Category Archives: Asia Pacific

China renews crackdown on corruption in healthcare

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At least 177 officials reportedly under investigation amid revival of Xi Jinping’s decade-old anti-corruption drive

China’s graft-busters have set their sights on the country’s healthcare sector, in what has been described as the biggest crackdown on corruption in the history of the industry.

At least 177 hospital bosses and Chinese Communist party (CCP) secretaries have been placed under investigation this year according to local media reports – more than double the number last year. In a press conference on Tuesday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said the campaign would focus on people who had used their position to procure kickbacks and corruption in the pharmaceutical sector, the state tabloid the Global Times reported.

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Ten killed as light plane crashes on street in Malaysia

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Eight onboard and two motorists on ground killed as aircraft comes down in Elmina

A light plane crashed into a street in Malaysia’s central Selangor state on Thursday, killing eight people on board and two motorists on the ground.

“For now, I can say at least 10 people were killed in the plane crash. Two passing motorists – one in a car and one on a motorcycle – also perished together with the eight onboard the plane,” said the local police chief, Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim.

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China building airstrip on disputed island, satellite images suggest

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Pictures appear to show 600-metre runway on South China Sea’s Triton island, which is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan

China may be constructing an airstrip on a disputed island in the South China Sea that is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, satellite images suggest.

Pictures of Triton Island, one of the major islands in the Paracel group, appear to show the construction of a runway of more than 600 metres (2,000ft) long, according to analysis by Associated Press. This would be long enough to accommodate drones, but not fighter jets or bombers.

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US promises ‘new era’ as Biden prepares to host first summit with Japan and South Korea

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US president aiming to take advantage of recent thaw in ties under president Yoon Suk Yeol and prime minister Fumio Kishida

The US has promised to usher in a “new era” in relations with its most important allies in Asia, as the region struggles to address the threat posed by an increasingly assertive China and a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Joe Biden is expected to take advantage of a recent thaw in ties between Japan and South Korea – home to tens of thousands of US troops – to announce new collaborations on missile defence and technology, when he meets the countries’ leaders on Friday.

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US delegate says Solomon Islands PM was too ‘busy’ to meet him

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Congressman Neal Dunn, part of select committee on competition with China, says failure to meet Manasseh Sogavare was a ‘missed opportunity’

Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare declined a request this week to meet members of a high-profile US congressional delegation who are focused on competition with China.

The visit to Solomon Islands by representatives from the US select committee on the Chinese Communist party comes amid a growing struggle for influence between the US and China in the Pacific region. Last year, Solomon Islands signed a controversial security pact with the Chinese government and in July, the prime minister agreed a new deal on police cooperation while on a trip to Beijing.

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Australia’s oversupply of wine tops 2.8bn bottles in wake of China trade dispute

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New report suggests glut will last years, even if Beijing drops tariffs early, while prices of Australian red wine grapes plummet by more than half

Australia has an oversupply equivalent to more than 2.8bn bottles of wine – a little more than 100 bottles per person – after the trade dispute with China slashed exports to the biggest consumer of Australian wines.

The excess wine is being stored in large steel vats in wineries across Australia, equating to 859 Olympic wine-filled swimming pools.

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China’s fertility rate dropped to record low in 2022, estimates show

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Figure fell from 1.15 in 2021 to 1.09, the lowest of any country with a population over 100 million

China’s fertility rate dropped to an estimated record low of 1.09 in 2022, the lowest of any country with a population over 100 million, according to government data.

Demographers from the China Population and Development Research Centre, a Chinese government research institution, released data indicating that last year’s fertility rate fell to 1.09 from 1.15 in 2021, below Japan’s rate for the same time period and only slightly higher than South Korea’s, which was estimated to be 0.8.

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Chinese social media filled with anti-black racist content, says watchdog

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Analysis by Human Rights Watch finds the country’s major platforms ‘do not routinely address’ pervasive online racism

Chinese social media is littered with racist videos, particularly content that mocks black people or portrays them through offensive racial stereotypes, research by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has found.

The human rights watchdog analysed hundreds of videos posted on Chinese social media since 2021 and found that major platforms, including Bilibili, Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo and Xiaohongshu, “do not routinely address racist content”.

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Search for Indonesian sailor continues as rescued Australian surfers contact relieved families

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Officials hope Fifan Marongo who went missing off Aceh on Sunday has safely stranded on an island on the western side of Sumatra

Indonesian authorities plan to continue a search for a missing sailor, after the other six people in a boat lost in remote waters off Aceh on Sunday were rescued on Tuesday.

Four Australians and two other Indonesian crew were safely recovered from the sea. They survived 36 hours in the water on surfboards they had brought for a beach holiday.

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Australian Associated Press contributed to this report

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Janet Yellen inadvertently ate hallucinogenic mushrooms in China – and started a trend

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‘I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later,’ the US Treasury secretary told CNN

US treasury secretary Janet Yellen has started a craze in China for a magic mushroom-based dish called Jian shou qing, or “see hand blue”, after she was spotted eating the fungi, known for being hallucinogenic, while on a visit to Beijing in July.

“I went with this large group of people and the person who’d arranged our dinner did the ordering. There was a delicious mushroom dish I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later,” she told CNN.

