Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Where is Qin Gang? China’s foreign minister has not been seen in public for three weeks

Posted on by

The absence of China’s foreign minister has been commented on online, where some discussion appears to have been censored

China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, has not been seen in public for over three weeks, despite a flurry of high-profile diplomatic efforts to repair ties with the United States.

As a former ambassador to Washington DC, who is considered a protege of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Qin had been expected to play a key role in a string of high-level visits by US officials.

Continue reading...

US climate envoy meets Chinese counterpart on hottest ever day in China

Posted on by

John Kerry arrives in Beijing as temperature hits 52.2C in Xinjiang – where authorities tell workers and students to stay at home

A remote township in China’s western Xinjiang region has set a nationwide temperature record of 52.2C, as the US climate envoy, John Kerry, held meetings with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, in Beijing.

The temperature was reached on Sunday at Sanbao township in the Turpan Depression, the China Meteorological Administration said in a statement. It broke a previous record of 50.6C, set in July 2017, the CMA said.

Continue reading...

Student journalists in Indonesia face backlash after reporting on sexual harassment

Posted on by

Students say they are being targeted with expulsion, physical assault and death threats after writing about sensitive subjects

Yolanda Agne, 23, was just months away from graduating in journalism at a university in Maluku province, Indonesia, when she was banned from finishing her studies.

In March last year, the student magazine Lintas – of which Agne was then editor-in-chief – published a damning piece on the prevalence of sexual harassment on her campus at Ambon Islamic State Institute. Among the alleged perpetrators were eight lecturers, with incidents dating over a six-year period.

Continue reading...

South Korea floods: president urges climate crisis action as death toll hits 40

Posted on by

President Yoon Suk Yeol calls for overhaul of national preparedness as extreme weather becomes ‘commonplace’

Rescuers in South Korea have recovered a total of 13 bodies from a flooded road tunnel in a central city, as the death toll from flash floods and landslides triggered by days of heavy rain rose to at least 40 on Monday.

The devastation prompted the country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to warn that the climate crisis had made extreme weather a fact of life.

Continue reading...

China GDP growth falls short of expectations as sinking property prices hit economy

Posted on by

Data shows the economy grew just 0.8% in the June quarter, down from 2.2% in the first three months of 2023

China’s economy expanded 6.3% in the second quarter from a year ago, falling short of market expectations as export demand remained tepid and sinking property prices sapped consumer confidence.

Compared with a year earlier, China’s GDP in the April-June period was 6.3% larger, the national bureau of statistics said on Monday, quickening from the 4.5% annual growth pace for the first three months of 2023. Economists had forecast growth to accelerate to 7.3%, according to a Reuters survey.

Continue reading...

New Zealand PM says Pacific region less secure amid China’s rise

Posted on by

Chris Hipkins says Beijing exerting influence is ‘major driver’ of increasing competition in the Indo-Pacific

New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins has said that the Pacific region is becoming “more contested, less predictable, and less secure” as China becomes more assertive.

Hipkins said it was important that New Zealand continues to engage with China to listen and to build dialogue.

Continue reading...

South Korea floods leave dozens dead as rescuers scramble to find tunnel victims

Posted on by

Bodies recovered from underpass as downpours trigger landslides and force evacuation of thousands

Rescuers in South Korea are battling to reach people trapped in a flooded tunnel, while at least 37 people have died after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides.

South Korea is at the peak of its summer monsoon season and there has been heavy rainfall for the last four days, causing a major dam to overflow.

Continue reading...

Singapore arrests cabinet minister in top-level corruption probe

Posted on by

S Iswaran on bail along with hotel magnate and Singapore Formula One GP promoter Ong Beng Seng as case rocks city-state’s clean reputation

Singapore’s transport minister has been arrested in connection with a rare top-level corruption investigation that has also ensnared a billionaire hotel tycoon, the country’s anti-graft body has said.

S Iswaran, the minister, was arrested on Tuesday and “subsequently released on bail”, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in an emailed statement late on Friday, confirming the arrest for the first time.

Continue reading...

David Cameron’s appointment to investment fund ‘part engineered by China’

Posted on by

The hiring of former PM and Treasury chief was to lend credibility to broader Beijing brand, intelligence watchdog told

David Cameron’s appointment as vice-chair of the £1bn China-UK investment fund and Sir Danny Alexander’s appointment as vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank were in part engineered by the Chinese state, parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC) found.

Their appointment was to lend credibility to Chinese investment as well as the broader Chinese brand, according to confidential evidence given to the intelligence watchdog.

Continue reading...

Deep-sea mining causes huge decreases in sealife across wide region, says study

Posted on by

Scientists caution against rush to mine the seabed, and say it could be decades before the full impact on marine life is known

Animal populations appear to decrease where the deep sea is being mined, and the impact on marine life of the controversial industry may involve a wider “footprint” than previously expected.

According to analysis of seabed ecology undertaken after drilling tests in 2020 in Japan – the country’s first successful extraction of cobalt crusts from deep-sea mountains – there was a decrease in marine life such as fish and shrimp at the site a year later. The density had dropped even further in areas outside the impact zone, by more than half.

Continue reading...

No chance China will join Pacific trade pact in near term, Australia warns

Posted on by

Assistant trade minister suggests consideration of China’s push to join CPTPP ‘some way off’ as UK becomes 12th member

China has no hope of being accepted into a major regional trade pact in the near term, the Australian government has signalled, as members prepare to welcome the UK into the fold this weekend.

