Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Jacinda Ardern says leaders can be ‘sensitive and kind’ in farewell speech

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Former New Zealand PM calls for politics to be opened up for all in emotional address to parliament

“You can be anxious, sensitive, kind and wear your heart on your sleeve. You can be a mother, or not, an ex-Mormon, or not, a nerd, a crier, a hugger – you can be all of these things, and not only can you be here – you can lead.”

Jacinda Ardern has left New Zealand’s parliament with a highly personal, often emotional speech, calling for an opening up of politics to those who may not see themselves as typical leaders.

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Diners in Japan arrested for dipping own chopsticks in communal bowl of ginger

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Arrests over prank at beef bowl restaurant in Osaka come in wake of ‘sushi terrorism’ revelations that have gripped Japan’s food industry

Japan’s crackdown on errant diners in the wake of “sushi terrorism” has intensified after two men were arrested for using their chopsticks to remove a condiment from a communal container at a restaurant in Osaka.

The arrests of Toshihide Oka and Ryu Shimazu came as the country’s budget food service sector attempts to contain a wave of bad behaviour among clientele that began early this year at popular chain restaurants.

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Macron arrives in China hoping to talk Xi into changing stance on Ukraine

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French leader sees Beijing as possible ‘gamechanger’ and will also discuss European trade on three-day visit

Emmanuel Macron has arrived in China for a three-day state visit during which he hopes to dissuade Xi Jinping from supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also developing European trade ties with Beijing.

Shortly after arriving in the Chinese capital, Macron said he wanted to push back against the idea that there was an “inescapable spiral of mounting tensions” between China and the west.

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Jacinda Ardern to tackle online extremism in new role as special envoy for Christchurch Call

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Former New Zealand prime minister will push initiative she created in wake of 2019 terrorist attack

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern will take on a new role working alongside international governments and social media companies to target extremism and terrorist content online.

Prime minister Chris Hipkins announced on Tuesday evening that he had appointed Ardern as special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a newly created position.

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BTS’s Jimin becomes first South Korean solo artist to top US songs chart

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Jimin’s single Like Crazy is the 66th track ever to debut at the peak of the Hot 100 chart, and the first by a South Korean solo artist

Jimin, a member of the K-pop supergroup BTS, has made history as the first South Korean solo artist to land the No 1 spot on the top US songs chart, Billboard announced on Monday.

The single, Like Crazy, debuted at No 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 this week, bumping Miley Cyrus’s track Flowers out of the top spot, where it had reigned for eight weeks.

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US house speaker Kevin McCarthy confirms he will meet Taiwan president in California

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China previously warned McCarthy he is ‘playing with fire’ over the meeting and risks ‘serious confrontation’

Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen will meet with US House speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, the Republican’s office has confirmed, in defiance of warnings from Beijing that such a meeting would be a “provocation”.

Tsai is scheduled to make a stopover in California after state visits to Belize and Guatemala, Taiwan’s last remaining Central American diplomatic allies. McCarthy’s office said on Monday the “bipartisan” meeting would take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, outside Los Angeles.

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Indigenous tattooist becomes Vogue’s oldest ever cover star at 106

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Apo Whang-Od appears on front of Philippine edition and is credited with keeping batok form of art alive

An Indigenous tattooist in the Philippines credited with helping to keep alive a form of the art known as batok has become the oldest Vogue cover star after appearing in the Philippine edition of the magazine at the age of 106.

Apo Whang-Od, who is from Buscalan, a remote, mountainous village in the Kalinga province of the northern Philippines, began tattooing at 16. Once described as the last remaining mambabatok, or traditional Kalinga tattooist, she has since inspired a new generation to learn batok, said Vogue. Batok involves tapping the tattoo into the skin by hand, using a thorn, which is dipped in soot and natural dye, and is attached to a bamboo stick.

