Category Archives: Asia Pacific

China has announced its first target to cut emissions in real terms. What does it mean for Australia?

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With China accounting for nearly a third of the world’s total emissions, any cuts it achieves will make a substantial difference for the world – and for fossil fuel exports

Anything China does on energy and climate change is very big news. Its plans ripple around the world, whether that’s in changing the demand for fossil fuels or affecting the impacts on the planet from global heating.

On Thursday, Australia woke to the news that China’s president, Xi Jinping, had told the United Nations that for the first time his country was setting a target to cut – in absolute terms – its greenhouse gas emissions.

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Taiwan convicts four former ruling party officials of spying for China

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Huang Chu-jung, previously an assistant to a New Taipei city councillor, receives longest sentence of 10 years

Four former employees of Taiwan’s ruling political party have been convicted of spying for China and handed prison sentences of up to 10 years.

The four include a former aide to Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, when he was vice-president and for a time during his current presidency, and a senior staffer to Joseph Wu, then foreign minister and now the national security chief.

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Weakened Super Typhoon Ragasa heads towards Vietnam after battering China and Hong Kong

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Huge clear-up efforts start after storm leaves trail of destruction, with 25 reported dead in Taiwan and the Philippines

Huge clear-up operations were under way in southern China and Hong Kong on Thursday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa battered the region, causing widespread flooding and damaged roads.

Ragasa, the most powerful tropical cyclone so far this year, left a trail of damage across Hong Kong, which resumed international flights on Thursday but kept kindergartens and some schools closed. In the economic hub of Guangdong province in mainland China, where more than 2 million people were evacuated ahead of the super typhoon, crews used excavators to clear thousands of toppled trees and unblock roads.

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Generational change or gender breakthrough, whoever Japan’s next PM is will have a mountain to climb

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Two candidates have emerged as favourites to lead Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, ahead of the party vote next week

The next leader of Japan’s ruling party will either be the country’s first female prime minister or its youngest leader since the war. But the significance of those milestones will be quickly lost in the party’s attempts to rebuild after two bruising elections that have cast doubt over the future of one of the world’s most successful political machines.

Two of the five candidates vying to replace Shigeru ishiba – who announced his resignation earlier this month – as the next president of the Liberal Democratic party (LDP) have emerged as clear favourites in what analysts are describing as a last-ditch attempt to unify a party battered by a major funding scandal and the cost-of-living crisis.

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Wealthy investors from US, China and Hong Kong top applications for New Zealand’s ‘golden visa’ scheme

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Since new rules for the Active Investor Plus visa came into effect in April, applicant numbers have almost tripled

Wealthy investors from the US, China and Hong Kong are the leaders in applications for New Zealand’s “golden visas” after the government relaxed the scheme’s requirements in a bid to boost the flagging economy.

The new rules for the Active Investor Plus visa came into effect in April and lowered investment thresholds, removed English-language requirements and cut the amount of time applicants must spend in the country to establish residency from three years to three weeks.

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Vanuatu working toward UN vote aimed at fighting fossil-fuel industry influence

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Ralph Regenvanu, minister of climate change for the Pacific island nation, says step taken on ‘behalf of everybody’

Vanuatu is working on securing a UN vote to turn a landmark ruling on the climate crisis by the international court of justice (ICJ) into concrete political action that will fight the influence of the fossil-fuel industry and protect the globe from environmental catastrophe.

In an effort spearheaded by the tiny Pacific island nation, the ICJ issued a rare unanimous advisory opinion in July, which clarified that all states are required under international law to protect the climate, prevent further harms and have a duty to cooperate.

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Horror film digitally altered in China to make gay couple straight

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Viewers outraged after same-sex wedding scene changed in Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie

An Australian horror film featuring a scene with a same-sex wedding was reportedly digitally altered for release in mainland China, transforming the gay couple into a heterosexual one, provoking outrage from viewers who spotted the change.

The critically acclaimed film Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, was released in selected cinemas in China on 12 September. It follows the journey of a young couple who move to the countryside and encounter mysterious and grotesque changes to their bodies.

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Super Typhoon Ragasa: 17 killed in Taiwan and Hong Kong battered as storm hits China

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Chinese businesses and schools shut and residents in high-rises ordered to evacuate as storm makes landfall on Guangdong coast

Fierce winds, pounding rain and high seas battered Hong Kong as Super Typhoon Ragasa headed into southern China after causing a lake to burst in Taiwan, killing at least 17 people.

Hong Kong experienced widespread damage on Wednesday, including fallen trees and flooding in many areas, with the storm surge smashing the glass doors of an upmarket hotel and flooding its lobby, according to footage circulating online.

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Mother in New Zealand’s ‘suitcase murders’ found guilty of killing her two children

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The bodies of Hakyung Lee’s children were discovered inside suitcases bought at a storage unit auction in Auckland in August 2022

A mother accused of murdering her children and hiding their bodies in suitcases, in a case that has become known as New Zealand’s “suitcase murders”, has been found guilty by an Auckland court.

The bodies of Yuna Jo and Minu Jo, aged eight and six at the time of their deaths, were discovered inside suitcases bought at a storage unit auction in Auckland in August 2022. Authorities believed they had been dead for three to four years by the time their bodies were found.

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Rodrigo Duterte, former Philippines president, charged with crimes against humanity at ICC

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Three charges against Duterte stem from his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups say killed thousands

International criminal court prosecutors have charged the former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity over bloody campaigns carried out during his “war on drugs”.

