Top Asian News 4:50 a.m. GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China summoned the Canadian ambassador to protest the detention of a top executive of leading Chinese tech giant Huawei, calling it "unreasonable, unconscionable, and vile in nature" and warning of "grave consequences" if she is not released. A report by the official Xinhua News Agency carried on the Foreign Ministry's website said that Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng called in Ambassador John McCallum on Saturday over the holding of Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is reportedly suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran. Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies and has been the target of deepening U.S.

A former foreign policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Chinese pressure on the Canadian government to release a top executive of Huawei won't work. In a tweet, Roland Paris says, "Perhaps because the Chinese state controls its judicial system, Beijing sometimes has difficulty understanding or believing that courts can be independent in a rule-of-law country. There's no point in pressuring the Canadian government. Judges will decide." Paris was responding to reports from Beijing that China's Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng had summoned Canadian Ambassador John McCallum on Saturday over the holding of Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is reportedly suspected of trying to evade U.S.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand police say a body has been found in the case of a 22-year-old British tourist they believe was killed. Police say they found the body in a forested area about 10 meters (33 feet) from the side of the road in the Waitakere Ranges near Auckland. Tourist Grace Millane has been missing since Dec. 1. A 26-year-old man was charged with murder in the case on Saturday after he was detained for questioning. Millane was on a planned yearlong trip abroad that began in Peru. She arrived in New Zealand last month and was last seen entering a central Auckland hotel with a man.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government has called for an Australian-based refugee soccer player to be immediately released from detention in Thailand. Hakeem al-Araibi was detained in Bangkok in November on an Interpol warrant issued at the request of Bahrain. Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Sunday she has raised the matter with her Thai counterpart, Don Pramudwinai, requesting that al-Araibi be allowed to fly back to Melbourne as soon as possible. He plays for a soccer team in the Victoria state league. "Australia is concerned by the ongoing detention of Mr. Hakeem Ali al-Araibi and calls for his immediate return to Australia," Payne said.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say an overnight blast targeting a religious gathering of an ethnic party has wounded six people in the southern port city of Karachi. Saturday night's blast took place as hundreds of supporters of a faction of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were present in the neighborhood of Gulshan-e-Johar. No one has claimed responsibility and authorities say all of the wounded are listed in stable condition. The attack happened a day before Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to visit Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement party represents the Urdu speaking population and its two factions have an uneasy relationship with each other.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Tens of thousands of Malaysian Muslims rallied Saturday in Kuala Lumpur against any attempt to strip the ethnic Malay majority of its privileges, in the first massive street gathering since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's alliance won a historic vote in May. The rally, backed by the country's two largest opposition Malay parties, was initially aimed at protesting a government plan to ratify a U.N. treaty against racial discrimination. Critics allege that ratifying the treaty would end Malay privileges under a decades-old affirmative action policy. The plan to ratify was eventually abandoned, but organizers decided to proceed with what they called a "thanksgiving" rally.

BEIJING (AP) — China's export growth sank in November as global demand weakened, adding to pressure on Beijing ahead of trade talks with Washington. Exports rose 5.4 percent over a year ago to $227.4 billion, a marked decline from the previous month's 12.6 percent increase, customs data showed Saturday. Imports rose 3 percent to $182.7 billion, a sharp reversal from October's 20.3 percent surge. That adds to signs a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy is deepening as Chinese leaders prepare for negotiations with President Donald Trump over Beijing's technology policy and other irritants. Chinese exports to the United States rose by a relatively robust 12.9 percent over a year ago to $46.2 billion.

BEIJING (AP) — China launched a ground-breaking mission Saturday to land a spacecraft on the largely unexplored far side of the moon, demonstrating its growing ambitions as a space power to rival Russia, the European Union and the U.S. A Long March 3B rocket carrying a lunar probe blasted off at 2:23 a.m. from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province in southwestern China, the official Xinhua News Agency said. With its Chang'e 4 mission, China hopes to be the first country to make a soft landing, which is a landing of a spacecraft during which no serious damage is incurred.

KATOWICE, Poland (AP) — Thousands of people from around the world marched Saturday through the southern Polish city that's hosting this year's U.N. climate talks, demanding that their governments take tougher action to curb global warming. Protesters included farmers from Latin America, environmentalists from Asia, students from the United States and families from Europe, many of whom said climate change is already affecting their lives. "Climate change is the thing that frightens me the most," said Michal Dabrowski from Warsaw, who brought his young daughter to the march. "I'm a father and it's kind of crucial that she will have a decent life." Marchers gathered in one of Katowice's main squares before setting off for the conference center where delegates from almost 200 countries are haggling over the fine print of the 2015 Paris accord to fight climate change.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese lawmakers early Saturday approved government-proposed legislation allowing hundreds of thousands of foreign laborers to live and work in a country that has long resisted accepting outsiders. The contentious legislation passed only months after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed the plan despite opposition groups' demand for more thorough debate to address concerns about a drastic change of policy. It's seen as an unavoidable step as the country's population of about 126 million rapidly ages and shrinks. Many short-handed industries, especially in the services sector, already rely heavily on foreign "trainees" and language students. Japan also selectively grants visas to white-collar professionals, often from the West.