Category Archives: Asia Pacific

China accuses UK of protecting ‘fugitives’ after bounty put on Hong Kong democracy activists

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Chinese embassy in London tells UK to ‘stop interfering’ in China’s affairs, as Hong Kong leader says overseas activists will be ‘pursued for life’

China has accused the UK of protecting fugitives after the British foreign secretary criticised Hong Kong’s decision to offer HK$1m bounties for the arrest of eight democracy activists based overseas, as the territory’s leader said the group would be “pursued for life”.

In a statement late on Monday, China’s embassy in London said: “British politicians have openly offered protection for fugitives. This is crude interference in Hong Kong’s rule of law and China’s internal affairs.”

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Australia resists Japan’s lobbying for NT gas export project to be given special treatment

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Australian government stands by safeguard mechanism’s design and indicates it will not change in response to lobbying

The Albanese government is resisting a push by Japan for a major new Northern Territory gas export development to be given special treatment under Australia’s revamped emissions reduction policy.

The Kishida government has lobbied the Albanese government over its concerns about Australia’s safeguard mechanism, a climate policy that requires major industrial polluters to either cut greenhouse gas emissions intensity – how much they emit per unit of production – or pay for carbon offsets.

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‘We depend on our beautiful reefs’: Fukushima water release plan sparks concern across Pacific

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Some fishers say they lack information and worry about Japan’s plan to discharge treated wastewater into the sea

Every day fisher Charlie Maleb takes his string lines and his nets out from Wala Island, Vanuatu, into the Pacific Ocean.

The 54-year-old drops his net around 5am and waits an hour before pulling it out, hoping to catch sardines, poulet and mangrove fish. Later in the day Maleb drops a line attached to a traditional fishing rod, fashioned out of a long tree branch.

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Minister suggests rate pause based on uncertain outlook – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Foreign minister Penny Wong says the focus of Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo’s visit to Australia will be on strengthening economic ties between the two countries, on ABC RN this morning.

One of the things we’re focused on is how do we improve our economic ties. Obviously, the nation is an increasing economic power and will be over the next decade. We want to make sure we’re partners in that. So there will be a great focus on the economy and the economic relationship.

You’ll see some big changes to make sure we make business travel easier.

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Hong Kong issues arrest warrants for eight overseas democracy activists

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Warrants criticised as ‘indictment’ of judiciary with three of those targeted, including Nathan Law, thought to be in UK

Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants for eight overseas activists days after the third anniversary of the introduction of a national security law that granted authorities sweeping extraterritorial powers to prosecute acts or comments made anywhere in the world that it deems criminal.

Supt Steve Li Kwai-wah, a police officer, told a press conference on Monday that Nathan Law, Anna Kwok, Finn Lau, Dennis Kwok, Ted Hui, Kevin Yam, Mung Siu-tat and Yuan Gong-yi, high-profile pro-democracy activists, former lawmakers and legal scholars, “have encouraged sanctions … to destroy Hong Kong”.

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Taps run dry on Thai island as tourism boom worsens water shortage

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Public urged to use water sparingly on Koh Samui, as authorities say they don’t want it to become ‘a disaster zone’

Authorities on Koh Samui are working to tackle a water shortage that has left taps running dry often for months, saying they do not want the Thai island to become a “disaster zone”.

A lack of rain and a resurgence in tourism has put intense pressure on supplies, prompting Sutham Samthong, a deputy mayor of Koh Samui, to urge the public to use supplies sparingly.

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Vietnam bans Barbie film over disputed map of China’s South China Sea claims

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Scene shows map of China’s controversial ‘nine-dash line’ – repudiated in international ruling

Vietnam has banned Warner Bros’s Barbie film from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media have reported.

The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions.

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International Energy Agency warns of higher bills this winter

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Fatih Birol says China’s economic recovery combined with harsh winter could pile pressure on gas supplies

The head of the International Energy Agency has said energy prices may spike again this winter, forcing government to subsidise bills – just days after state support for UK households fell away.

Fatih Birol said a rapid improvement in the Chinese economy, coupled with a harsh winter, could put pressure on gas supplies and push up bills for consumers.

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Twitter faces lawsuit over alleged non-payment for office services in four countries

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Australia-based company Facilitate seeks more than A$1m for work done at offices in London, Dublin, Sydney and Singapore

Twitter is facing another lawsuit after the company was accused of failing to pay for services for offices in London, Dublin, Sydney and Singapore.

Sydney-based infrastructure company Facilitate is seeking a collective payment over A$1m ($666,000) across the three businesses in alleged owed payments dating back to October last year, when Elon Musk bought Twitter.

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US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen to visit China to build ‘healthy’ ties with Beijing

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Yellen heads to Beijing this week in move one expert calls an attempt to ‘put some floor’ under strained economic ties

US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen will visit Beijing this week, marking the second trip by a cabinet official to China since ties between the world’s top two economies deteriorated earlier this year.

