Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Kim Jong-un invites Putin to North Korea after summit brings ties to ‘a new level’

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North Korean media report that Kim was briefed on space vehicles during his meetings in Russia, though no specific detail of any deal has emerged

Kim Jong-un invited President Vladimir Putin to visit North Korea during their meeting in Russia on Wednesday, Pyongyang’s state media reported, amid warnings that Kim was poised to offer the Kremlin artillery shells and other munitions for the war in Ukraine.

Kim told Putin that their closely watched meeting had brought bilateral ties to a new level, and expressed his willingness to foster stable, future-oriented relations for the next 100 years, news agency KCNA said.

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‘Nothing left to lose’: Putin embraces role of spoiler with Kim Jong-un summit

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Russia’s propagandists trumpeted the president’s North Korean connection as, in isolation, he threatened to cross a serious line

The situation is dire when you’re boasting of closer ties with North Korea, but Vladimir Putin in 2023 finds himself in just that situation with nothing left to lose.

The Russian fanfare before the summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has rivalled the anticipation for his meetings with western leaders, where he would attempt to woo or spar with opponents such as Barack Obama or Angela Merkel.

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Vietnam: 56 people dead after fire at nine-floor apartment building

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About 70 people have been rescued, according to Hanoi authorities, with nearly 40 injured

Vietnamese police have announced that 56 people died from a fire in a nine-floor apartment building in the capital, Hanoi.

The blaze began shortly after 11pm on Tuesday when many of the roughly 150 people living in the building were asleep or getting ready for bed.

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Kim Jong-un offers Putin ‘full support’ in Russia’s ‘sacred fight’ with west

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North Korean leader backs Moscow in ‘protecting its sovereignty and security against the hegemonic forces’ that oppose it

Kim Jong-un has offered Vladimir Putin his support for Russia’s “sacred fight” against the west during talks that also touched on possible Russian help with North Korea’s space programme.

The North Korean and Russian leaders met on Wednesday at a space base in the far east of Russia amid warnings that Kim was poised to offer the Kremlin artillery shells and other munitions for the war in Ukraine.

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China unveils Taiwan economic ‘integration’ plan as warships conduct manoeuvres off coast

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Measures include making it easier for Taiwanese people to live and work in China, but the plan comes amid major military exercises

China’s government has unveiled a “new path towards integrated development” with Taiwan, including proposals to make it easier for Taiwanese people to live, study and work in China.

At the same time, it sent the largest number of warships to gather in years to the waters on Taiwan’s east, in what analysts said signalled a choice between peaceful “reunification” and military violence, just months out from Taiwan’s presidential election.

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Exiled Chinese dissidents alarmed by ‘spy’ arrest of Westminster researcher

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Activists call for reassurances to be given to those who gave information to parliamentarians

Finn Lau’s meeting with a Westminster researcher who was later arrested on suspicion of spying for China lasted just 20 minutes. Nearly a year later he is mulling the potential consequences.

Lau, an exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activist with a £100,000 bounty on his head, has a lingering suspicion that some of his ideas for putting more pressure on China appear not to have made it beyond their meeting.

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Hunt for nearly 70 crocodiles that escaped during China floods

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Extreme weather in the city of Maoming in Guangdong province caused lake to flood, allowing dozens of crocodiles to escape

A Chinese city has launched an operation to find a large number of crocodiles that escaped when floods hit the region in recent days, authorities have said.

A typhoon brought sustained heavy rains to southern China last week, triggering inundations in Hong Kong and other areas.

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Guardian Essential New Zealand poll: Winston Peters in position to become election kingmaker

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Latest survey sees support for New Zealand First exceed 5% for second month as Labour falters and National remains unchanged ahead of October election

Neither a Labour nor a National coalition could form a government without the support of populist minor party New Zealand First after the October election, according to the latest Guardian Essential political poll – which showed respondents unwilling to give either major party a commanding victory.

Since August, the governing Labour party slumped 2.5 points to 26.9% in the survey, which also recorded unsure voters – 5.3% in September – in its final result. But the results showed apathy towards both of the biggest parties, with centre-right National failing to pick up any speed from August, despite remaining ahead on 34.5%.

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Record numbers expected as Europe’s biggest arms fair opens in London

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Egypt, Vietnam and Indonesia among countries sending delegations to four-day DSEI at ExCeL

Europe’s biggest ever arms fair got under way in London on Tuesday with record numbers expected to attend, boosted by interest from countries with controversial human rights records.

Authoritarian Egypt and Vietnam are among those sending delegations, defence sources said, as well as Indonesia and India – all countries whose arms-buying strategies have been affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia to meet Putin as US threatens sanctions

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North Korean leader travels on armoured train for talks amid concerns Putin is seeking arms deal for Ukraine war

Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia on his armoured train for a rare summit with Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible deal to supply North Korean arms for the war in Ukraine.

The train arrived at Khasan station, the main rail gateway to Russia’s far east from North Korea, where Kim was filmed alighting and meeting the Russian environment minister, before continuing to travel north.

