Top Asian News 3:11 a.m. GMT

After crackdown on Hong Kong, overseas communities carry the torch to keep Tiananmen memories alive

HONG KONG (AP) — As the 35th anniversary of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square crackdown neared, Rowena He, a prominent scholar of that bloody chapter of modern China’s history, was busy flying between the United States, Britain and Canada to give a series of talks. Each was aimed at speaking out for those who cannot. The 1989 crackdown, in which government troops opened fire on student-led pro-democracy protesters, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands, dead, remains a taboo subject in mainland China. In Hong Kong, once a beacon of commemorative freedom, the massive June 4 annual vigil that mourned the victims for decades has vanished, a casualty of the city’s clampdown on dissidents following huge anti-government protests in 2019.

Earthquakes shake Japanese region, collapse 2 homes that were damaged in deadly January quake

TOKYO (AP) — Earthquakes early Monday again struck Japan’s north-central region of Ishikawa, still recovering from the destruction left by a powerful quake on Jan. 1, but the latest shaking caused only minor damage. A magnitude 5.9 temblor on the northern top of the Noto Peninsula was followed minutes later by a 4.8 and then several smaller quakes within the next two hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There was no danger of a tsunami. Two houses that had been damaged in the Jan. 1 quake collapsed in Wajiima city, but no injuries or other damage was reported so far, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Zelenskyy in Philippines to promote peace summit he says China and Russia are trying to undermine

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the Philippines on Monday in a rare Asian trip to urge regional leaders to attend a Swiss-organized global peace summit on the war in Ukraine that he accuses Russia, with China’s help, of trying to undermine. Zelenskyy arrived unannounced and under heavy security in Manila late Sunday after speaking over the weekend at the Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore. He had planned but failed to meet with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the sidelines of that annual defense gathering and decided to fly here to personally invite Marcos to attend the summit in Switzerland, two Filipino officials told The Associated Press.

North Korea says it will stop sending trash balloons as South Korea vows strong retaliation

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said it will stop sending trash-carrying balloons into South Korea, claiming Sunday that its campaign left the South Koreans with “enough experience of how much unpleasant they feel.” The North’s announcement came hours after South Korea said it would soon punish North Korea with “unbearable” retaliatory steps over its balloon activities and other recent provocations. Observers say South Korea will likely restart front-line loudspeaker broadcasts into North Korea that include criticism of its abysmal human rights situation, world news and K-pop songs. North Korea is extremely sensitive to such broadcasts because most of its 26 million people have no official access to foreign TV and radio programs.

China lands a spacecraft on the moon’s far side to collect rocks for study

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon Sunday to collect soil and rock samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side. The landing module touched down at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time in a huge crater known as the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the China National Space Administration said. The mission is the sixth in the Chang’e moon exploration program, which is named after a Chinese moon goddess. It is the second designed to bring back samples, following the Chang’e 5, which did so from the near side in 2020.

Indonesia’s Mount Ibu erupts again, spewing thick, gray ash high into the air

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s Mount Ibu erupted again on Sunday and spewed thick, gray ash 7,000 meters (16,000 feet) into the air, officials said. The volcano, which is located on an island in the eastern North Maluku province, erupted for more than six minutes, according to Muhammad Wafid, chief of Indonesia’s Geology Agency. A column of ash could be seen rising high into the sky. It spewed out material including volcanic ash and sand. At the time of the eruption, the wind was blowing to the west, and as a result the volcanic material was carried by the wind down to a site where people previously evacuated have been living, in a field at Gam Ici village, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.

Maldives will ban Israelis from entering the country over the war in Gaza

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Maldives government will ban Israelis from the Indian Ocean archipelago, known for luxury resorts, as public anger in the predominantly Muslim nation rises over the war in Gaza. The president’s office said Sunday that the Cabinet decided to change laws to prevent Israeli passport holders from entering the country and to establish a subcommittee to oversee the process. It said President Mohamed Muizu will appoint a special envoy to assess the Palestinian needs and to launch a fundraising campaign. Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said in response that the Foreign Ministry recommends Israelis avoid any travel to the Maldives, including those with foreign passports, and those currently there to consider leaving.

Trump joins TikTok and calls it ‘an honor.’ As president he once tried to ban the video-sharing app

Donald Trump has joined the popular video-sharing app TikTok, a platform he once tried to ban while in the White House, and posted from a UFC fight two days after he became the first former president and presumptive major party nominee in U.S. history to be found guilty on felony charges. “It’s an honor,” Trump said in the TikTok video, which features footage of him waving to fans and posing for selfies at the Ultimate Fighting Championship fight in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday night. The video ends with Trump telling the camera: “That was a good walk-on, right?” By Sunday morning, Trump had amassed more than 1.1 million followers on the platform and the post had garnered more than 1 million likes and 24 million views.

Tin Oo, a close ally of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi and co-founder of her pro-democracy party, dies at 97

BANGKOK (AP) — Tin Oo, one of the closest associates of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as a co-founder of her National League for Democracy party, has died. He was 97. Tin Oo died Saturday morning at Yangon General Hospital, said Moh Khan, a charity worker, citing a member of his family. Charity workers in Myanmar handle funeral arrangements. Moh Khan said Tin Oo had been hospitalized at Yangon General Hospital on Wednesday due to difficulty urinating and other health problems, including weakness. His cause of death was not immediately announced. Tin Oo was respected by many of his party’s members for his outspokenness and courage as he shared many of Suu Kyi’s travails.

15 years on, the Tamil survivors of Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war live in fear — and disempowerment

MULLAITIVU, Sri Lanka (AP) — At the site of a bloody battlefield that marked the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Singaram Soosaimuthu fishes every day with his son, casting nets and reeling them in. It is a skill he has known for much of his life — and one that he had to relearn after a devastating injury. The former Tamil fighter lost both legs in 2009 as the nation’s generation-long civil war drew to a close and the Tamils retreated in defeat. Making something of himself despite his injuries brought Soosaimuthu success — an achievement in which he finds profound meaning.