JAKARTA -- South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution on Wednesday kicked off the construction of a $1.1 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Indonesia, which President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo hailed as marking the country's shift away from resources toward technology.

LG Energy CEO Kim Jong-hyun said the factory will churn out "next generation" lithium-ion battery cells using the company's new NCMA technology, with production expected to start in 2024 and output to be

TOKYO -- Global automakers are increasingly shifting away from traditional practices where they only keep a limited stock of key components, with the COVID-19 pandemic and international tensions stoking shortages of technology such as chips.

Companies including Toyota Motor are looking to boost chip inventories, while others are securing their own supplies of rare metals.

The U.S. has cut its exports of semiconductors to China's Huawei Technologies, making chips more susceptible to international politics. As carmakers have expanded their parts procurement networks around the world

HONG KONG -- Twelve Hong Kong pro-democracy activists received prison sentences of up to 10 months on Wednesday over their participation in a 2020 commemoration of the June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Thousands had gathered each year since 1990 for a candlelight vigil in the city's Victoria Park to remember the crackdown's victims until last year when police barred the gathering, citing pandemic controls on social gatherings.

Hundreds defied the ban, and on Wednesday, District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock handed down

TOKYO -- Sony Group is taking steps to make its image sensor business more sustainable with plans to increase energy efficiency at its semiconductor plants and utilize an artificial intelligence-enabled sensor to reduce power consumption.

The Japanese conglomerate on Wednesday held its briefing on ESG (environment, social, and governance) policies -- an annual event held since 2018 when Kenichiro Yoshida became president and CEO.

"In order to fulfill our responsibility and contribute to society and the Earth, we will continue to value what we have

TOKYO/SEOUL -- North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, raising regional tensions just days after the isolated nation said it tested a cruise missile.

The missiles are believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters, correcting an earlier statement by the Japan Coast Guard that said the projectiles had missed the area. They would be the first North Korean missiles to land in Japan's EEZ since October

HONG KONG -- Chinese investors will have a new channel to trade in offshore debt starting next week, in the latest move to open the financial system of the world's second-largest economy.

The so-called southbound Bond Connect program debuts Sept. 24, letting mainland investors buy and sell notes tradable in Hong Kong, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). The long-awaited program completes the loop with a similar Hong Kong-mainland link that opened in 2017 and

GUANGZHOU -- CATL, the world's largest producer of electric vehicle batteries, will spend up to 13.5 billion yuan ($2.09 billion) on a plant in China to produce a new type of lithium battery.

The Chinese manufacturer struck an agreement Monday with the Jiangxi Province city of Yichun to build the plant. The factory is expected to produce automotive batteries, such as those for EVs.

The production capacity and construction start date have not been disclosed, but the company said the facility

TAIPEI -- Top U.S. contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries said it is on track to at least double its automotive chip output this year in response to an unprecedented global supply crunch and will spend a further $6 billion to expand overall production capacity.

The company warned, however, that its expansion plans will only start to bear fruit from 2023 and that the car industry will continue to face chip shortages "well into next year."

"We've been making great strides in creating more automotive capacity

TOKYO -- Japan's transportation ministry plans to introduce stricter safety requirements for autonomous vehicles, paving the way for buses and other public transportation that can operate without human drivers in aging, rural communities.

Japan is looking to level 4 automation, which does not require human control and may operate without a wheel or pedals, to provide a mobility solution to remote regions, where transit services are chronically hemorrhaging red ink.

Since level 4 vehicles would need to operate autonomously even in bad weather or in emergency situations, higher safety