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Southeast Asian neighbours of conflict-riven Myanmar must consider imposing measures to hold its military rulers accountable, a United Nations expert said on Wednesday, adding the bloc is "deadlocked" over how to resolve the ongoing crisis.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must not engage with Myanmar's military leaders as there had been no progress in implementing a five-point peace plan agreed between the bloc and the junta after it seized power in a 2021 coup.

"It is time to consider alternative options to break what has become a deadly stalemate," he said at a press conference in Jakarta. "ASEAN must consider measures to impose accountability on the junta for its grave human rights violations and blatant disregard for implementation of the Five-Point Consensus."

The peace plan calls for an immediate halt in hostilities, safe humanitarian access, and inclusive dialogue to achieve peace in the strife-torn country.

In November, an ASEAN leaders' summit issued a warning to Myanmar's junta and concluded a need for "concrete, practical and measurable indicators with a specific timeline." But frustration has grown over a lack of progress and the junta's stepped-up attacks on opponents.

Andrews' remarks come as Thai media reported the U.S. plans to slap fresh sanctions on state-owned Myanmar banks and on the heels of this week's Thai-hosted gathering of regional diplomats aimed at re-engaging junta leaders, who have been barred from high-level ASEAN meetings.

The Thai meeting was shunned by key ASEAN countries, including chair Indonesia, which has led behind-the-scenes efforts to bring the military and its opponents together for dialogue.

Andrews said the meeting in Thailand "can have the dangerous effect of legitimising the junta and undermining ASEAN unity". (Reuters)

A U.S. Coast Guard ship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday in a transit that China described as "public hype", after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken having wrapped up a high-profile, widely watched visit to Beijing a day earlier.

The national security cutter Stratton made a "routine" Taiwan Strait transit on Tuesday "through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law", the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said on Thursday.

The politically sensitive strait, which separates China from the democratically governed island of Taiwan, is a frequent source of tension as Beijing steps up its political and military pressure to try to force Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty.

"Stratton's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows," the 7th Fleet added in its statement.

The mission happened the day after Blinken ended a visit to Beijing, in which the two countries agreed to stabilise their intense rivalry so it does not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any major breakthrough.

Taiwan's defence ministry said the ship sailed in a northerly direction, and its forces monitored the situation which it described as "normal".

The Chinese coast guard described the ship's transit as "public hype".

Chinese vessels tailed the U.S. ship "all the way", a spokesperson at China's coast guard said in a statement, adding that China will "resolutely" safeguard its sovereignty and security and maritime rights and interests.

A security source told Reuters the U.S. ship left the strait in the early hours of Thursday morning.

U.S. military vessels, and on occasion those of its allies, have routinely sailed through the strait in recent years, to the anger of China, which views such missions as provocation.

This month the U.S. Navy released a video of an "unsafe interaction" in the strait, in which a Chinese warship crossed in front of a U.S. destroyer operating with a Canadian warship.

Taiwan's military reports almost daily Chinese incursions in the strait, mostly warplanes that cross the waterway's median line, which once served as an unofficial barrier between the two.

On Wednesday, Taiwan said Chinese warships led by the aircraft carrier Shandong sailed through the strait. (Reuters)

Japan's employment trends showed "improvement recently", the government said in its latest monthly assessment of the economy, noting a decline in the jobless rate and the positive impact of bigger wage rises awarded by major firms.

It was the first time that the government had upgraded its assessment of the employment situation in 11 months. In May, the government had said the employment situation was "picking up".

The government maintained its overall assessment of the economy for the month, saying it was "recovering moderately" thanks to solid consumer spending and capital expenditure. But it also remained cautious about the potential risks of a global economic slowdown, price increases and financial market volatility.

Japan's jobless rate fell in April from the previous month as a result of the post-pandemic economic recovery and the nation's chronic labour shortages.

In annual labour talks, Japan's major companies pledged the biggest wage hikes in about three decades for this fiscal year.

A Cabinet Office official said that the wage hikes would be reflected in salaries with a time lag but that some firms have already started raising wages.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government sees sustaining wage hikes as key to shoring up households' purchasing power, needed to encourage economic growth. He said on Wednesday his government would mobilise all available policy tools to ensure wage growth.

Both private consumption and capital spending were "picking up", the June report said, maintaining the assessment from May.

The Cabinet Office described corporate profits as "improving moderately overall" in the report after upbeat corporate results in the first quarter.

Business sentiment at big Japanese manufacturers edged up in June, staying in positive territory for a second straight month, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday briefed International Monetary Fund's managing director Kristalina Georgieva on the economic outlook of the cash-strapped South Asian nation, hoping for the release of critical stalled funds.

The meeting on the sidelines of the Global Financing Summit in Paris came with about a week left before the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreed in 2019 expires on June 30.

Under the $6.5 billion EFF's 9th review, concluded earlier this year, Pakistan has been trying to secure $1.1 billion of funding that has been stalled since November.

"The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the funds allocated under the IMF's EFF would be released as soon as possible," said a statement from his office.

It said Sharif outlined the steps Pakistan had taken for economic growth and stability, adding that his country had already completed all the IMF's conditions to meet the 9th review.

With central bank foreign exchange reserves barely enough to cover one month of controlled imports, Pakistan is facing an acute balance of payment crisis, which analysts say could spiral into a debt default if the IMF money doesn't come through.

The IMF funding is critical to unlock other bilateral and multilateral financing.

Islamabad has expressed its frustration over the delay. It argues it has met all the painful fiscal measures the lender requested.

The IMF, however, still has concerns over Pakistan's external financing gap, foreign exchange market operations and the budget presented earlier this month which it said violated the programme's objective.

Pakistan has defended the budget, but at the same time offered to review it in any further talks with the IMF. (Reuters)