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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korea’s leader says her country would stage more provocative displays of its military might in response to a new U.S.-South Korean agreement to intensify nuclear deterrence to counter the North’s nuclear threat, which she insists shows their “extreme” hostility toward Pyongyang. Kim Yo Jong also lobbed personal insults toward U.S. President Joe Biden, who after a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday stated that any North Korean nuclear attack on the U.S. or its allies would “result in the end of whatever regime” took such action.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A former U.S. national security adviser called for deeper interaction between his country and Taiwan during a visit Saturday to the self-ruled island, which has seen increasing military threats from China. John Bolton, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said at a pro-Taiwan independence event in Taipei that national security teams from both sides must develop contingency plans on how to respond to actions Beijing might take, warning it would be too late once an attack occurs. “And we have to tell China and Russia what the consequences are if they take actions against Taiwan. Not just in the immediate response, but over the longer term, to basically excommunicate China from the international economic system if it did take military actions against Taiwan or attempt to throw a blockade around it,” Bolton said.
BEIJING (AP) — Foreign companies are under growing pressure in China from anti-corruption, national security and other investigations as President Xi Jinping’s government tightens control over business, clashing with efforts to lure back investors after the pandemic. This week, Bain & Co. said police questioned staff in its Shanghai office. The consulting company gave no details of what investigators were looking for. Last month, the corporate due diligence firm Mintz Group said its Beijing office was raided by police who detained five employees. Also last month, an employee of a Japanese drug maker was detained on spying charges and the government announced a security review of memory chip maker Micron Inc.
HONG KONG (AP) — Like most people in Hong Kong, taxi driver Leung Tat-chong says it feels like the city is recovering after years of protests, crackdowns and pandemic restrictions, while it also has changed forever. He’s earning almost as much as he did before the pandemic. But, Leung said, the city has been divided since the 2019 protests, in which hundreds of thousands of people marched, and many battled police, in opposition to a government they saw as a proxy for Beijing. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the city welcomed more than 2 million visitors in the month of March.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Water may be more widespread and recent on Mars than previously thought, based on observations of Martian sand dunes by China’s rover. The finding highlights new, potentially fertile areas in the warmer regions of Mars where conditions might be suitable for life to exist, though more study is needed. Friday’s news comes days after mission leaders acknowledged that the Zhurong rover has yet to wake up since going into hibernation for the Martian winter nearly a year ago. Its solar panels are likely covered with dust, choking off its power source and possibly preventing the rover from operating again, said Zhang Rongqiao, the mission’s chief designer.
BEIJING (AP) — China’s defense minister says conditions along the tense, high-altitude border with India are “stable overall,” in sharp contrast with the far more pessimistic view from New Delhi. The remarks from Li Shangfu came in a statement issued shortly after a meeting Thursday with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. “China and India have far more common interests than differences,” Li was quoted as saying. “At present, conditions on the China-Indian border are stable overall,” Li said. The sides should “take a long-term view, put the border issue at an appropriate place in bilateral relations, and promote the normalization of the border situation as soon as possible,” he said.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hoped his first international trade mission would generate lucrative business deals and boost his foreign policy resume ahead of an expected presidential run. Instead, he faced questions about losing ground to former President Donald Trump and being taken to court by Walt Disney World. The trip reflected the intensifying pressure confronting DeSantis as some of his allies grow increasingly anxious about his White House prospects. Within a few short years, he rose from relatively a relatively obscure congressman to Trump’s leading Republican rival by embracing the former president’s cultural grievances without the constant tumult.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s military flew 38 fighter jets and other warplanes near Taiwan, the Taiwanese defense ministry said Friday, in the biggest such flight display since the large military exercise in which it simulated sealing off the island earlier in April. Naval vessels were also seen in the area as part of China’s long-running campaign of intimidation against Taiwan. Later Friday, China’s People’s Liberation Army issued a protest over the flight of a United States Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft through the Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China from the self-governing island democracy claimed by Beijing. Calling Thursday’s flight a provocation that the U.S.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s trade ministry on Friday said it has begun procedures to restore preferential trade status for South Korea, days after Seoul took a similar step for Tokyo and requested reciprocity, and more than three years after the countries downgraded each other during a bitter historical dispute. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said talks with South Korea this month showed that its controls over trade in sensitive materials with both civilian and military uses are now as effective as those used by Japan. It said it has proposed as a result that South Korea be restored to the list of countries which receive preferential Japanese trading status, subject to a monthlong public comment period ending May 31.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s Parliament voted Friday to support the implementation of a four-year International Monetary Fund program aimed at solving the country’s economic crisis and reducing its debt burden. The proposal, introduced by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also finance minister, was approved by a vote of 120 to 25 after a three-day debate. The approval strengthens Wickremesinghe’s hands as he holds tough debt restructuring negotiations with Sri Lanka’s external creditors and privatizes state-run enterprises under the program, approved by the IMF last month, in which nearly $3 billion will be disbursed in stages. It will also determine how the country’s economy will be managed in the coming years.
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