A charge sheet, dated 4 July but made public on Monday, laid out accusations against the 80-year-old former leader, who has been in ICC detention in The Hague since March.

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New Zealand loosens residency restrictions as record number of citizens leave

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Minister for economic growth said visas for skilled and experienced migrants could help plug gaps in the workforce

New Zealand is making it easier for migrant workers to come and live in the country, in its latest attempt to bolster the workforce and economy.

Announcing two new residency pathways, the minister for economic growth, Nicola Willis, on Tuesday said skilled and experienced migrants could help plug gaps in the workforce.

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Unification Church leader arrested in South Korea over bribery allegations linked to former first lady

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Han Hak-ja, aged 82, is detained after Seoul court hearing over claims she told church officials to bribe wife of then president Yoon Suk Yeol

The 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church was arrested in South Korea early Tuesday as investigators probe allegations that the church bribed the wife of jailed former president Yoon Suk Yeol and a conservative lawmaker.

Han Hak-ja, the widow of the church’s South Korean founder, Sun Myung Moon, has denied allegations that she directed church officials to bribe Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, and the lawmaker.

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UN and rights groups condemn reported jailing of Wuhan Covid citizen journalist

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Zhang Zhan sentenced to four years for second time on charge often used by China to target government critics

The UN, human rights groups and media freedom watchdogs have condemned reports that Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist, was sentenced to jail for the second time last week.

Zhang, 42, is thought to have stood trial in Shanghai on Friday on a charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge often used in China to target critics of the government. Western diplomats were reportedly turned away from observing the trial.

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Arc’teryx fireworks display in Tibet prompts environmental outcry

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Outdoor brand says the Rising Dragon promotional event was out of line with its values after public criticism

The outdoor brand Arc’teryx has issued an apology after a promotional fireworks display in the Tibetan plateau led to an outcry over potential environmental damage.

The promotional Rising Dragon high-altitude show involved long stretches of choreographed pyrotechnics and coloured smoke along snow-topped Himalayan ridgelines in the Tibetan region of Shigatse. The Canadian company, part-owned by China’s Anta Group, had partnered with a Chinese artist, Cai Guo-Qiang, who oversaw similar shows for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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Weather tracker: Flash floods and landslides wreak havoc in California

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Two-year-old boy dies and homes buried as remnants of Tropical Storm Mario bring downpours and thunder

Flash flooding and landslides led to the death of a two-year-old boy in California in the US last week, after heavy rainfall followed on the heels of Tropical Storm Mario further south. The storm skirted the Pacific coast of Mexico with minimal disruption, eventually dissipating to the west of Baja California on Tuesday, but the remnants went on to cause havoc on Thursday. Residual moist air from the tropical storm was drawn north-east towards California, bringing heavy downpours and thunder to central and southern counties.

The heaviest rainfall was in the mountains of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where up to 68mm (2.67in) fell in a few hours. Further north, Death Valley – famously one of the driest places on Earth – received 15mm of rain, triple the average rainfall for September and a full quarter of the yearly average.

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Protesters flood streets of Philippines over state corruption

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Dozens of police officers injured as anger erupts over billions allegedly spent on bogus relief projects

Tens of thousands of Filipinos took to the streets on Sunday to protest against government corruption after it was alleged that taxpayers have lost billions of dollars to bogus flood relief projects.

Students, church groups, celebrities, and citizens from different political camps filled the streets in Manila and other cities.

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Chinese executive jailed for 25 years in US for trafficking fentanyl chemicals

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Qingzhou Wang of Amarvel Biotech accused by prosecutors of turning chemical company into ‘pipeline of poison’

A Chinese company executive has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for trafficking in chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, the US justice department has said.

Qingzhou Wang, 37, principal executive of Amarvel Biotech, a company based in Wuhan, and Yiyi Chen, 33, the firm’s marketing manager, were convicted in New York in February of fentanyl precusor importation and money laundering.

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Trump says Xi Jinping has agreed to approve TikTok deal, but details unclear

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Trump’s statement suggests preliminary agreement between leaders in the first direct contact between them since June

Donald Trump said on Friday that he and Xi Jinping had agreed to approve a deal over TikTok.

“He approved the TikTok deal,” Trump said about Xi to reporters in the Oval Office, suggesting the leaders signed off on a preliminary agreement. But Trump offered no details about the agreement or when it would be signed.

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Bali to block new hotels and restaurants after deadly flooding raises questions about mass tourism

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Bali governor says new instructions issued to stop hotels and restaurants being built on productive land, especially rice fields

Indonesia will ban the construction of new hotels and restaurants built atop cleared rice fields and agricultural land on the popular resort island of Bali, after recent flash flooding killed at least 18 people.

A state of emergency was declared on Bali on 10 September after the island experienced the most severe flooding in more than a decade.

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Chinese economy slows amid Trump trade war and weaker consumer spending

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Slowing growth in factory output and retail sales prompts calls for fresh economic stimulus

China’s economy showed further signs of weakness last month as it comes under strain from Donald Trump’s trade wars and domestic problems, with factory output and consumer spending rising at their slowest pace for about a year.

The disappointing data adds pressure on Beijing to roll out more stimulus to fend off a sharp slowdown, with a debt crisis denting the country’s once-booming property sector and exports facing stronger headwinds.

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