Top Asian News 7:00 p.m. GMT

India and Sri Lanka sign defense and energy deals as Modi’s visit strengthens ties

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated construction work on a solar plant in neighboring Sri Lanka and witnessed the signing of energy and defense agreements seen as efforts to consolidate New Delhi’s influence in the debt-stricken island nation. India has been concerned about China’s increasing presence in Sri Lanka, which is located on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes in what India considers part of its strategic backyard. Beijing has provided Sri Lanka with billions of dollars in loans for development projects. But Sri Lanka’s economic collapse in 2022 changed the country’s priorities and provided an opportunity for India, as New Delhi stepped in with massive financial and material assistance.

UN urges relief efforts in Myanmar as earthquake death toll rises

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from last week’s massive earthquake in Myanmar rose to 3,455, state media said Saturday, as U.N. agencies and foreign aid donors ramped up their emergency relief efforts. The 7.7 magnitude quake hit a wide swath of the country, causing significant damage to six regions and states including the capital Naypyitaw. The earthquake left many areas without power, telephone or cell connections and damaged roads and bridges, making the full extent of the devastation hard to assess. It also worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis triggered by the country’s civil war that has internally displaced more than 3 million people and left nearly 20 million in need, according to the United Nations.

Cambodia’s leader presides at ceremony for upgrade of naval base with help from China

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Saturday presided over the opening of an expansion of his country’s main naval base, which analysts and the U.S. government suspect will be used as a strategic outpost by China. Construction of a new pier to accommodate much larger ships, a dry dock for repairs and other features was completed in recent weeks at the Ream Naval Base in southern Cambodia, on the Gulf of Thailand. The project has drawn great attention mainly because Washington — noting that China is Cambodia’s closest ally and main source of investment and aid — believes that Beijing has been secretly granted special and exclusive privileges to use the base, a claim repeatedly denied by Cambodian officials.

The Latest: Trump’s tariffs unleash trade war and calls for negotiations

A timeline of US-China tit-for-tat tariffs since Trump’s first term

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China is retaliating in a determined and at times highly detailed manner to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, led by a retaliatory 34% tax on all U.S. imports next week. The strong response shows a degree of preparation that leaves Chinese exports in a tough spot but exacts pain from U.S. exporters that could be used as leverage in any future negotiations. The Chinese tariffs, announced Friday and taking effect Thursday, match the rate of the ones Trump imposed this week on Chinese products flowing into the United States, coming on top of two rounds of 10% tariffs already declared in February and March, citing allegations of Beijing’s role in the fentanyl crisis.

China slaps a 34% tax on all US imports in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs

BANGKOK (AP) — China announced Friday that it will impose a 34% tax on all U.S. imports next week, part of a flurry of retaliatory measures to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs that delivered the strongest response yet from Beijing to the American leader’s trade war. The tariffs taking effect Thursday match the rate that Trump this week ordered imposed on Chinese products flowing into the United States. In February and March, Trump slapped two rounds of 10% tariffs on Chinese goods, citing allegations of Beijing’s role in the fentanyl crisis. The U.S. stock market plunged Friday following China’s retaliatory moves.

South Koreans are still puzzling over why their leader declared martial law

SEOUL (AP) — Dancing and consoling hugs. Wild whoops and anguished screams. Tears, both of joy and rage. Reaction to the court verdict ousting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol from office Friday was a vivid window into the nation’s deep political divisions, as tens of thousands of Yoon opponents and supporters aired their feelings in downtown Seoul. As South Korea now turns to elect a new president, that divide is only likely to harden. It will be particularly on display as both sides try to answer one question about the night of Dec. 3, when the conservative leader decreed martial law, setting himself on the road to impeachment and the loss of the presidency:

A tsunami warning has been canceled for Papua New Guinea after a strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A tsunami warning was canceled for Papua New Guinea after a strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was shallow, striking the Pacific island nation at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) on Saturday morning local time. It was centered offshore, 194 km (120 miles) east of the town of Kimbe, on the island of New Britain. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later called off an alert issued immediately after the jolt that warned of waves of 1 to 3 meters along some parts of the Papua New Guinea coastline.

China punches back as world weighs how to deal with higher US tariffs

BANGKOK (AP) — China hit back with a stiff import tax on U.S. goods as countries and industries around the world weighed their responses to President Donald Trump’s latest tariff hikes that are roiling global trade and world markets. China on Friday took the retaliation route by imposing a 34% tariff beginning April 10 on the imports of all U.S. products, matching the added 34% imposed on Wednesday by Trump on Chinese imports along with increased tariffs on other countries and major trading partners. Trump was swift to criticize Beijing’s move. “China played it wrong, they panicked -- the one things they cannot afford to do,” he wrote in a social media post, adding: “My policies will never change.

Police summon US scholar in Thailand after army alleges he insulted the monarchy

BANGKOK (AP) — The Thai army has filed a criminal complaint against an American scholar working in Thailand, alleging that he insulted the country’s monarchy, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Paul Chambers, a political science lecturer, said police came to his workplace at Naresuan University in the northern province of Phitsanulok on Friday morning to serve him with an arrest warrant and summoning him to the local police station to formally hear the charges. Chambers said he will report himself on Tuesday and hopes to get released on bail. “I’m basically in limbo because I can’t go anywhere.