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‘He was petrified’: Australian surfer drifts at sea for 37 hours after boat capsizes off Indonesia

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Elliot Foote’s father Peter Foote says his son floated through the night alone on a surfboard in ‘amazing’ survival story

The father of one of the Australian surfers who were missing at sea off the coast of Indonesia has spoken of the 37-hour ordeal, saying his son was “petrified” as he drifted on a surfboard through the night.

Elliot Foote, his girlfriend Steph Weisse and friends Will Teagle and Jordan Short were in a small boat that capsized in the sea during a storm near Pinang island off Aceh on Sunday night.

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Missing Australian surfers found alive off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province

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Elliot Foote, Steph Weisse, Will Teagle and Jordan Short and two Indonesian crew have been found but one crew member is still missing

Four Australians who went missing when their boat encountered poor weather off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province on Sunday have been found alive.

Steph Weisse, Will Teagle and Jordan Short were found floating in the water on surfboards on Tuesday.

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China stops releasing youth unemployment rates amid economic gloom

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Release of figures suspended in order to ‘optimise labour force survey statistics’, says bureau, after youth jobless figure hit record 21.3% in June

China has said it would suspend the release of youth unemployment figures, as its central bank cut a key interest rate to boost flagging growth.

Youth unemployment hit a record 21.3% in June, as a slew of disappointing figures in recent months reflected a slump in China, with its post-Covid rebound fading.

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Typhoon Lan: mass power cuts hit western Japan as storm makes landfall

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Flights cancelled and flood and landslide warnings issued as typhoon approaches area south-west of Tokyo with sustained winds of 150km/h

Nearly 800 flights have been cancelled and tens of thousands of homes have lost power as a slow-moving typhoon made landfall in western Japan early on Tuesday, prompting authorities to issue flood and landslide warnings.

Approaching from the Pacific Ocean, Typhoon Lan hit the southern tip of Wakayama prefecture, 400km (250 miles) south-west of Tokyo. The typhoon had sustained winds of 150km/h (93mph) and was moving north-west across the western part of the main island of Honshu at around 15km/h (9mph).

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Top Chinese developer’s financial woes cast shadow over Australian property market

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Huge housing estates developed by Risland on the fringes of Sydney and Melbourne could be affected as shares of parent company Country Garden plunge

The financial problems of one of China’s biggest property companies, Country Garden, could reverberate in the Australian property market, where its subsidiary Risland Australia is developing two massive housing estates on the fringes of Sydney and Melbourne.

Delays in the projects or a corporate failure would have significant impacts on the amount of new housing coming on to the market during a dire affordability crisis.

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Four Australians among seven missing after boat hit by storm off Indonesian islands

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Search and rescue operation launched after small vessel failed to arrive at Pinang resort in the Banyak Islands off Aceh

Four Australian tourists and three Indonesian crew are missing after their boat encountered a storm on its way to a group of remote islands off the west coast of Indonesia.

A search and rescue operation was launched on Monday after the small boat failed to arrive at its resort island destination known for its surf and beaches on Sunday.

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Miss Universe cuts ties with Indonesia pageant over sexual assault claims

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Six Miss Universe Indonesia contestants allege they were asked to strip for ‘a body check for scars and cellulite’

The global organiser of the Miss Universe beauty pageant has cut ties with its franchise in Indonesia days after several contestants alleged they had been sexually abused in the run-up to the competition’s crowning ceremony in Jakarta.

Six contestants in the Miss Universe Indonesia pageant are understood to have filed complaints with police, alleging that organisers asked contestants to strip down to their underwear for “a body check for scars and cellulite” two days before the ceremony in July.

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Mudslide in north-western Chinese city leaves 21 dead and six missing

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Officials say 900 homes in Xi’an were left without power in disaster that struck after unusually high rainfall and typhoons

A mudslide in China’s north-western city of Xi’an has killed 21 people, with six still missing, officials said on Sunday.

The city’s emergency management authority released an update on the number of casualties from Friday’s disaster as China grappled with unusually high summer rainfall.

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Taiwan vice-president says ‘don’t be afraid’ to fight authoritarianism in New York speech

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William Lai issues global appeal during US stopover after China denounces him as a ‘troublemaker’

Taiwan’s vice-president has urged the world to stand up against the “increased threat from authoritarianism” and reiterated a willingness to talk to China, in a speech made in New York during a brief US stopover condemned by Beijing.

William Lai, a frontrunner to be Taiwan’s next president at elections in January, said in New York on Sunday: “If Taiwan is safe, the world is safe, if the Taiwan Strait is peaceful, then the world is peaceful,” according to a read out from Taiwan’s presidential office.

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China has its own reasons for being at Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia

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Gathering in Jeddah offers Beijing chance to placate global south and limit damage with west over Russia relations

When the Chinese envoy Li Hui arrived in Saudi Arabia, to join international talks on a peace deal for Ukraine this week, it was a pointed contrast with Beijing’s decision to skip a similar forum in Copenhagen in June.

At the summit, which excluded Russia, Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy promoted his vision for ending the war to a large gathering of countries from the global south.

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