Yellen is expected to discuss with her counterparts the importance for both countries “to responsibly manage our relationship, communicate directly about areas of concern, and work together to address global challenges”, said the Treasury Department in a statement on Sunday.

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Agency behind ‘Love the Philippines’ tourism video sorry for using shots of other countries

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Agency DDB Philippines apologises for using ‘highly inappropriate’ images that stock footage providers offer from Brazil and Indonesia

A tourism campaign for the Philippines backfired after the creators of a video promoting the archipelago nation as a holiday destination said it had used stock shots from other countries.

Advertising agency DDB Philippines apologised on Sunday for the “highly inappropriate” images, which included rice terraces in Indonesia and sand dunes in Brazil.

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EU softens China strategy by adopting ‘de-risking’ approach

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Decision agreed quickly at Brussels summit of leaders as bloc highlights vulnerability of supply chains

EU leaders have launched a policy towards China of “de-risking”, a softening of its unofficial “decoupling” approach that reflects concerns over the economic damage of cutting off the world’s second-biggest economy or entering a trade war with it.

The decision was agreed quickly at a summit of leaders in Brussels after the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, went into the summit with consensus among the 27 member states.

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Hong Kong pro-democracy radio station closes citing ‘dangerous’ political situation

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Citizens’ Radio to close on third anniversary of national security law that has led to demise of several other liberal media outlets

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy online Citizens’ Radio station will cease operations on Friday owing to what its founder described as a “dangerous” political situation and the freezing of its bank account.

Launched in 2005 by veteran activist Tsang Kin-shing, the Cantonese-language broadcaster gained a steady following for its hard-hitting talkshows that were critical of authorities, as well as its years-long campaign for press freedom.

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Woman’s leg amputated at Bangkok airport after getting stuck in moving walkway

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Airport expresses ‘deepest condolences’ after 57-year-old gets caught and has left leg removed from above the knee

A woman’s leg has been amputated in a Thai airport after it became trapped by a movable walkway on Thursday, officials said.

The 57-year-old Thai passenger was due to board a morning flight from Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport to Nakhon Si Thammarat province when she was caught by the walkway in Terminal 2. A medical team there eventually had to remove her left leg from above the knee, according to the airport’s officials.

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Hiroshima bomb survivors say peace park agreement with Pearl Harbor is an ‘insult’

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Several groups wrote to the Hiroshima city government asking it not to sign the agreement with US counterparts

Survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima have reacted angrily to an agreement that links the city’s peace park with a memorial in Pearl Harbor.

The sister-park agreement, signed this week by the US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, and the mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, is designed to promote peace and friendship between the former Pacific war enemies.

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Low emission zones are improving health, studies show

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Review of research finds particularly clear evidence that LEZs in cities reduce heart and circulatory problems

An increasing number of research studies are showing that low emission zones (LEZs) improve health.

More than 320 zones are operating across the UK, Europe and notably in Tokyo, Japan. These reduce air pollution across an area by curbing the number of highly polluting vehicles, normally older diesels. Schemes, including London’s ultra-low emission zone, can improve air quality. This should lead to improved health, but does this actually happen?

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UK foreign secretary calls for expansion of UN security council

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James Cleverly says global south deserves more powerful voice at top table and review needed into five permanent members’ veto

The global south deserves a more powerful voice at the world’s top table by expanding the UN security council, the UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has said.

Cleverly also called for a review of the use of the veto by the council’s five permanent members, adding that the world’s poorest countries feel their voice is not heard even on issues of direct concern to them.

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New Zealand broadcaster reprimanded over ‘graphic’ dolphin mating scene

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Nature series Our Big Blue Backyard drew one complaint to media watchdog that it should not have given the program a G, or general, classification

New Zealand’s media watchdog has reprimanded public broadcaster TVNZ for not giving a higher classification to a documentary with “dramatised” scenes of dolphin mating.

The nature series Our Big Blue Backyard drew the ire of one viewer who successfully complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA). In the offending scene, a female dolphin is targeted by a pack of male dolphins that mate with her.

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China on course to hit wind and solar power target five years ahead of time

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Beijing bolstering position as global renewables leader with solar capacity more than rest of world combined

China is shoring up its position as the world leader in renewable power and potentially outpacing its own ambitious energy targets, a report has found.

China is set to double its capacity and produce 1,200 gigawatts of energy through wind and solar power by 2025, reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of time, according to the report by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based NGO that tracks operating utility-scale wind and solar farms as well as future projects in the country.

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Climate crisis linked to rising domestic violence in south Asia, study finds

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Increase of 1C in average annual temperature connected to more than 6% rise in physical and sexual domestic violence

As deadly heatwaves sweep through cities in India, China, the US and Europe amid the climate crisis, new research has found that rising temperatures are associated with a substantial rise in domestic violence against women.

A study published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday found a 1C increase in average annual temperature was connected to a rise of more than 6.3% in incidents of physical and sexual domestic violence across three south Asian countries.

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