Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Spain’s PM urges Beijing to discuss peace plan with Zelenskiy

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Pedro Sánchez encourages dialogue between Xi Jinping and Ukrainian president during China visit

Spain’s prime minister has said he conveyed concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Xi Jinping, urging Beijing to discuss peace plans with Kyiv directly, during a visit to China aimed at boosting ties between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters on Friday from the Spanish embassy in Beijing, Pedro Sánchez said the talks with the Chinese president had “transmitted our concern at the illegal invasion of Ukraine”, as well as “encouraged Xi to talk to President Zelenskiy” to learn first-hand about the peace plan proposed by Kyiv.

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Kemi Badenoch casts doubt on growth projections for Asia-Pacific trade deal

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Comments threaten to worsen already tense relationship between senior ministers and civil servants

Kemi Badenoch has cast doubt on her department’s projections for how much the Asia-Pacific trade deal the UK government has signed will help economic growth.

The government announced overnight it had joined the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTTP), which includes Australia and Japan, after two years of negotiations.

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Russia seeking weapons from North Korea to bolster Ukraine war, says US

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US security spokesman says new evidence suggests Moscow offering food to ‘rogue’ nation in return for dozens of kinds of weapons and munitions

The White House says it has new evidence that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons and munitions to fuel the war in Ukraine, this time in a deal that would provide Pyongyang with much-needed food and other commodities in return.

It is the latest accusation that Russia, desperate for weaponry and restricted by sanctions and export controls, is turning to “rogue” nations to help it continue its 13-month-old war.

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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to bribery charges

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Bankman-Fried, 31, has already pleaded not guilty to eight counts over collapse of cryptocurrency exchange last year

The FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new US criminal charges, which include conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities.

Bankman-Fried, 31, had earlier pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

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Europe must reassess its relations with China, says EU chief

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Ursula von der Leyen calls for ‘clear-eyed picture’ of risks as she prepares for Beijing trip

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called on Europe to reassess its diplomatic and economic relations with China before a visit to Beijing next week with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

Europe needed to have “a clear-eyed picture on what the risks are”, she said in a wide-ranging speech in Brussels, noting that EU-China relations had become “more distant and more difficult” in recent years as China moved into “a new era of security and control” and ramped up “policies of disinformation and economic and trade coercion”.

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Japan school stirs debate over hairstyle rules after boy with cornrows separated from class

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‘I felt like I was being told, “This is not your special day”,’ says 18-year-old of graduation ceremony

Strict rules on hairstyles at schools in Japan have attracted criticism after a mixed-race teenager was separated from other students at their graduation ceremony because he had plaited his hair into cornrows to pay tribute to his Black heritage.

The student, who has not been named, was made to sit alone at the back of the hall during a graduation ceremony at his school in Himeji, western Japan, and told not to stand and respond when his name was called out.

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China renews threats as Taiwan president greeted by crowds in New York

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Tsai Ing-wen’s trip causing controversy in China, with the government labelling it a ‘provocation’

Chinese officials have warned of “serious” consequences if Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, meets the US House speaker next week, after Tsai arrived in New York to crowds of supporters and protesters.

Tsai is stopping in the US twice during her 10-day visit to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize. Her itinerary has not been disclosed and none of the events were open to the public or media.

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NZ mulls harsher law against refugee boat arrivals – despite no refugee boats ever having arrived

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Opponents claim that bill put forward by Labour government amounts to fear-mongering in an election year

Large groups of asylum seekers arriving to New Zealand by sea could be detained in prison for up to 28 days without a warrant, under a law change that was proposed even though a refugee boat has never reached the country.

The bill – put forward by the Labour government – passed its first reading on Wednesday. It also determines that asylum seekers who arrive in groups of 30 or more by sea would have no possibility of attaining the entry permissions or temporary visas conferred on other travellers to New Zealand – including asylum seekers who enter the country by air.

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China warns of retaliation if Taiwan’s president meets US House speaker

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Beijing has urged the US not to allow Tsai Ing-wen to transit through the US, saying it would be a ‘provocation’

The Chinese government has threatened retaliation if Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, meets the US House speaker this week, and urged the US not to let her transit through the country, saying it would be a “provocation”.

Tsai left Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon for a 10-day trip to visit Central American allies, Belize and Guatemala. The trip includes two stopovers, in New York on the way in, and Los Angeles on the way out. Tsai is expected to meet with the speaker, Kevin McCarthy in California, but there hasn’t been official confirmation.

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Rupert Murdoch has fuelled polarisation of society, Barack Obama says

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Former US president tells Sydney audience that media coverage has helped exacerbate divisions and that we no longer have a ‘shared story’

The former US president Barack Obama has suggested that Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has led to greater polarisation in western societies through news coverage designed to “make people angry and resentful”.

Speaking to a capacity crowd of about 9,000 people at Sydney’s Aware Super Theatre on Tuesday night, Obama mixed childhood memories of transiting through Australia as a child with pointed observations about the current political discourse and the rise of China.

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China spent $240bn on belt and road bailouts from 2008 to 2021, study finds

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Rise in emergency financing for other countries since 2016 correlates with drop in infrastructure lending

China spent $240bn (£195bn) bailing out countries struggling under their belt and road initiative debts between 2008 and 2021, new data shows.

