Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PHNOM PENH, Nov 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday emphasized the need to improve crisis communications during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart while raising concern about "increasingly dangerous" behavior by Chinese military aircraft.

The roughly 90-minute meeting in Cambodia, described as "productive and professional" by a U.S. official, was the pair's first since a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August enraged China, which regards the island as its territory.

TOKYO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Japan launched a probe into the Unification Church on Tuesday that could threaten its legal status, after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July revealed its close ties to the ruling party and triggered a public backlash.

For the Unification Church, founded in South Korea in 1954 and relying on its Japan followers as a key source of income, the investigation could deliver a severe financial blow, affecting its tax exemptions and even its property holdings.

BEIJING, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe on Tuesday told his U.S. counterpart that Taiwan is at the core of China's core interests and was a "red-line" that must not be crossed.

"The resolution of Taiwan is a matter for Chinese people, no external force has the right to interfere," Wei said at a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of a gathering of Southeast Asian defence chiefs in Cambodia.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Malaysia's king said on Tuesday he will pick the next prime minister, after the leading two contenders failed to win a majority in last weekend's election and his proposal for the two to work together was turned down.

The vote resulted in an unprecedented hung parliament, with neither opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim nor former premier Muhyiddin Yassin winning the simple majority needed to form a government.

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's defense minister Tea Banh on Tuesday called for collective efforts and solidarity to address key challenges to security in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

In his opening remarks of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) Retreat, Banh said as the region has been recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and moving towards a new normal, the current security landscape in the region and around the world remains fragile and increasingly uncertain.

BEIJING (AP) — Major global stock markets advanced Tuesday after Wall Street sank and Chinese anti-virus controls fueled concern about an economic slowdown.

London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai and Tokyo gained, while Wall Street futures were lower. Oil prices gained.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index declined Monday after a Federal Reserve official rattled investors last week by saying already-elevated interest rates might have to go higher than expected to stop surging inflation.

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese government-commissioned panel said in a report to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that drastic defense buildup including the use of preemptive strike is “indispensable” to counter growing threats in the region.

It called for the public’s understanding to bear the financial burden for the defense of the country. Kishida’s governing party wants to double Japan’s current defense budget to about 10 trillion ($70 billion) in the next five years.

BEIJING (AP) — More than 253,000 coronavirus cases have been found in China in the past three weeks and the daily average is rising, the government said Tuesday, adding to pressure on officials who are trying to reduce economic damage by easing controls that confine millions of people to their homes.

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Tuesday resumed the long-delayed trial of two members of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority accused of carrying out a 2015 bombing at a Bangkok landmark that killed 20 people.

Another 120 people were injured in the Aug. 17, 2015, bombing of the Erawan shrine, which is popular among Chinese and other tourists.

CIANJUR, Indonesia (AP) — The death toll from the earthquake that shook the Indonesian island of Java leapt to 268 on Tuesday as more bodies were found beneath collapsed buildings, and 151 people are still missing, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said.

Agency head Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians only goes by one name, told reporters that another 1,083 people were injured in the 5.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Monday afternoon near the city of Cianjur.