SEOUL: South Korea and Japan reacted furiously on Wednesday after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols around the two countries, with both Seoul and Tokyo scrambling jets.&nbsp;South Korea said it had lodged a protest with representatives of China and Russia, while Japan said it had conveyed its &quot;serious concerns&quot; over national security.&nbsp;According to Tokyo, two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers on Tuesday flew from the Sea of Japan to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers in the East China Sea, then conducted a joint flight around the country.&nbsp;The incident comes as Japan is locked in a dispute with China over comments Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about Taiwan.&nbsp;The bombers&#39; joint flights were &quot;clearly intended as a show of force against our nation&quot;, defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi wrote on X Wednesday.&nbsp;Top government spokesman Minoru Kihara said that Tokyo had &quot;conveyed to both China and Russia our serious concerns over our national security through diplomatic channels&quot;.&nbsp;Seoul said Tuesday the Russian and Chinese warplanes entered its air defence zone and that a complaint had been lodged with the defence attaches of both countries in the South Korean capital.&nbsp;&quot;Our military will continue to respond actively to the activities of neighbouring countries&#39; aircraft within the KADIZ in compliance with international law,&quot; said Lee Kwang-suk, director general of the International Policy Bureau at Seoul&#39;s defence ministry, referring to the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone.&nbsp;South Korea also said it deployed &quot;fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for any contingencies&quot; in response to the Chinese and Russian incursion into the KADIZ.&nbsp;The planes were spotted before they entered the air defense identification zone, defined as a broader area in which countries police aircraft for security reasons but which does not constitute their airspace.&nbsp;Japan&#39;s defense ministry also scrambled fighter jets to intercept the warplanes.&nbsp;&nbsp;Routine exerciseBeijing later Tuesday confirmed it had organized drills with Russia&#39;s military according to &quot;annual cooperation plans&quot;.&nbsp;Moscow also described it as a routine exercise, saying it lasted eight hours and that some foreign fighter jets followed the Russian and Chinese aircraft.&nbsp;Since 2019 China and Russia have regularly flown military aircraft into South Korea&#39;s air defence zone without prior notice, citing joint exercises.&nbsp;In November last year Seoul scrambled jets as five Chinese and six Russian military planes flew through its air defence zone.&nbsp;Similar incidents occurred in June and December 2023, and in May and November 2022.&nbsp;Meanwhile Tokyo said Monday it had scrambled jets in response to repeated takeoff and landing exercises involving fighter jets and military helicopters from China&#39;s Liaoning aircraft carrier as it cruised in international waters near Japan.&nbsp;It also summoned Beijing&#39;s ambassador after military aircraft from the Liaoning locked radar onto Japanese jets, the latest incident in the row ignited by Takaichi&#39;s comments backing Taiwan.&nbsp;Takaichi suggested last month that Japan would intervene militarily in any Chinese attack on the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own and has not ruled out seizing by force.

China

Asia

South Korea and Japan condemned joint Russian and Chinese military aircraft patrols near their borders, with both countries scrambling jets. The incident, amid rising tensions over Taiwan, sparked diplomatic protests over national security concerns.

South Korea, Japan accuse China, Russia over aircraft incursions

LONDON: European stocks and gold prices rose, while Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday as the US government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal.&nbsp;The prospect of services in the United States being closed pushed gold to another record high of over $3,895.&nbsp;In Asia, Tokyo&#39;s stock market sank, while Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for holidays.&nbsp;Pharmaceutical shares lifted European markets after Pfizer was granted a reprieve from President Donald Trump&#39;s tariffs by agreeing to lower drug prices in the United States.&nbsp;Trump also announced plans to unveil a website that will allow consumers to purchase certain medications directly from manufacturers at discounted rates.&nbsp;While details remain scarce, shares in British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca rose by more than six percent, and GSK was up almost three percent in London.&nbsp;The dollar remained under pressure due to concerns caused by the US government&#39;s partial shutdown, which began on Wednesday.&nbsp;Democrats and Republicans failed to break a budget impasse, with talks hinging on health care funding.&nbsp;&quot;Historically, shutdowns have been bad for the US dollar, bad for US equities, and bad for bonds too,&quot; said Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown.&nbsp;&quot;Should the shutdown remain unresolved it is likely to drive money outside of the US to markets with more certainty,&quot; she added.&nbsp;While most shutdowns end after a short period, investors were concerned that it could prevent the release on Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report, a crucial guide for the Fed in its rate decisions.&nbsp;The closure will result in the halt of non-essential operations, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily unpaid, and potentially disrupting many social safety net benefit payments.&nbsp;Trump threatened to punish Democrats during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.&nbsp;&quot;Shutdowns have delivered bouts of volatility, but the precedent has been that weakness tends to be short-lived,&quot; noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.&nbsp;Futures on all three main indexes in New York were in the red.&nbsp;India&#39;s rupee also made small inroads as the country&#39;s central bank decided against cutting interest rates, despite inflation remaining low; however, the unit continued to hover around record lows against the US dollar.&nbsp;The South Asian currency has been hit by concerns over stalled trade talks with the Trump administration, which will not soften the painful tariffs. At the same time, Washington&#39;s strict immigration measures have added to worries.&nbsp;The two sides remain in talks despite sharp disagreements over agricultural trade and New Delhi&#39;s purchases of Russian oil.&nbsp;In company news, Australian mining titan BHP fell 2.5 percent following reports that China had told steelmakers to temporarily stop buying seagoing, dollar-denominated cargoes from the firm, as part of a pricing dispute.&nbsp;

Business

European stocks and gold rose as Wall Street futures fell after a US government shutdown. Pharma shares gained on a tariff reprieve, while the dollar weakened, Tokyo stocks slid, and investors feared economic disruption, as well as a delayed US jobs data release.

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South Korea, Japan accuse China, Russia over aircraft incursions

European stocks rise, Wall Street futures drop as US shutdown begins