Top Asian News 3:48 a.m. GMT

Hong Kong young people struggle to rebuild their lives after being jailed under Beijing’s crackdown

HONG KONG (AP) — After spending five months in jail for publishing seditious Instagram posts, Joker Chan returned to a harsh reality. Chan, 30, was sentenced in 2022 for posts containing slogans like “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” which were popularly chanted during massive anti-government protests in the city in 2019. Authorities said such slogans could imply separating Hong Kong from China — a red line for Beijing. Upon his release, Chan’s criminal record barred him from returning to the hotel industry, where he previously worked as a chef. Tattoos on his arms, legs and the sides of his neck — some related to the protests — made his job search more difficult.

Hopes of finding more survivors in the mud and debris wane after landslides in India kill 194

WAYANAD, India (AP) — Hopes of finding more than 180 missing people alive waned as rescue workers searched through mud and debris for a third day Thursday after landslides set off by torrential rains killed at least 194 people in southern India. The rescue work was challenging in a forested, hilly area while more rain fell, said P.M Manoj, a spokesman for Kerala state’s top elected official. Nearly 40 bodies were found downstream after being swept some 30 kilometers (20 miles) down the Chaliyar River from the area in Wayanad district where the main landslides occurred. Body parts were also recovered.

Myanmar’s military regime extends state of emergency by 6 months as civil war rages

BANGKOK (AP) — The military regime that seized power in Myanmar 3 1/2 years ago extended a state of emergency in the civil war-wracked country for another six months, saying Wednesday it needs time to prepare for long-promised elections. The state of emergency was initially declared when troops ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021, arresting her and members of her National League for Democracy party. The emergency decree empowers the military to assume all government functions, giving the head of the ruling military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, legislative, judicial and executive powers.

South Korean military intel official arrested for allegedly leaking secrets, reportedly on spies

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A civilian employee in South Korea’s military intelligence command was arrested for allegedly leaking military secrets, the Defense Ministry said, as local media speculated the information was about South Korean spies operating abroad and that it may have been sent to North Korea. A military court issued a warrant Tuesday to arrest the employee in the Korea Defense Intelligence Command for alleged leaks of confidential military information, the Defense Ministry said in a brief statement. It said it won’t disclose details of the employee’s criminal allegations because an investigation was underway. South Korean media reported the employee gave a Chinese national thousands of confidential documents including those on the intelligence command’s list of agents operating in foreign countries with disguised names and jobs.

Recent rains in North Korea flooded thousands of houses and vast farmland, state media says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The recent heavy rains in northwestern North Korea flooded thousands of houses and a vast extent of farmland and left many residents homeless and living in makeshift tents, North Korea’s state media reported Wednesday. North Korea earlier said more than 5,000 people stranded in Sinuiju city and Uiju town were rescued by airlift and other evacuation work after Saturday’s rains caused a river on the Chinese border to swell. But it hadn’t mentioned any specific damage, or said if there were any casualties. North Korea is prone to flooding from heavy summer rains because of poor drainage, deforestation and dilapidated infrastructure.

China is restricting export of drones that can be used for military purposes and some drone features

BANGKOK (AP) — China will ban the export of all unregulated civilian drones that can be used for military purposes or in terrorist activities and restrict certain drone features as Beijing faces repeated Western criticism for its stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Commerce Ministry said in a statement Wednesday the decision was made also to prevent the use of drones in “the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” adding that aspects such as infrared imaging equipment lasers for target indication and high-precision inertial measurement equipment will be placed on an export control list. The ministry also said it was removing temporary restrictions placed on civilian drones.

China sanctions US Rep. McGovern for ‘interference’ in its domestic affairs

BANGKOK (AP) — China sanctioned a U.S congressman Wednesday for “frequently interfering” in China’s domestic affairs, in its latest effort to express displeasure with U.S. politicians who have criticized China’s policy and practice. Rep. Jim McGovern is the top Democrat on the House Committee on Rules, and he co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. He represents Massachusetts and is a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on China’s human rights record. The sanctions against him are symbolic, since McGovern has no assets or business dealings in China. The sanctions include freezing his assets and properties in China, prohibiting any organization or individual in China from conducting transactions or working with him, and denying him and his family a visa to enter the country, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China’s manufacturing activity contracted in July, the monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index says

BEIJING (AP) — A closely watched measure of Chinese manufacturing activity remained negative in July as concern persists about the state of the world’s second largest economy. The Purchasing Managers’ Index, based on a survey of factory managers, slipped 0.1 points to 49.4, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. It was the third straight monthly reading below 50, a level that indicates a contraction of manufacturing activity. A parallel purchasing managers’ index for the service sector also fell 0.3 points, though it remained in positive territory at 50.2. The Politburo, a top body of China’s ruling Communist Party, warned Tuesday that the coming months would be tough and promised unspecified measures to restore confidence in financial markets and boost government spending.

Germany says China was behind a 2021 cyberattack on a government agency and summons its ambassador

BERLIN (AP) — An investigation has determined that “Chinese state actors” were responsible for a 2021 cyberattack on Germany’s national office for cartography, officials in Berlin said Wednesday. The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a protest for the first time in decades. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said the German government has “reliable information from our intelligence services” about the source of the attack on the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy, which he said was carried out “for the purpose of espionage.” “This serious cyberattack on a federal agency shows how big the danger is from Chinese cyberattacks and spying,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement.

A centuries-old secret script called nüshu is empowering young Chinese women

BEIJING (AP) — Chen Yulu never thought her home province of Hunan had any culture that she would be proud of, much less become an ambassador of. But these days, the 23-year-old is a self-proclaimed ambassador of nüshu, a script once known only to a small number of women in the south China. It started as a writing practiced in secrecy by women who were barred from formal education in Chinese. Now, young people like Chen are spreading nüshu beyond the women’s quarters of houses in Hunan’s rural Jiangyong, the county whose distinct dialect serves as the script’s verbal component. Today, nüshu can be found in independent bookstores across the country, subway ads, craft fair booths, tattoos, art and even everyday items like hair clips.