Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

HONG KONG (AP) - The Hong Kong government is seeking to confiscate millions of dollars in funds and corporate shares it says are linked to crimes committed by jailed former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, according to a court document seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday. The filing does not explain how the property, which it estimates to be worth over 127 million Hong Kong dollars ($16 million), is linked to Lai's crimes. The government previously announced that it was seeking asset forfeitures in the case but did not disclose the amount. Lai, an outspoken critic of China's ruling Communist Party who founded the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, was convicted in December of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiring with others to publish seditious articles.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia and China on Wednesday held their first meeting of what is called a "2+2" Strategic Dialogue Mechanism, bringing together both countries' foreign and defense ministers to deepen mutual political and security ties. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Defense Minister Dong Jun are visiting Cambodia to hold talks with their counterparts, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and Defense Minister Tea Seiha. These talks are an initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit in April last year, aimed at boosting relations and the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations. China has worked to increase its sphere of influence in Southeast Asia, and initiated the ministerial-level "2+2" dialogue format with Indonesia last year.

TOKYO (AP) - A South Korean national holding a banner carrying political messages was arrested Wednesday for allegedly obstructing an annual spring festival at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, Japanese police said. The shrine honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Victims of Japanese aggression before and during World War II, especially China and the Koreas, see visits to the shrine as a lack of remorse about Japan's wartime past. The 64-year-old suspect held up a banner carrying messages including one urging "war criminals" to stop praying at Yasukuni and another making territorial claims on an island disputed between Japan and South Korea.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan on Tuesday scrapped a ban on lethal weapons exports, a major change in its postwar pacifist policy as the country seeks to build up its arms industry amid worries over Chinese and North Korean aggression. The approval by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Cabinet of the new guideline clears a final set of hurdles for many arms sales, including of Japanese-developed warships, combat drones and other weapons. It has been largely welcomed by Japanese defense partners like Australia and attracted interest from Southeast Asia and Europe. U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass on X called the move a "historic step" that will help enhance the defense capabilities between the allies.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's president postponed a visit to Africa this week when three countries withdrew permission for him to fly over their territories after pressure from China, his office said Tuesday. President Lai Ching-te was set to visit Eswatini, Taiwan's sole remaining diplomatic ally in Africa, from April 22-26. But flight permits were canceled in island nations along the route, Secretary-General to the president, Pan Meng-an, told journalists in Taipei. "The cancellation of flight permits by Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar without prior warning was actually due to strong pressure from the Chinese authorities, including economic coercion," Pan said. China's alleged pressure "constitutes blatant interference in the internal affairs of other countries, disrupts the regional status quo and hurts the feelings of the Taiwanese people," he added.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean police said Tuesday they are seeking to arrest music mogul Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman of the agency behind K-pop supergroup BTS, as they expand an investigation into allegations that he illegally gained more than $100 million in an investor fraud scheme. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed that it has asked prosecutors to request a court warrant for arresting Bang, the billionaire founder and chairman of Hybe. Bang's legal team in a statement to The Associated Press did not directly address the accusations but expressed regret that police were seeking his arrest "despite our full and consistent cooperation with the investigation over an extended period." "We will continue to cooperate with all legal procedures and make every effort to clearly explain our position," the statement said.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Tuesday that he had survived a vote on his leadership among his own party's lawmakers, after recent slumps in the polls prompted speculation he might be ousted. The vote was held behind closed doors during a routine meeting of Luxon's center-right National Party lawmakers and was sought by the Prime Minister himself. Luxon emerged afterward to read a brief statement announcing the vote and departed without taking questions from reporters. "The last week, there has been intense media speculation about my leadership," Luxon said, adding that he had called for a confidence vote "to put that media speculation to rest." His party caucus had "answered clearly and decisively," the Prime Minister said.

A college student from China has been charged with illegally taking photos of U.S. military planes in Nebraska during a multistate road trip that included a stop at an Air Force base in South Dakota. Tianrui Liang, 21, was arrested April 7 at a New York airport while trying to leave the U.S. for Glasgow, Scotland, where he attends school, the FBI said in a court filing. Liang admitted that he got out of a car on a public road in late March and took photos of an RC-135, a reconnaissance aircraft, and an E-4B at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, the FBI said.

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) - Searchers found the body of one of the six missing crew members from a cargo ship that overturned near the Northern Mariana Islands during a typhoon and were looking for the rest, hoping they might have made it to a life raft. U.S. Air Force divers used an underwater drone on Tuesday to search inside the overturned ship, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. Divers from Japan's coast guard further examined the ship, called the Mariana, but didn't find the other five, it said. "Coast Guard aircrews continue to search for the five missing crewmen and an orange 12-person life raft in the vicinity of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands," the news release said.

BANGKOK (AP) - The leader of Myanmar 's military-backed government has invited the country's armed resistance groups to fresh peace talks, state-run newspapers reported Tuesday, marking the first such call from President Min Aung Hlaing since he took office earlier this month. Min Aung Hlaing's call for talks was framed as part of a self-styled 100-day program that he announced at a cabinet meeting on Monday in the capital Naypyitaw prioritizing peace and stability as well as development, reported the state newspaper Myanma Alinn. The president took office on April 10 after an election that critics say was neither free nor fair and was designed to maintain the military's grip on power five years after it ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government.