The assistant trade minister, Tim Ayres, is visiting New Zealand for a meeting with fellow members of the CPTPP. The UK, which sees joining as part of its “tilt” to the Indo-Pacific region, is to be formally accepted as the 12th member on Saturday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Nationals accuse Labor of ‘hypocrisy’ over response to scathing APVMA report – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Cabinet meeting to decide Lowe’s successor today

Philip Lowe will be replaced as the Reserve Bank governor, with today’s cabinet meeting to decide his successor, Guardian Australia has confirmed.

If I was asked to continue in the role, I would be honoured to do that and I would continue.

If I am not asked to continue in the role, I will do my best to support my successor, and the treasurer has said he will make an announcement before the end of this month.

Continue reading...

Marshall Islands calls for US to pay more compensation over nuclear tests

Posted on by

Pacific nation plagued by environmental effects of 67 bomb tests between 1946 and 1958, including Castle Bravo detonation in 1954

The foreign minister of the Marshall Islands has called for more US compensation over the legacy of massive US nuclear testing to enable the renewal of a strategic agreement governing bilateral relations.

Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of 67 nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included Castle Bravo at Bikini Atoll in 1954 – the largest US bomb ever detonated.

Continue reading...

Committee report is rightfully scathing on UK’s China strategy

Posted on by

The ISC’s warnings are unlikely to act as much of a brake on Britain’s approach to China

If there is one constant in the UK’s policy towards China over the past three decades it has been its short-termism and inconsistency, the scathing intelligence and security committee report on China rightly finds, comparing Britain’s endless course corrections with Beijing’s capacity to think strategically about how to advance the global interests of the Chinese Communist party.

If Downing Street thinks in terms of the next news bulletin, China has a planning cycle that in some of its documents takes it to 2049, as the ISC was told by one of its intelligence agency witnesses.

Continue reading...

Thailand’s winning candidate for PM blocked from power

Posted on by

Pita Limjaroenrat fails to get parliamentary backing required to take office but can run again

The leader of Thailand’s pro-reform party has been blocked from taking power by a parliamentary vote that includes military-appointed senators despite winning the most seats in the election in May.

Pita Limjaroenrat’s progressive Move Forward party, which campaigned on a promise of change after nine years of rule by a former army chief, gained the most votes two months ago, but election rules rewritten after a military coup in 2014 require him to have majority support from parliament to become prime minister.

Continue reading...

Leading Thailand candidate for PM warns of ‘high price’ if blocked from power

Posted on by

Pita Limjaroenrat of Thailand’s Move Forward is facing legal hurdles in the lead up to a vital vote in parliament

The leader of Thailand’s most popular party has warned of a high cost if he is blocked from taking power, after he was dealt a series of blows on the eve of a parliamentary vote to decide the next prime minister.

Pita Limjaroenrat’s progressive Move Forward party won the most seats in May’s election after promising major reforms to remove the military from politics, break up powerful monopolies and change Thailand’s lese-majesty law.

Continue reading...

Democracy activist Chau Van Kham says he wasn’t afraid of dying in Vietnamese prison

Posted on by

In his first public comments since being released from prison, Chau thanked supporters including some kinder jail guards

The pro-democracy activist Chau Van Kham says he was not afraid of dying in a Vietnamese jail and he knew supporters in Australia would never give up on him.

In his first comments since returning to Australia, Chau on Thursday thanked everyone who had advocated for him throughout his four-and-a-half-year ordeal.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Nato appears to shelve plans to open Japan liaison office in Tokyo

Posted on by

Progress expected at Nato summit thanks to attendance of Japan’s PM but no mention made in latest talks

Nato appears to have shelved plans to open a liaison office in Tokyo, a proposal that had been discussed as part of the western military alliance’s plans to deepen cooperation with partners in the Asia-Pacific but which was strongly opposed by China.

The idea to open an office was first discussed after Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, visited Japan earlier this year. It reportedly involved opening a civilian office in Tokyo in 2024, as a means of facilitating Nato’s dialogues in the Asia-Pacific. It was expected progress would be made at the Nato summit thanks to the attendance of Fumio Kishida, Japan’s prime minister, for the second year in a row.

Continue reading...

Philippines allows Barbie film but wants ‘childlike’ map lines blurred

Posted on by

Country’s censors give green light for film to be shown amid South China Sea controversy

Philippine censors have allowed the Barbie film to be shown in the country’s cinemas after asking its Hollywood distributor to blur lines on a brightly coloured drawing of a world map allegedly showing China’s claims to the disputed South China Sea.

The fantasy comedy film about the famous doll, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is to open in the south-east Asian nation on 19 July.

Continue reading...

Couple who survived White Island volcano tell court they weren’t warned of danger

Posted on by

US couple gives evidence to New Zealand court in case against island’s owners and tourism operators

An American couple who were badly burned when Whakaari/White Island erupted in December 2019, killing 22 of the 47 people in its crater, told a New Zealand court that neither their guides nor anyone else involved in their trip to the crater told them that such an event was likely – or even possible. Information about the dangers they faced on the island volcano was minimal, they said, and safety protections lax.

Evidence from Matthew Urey, 40, and Lauren Urey, 36, opened the prosecution’s case in the Auckland district court on Wednesday, beginning a lengthy trial for the island’s owners and other tourism companies involved in the ill-fated trip.

Continue reading...