Research found that Chinese state-backed lenders released bailout funds to 22 countries, including Argentina, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. Almost 80% of the emergency rescue lending was issued after 2016, reaching more than $40bn in 2021.

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Daniel Andrews begins meetings in Beijing amid claims of Australian media exclusion

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Victoria’s opposition accuses premier of snubbing education leaders while union says absence of journalists on China trip is ‘disturbing’

Daniel Andrews has begun a series of meetings in Beijing as part of a four-day trip to China amid criticism from home over the exclusion of Australian journalists and education leaders, and the limited information provided about the visit.

The Victorian opposition has accused the premier of snubbing industry leaders from the higher education sector by not having them join him on a visit designed to entice Chinese students back to the state.

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Taiwan caught between superpowers as rival leaders visit China and US

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Ma Ying-jeou’s ‘we are all Chinese’ message starkly at odds with vision of Tsai Ing-wen, who seeks support from Washington

Taiwan’s former president Ma Ying-jeou stood in front of the Sun Yat-sen mausoleum in Nanjing on Tuesday and called for people on both sides of the Taiwan strait to work together for peace, because, he said: “We are all Chinese.”

The 73-year-old is in China on a historic visit, the first by a current or former Taiwanese president since 1949. In the decades since, tensions have increased as Beijing vows to annex Taiwan under what it calls “reunification”. Taiwan’s government and people have become increasingly opposed to the prospect of Chinese rule, and few identify themselves as Chinese.

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‘In awe’: New Zealand aurora hunters entranced by unusually bright southern lights display

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Recent auroras have been so intense they have been visible as far north as Auckland

The lure of unusually vibrant views of the southern lights in New Zealand has prompted aurora-hunters to drive for hours through the night to capture the “elusive” sight on camera, with social media groups devoted to swapping tips growing in size.

The aurora australis is always more visible in New Zealand and Australian skies during autumn and winter – beginning in March in the southern hemisphere – but this month, the southern lights have been more visible than usual, analysts say. Auroras – beautiful light shows in the night sky – are seen when sunspots erupt, causing solar storms which send material from the sun towards Earth.

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New Zealand may join Aukus pact’s non-nuclear component

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Defence minister says government ‘willing to explore’ participating in ‘pillar two’ of defence deal founded by Australia, UK and US

New Zealand’s government has confirmed it is discussing joining the non-nuclear part of the Aukus alliance founded by Australia, the UK and US.

“We have been offered the opportunity to talk about whether we could or wish to participate in that pillar two [non-nuclear] aspect of it,” said Andrew Little, the New Zealand defence minister. “I’ve indicated we will be willing to explore it.”

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‘We are very vulnerable’: cyclone-hit Vanuatu pins climate hopes on UN vote

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Pacific nation is sponsoring resolution that will ask ICJ to rule on consequences for climate inaction

Last month, twin cyclones tore through Port Vila, the capital of the Pacific nation of Vanuatu. The category-four storms left corrugated iron roofs crumpled like leftover wrapping paper, flooded the streets with waste-ridden mud, cut residents off from water and electricity for several days, and sent many fleeing to hastily established evacuation centres.

Devastation of this sort is becoming more common throughout the Pacific, where rising sea levels are leaving shorelines increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather made more intense by climate change.

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North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles as regional tensions rise

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Number of weapons tests have accelerated as the US and South Korea engage in joint military exercises

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military has said, the latest in its flurry of weapons tests in recent weeks.

The launch comes as the South carries out joint amphibious landing exercise with the US, and a few days after they wrapped up their largest combined military drills in five years.

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Hong Kong police keep tight control over first authorised protest in years

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Several dozen demonstrators were required to wear numbered lanyards, as police monitored their march against a proposed land reclamation

Hong Kong police have permitted a small protest march under tight restrictions, in one of the first demonstrations to be approved since the enactment of a sweeping national security law in 2020.

Several dozen demonstrators were required to wear numbered lanyards and were barred from wearing masks, as police monitored their march against a proposed land reclamation and rubbish processing project.

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Investors force HSBC shareholder vote on structural overhaul

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Minority shareholder Ken Lui leads campaign seeking to split bank’s Asian and western businesses

Hong Kong investors have forced HSBC into a shareholder vote on its structure and strategy, including a potential spin-off of its Asian arm.

An investor group, led by the minority shareholder Ken Lui, said the bank’s Asian activities were “effectively subsidising the western businesses, to the detriment of HSBC’s global shareholders” in a way that undermines efforts to increase the bank’s value and growth.

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New allegations and a resignation strain already fraught China-Canada relations

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Han Dong’s departure escalates row over allegations that Beijing meddled in Canada’s elections as friction between countries grows

The abrupt resignation of a Canadian lawmaker over allegations he secretly met with a Chinese diplomat has escalated a row over allegations that Beijing meddled in Canadian elections – and highlighted the complex and often fraught relationship between the two countries.

Han Dong, a member of the governing Liberal party, was reported to have met with Han Tao, China’s consul general in February 2021, to suggest that Chinese authorities delay freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were detained in China at the time.

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