Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Anger in Japan as report reveals children were forcibly sterilised

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Between 1948 and 1996, about 16,500 people were operated on without their consent under a eugenics law, triggering long campaign for redress

Campaigners in Japan have reacted angrily to a government report revealing that children as young as nine were among thousands of people who were forcibly sterilised under a eugenics law that was not repealed until the 1990s.

The 1,400-page report, submitted to parliament this week, details how, between 1948 and 1996, about 16,500 people were operated on without their consent under the law, which aimed to “prevent the birth of poor-quality descendants … and to protect the life and health of the mother”. Most of the victims were women.

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China barbecue restaurant explosion kills 31 after gas leak

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Seven people are receiving medical care after the blast in Yinchuan which took place on the eve of a popular local festival

At least 31 people have been killed when an explosion ripped through a restaurant in the north-western Chinese city of Yinchuan on the eve of a popular local holiday, according to state media.

“A leak of liquefied petroleum gas … caused an explosion during the operation of a barbecue restaurant,” state news agency Xinhua said of the Wednesday evening blast, citing the regional Communist party committee.

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‘India is now a linchpin’: US looks to Narendra Modi’s visit to counter China

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The Biden administration will try to strengthen US-India ties while the Indian leader looks to shore up votes for next year’s election

The symbolism of the visit will be hard to avoid. As Narendra Modi arrives in Washington DC on Wednesday – the capital of a country he was once prohibited from visiting for almost 10 years – he will join the ranks of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Volodymyr Zelenskiy as one of the few leaders to address a joint session of Congress more than once.

Statements from US officials ahead of the visit have been rapturous on the subject of US-India relations, praising the “significant defence partnership” and describing it as “a unique connection between the world’s oldest and largest democracies”. Before his departure from India, Modi said: “This special invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies.”

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China is state most dangerous to its own citizens’ civil rights, report finds

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China scores better on food, health and housing, while crackdowns have worsened Hong Kong’s ratings

China has been ranked as the worst country in the world for safety from the state and the right to assembly, in a human rights report that tracks social, economic and political freedoms.

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI), a New Zealand-based project, has been monitoring various countries’ human rights performance since 2017.

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Teachers at Taiwan kindergarten accused of drugging children

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Anger over handling of scandal threatens opposition party’s presidential election chances

Parents of toddlers in Taiwan have accused teachers at a preschool of drugging their children, in a scandal that threatens to dent the opposition party’s chances at the upcoming presidential election.

Teachers at Baoren kindergarten, a private preschool in New Taipei City, have been accused of sedating children with addictive cough syrups. Police launched an investigation this month after parents raised concerns about children showing unusual symptoms such as mood swings and cramps. Eight pupils reportedly tested positive for trace amounts of the psychoactive drugs phenobarbital and benzodiazepines.

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Three men including ex-NYPD officer convicted of harassing Chinese exile

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Prosecutors say ‘Operation Fox Hunt’ is a Beijing effort to pressure Chinese nationals in the US to return home to face charges

A former New York City police sergeant and two Chinese citizens living in the US have been convicted of various charges in a trial showcasing Chinese efforts to pressure expatriates into returning home, part of a program called “Operation Fox Hunt”.

Michael McMahon, who now works as a private investigator, Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong were accused of taking part in scare tactics aimed at a former Chinese official.

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Translator alleges work on Chinese radical ‘plagiarised’ in British Museum show

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Exclusive: Yilin Wang claims she did not receive any credit for translations of Qiu Jin’s work in the China’s Hidden Century exhibition

The British Museum is removing a segment of its landmark exhibition on China after a writer alleged that her translations of a Chinese revolutionary’s poetry had been “plagiarised”.

Yilin Wang, an award-winning translator, poet and editor who lives in Vancouver, said she did not receive any credit or reimbursement for translations of Qiu Jin’s work that she claims are hers. They appeared in the exhibition and catalogue of the museum’s China’s Hidden Century exhibition.

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Disgraced Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn sues former employer for $1bn

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Executive who jumped bail in Japan and escaped to Beirut has filed claim in Lebanese court

Carlos Ghosn, the disgraced former Nissan executive who jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon, has filed a $1bn lawsuit against his former employer.

Ghosn, the mastermind of a carmaking alliance with Renault that also later involved Mitsubishi Motors, was detained in Japan in November 2018 amid allegations of financial misconduct involving a plot to deliberately underreport his remuneration.

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Three in four Australians think China will be military threat to country within 20 years, survey finds

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Lowy Institute poll shows more than 60% see a US-China conflict over Taiwan as a critical threat but most believe Australia should remain neutral if it occurs

Three-quarters of Australians believe it is likely China will become a military threat to Australia in the next two decades but a majority say Australia should remain neutral in the event of a conflict between China and the United States, a new poll has found.

The 2023 Lowy Institute poll, which surveyed more than 2,000 Australians in March on a range of issues, also found 44% of Australians see China as “more of an economic partner” while 52% see the country as “more of a security threat” – a drop of 11 percentage points on last year.

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Misleading Home Office advice leaves Hong Kong protester fearing deportation from UK

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Student who took part in anti-Beijing protests is in legal limbo after withdrawing her asylum claim to make a visa application that was then rejected

A Hongkonger who fled to the UK after being targeted by Chinese security officials has been left fearing deportation after appearing to be wrongly advised by the Home Office.

Olivia (not her real name) left Hong Kong in July 2022 after someone claiming to be from the new national security department – created two years earlier when the Chinese Communist party (CCP) imposed a draconian security law on the city – approached her in the street and accused her of supporting Hong Kong independence.