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Japan says 1.5m people are living as recluses after Covid

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Fifth of hikikomori cases among working-age people attributed to pressures unleashed by pandemic

Almost 1.5 million people of working age in Japan are living as social recluses, according to a government survey, with about a fifth of cases attributed to the pressures unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Large numbers of hikikomori said they had begun retreating from mainstream society due to relationship issues and after losing or leaving their jobs, the cabinet office said. A significant proportion – 20.6% – said their predicament had been triggered by changes in lifestyle imposed during the pandemic.

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Japan’s bear meat vending machine proves a surprising success

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The machine in the northern prefecture of Akita sells locally killed wild bear captured by hunters

Japan has added to its large and eclectic pool of vending machines with a new model that sells fresh bear meat – and which has proved an unlikely hit.

The machine, in the northern prefecture of Akita, has attracted a steady stream of customers since it was installed at the end of last year, according to media reports.

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US to open embassy in Vanuatu as it seeks to counter China in the Pacific

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Washington, which has ties with the island nation but has been represented by diplomats based in New Guinea, also plans embassies in Kiribati and Tonga

The United States plans to open an embassy in Vanuatu, the state department has confirmed, as Washington moves to boost its diplomatic presence in the Pacific to counter China’s growing influence.

“Consistent with the US Indo-Pacific strategy, a permanent diplomatic presence in Vanuatu would allow the US government to deepen relationships with Ni-Vanuatu officials and society,” the department said in a statement.

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Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese pop pioneer and Oscar-winning composer, dies aged 71

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Sakamoto was one of Japan’s most successful musicians, acclaimed for work in Yellow Magic Orchestra as well as solo albums and film scores

Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Japanese musician whose remarkably eclectic career straddled pop, experimentalism and Oscar-winning film composition, has died aged 71.

Sakamoto’s management company said he died on Tuesday. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer.

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‘It’s like we don’t exist’: Japan faces pressure to allow same-sex marriage

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Diplomats add their voices to Japanese campaigners in demanding LGBTQ+ rights as Hiroshima prepares to host the G7 summit

Akane Kousaka and her partner live in fear of the day when one of them falls ill or is injured in an accident. The LGBTQ+ couple have a “partnership certificate” issued by their ward office in Tokyo, but it comes with none of the legal guarantees afforded married heterosexual couples – including the right to visit a spouse in hospital.

“We might be able to get special permission, but we shouldn’t have to rely on other people’s goodwill … it’s not right,” Kousaka told the Observer. Other countries were leaving Japan behind, she added.

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Daniel Andrews returns from media-free China trip as opposition vows to pursue unanswered questions

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Victorian premier reveals it was his decision not to invite media on his four-day mission to China

The Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says it was his decision not to invite journalists or key stakeholders on his four-day trip to China and has batted off criticism he had failed to be transparent about the visit.

Andrews this week became the first Australian leader to travel to China since the start of the pandemic and the announcement of the Aukus defence pact, visiting Beijing, Jiangsu and Sichuan before returning on Saturday.

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Pacific trade deal is more useful to Joe Biden than it is to the UK’s economy

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Hailed by Tory MPs as a Brexit benefit, CPTPP membership actually turns the UK into a willing pawn in Washington’s geopolitical game

Tory MPs hailed the UK’s entry last week into the Indo-Pacific trading bloc as a major step on the road to re-establishing Britain as a pioneer of free trade.

It was a coup for Rishi Sunak, said David Jones, the deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Tory Eurosceptics, who was excited to be aligned with “some of the most dynamic economies in the world”.

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Ten Chinese aircraft cross Taiwan Strait median line, island’s defence ministry says

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Taiwan sends aircraft to warn away nine Chinese fighter jets and one drone that breached unofficial barrier between two sides

Ten Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, normally an unofficial barrier between the mainland and the island, Taiwan’s defence ministry has said.

Nine Chinese fighter jets and one military drone crossed the median line in the 24 hours to 6am on Saturday, the ministry said in its daily report on Chinese military activities.

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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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