Top Asia Pacific Breaking News

HONG KONG (AP) - The United States and Taiwan reached a trade deal Thursday that cuts tariffs on Taiwanese goods in exchange for $250 billion in new investments in the U.S. tech industry. The deal is the latest President Donald Trump has struck - such as those with the European Union and Japan - since he unveiled a sweeping tariff plan last April to address trade imbalances. Trump also has a one-year trade truce with China to stabilize ties with the world's second largest economy. Trump initially set the tariff at 32% on Taiwanese goods but later changed it to 20%.

BEIJING (AP) - On the first trip by a Canadian leader to China in eight years, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that the two countries are entering a new era of relations. Carney, who became prime minister 10 months ago, is attempting to repair ties with China following several years of acrimony over issues ranging from Canada's 2018 arrest of a senior Chinese tech executive to 100% Canadian tariffs on China-made electric vehicles. He met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who hailed the turnaround in relations - as did Carney, according to a statement from his office later Thursday. "Both sides welcomed the renewal of bilateral engagement," the office said, including economic and financial issues, energy and security.

BANGKOK (AP) - A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell onto a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people. The twin tragedies led Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to announce late Thursday that he would terminate the contracts of the contractors involved. The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway - a major artery leading from Bangkok - has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal. The crane collapsed Thursday morning in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage.

BEIJING (AP) - In China, the names of things are often either ornately poetic or jarringly direct. A new, wildly popular app among young Chinese people is definitively the latter. It's called, simply, "Are You Dead?" In a vast country whose young people are increasingly on the move, the new, one-button app - which has taken the country by digital storm this month - is essentially exactly what it says it is. People who live alone in far-off cities and may be at risk - or just perceived as such by friends or relatives - can push an outsized green circle on their phone screens and send proof of life over the network to a friend or loved one.

BANGKOK (AP) - The military government of Myanmar, long noted as one of the world's biggest producers of heroin and methamphetamine, has announced what it describes as the country's largest-ever seizures of illicit drugs and equipment used to produce them, state media reported Thursday. The seizures were the result of a large-scale operation carried out on Jan. 8-12 targeting drug production and online scam centers in northern Shan state, state-run newspapers including Myanma Alinn reported. The newspaper reports cited Home Affairs Minister Lt. Gen. Tun Tun Naung as saying at a Wednesday news conference that drugs and equipment were seized when three major drug manufacturing facilities in Mongyai township, each just a few kilometers (miles) apart, were raided on Jan.

NEW YORK (AP) - After a nearly four-year musical hiatus, the K-pop giants BTS are back. Well, almost. On Thursday morning, the entertainment company BigHit Music shared on social media that the septet - RM, Jin, Jimin, V, Suga, Jung Kook and j-hope - will release a new album on March 20 titled "ARIRANG." It is their fifth album. So, what can listeners expect? In addition to news of the album title, the retailer Target announced it was partnering with BTS for exclusive preorder editions of "ARIRANG." Starting at 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, fans can preorder 10 different vinyl album editions.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Japan and the Philippines signed a defense pact on Thursday that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China's growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 's remark that potential Chinese action against Taiwan could spark Japanese intervention. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East China Sea and South China Sea that have continued to flare and threaten to draw in the United States, a treaty ally of the two Asian nations.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to dissolve the lower house of Parliament soon to set up for a snap election to seek the public's mandate for her policies, a top party official said Wednesday. Takaichi was elected in Parliament as Japan's first female prime minister in October. A snap election is seen as an attempt to capitalize her still strong approval ratings of around 70% to help her beleaguered governing party gain more seats. Shunichi Suzuki, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters Takaichi told him and other top officials she planned to dissolve the lower house "soon" after it convenes on Jan.

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong officials on Wednesday proposed expanding oversight of building maintenance projects and stronger fire safety steps after a blaze in November killed at least 161 people and displaced thousands. The blaze that spread across seven towers in an apartment complex raised questions about corruption, negligence and government oversight in the city's building maintenance projects, piling pressure on Hong Kong leader John Lee's administration and Beijing's "patriots-only" governance system for the city. In the newly elected legislature's first meeting, Lee said the fire exposed the need for reform and pledged that the investigation by law enforcement agencies and a judge-led independent committee would be thorough.

TOKYO (AP) - The Japanese and South Korean leaders agreed to deepen cooperation between their countries before they let loose with their own surprise cultural exchange in a surprise jam session drumming to K-pop hits. The musical performance between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung followed Tuesday's summit in Japan's ancient capital of Nara, also Takaichi's hometown. Wearing personalized athletic jackets, they sat side by side and drummed to hits such as BTS' "Dynamite" and Kpop Demon Hunters' "Golden" in a short video posted by Takaichi's office Wednesday. The jam session was a surprise by Takaichi, a heavy metal fan and an avid drummer in her college days.