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Russia-Ukraine war: G7 condemns ‘sham elections’ held by Russia on Ukrainian territory – as it happened

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Foreign ministers condemn ‘elections’ held in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia oblasts and Crimea, where electoral competition was limited

Russia has “recalibrated” its missile defences around Moscow as it faces near daily drone attacks, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update.

As well as being aimed at improving its defences, the changes are likely also meant as a “high-profile reassurance” to the public, the MoD said.

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UK espionage saga a ‘wake-up call’ for Australian parliament, opposition says

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Calls for further security measures including vetting of staffers after UK parliamentary aide arrested on suspicion of spying for China

An espionage scandal in the UK should serve as a “major wake-up call” for Australia, a senior opposition member has said.

Australia’s shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, called on both countries to “harden” their political systems to reduce the risk of alleged compromise, including wider use of vetting of staff members.

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Whakaari White Island eruption: negligence charges dropped against two tourism agencies

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Two of six defendants successfully applied on Tuesday to have charges over alleged workplace health and safety breaches dropped

A judge has dismissed charges against two of the three tourism agencies accused of negligence in the lead-up to the New Zealand volcanic eruption that killed 14 Australians.

Three tourism businesses and the three owners of Whakaari, also known as White Island, had originally gone on trial in July over alleged workplace health and safety breaches.

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Hong Kong’s multimillion dollar cliffside mansions on brink of collapse after record rains

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Police cordon off some properties in Redhill Peninsula and evacuate at least one after typhoon Haikui brought extreme weather

Luxury cliffside homes in Hong Kong are on the brink of collapse after record breaking rains which killed at least two people, injured more than 100, and caused landslides across the city.

Hong Kong police have cordoned at least three properties in Redhill Peninsula, a coastal housing estate on the southern side of Hong Kong island, and evacuated one which was in “imminent danger”. Photographs of the multimillion dollar residences show large sections of the cliff have fallen away beneath swimming pools and gardens.

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Philippine Nobel prize winner Maria Ressa acquitted of tax charges

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The dropping of charges against Ressa and Rappler, the news website she founded, is the latest legal victory for the Nobel laureate

Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa has been acquitted of her final tax evasion charge in the latest legal victory for the veteran journalist as she battles to stay out of prison over cases that she has previously described as part of a pattern of harassment.

The 59-year-old, who won a Nobel peace prize in 2021, has spent a number of years fighting multiple charges that were filed during then president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

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Kremlin confirms Putin meeting as Kim reportedly boards armoured train

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West fears North Korea plans to supply Moscow with weapons to use in war against Ukraine

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, will visit Russia in the coming days at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has confirmed, amid concerns in the west that Pyongyang plans to provide weapons to Moscow to use in the war against Ukraine.

An armoured train carrying Kim was reported by South Korean media to have departed Pyongyang for Russia via North Korea’s north-eastern border, with a meeting expected to be held in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, where Putin has already arrived, as early as Tuesday.

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MPs express anger after arrest of parliamentary researcher over alleged spying for China

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Man is known to have had unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate

MPs have reacted with alarm after it emerged that a parliamentary researcher with links to senior Conservatives and potential access to sensitive information had been arrested over allegations of spying for China.

The man, who is in his 20s and was arrested in March along with another person, is known to have held a parliamentary pass, allowing him unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate.

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Joe Biden calls for stable US-China relationship during south-east Asia tour

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The US president’s remarks came after after meeting in Vietnam with Communist party official to secure global supply chain

Joe Biden’s national security tour of south-east Asia reached Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday, where the president called for stability in the US-China relationship against an increasingly complex diplomatic picture in the region for his country.

“I don’t want to contain China,” Biden said. “I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it’s all about.”

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Chinese academic raided by Australian police and offered $2,000 for information during trip

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Exclusive: Sino-Australian relations expert had phone confiscated and was asked to provide information during ‘heavy-handed’ and ‘counterproductive’ episode

A Chinese academic visiting Australia on a research trip had his accommodation raided by Asio and the Australian federal police, and was offered $2,000 in cash by a man purporting to be from “the federal government” for information on his networks and contacts in China.

The academic, an associate professor at a major Chinese research university, is an expert on Sino-Australian relations and was visiting Australia between July and August. His surveillance comes as Australia seeks to restore its relations with China, with a confirmed prime ministerial visit to Beijing later this year.

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Watered-down G20 statement on Ukraine is sign of India’s growing influence

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Joe Biden’s need to nurture alliances to contain China sees Ukraine perceptibly slipping down list of priorities

It took exhausted Indian diplomats 200 hours of non-stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings and 15 drafts, but in the end the G20 countries reached a consensus declaration on the war in Ukraine – one that largely retreated into generalised principles rather than the specific condemnation of Russia that the same group of leaders agreed when they met in Bali a year ago.

Moreover, no invitation was extended to Ukrainie’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to address the gathering, meaning the only direct combatant around the table was Russia, represented by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

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