Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil organisers convicted under national security law

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Three Hong Kong Alliance members, including prominent pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung, face up to six months in jail

Three former members of a Hong Kong group that organised annual vigils to mark China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown have been found guilty of not complying with a national security police request for information.

Chow Hang-tung, 38, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, was among those convicted by the magistrate court.

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State of emergency declared in Vanuatu after second cyclone in a week

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Cyclone Kevin passed over the capital Port Vila less than three days after Cyclone Judy cut power in the city

A state of emergency was declared in Vanuatu as category 4 Cyclone Kevin brought gale-force winds and torrential rain to the Pacific nation battling its second major cyclone in a week.

Cyclone Kevin passed over the capital Port Vila late on Friday and was moving across the southern island province of Tafea on Saturday morning, bringing wind gusts in excess of 230km/h, according to the country’s meteorology department.

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Growers count cost as Cyclone Gabrielle buries New Zealand vineyards in silt

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Deadly storm left wine regions of Hawkes Bay and Gisborne covered in mud just before harvest time

Wine-growing regions in New Zealand’s North Island have been devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle, with some vineyards there facing a long path to recovery after being buried by torrents of silt just before harvest time.

Wine drinkers could face a long wait for their favourite bottle from Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne after last month’s storm, which killed at least 11 people, and left grower Philip Barber sheltering on the roof of his house with his wife and two small children.

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FBI grilled Leonardo DiCaprio over ties to Malaysian fugitive financier – report

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Files show actor had relationship with Jho Low, on the run over links to 1MDB scandal, and Kim Kardashian was also interviewed

New details have emerged of the actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s ties to Jho Low, the Malaysian financier turned fugitive currently wanted by international authorities over his links to one of the world’s largest corruption scandals.

On Thursday, Bloomberg revealed previously undisclosed details from FBI documents in which authorities interviewed DiCaprio in 2018 about his relationship with Low, who is accused of involvement in a money-laundering scheme of over $4.5bn being siphoned from the Malaysian state investment fund, also known as 1MDB.

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Thai factory used by Tesco faces criminal charges over treatment of workers

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Exclusive: VKG, where workers made jeans for Tesco’s Thai branch between 2017 and 2020, faces charges including fraud

Thai police have brought criminal charges against a clothing factory that was used by Tesco to make F&F clothes, over its treatment of workers.

The Guardian revealed in December that Burmese workers who produced F&F jeans for Tesco in Thailand reported being made to work 99-hour weeks for illegally low pay in terrible conditions.

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Philippines oil tanker spill prompts fears for protected marine areas

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Authorities scramble to contain leak from sunken tanker that was carrying about 800,000 litres of oil

Authorities in the Philippines are scrambling to contain an oil leak from a sunken tanker that could threaten the rich biodiversity of more than 20 marine protected areas.

The MT Princess Empress, which was carrying a cargo of about 800,000 litres of industrial oil, sank on Tuesday off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro province, after it experienced problems with its engine and began to drift due to rough seas. A passing cargo ship rescued the 20 crew onboard.

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US condemns ‘fabricated’ case as Cambodian opposition leader is jailed for 27 years

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Kem Sokha, an opponent of Cambodian dictator Hun Sen, sentenced after treason trial widely seen as politically driven

Prominent Cambodian opposition politician Kem Sokha has been sentenced to 27 years in prison after being found guilty of treason, in a case widely condemned as politically motivated.

The former leader of the dissolved opposition party the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was arrested in 2017 and accused of conspiring with the US to oust Cambodia’s authoritarian leader, Hun Sen, who has ruled for almost four decades.

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Christchurch shooting inquest delayed after bereaved families raise concerns evidence could be missed

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Lawyers for survivors and families of victims had urged postponement due to sheer volume of disclosure and delays in receiving, accessing and reviewing it

An inquest hearing into the deaths of 51 Muslims in a white supremacist terror attack on two Christchurch mosques has been postponed, after bereaved families and survivors raised “reasonable concerns” that vital evidence could be missed if it went ahead as scheduled, the coroner heading the inquiry says.

The inquiry will address questions not covered by previous investigations into the 15 March 2019 terrorist attack, in which an Australian gunman opened fire on worshipers during Friday prayers while livestreaming the massacre on Facebook.

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Firefighters battle high-rise blaze in Hong Kong shopping district

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No casualties have been reported since flames engulfed construction site in heart of busy Tsim Sha Tsui late on Thursday

Hong Kong firefighters have been battling a blaze that engulfed a construction site in the city’s shopping district.

Officials said the fire broke out at 11.11pm (1511 GMT) on Thursday in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, a busy shopping and tourist area on the waterfront.

