Top Asian News 6:38 a.m. GMT

Indonesia starts mass COVID-19 vaccinations with president

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday received the first shot of a Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine after Indonesia approved it for emergency use and began efforts to vaccine millions of people in the world’s fourth most populated country. After Widodo, top military, police and medical officials were vaccinated, as well as the secretary of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the clerical body that last week ruled the vaccine was halal and could be taken by Muslims. Others such as a health care worker, businesspeople and a social media influencer also received the shots to encourage people to get the vaccine when it is available to them.

Demoted? Pushed aside? Fate of Kim Jong Un's sister unclear

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — What has happened to Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s influential sister? That is a question many who watch the cloistered, nuclear-armed country are wondering after she failed to appear in absolute leader Kim Jong Un’s newly released lineup for the country’s powerful Politburo in recent days. Some say Kim Jong Un may have demoted his sister over general policy failures. Others, however, believe he could be worried about her rapid rise and increasingly high profile as he tries to bolster his domestic authority in the face of growing economic challenges. Rumors that Kim Yo Jong is her brother’s heir apparent could be dangerous because they "raise the issue of Kim’s hold on power and health inside North Korea," said Oh Gyeong-seob, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification.

North Korea ends party meeting with calls for nuclear might

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed all-out efforts to bolster his country's nuclear deterrent during a major ruling party meeting where he earlier laid out plans to work toward salvaging the broken economy. Separately, Kim’s powerful sister criticized South Korea’s military for saying it had seen an apparent military parade taking place in Pyongyang. Kim Yo Jong, who was described last year as being in charge of inter-Korean relations, said in a statement Wednesday that such close tracking proved Seoul’s “hostile approach” toward its rival. The eight-day Workers’ Party congress that ended Tuesday came as Kim Jong Un faces what appears to be the toughest moment of his nine-year rule.

Indonesian searchers hunt for crashed plane's voice recorder

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Divers searching for a crashed jet's cockpit voice recorder were sifting through mud and plane debris on the seabed between Indonesian islands on Wednesday to retrieve information key to learning why the Sriwijaya Air jet nosedived into the Java Sea over the weekend. Indonesian navy divers on Tuesday recovered the flight data recorder from the jet that disappeared Saturday minutes after taking off from Jakarta with 62 people aboard. The information on both black boxes will be key to the crash investigation. The 26-year-old Boeing 737-500 had resumed commercial flights last month after almost nine months out of service because of flight cutbacks caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Asia Today: Chinese city tests millions amid fresh outbreak

BEIJING (AP) — Millions of people were lining up Wednesday in subzero temperatures to receive a second round of coronavirus tests in a city south of Beijing that is at the heart of China’s most serious latest outbreak of COVID-19. The National Health Commission announced Wednesday that another 90 confirmed cases had been reported in Hebei province, whose capital Shijiazhuang has accounted for the vast majority of recent cases. Another 16 cases were reported in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang and one in the northern province of Shanxi. China, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019, had largely contained domestic spread of the virus and the new outbreaks come even as authorities push to vaccinate 50 million people by the middle February.

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Indian partying hotspot Goa counts losses, braces for change

GOA, India (AP) — The sun’s golden rays fall on Goa’s smooth, sandy beaches every evening, magical as ever but strangely quiet and lonely. This holiday season, few visitors are enjoying the celebrated sunsets in the Indian party hotspot. The unspoken fear of the coronavirus is sapping Goa’s vibrant beach shacks and noisy bars of their lifeblood. A Portuguese colony until 1961, this western Indian state usually comes alive in December and January, its tourism-led economy booming with foreign travelers and chartered flights bringing in hordes of vacationers. Over the past decade, Goa had been transforming from a seasonal mecca for both hippy backpackers and rich vacationers to a second home destination for India’s middle class.

US cancels ambassador's controversial trip to Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. State Department canceled the planned Taiwan visit by its U.N. ambassador that has drawn strong opposition and a warning from China. The department announced it was canceling all senior-level overseas travels, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned trip to Belgium, in a decision to assist with the transition to the next administration. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft was due to begin a three-day visit Wednesday, which would have involved meetings with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu as well as delivering a speech. Craft's trip was one of two moves in the twilight days of the Trump administration that increases official exchanges with the self-ruled island while also provoking China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory.

Sri Lankan court acquits ex-rebel lawmaker of murder charges

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday acquitted a rebel-turned-lawmaker of charges that he was involved in the killing of an ethnic Tamil legislator at the height of the island’s long civil war. The court in the eastern town of Batticaloa released Sivanesathurai Chandarakanthan, who won a seat while in detention in last August's parliamentary election, representing a party that backs President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Four others were also released. The Attorney General's Department told the court earlier this week that it does not intend to continue the case against Chandrakanthan. Chandrakanthan was a former child soldier in the Tamil Tiger rebel group that fought a quarter-century civil war to create an independent state for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority in the island's north and east.

New Zealand to review parliament security after door attack

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Officials plan to review security at New Zealand's Parliament after a man armed with an axe smashed the main glass entrance doors early Wednesday. Police said they were called to the Parliament complex in Wellington just before 5:30 a.m. after getting reports that a man with an axe was on the grounds. Police said that after smashing the doors, the 31-year-old man didn't try to enter the building and was arrested within minutes without further incident. New Zealand’s 120 lawmakers are currently on a summer break, and there were few people in the building at the time of the attack.

Australian treasurer won't say if he was stopping China sale

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s treasurer on Wednesday declined to comment on whether he had intended to block a Chinese state-owned company’s takeover of an Australian-based construction company in a development likely to increase strain on bilateral relations. China State Construction Engineering Corp., one of the world's biggest construction companies, had planned to buy South African-owned and Sydney-based Probuild for 300 million Australian dollars ($233 million). But Probuild’s owner, Wilson Bayly Holmes, told the Johannesburg Stock Exchange this week that the Chinese suitor had withdrawn its offer because Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg would have blocked the sale. “WBHO has been advised by the potential acquirer of Probuild that it has withdrawn its proposed investment application in Probuild lodged with the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board following advice that its application would be rejected by the Federal Government on the grounds of national security,” the parent company’s statement said.