ASIA NEWS AGENDA ON WEDNESDAY
+ China urged to release dissident bookseller
+ Scores stranded at Japan ski resort as volcano erupts
+ Deal reached on Pacific trade pact after US pull-out
HONG KONG/SWEDEN
– Anger mounts as Stockholm asks Beijing to release dissident publisher Gui Minhai after the Swedish citizen was snatched for a second time in mainland China while being accompanied by Swedish diplomats.
JAPAN
– Scores of people, including foreign tourists, are stranded at a popular ski resort in Japan, after a volcano erupts, killing a soldier and sparking an avalanche that leaves several injured.
– Following after Tokyo announced that 11 Asia-Pacific nations, including Japan and Canada, had agreed to move toward signing a massive trade deal, resurrecting the pact after the United States pulled out last year.
– OTHER AGENDA ITEMS –
AUSTRALIA
– Tennis. Tenth day of the Australian Open Grand Slam in Melbourne.
JAPAN
– The finance ministry releases customs-cleared trade statistics for December and whole of 2017.
MALAYSIA
– Trial continues of two women accused of murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader.
MYANMAR
– Following as deadline passes for the start of the repatriation of Rohingya refugees after Dhaka said it was not ready to begin the process and the UN raises concerns about returnees’ safety.
PHILIPPINES
– Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte departs for India to attend a summit involving New Delhi and his ASEAN counterparts.
SOUTH KOREA
– Day two of a three-day visit by a South Korean delegation to the North to inspect venues for joint events linked to the Winter Olympics.
TAIWAN 
– ISU Four Continents figure skating championships day 1.