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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 0600 GMT, Jan. 16

Xinhua, January 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The New Zealand government has launched an international effort to bring to justice those responsible for three foreign-flagged vessels fishing illegally in waters around Antarctica, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Friday.

New Zealand navy patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington had collected " extensive evidence" of poaching in the Southern Ocean by three vessels -- the Songhua, the Kunlun and the Yongding -- all claiming to be flagged to Equatorial Guinea, McCully said in a statement. (New Zealand-Illegal Fishing)

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TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left Tokyo Friday for a nearly week-long tour to Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Palestine, his first overseas trip since launching his new cabinet last month.

Under the banner of so-called"provocative pacifism," Abe is expected to underscore Japan's commitment to contributing to peace and stability in the Middle East, said local media.(Japan-PM Tour)

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SEOUL -- Senior officials from South Korea and Japan will hold talks in Tokyo on Monday to discuss the "comfort women" issue, Japan's sex slavery atrocity during the World War Two, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.

Lee Sang-deok, director general of the South Korean Foreign Ministry's Northeast Asian affairs bureau, will tour Japan to meet with Junichi Ihara, chief of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau. (S.Korea-Japan-Comfort Women)

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HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So met with Minister of Commerce of Thailand Chatchai Sarikalya on Friday to exchange views on trade and economic ties, the government news website said here.

During the meeting, So expressed his gratitude to Thailand for rendering support in the Hong Kong-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (HK- ASEAN FTA) negotiation.(Hong Kong-Thailand-Trade) Endi