Top Asian News 3:11 a.m. GMT

Hegseth says US will stand by Indo-Pacific allies against ‘imminent’ threat of China

SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific on Saturday that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China, while insisting that they also contribute more to their own defense. He said Washington will bolster its defenses overseas to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly developing threats by Beijing, particularly in its aggressive stance toward Taiwan. China has conducted numerous exercises to test what a blockade would look like of the self-governing island, which Beijing claims as its own and the U.S. has pledged to defend. China’s army “is rehearsing for the real deal,” Hegseth said in a keynote speech at a security conference in Singapore.

Chinese student struck a chord emphasizing humanity during Harvard commencement speech

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A day after her emotional speech at Harvard University’s commencement, Yurong “Luanna” Jiang kept running into classmates who praised her message that people should see everyone’s common humanity rather than demonize others for their differences. “We’re starting to believe those who think differently, vote differently or pray differently — whether they’re across the ocean or sitting right next to us — are not just wrong. We mistakenly see them as evil. But it doesn’t have to be this way,” she said in her address, which drew wide applause. “The message itself, if I have to put it into one sentence, will be humanity rises and falls as one,” Jiang told The Associated Press on Friday.

China set to resume imports of Japanese seafood halted over Fukushima water discharge

TOKYO (AP) — China will resume Japanese seafood imports it banned in 2023 over worries about Japan’s discharge of treated but slightly radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, a Japanese minister said Friday. Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the agreement was reached after officials met in Beijing and the imports will resume once paperwork is complete. China said talks this week made “substantial progress,” but did not confirm an agreement with Japan on the issue that has been a significant political and diplomatic point of tension. ”Seafood is an important export item for Japan and a resumption of its export to China is a major milestone,” Koizumi said.

China forms new global mediation group with dozens of countries

HONG KONG (AP) — Dozens of countries joined China on Friday in establishing an international mediation-based dispute resolution group. Representatives of more than 30 other countries, from Pakistan and Indonesia to Belarus and Cuba, signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong to become founding members of the global organization, following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The support of developing countries signaled Beijing’s rising influence in the global south amid heightened geopolitical tensions, partly exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. At a ceremony, Wang said China has long advocated for handling differences with a spirit of mutual understanding and consensus-building through dialogue, while aiming to provide “Chinese wisdom” for resolving conflicts between nations.

Death toll from quarry collapse in Indonesia rises to 14

CIREBON, Indonesia (AP) — At least 14 people were killed after a quarry collapsed the previous day in Indonesia’s West Java province, officials said Saturday. More than two dozen people were trapped in the rubble when the Gunung Kuda quarry in Cirebon district collapsed on Friday. Rescuers pulled a dozen injured people and 10 bodies from the debris during a grueling search effort. They retrieved three more bodies late Friday, and another worker died in hospital, bringing the death toll to 14, said the National Search and Rescue Agency in a statement. Five people have been hospitalized with serious injuries. Local television reports showed emergency personnel, along with police, soldiers and volunteers digging desperately in the quarry in a steep limestone cliff, supported by five excavators, early Saturday.

Macron warns US and the Indo-Pacific not to abandon Ukraine at the expense of focusing on China

SINGAPORE (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron warned the United States and a large audience of Indo-Pacific nations on Friday night that they risk a dangerous double standard as they concentrate on a potential conflict with China, if that shift comes at the cost of abandoning Ukraine. Macron’s made the remarks as the U.S. is considering withdrawing troops from Europe to shift them to the Indo-Pacific. He warned that abandoning Ukraine would eventually erode U.S. credibility in deterring any potential conflict with China over Taiwan. In a speech that emphasized France’s tight ties to the Indo-Pacific, Macron said that any shifts to developing a more hard-line deterrent stance in the region is still tied to how the world — and particularly the West — treats other critical issues, including climate change and Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza.

Japan Coast Guard rescues injured crew from Chinese ship near contested waters

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s coast guard has dispatched a patrol vessel to rescue an injured crewmember of a Chinese survey ship in the contested waters in southwestern Japan, officials said Friday. The Chinese survey ship Ke Xue requested the rescue by the Japan Coast Guard on Wednesday, saying that one of the crewmembers suffered a hand injury during the survey operation in the area off the southern coast of Miyako Island, according to the JCG. The JCG patrol vessel picked up the crewmember, a Chinese national in his 40s, from the survey ship and transported him to Naha on the main Okinawa island for hospital treatment.

One dead after insurgents briefly seize control of a city in southwest Pakistan and loot a bank

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Dozens of armed separatists briefly seized control of a high-security area in a city in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing a government official and looting a bank before fleeing, police and officials said. Hidayat Buledi, a local government official, was killed and his home was set on fire in the attack on Sorab, in the Balochistan region, local police chief Hafeez Ullah said. He said Buledi was “martyred” while trying to protect women and children trapped inside the burning house during the assault. Ullah said several insurgents were killed in the shootout with police. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which was designated a terror group by the United States in 2019, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Hong Kong pro-democracy and gay rights activist Jimmy Sham released after 4 years in prison

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s prominent pro-democracy and LGBTQ+ activist Jimmy Sham was released from prison on Friday after serving over four years in the city’s biggest national security case under a Beijing-imposed law. Sham’s activism made headlines during 2019 anti-government protests, when he was the convenor of a now-disbanded pro-democracy group that organized some of the biggest peaceful marches that year, including one that drew an estimated 2 million people. Sham was among 47 activists arrested in 2021 for their roles in an unofficial primary election. He was sentenced with 44 other activists last year after judges ruled that their plans to effect change through the primary would have undermined the government’s authority and create a constitutional crisis.

Many survivors of Myanmar’s devastating quake in March still live in leaky tents

BANGKOK (AP) — Two months after a deadly earthquake ravaged much of central and northeastern Myanmar, recovery is just inching along, with huge numbers of people living in temporary shelters while facing the heavy rainfall and strong winds of monsoon season. The 7.7 magnitude March 28 quake caused significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city. The confirmed death toll from the disaster has reached 3,740, with 5,104 injured, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Friday. As the task of rebuilding grinds along, the grim work of recovering the dead is continuing.