Asia News

The Obama administration on Friday rejected calls from Congress to brand China a currency manipulator, but said its "significantly undervalued" currency was a key brake on global growth.

Lady Gaga's manager has denied suggestions the singer will tone down her act to allow her to perform in some countries on her Asian tour.

VIENNA (Reuters) - The head of the Tibetan government in exile called on the European Union on Friday to send an investigative team to areas where dozens of Tibetans have set themselves ablaze in protest at Chinese rule. Prime Minister in exile Lobsang Sangay told a news conference that 35 Tibetans have set themselves on …

Police in southwest China have detained a man suspected of murdering more than a dozen boys and young men, chopping up their bodies and selling the flesh to unsuspecting consumers, reports said Friday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - China filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday to challenge U.S. tariffs charged on Chinese goods that the United States considers to be unfairly subsidised. The dispute, revolving around so-called countervailing duties, relates to 22 products with an annual export value to the …

BEIJING (Reuters) - China hit back on Friday at the U.S. State Department's annual survey of human rights, saying that only the Chinese people could pass judgement on what the Foreign Ministry said were the country's obvious achievements in the area. Asked about criticism of China in the report, Foreign Ministry spokesman …

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is leaning toward a policy of halving nuclear power's share of electricity supply from pre-Fukushima levels to about 15 percent by 2030, but will likely stop short of pledging the long-term exit strategy that many voters favour, experts said. That would be a victory of sorts for a nuclear industry …

GENEVA (Reuters) - A Chinese trade complaint launched on Friday against U.S. countervailing duties on Chinese products relates to 22 products and affects Chinese exports to the United States worth $7.3 billion collectively, China's mission to the World Trade Organization said in an emailed statement. (Reporting by Tom Miles; …

America has withdrawn $33m in aid from Pakistan in protest at the 33-year sentence given to a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama Bin Laden.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao has demanded senior Communist Party officials stifle tensions over the ousting of ambitious politician Bo Xilai and show unity as they prepare for a change of leadership, sources briefed on recent meetings said. Hu urged the party to close ranks at a meeting of about 200 officials …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng urged authorities in Beijing on Thursday to prosecute "lawless" officials who harassed and abused the self-taught lawyer, his family and supporters, saying such prosecutions could help China establish the rule of law. In one of his first interviews since arriving …

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Alongside an armada of paramilitary patrol vessels and fishing boats, China has fired off a barrage of historical records to reinforce its claim over a disputed shoal near the Philippines in the South China Sea. While this propaganda broadside makes it clear Beijing will take a tough line with Manila …

Blind activist Chen Guangcheng has vowed to keep speaking out against rights abuses in China as he settles into a new life in New York following his dramatic escape from illegal detention.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Alibaba.com Ltd, Hong Kong-listed unit of China's Alibaba Group, said on Friday that 83.8 percent of its shareholders have approved a $2.5 billion buyout offer by the parent to take the company private, in a decision that was widely expected. Alibaba Group, in which Yahoo Inc owns a 40 percent stake, …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators scandalized by Pakistan's jailing of a doctor for helping the CIA track down Osama bin Laden voted on Thursday to cut aid to Islamabad by $33 million (21 million pounds) -- one million for each year in the doctor's sentence. "It's arbitrary, but the hope is that Pakistan will realize …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng urged authorities in Beijing on Thursday to prosecute "lawless" local officials who harassed and abused the self-taught lawyer, his family and supporters, saying such prosecutions could help China establish the rule of law. In one of his first interviews since …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan's jailing of a doctor for 33 years for helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden is "unjust and unwarranted," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday, vowing to continue to press the case with Islamabad. "The United States does not believe there is any basis for holding Dr (Shakil) …

BOSTON (Reuters) - The son of fallen Chinese politician Bo Xilai graduated from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government on Thursday, capping a tumultuous academic year that also placed him in the centre of his homeland's biggest leadership crisis in two decades. Bo Guagua, whose perceived lavish lifestyle overseas …

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Rising tensions with India and China over the European Union's "arrogant" law on carbon emissions could rob the region of the markets that can rescue it from economic malaise, airline leaders said on Thursday. They also said they had prepared contingency plans for a possible exit of Greece from the …

GENEVA (Reuters) - The last three countries where polio is still paralysing children -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria -- said on Thursday that they have enlisted Muslim women and religious leaders to allay fears of vaccination and wipe out the disease. Polio cases are at an all-time low worldwide, following its eradication …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States hailed on Thursday last year's "Arab Spring" popular revolutions in the Middle East but said instability and violence often precede greater respect for human rights. In its annual survey of human rights around the world, the State Department praised Myanmar for having freed opposition …

TOKYO (Reuters) - The radiation released in the first days of the Fukushima nuclear disaster was almost 2-1/2 times the amount first estimated by Japanese safety regulators, the operator of the crippled plant said in a report released on Thursday. Tokyo Electric Power said its own analysis conducted over the past year put …

A US drone strike on Thursday killed eight militants in a Taliban stronghold of Pakistan's tribal belt, bringing the death toll from such strikes to 12 in two days, Pakistani officials said.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Myanmar's authorities need to keep calm and avoid violence in the face of protests against power outages and should view them as a natural stage in a transition from military rule to democracy, the head of the ASEAN grouping said on Thursday. Demonstrations have taken place in several towns in Myanmar …

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan is unlikely to re-open supply routes to NATO troops in Afghanistan unless the United States offers a politically acceptable formula in talks on ending a six-month standoff on the issue, a Pakistani official said on Thursday. The official said the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP)had to …

BEIJING (Reuters) - The brother of blind activist Chen Guangcheng has fled his village in north-eastern China, evading a security clampdown to seek help from lawyers for his son who has been detained in a case that has become a rallying point among rights activists. Chen Guangfu, the eldest brother of Chen Guangcheng, told …

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The United States should respect a Pakistan court's decision to imprison a doctor accused of helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden, the Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday. "I think as far as the case of Mr. Afridi is concerned, it was in accordance with Pakistani laws and by the Pakistani …

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Higher transit fees are the most difficult issue in Pakistan's talks with the United States on re-opening supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan, a Pakistani official told Reuters on Thursday. The official said Pakistan was demanding substantially higher fees and that it was not clear when a breakthrough …