firefighters were able to bring the resulting blaze under control and then extinguish it entirely by early morning, Mongolia’s Emergency Management Office said in a post on Facebook. Three people were killed in the fire and three emergency personnel were killed during the response, the agency said.

Churches, temples and monasteries regularly hit by airstrikes in Myanmar, activists say

BANGKOK (AP) — A study issued Tuesday by researchers collecting evidence of war crimes in Myanmar supported reports that air strikes by the military government damaged churches in the Buddhist-dominated country’s sole Christian-majority state. The 10 reported attacks on churches in the western state of Chin examined by the researchers are part of a broader assault on religious communities across the war-torn nation, other religious and human rights workers said. Myanmar sank into civil war after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Since then, resistance fighters from the Buddhist Burman ethnic majority have joined forces with long-oppressed ethnic minorities, some with substantial Christian populations.

South Korea says North Korea has fired several cruise missiles into the sea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea fired several cruise missiles into waters off its western coast, adding to a provocative run of weapons demonstrations in the face of deepening nuclear tensions with the United States, South Korea and Japan. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that the U.S. and South Korean militaries were analyzing the launches. It did not immediately confirm the exact number of missiles fired or their specific flight details. The launches marked North Korea’s second known launch event of the year, following a Jan. 14 flight test-firing of the country’s first solid-fuel intermediate range ballistic missile, which reflected its efforts to advance its lineup of weapons targeting U.S.