Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned his South Korean counterpart on Sunday not to politicise economic and tech issues as the two prepared to meet Japan's top diplomat on the sidelines of a trilateral meeting aimed at boosting cooperation.

"China and South Korea have become cooperation partners with highly integrated interests and highly interconnected production and supply chains," Wang told South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - China and the United States exchanged accusations at the weekend over the disputed South China Sea, after China's military said it had driven away a U.S. warship that the U.S. Navy said was on a routine freedom of navigation operation.

According to a post on the official WeChat social media account of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command on Saturday, the Chinese military deployed its naval and air forces to "track, monitor and warn away" the U.S. destroyer.

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 jolted 84 km WNW of Ie, Japan at 09:39:48 GMT on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 109.9 km, was initially determined to be at 26.88 degrees north latitude and 126.98 degrees east longitude.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The top diplomats from South Korea, Japan and China met Sunday to discuss when to resume their leaders’ trilateral summit after a four-year hiatus and how to strengthen cooperation among the three Northeast Asian neighbors.

BANGKOK, November 24. /TASS/: Thailand expects up to 1.6 mln tourists from Russia next year, whereas by the end of this year a total of 1.4 mln Russians are expected to visit the kingdom, Deputy Governor for International Marketing of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Americas Markets at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Siripakorn Cheawsamoot who is responsible for issues of European countries’ tourism markets, said in an interview with TASS.

BEIJING, November 24. /TASS/: China and the European Union have the ability to prevent a new cold war if they work together, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

"If China and Europe work together, there will be no opposing blocs, no split in the world, no new cold war," he said at a joint news conference with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna.

JAKARTA, Nov 24 (NNN-Bernama) — An Indonesian analyst is impressed by the dynamic leadership of 76-year-old Anwar Ibrahim, driving a dramatic transformation in the country through Malaysia Madani.

N. Syamsuddin Ch. Haesy analyses how Anwar, as the 10th Prime Minister, took bold steps in the first year, building trust and gaining support from all stakeholders.

SHANGHAI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - China called for vigilance on Friday as a surge of respiratory illness hit schools and hospitals and the World Health Organization, which has asked the government for disease data, said no unusual or novel pathogens had been detected.

China is grappling with a spike in respiratory illnesses as it enters its first full winter season since it lifted strict COVID-19 restrictions in December, with cases among children appearing especially high in northern areas like Beijing and Liaoning province where hospitals are warning of long waits.

MANILA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Philippines is considering resuming membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC) nearly five years after it withdrew over objections to a bid by the court to investigate a bloody anti-narcotics campaign, the president said on Friday.

"There is also a question, should we return under the fold of the ICC, so that’s again under study. So we’ll just keep looking at it and see what our options are," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr told reporters.

TAIPEI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Taiwan's opposition parties, which seek closer China ties, registered separate presidential candidates on Friday after a dramatic split, potentially easing the way for the ruling party, which has defied Beijing's pressure, to stay in power.

The Jan. 13 election is taking place as China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, steps up military and political pressure to force the island to accept its sovereignty claims.