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Antony Blinken and Xi Jinping hold ‘candid’ talks in Beijing

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Meeting between China’s president and US secretary of state takes place at time of heightened tension

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has wrapped up a rare trip to Beijing where he met China’s president, Xi Jinping, concluding a high-stakes visit aimed at stabilising spiralling relations.

Speaking at a press briefing in Beijing before his departure, Blinken said he had had “an important conversation” with Xi during the 35-minute encounter and stressed it was the responsibility of both countries to find a path forward.

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Sunak urged to rethink visit by Chinese official linked to forcible removal of dissidents

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Liu Jianchao accused of directing fugitive recovery operations targeting regime’s opponents

A cross-party group of British MPs and peers has written to the prime minister urging him to reconsider a decision to allow a visit this week by a senior Chinese government official accused of overseeing the forcible repatriation of hundreds of dissidents back to China, including some from the UK.

Liu Jianchao, the head of the international department of the Communist party of China central committee, is due to speak at the Chatham House thinktank and meet UK parliamentarians.

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AstraZeneca considers spinning off its China business

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UK’s largest stock-market-listed firm weighs up Hong Kong or Shanghai listing to shield it from geopolitical tensions

AstraZeneca is considering spinning off its business in China and listing it in Hong Kong or Shanghai to shield the multinational drugmaker from geopolitical tensions.

Britain’s largest stock-market-listed company has drawn up the plans in attempt to protect its business from the fallout from increasing tensions between China and the US and its allies.

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Antony Blinken in China: all eyes on whether US secretary of state will meet Xi Jinping

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A meeting is yet to be confirmed, a day after ‘candid’ talks with China’s foreign minister, who said ties were at their lowest point since diplomatic relations began

Antony Blinken was greeted by China’s top diplomat on Monday, and will perhaps meet its president, on the final day of a rare visit aimed at trying to resurrect relations between Washington and Beijing from historic lows.

Neither Blinken nor Wang Yi made any comment to reporters as they greeted each other and sat for their discussion during what is the first visit by a US secretary of state to China in five years.

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Blinken will seek China’s cooperation in curbing fentanyl at high-stakes visit

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US secretary of state ‘held candid, substantive, and constructive talks,’ state department spokesperson says

US secretary of state Antony Blinken will seek China’s cooperation in curbing the production of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl during his two-day visit to Beijing, one of several contentious issues that the high-stakes diplomatic outreach will touch on.

Aides to Blinken have said the issue will feature prominently in discussions between US and Chinese officials during the trip as the US seeks China’s help in curbing Chinese manufacture of precursor chemicals used to create the drug that helped drive more than two-thirds of 100,000 American overdose deaths in each of the past two years.

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Antony Blinken begins China visit that spy balloon put off

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US secretary of state’s trip seeks to clear the air but issues such as Taiwan and Ukraine leave limited room for compromise

Antony Blinken has arrived in Beijing on the highest-level trip by a US official since 2018, with his aides signalling he was seeking to build lines of communication rather than secure any practical breakthrough agreements.

The expectations, set deliberately low for the two-day talks, allow room for the world’s two largest economies to air their differences over the Taiwan strait, technology, human rights and the war in Ukraine.

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North Korea holds key meeting as US sends nuclear submarine to South Korea

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Kim Jong-un attended the conference to review defence strategies and the country’s struggling economy

North Korea opened a key political conference with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance to discuss improving its struggling economy and reviewing defence strategies in the face of growing tensions with rivals, according to state media reports.

The enlarged plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ party’s central committee came as the US sent a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea in the allies’ latest show of force against the North, which has ramped up its testing of nuclear-capable missiles to a record pace in recent months.

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Home invasions and roadblocks: New Zealand on alert as ‘seal silly season’ begins

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Public notice issued to watch out for the flippered creatures as they start to leave their breeding colonies and venture out into New Zealand

Sunbathing on roads, breaking through catflaps, visiting film sets, invading homes and taking in the heat of backyard spa bath covers – New Zealand’s “seal silly season” has officially begun and the country is bracing for an influx of adolescent marine mammals exploring the country’s highways, patios and golf courses.

This week, the government issued a formal public notice that “seal season” had begun – and New Zealanders could expect to encounter higher numbers of the flippered young creatures out and about, exploring human-dominated spaces. From May until December, adult males and freshly weaned pups from New Zealand’s growing fur seal population will leave their breeding colonies and head out into the wider world – many for the first time. They’re young, inexperienced and prone to adolescent misbehaviour and mishaps, hitting the wider world en masse like a cohort of fresh-minted spring breakers.

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Weather tracker: extreme rainfall and heat hit China amid Asian heatwave

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‘Dragon boat water’ is breaking records in Guangxi region, as air conditioner use in Xinjiang puts strain on grid

Many people in China have experienced a variety of weather extremes in recent days. Parts of southern and eastern China experienced prolonged periods of torrential rainfall, as the summer rains known as “dragon boat water” got off to a remarkable start.

The city of Yulin in the Guangxi region experienced 35 hours of non-stop rain on 8-9 June, while the nearby city of Beihai was flooded after 614.7mm of rainfall over 24 hours in the same period. This is approximately a third of the city’s average yearly precipitation, and a June record for the Guangxi region. It is in stark contrast to May, when Guangxi experienced its lowest rainfall in 60 years.

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Japan raises age of consent from 13 to 16 in reform of sex crimes law

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Changes include the criminalisation of voyeurism and follow a string of acquittals in rape cases that triggered protests nationwide

Japan has raised the age of consent from 13, among the world’s lowest, to 16 years old as lawmakers passed key reforms to sex crime legislation.

A new bill, which also clarifies rape prosecution requirements and criminalises voyeurism, cleared parliament’s upper house in a unanimous vote.

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