Asia Pacific Daily News - Focus on Asia-Pacific Development, Daily News Express, Scholar Creation Center

Every weekend, Asia Pacific Daily will provide you with a run-down of the latest hot news.

This week, the following hot news you should know:

Top 1 | Japanese PM Abe resigns over health issues, intent to run in next general election

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a press conference Friday that he would step down from his post due to health concerns, bringing an end to his record tenure of nearly eight years.

However, the prime minister said that he planned to continue his political career and would run in the next general election to be held by the fall of 2021. His resignation was meant to avoid his health issue from creating leadership vacuum, Abe said, adding that now was the only time he could resign amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Abe said that his health condition worsened and he began feeling severe fatigue in July, adding that he lost confidence in his ability to serve Japanese people.

While the race for Japan's next leader is already intensifying, Abe said he would remain in office until his successor is chosen by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) but he stopped short of naming his preferred successor.

Top 2 | U.S. adds 24 Chinese companies to its so-called Entity List

The United States has added 24 Chinese companies to the so-called Entity List on Wednesday for their role in China's construction in the South China Sea, according to an official statement released by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State said Wednesday that it would impose visa restrictions on several Chinese individuals involved in the construction.

China's Ministry of Commerce on August 20 urged the United States to stop suppressing Chinese enterprises and do more things conducive to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and the well-being of the two peoples.

Top 3 | Trump to speak every night of upcoming Republican National Convention: campaign official

U.S. President Donald Trump will be speaking every night of the upcoming 2020 Republican National Convention (RNC), a campaign official said on Sunday.

"You'll have President Trump speaking at various parts for each of the nights," Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said during an appearance on NBC News' "Meet the Press."

Miller said the RNC, which will run from Monday to Thursday, will focus on what he called "all the accomplishments that we've had over the last four years with President Trump and what the president's second-term vision is going to look like." Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the RNC's first night Monday when party delegates officially nominate them for the 2020 Republican presidential ticket.

Top 4 | Trump administration reassures U.S. firms on using WeChat in China

The Trump administration is privately seeking to reassure U.S. companies, including Apple Inc., that they can still do business with the WeChat messaging app in China, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing several people familiar with the matter.

This report came two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring transactions with TikTok's parent company ByteDance and also Tencent, owner of WeChat, starting in 45 days.

China's Foreign Ministry said that it firmly opposes the U.S. ban on both companies, calling the U.S. move "blatant hegemonic acts," and vowed to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses.

Top 5 | Russia interested in cooperation with China on 5G: Russian FM

Russia is interested in cooperation with China on 5G technology, TASS news agency reported on Sunday, citing Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"We will definitely not follow the example of the Americans, who simply demand that everyone not cooperate on 5G with China, in particular with Huawei," Lavrov said at the All-Russian Youth Educational Forum "Territory of Meanings."

"On the contrary, we are interested in interacting with countries in order to jointly create modern technologies and implement them into practical life," he added. According to Lavrov, relevant ministries and departments are actively involved in the distribution of this technology in Russia.

Top 6 | Pressure mounts on Russia to investigate Navalny’s illness

The Kremlin said Wednesday it doesn’t want the condition of sickened opposition leader Alexei Navalny to affect Russia’s relations with the West as international pressure mounted on Moscow to investigate what caused the Russian politician to fall into a coma almost a week ago.

The Kremlin statement came two days after doctors at the Berlin hospital where the 44-year-old Navalny is being treated for suspected poisoning and minutes before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined other Western officials in demanding a transparent investigation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Wednesday that Moscow “categorically” disagreed with “hasty” conclusions that Navalny was a victim of an intentional poisoning, and said Moscow doesn’t want the situation to affect its ties with the West.

Top 7 | Belarus will shut transit routes if sanctions imposed, Lukashenko says

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, facing a nearly three-week popular uprising since a disputed election, threatened on Friday to cut off European transit routes across his country if sanctions are imposed.

Speaking during a visit to a dairy factory in the country’s east, Lukashenko said he would block European neighbours from shipping goods to Russia over Belarusian territory, and divert exports now shipped through ports in EU member Lithuania.

Goods from landlocked Belarus account for almost a third of Lithuania’s rail traffic and port volume. Belarus is also a major overland route for European goods bound for Russia, and carries pipelines used to ship Russian oil to Europe.

Top 8 | Top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway to leave White House

Kellyanne Conway, one of President Donald Trump’s most influential and longest-serving advisers, announced Sunday that she would be leaving the White House at the end of the month.

Conway, Trump’s campaign manager during the stretch run of the 2016 race, was the first woman to successfully steer a White House bid, then became a senior counselor to the president. She informed Trump of her decision in the Oval Office.

Conway cited a need to spend time with her four children in a resignation letter she posted Sunday night. Her husband, George, had become an outspoken Trump critic and her family a subject of Washington’s rumor mill.

Top 9 | EU-UK deadlock on trade talks goes on with time running out

The European Union and Britain remained deadlocked Friday in their talks on trade ties after Brexit, with EU negotiator Michel Barnier saying that any chance of a deal seemed to be slipping away.

The British side left just as frustrated, saying the EU kept insisting that Britain would have to continue to adhere to EU rules for full free trade even though the nation left the bloc on Jan. 31.

Barnier said the effective deadline for the talks was the end of October to allow for legal vetting and national approvals before any deal comes into force on Jan. 1, 2021, when Britain's transition period from member state to non-EU member ends.

Top 10 | Davos meeting delayed to summer 2021 on COVID-19 fears: WEF

The 2021 Davos World Economic Forum (WEF) summit of business leaders and politicians has been called off for January due to the coronavirus pandemic, with organisers planning to reschedule the event to sometime early next summer.

“The advice from experts is that we cannot (host the event) safely in January,” WEF said on Wednesday in a statement. The confab in the Swiss Alps that has hosted rival heads of state including U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in recent years has been held in the Swiss ski resort of Davos since 1971.

WEF, which takes over the ski resort of Davos for about a week each year, has branded itself as the world’s top venue for the business and political elite to meet and discuss the challenges of globalisation.