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Russia accuses west at G20 of blackmail and claims it has China’s support

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Stormy meeting in Delhi breaks up without joint statement as west and Moscow spar over Ukraine

Russia has accused the west of blackmail and threats and claimed it had China’s support for its position at a stormy meeting of G20 foreign ministers in India, dominated by the war in Ukraine.

The event broke up with no joint communique, only a summary of the meeting prepared by the host, India, the group’s current chair.

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Chinese banks try to revive housing market with mortgages for 95-year-olds

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‘Relay loans’ that can pass on to children follow other moves to make borrowing more flexible

In an attempt to stimulate China’s flagging housing market, banks in some cities are extending the upper age limit on mortgages to between 80 and 95.

Although not a national policy, banks in Beijing, Hangzhou and other big cities have started offering “relay loans” to elderly customers, which pass on to their children in the event that they cannot repay.

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‘Time is not on our side’: Congress panel says tackling China defines next century

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‘We do not want a war within the PRC, a clash of civilizations,’ says ranking Democrat as new committee holds first hearing

Congress must act urgently to counter economic and national security threats posed by China, lawmakers on a newly created special House committee warned in its first primetime hearing.

China and the US are locked in an “existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century”, the Republican chairman, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, said.

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China spends billions on pro-Russia disinformation, US special envoy says

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Beijing propaganda includes messaging aligned with Moscow on Ukraine war, says James Rubin

The west has been slow to respond to China spending billions globally to spread poisonous disinformation, including messaging that is completely aligned with Russia on Ukraine, a US special envoy has claimed.

James Rubin, a coordinator for the Global Engagement Center, a US state department body set up to “expose and counter” foreign propaganda and disinformation, made the remarks during a European tour this week.

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Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

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EU and parts of US already block access to Chinese-owned app amid concerns over data privacy and security

Canada has joined the US and EU in enacting a sweeping ban preventing TikTok from being installed on all government-issued mobile devices, as western officials take action over the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, did not rule out further action. “I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” he said.

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China should scrap ‘picking quarrels’ crime, says leading lawyer

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Suggestion to abolish catch-all offence will be among thousands considered at Chinese Communist party summit

China should abolish the catch-all crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a political delegate has proposed before next week’s major Two Sessions legislative meeting.

Zhu Zhengfu, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) advisory body, said the law risked undermining China’s legal system and was open to “selective enforcement” by authorities, according to state media.

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Confusion surrounds China’s energy policies as GDP and climate goals clash

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Wave of permits for coal-fired power plants sparks concern as ambitions for GDP growth and lowering emissions come into conflict

China’s energy policies are fast creating a type of “emissions ambiguity”, as the twin goals of boosting GDP growth and reducing carbon emissions come into conflict.

The uncertainty is whether and when the world’s biggest carbon emitter will start to curb greenhouse gas pollution. The release of the country’s annual statistics communique on Tuesday did not clear things up.

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Japan’s top ad agency indicted over Olympics bid-rigging scandal

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Dentsu Group charged after arrest of Tokyo 2020 committee official accused of rigging Games-related tenders

Japan’s biggest advertising agency and five other companies have been indicted for allegedly violating an anti-monopoly law, in a corruption scandal over allegations of bid-rigging during the Tokyo Olympics.

The indictment followed the arrest this month of a senior Tokyo 2020 organising committee official and three others who were accused of rigging a string of Olympic Games-related tenders.

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North Korea’s Kim Jong-un sounds alarm on agriculture amid reports of food shortages

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Leader says agriculture needs ‘fundamental transformation’ and makes hitting grain targets a priority as country isolated by sanctions struggles

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has urged government officials to engineer a “fundamental transformation” in agricultural production, state media reported, amid fears that the country’s food shortage is worsening.

Kim said hitting grain production targets this year was a priority and emphasised the importance of stable agriculture production during the second day of a key meeting of the Workers’ party, the state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday.

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Ex-husband and relatives charged with murder of Hong Kong model as more body parts found

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Remains taken for forensic testing to determine if they belong to influencer Abby Choi

The ex-husband and two former in-laws of a woman in Hong Kong have been charged with her murder, after police revealed they had found more body parts during a weekend search.

Abby Choi’s ex-husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, his father and his brother were formally charged with murder on Sunday. Kwong’s mother was charged with perverting the course of justice.

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China approves biggest expansion in new coal power plants since 2015, report finds

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Concerns about energy shortages drive increase as projects progress at ‘extraordinary’ speed

China approved the construction of another 106 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity last year, four times higher than a year earlier and the highest since 2015, research shows.

Over the year, 50GW of coal power capacity went into construction across the country – up by more than half compared with the previous year – driven by energy security considerations, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said on Monday.

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