Category Archives: Asia Pacific

US and China poised to extend tariff truce after failing to find resolution at talks

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Trump will need to approve pause, say US representatives after negotiations end with sides failing to break deadlock on trade terms

US and Chinese negotiators have agreed in principle to push back the deadline for escalating tariffs, although America’s representatives said any extension would need Donald Trump’s approval.

Officials from both sides said after two days of talks in Stockholm that while had failed to find a resolution across the many areas of dispute they had agreed to extend a pause due to run out on 12 August.

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China floods: more than 30 killed in Beijing and tens of thousands evacuated

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Authorities relocated 80,000 residents from China’s capital after registering rainfall of up to 543mm in some districts

More than 30 people have been killed by heavy rain and flooding in Beijing and a neighbouring region, state media have reported, as tens of thousands more were evacuated from China’s capital.

State broadcaster CCTV said that as of midnight on Monday, 28 people had died in Beijing’s hard-hit Miyun district and two others in Yanqing district as of midnight. Both are outlying parts of the sprawling city, far from the downtown.

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New Zealand attorney general warns her government’s electoral reform could breach human rights law

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Judith Collins also said the controversial electoral law reform could disenfranchise Māori

New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon has defended his government’s plans to overhaul its electoral laws, despite warnings from his own attorney general the changes could breach human rights law and disenfranchise more than 100,000 voters.

The right-wing government last week announced its plan to shake up electoral laws it said were “outdated and unsustainable”, including closing voter enrolment 13 days before election day, reinstating a total ban on prisoner voting and prohibiting anyone from providing free food, drink or entertainment within 100 metres of a voting station.

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Moscow starts direct flights to North Korea amid decline in options for Russian tourists

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The Moscow-Pyongyang flights operated by Russia’s Nordwind Airlines will initially operate only once a month

Direct flights from Moscow to North Korea have begun this week, amid a strengthening of ties between the two nations and a decline in options for Russian tourists travelling abroad.

The first Moscow-Pyongyang flight, operated by Russia’s Nordwind Airlines, took off on Sunday, according to the Sheremetyevo airport’s website, and landed in the North Korean capital about eight hours later.

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Flooding rain in China’s north leaves two people dead and displaces thousands

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Authorities warn of further heavy rain and the risk of disasters including landslides and flooding

Heavy rain around Beijing and across northern China killed two people and forced thousands to relocate as authorities warned of further widespread rain and the risk of disasters including landslides and flooding.

Two people were dead and two missing in Hebei province, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145mm per hour on Fuping county in the industrial city of Baoding.

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The bitter feud fuelling the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia

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Animosity between former friends and political patriarchs Hun Sen and Thaksin Shinawatra is exacerbating clashes

The dispute over Thailand and Cambodia’s contested border, which dates back more than a century to disagreements over colonial-era maps, has broken into conflict before. But the most recent clashes, which erupted on Thursday, have been fuelled by another factor: a bitter feud between two powerful political patriarchs.

Hun Sen, 72, and Thaksin Shinawatra, 76, former leaders of Cambodia and Thailand, were once such close friends they reportedly called one another brothers. Hun Sen has, over the years, supported Thaksin’s family during their long-running power struggle with Thailand’s military. Thaksin and his sister Yingluck stayed at Hun Sen’s home after they were ousted from power, while Hun Sen appointed Thaksin an economic adviser to the Cambodian government. Thaksin frequently visited Cambodia, and Hun Sen was the first foreign guest to see the former Thai leader after he returned home after more than 15 years in self-imposed exile.

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Attempt to unseat 24 ‘pro-China’ opposition politicians in Taiwan fails

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Voters reject all the recall motions in a DPP-backed bid to unseat opposition MPs and gain a legislative majority

An unprecedented attempt in Taiwan to unseat 24 “pro-China” opposition politicians and give a parliamentary majority to the ruling party has failed, with voters in every seat rejecting the notion.

Polls opened on Saturday morning for the first 24 of 31 targeted electorates, with voters asked to agree or disagree with a proposal to recall the local legislator and hold a byelection.

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Hong Kong issues arrest warrants for 19 activists based overseas

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Authorities accuse activists linked to pro-democracy group Hong Kong Parliament of subversion

Hong Kong’s national security police have issued arrest warrants for 19 activists based overseas, accusing them of subversion under a stringent national security law, marking the largest such tally yet.

They are accused of organising or participating in the Hong Kong Parliament, a pro-democracy group that authorities in the Asian financial hub say intended to subvert state power, under the law Beijing imposed in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests in 2019.

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Cambodia calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ with Thailand as deadly clashes enter a third day

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Thousands of people have been evacuated from either side of the border, while fighting has left at least 32 people dead

Cambodia wants an “immediate ceasefire” with Thailand, the country’s envoy to the United Nations has said, with Bangkok also signalling an openness to talks after two days of deadly clashes that have left 32 dead and thousands displaced.

“Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire – unconditionally – and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute,” said UN ambassador Chhea Keo, after a closed meeting of the Council attended by Cambodia and Thailand.

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Thailand-Cambodia border dispute: 130,000 Thai civilians evacuated amid second day of clashes

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Thailand PM warns cross-border clashes ‘could develop into war’ as fighting spreads to 12 locations

Thailand has evacuated more than 130,000 people along the Cambodian border, it said on Friday, as the country’s leader warned cross-border clashes could develop into war.

Clashes that began on Thursday resumed early on Friday, the Thai military reported, as the two countries fought in their bloodiest military clashes in over a decade.

Fighting had taken place in 12 locations along the disputed border, a Thai military official – an expansion of the conflict that erupted a day earlier.

“This present incident of aggression is escalating and could develop to the stage of war,” Thailand’s acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters in Bangkok. “However, right now we are still at altercation level, battling with heavy weapons. What we have done so far are to protect our land and sovereignty of our nation.”

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‘Japanese First’: breakthrough by rightwing populists sparks fears of anti-foreigner backlash in Japan

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Analysts say the Japanese are suffering a crisis of confidence that is feeding xenophobia amid economic insecurity and a record number of foreign residents

The emergence of a rightwing populist party in Japan’s upper house election on Sunday running on a Trump-style “Japanese First” slogan has raised concerns of a backlash against the growing foreign presence in the country.

The party, Sanseito, has successfully tapped into unease around an expanding immigrant population and a huge influx of tourists after the pandemic. But many see the underlying cause as economic insecurity among a population that both understands the need for overseas labour and visitors, and feels anxiety at the changes they bring and symbolise.

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Australian tourist found dead in Thai hotel room was on phone when he died, police say

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The 21-year-old was discovered by housekeeping staff on holiday island Phuket

An Australian tourist has been found dead in a Thai hotel room, one day before his flight home.

The 21-year-old was discovered by housekeeping staff at a hotel on holiday island Phuket on Wednesday.

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Australia warned it could face legal action over ‘wrongful’ fossil fuel actions after landmark climate ruling from world’s top court

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Vanuatu climate change minister says ICJ opinion gives Pacific island nations ‘much greater leverage’ in dealing with partners such as Australia

Australia could face international legal action over its fossil fuel production and failure to rapidly cut emissions, Vanuatu’s climate minister says, after a potentially watershed declaration by the world’s top court.

An International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion published in The Hague on Wednesday found countries had a legal obligation to take measures to prevent climate change and aim to limit global heating to 1.5C above preindustrial levels, and that high-emitting countries that failed to act could be liable to pay restitution to low-emitting countries.

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Scott Morrison tells US Australia risks going to sleep on China threat after diplomatic ‘charm and flattery’

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Former prime minister warns US House of Representatives committee Australia must do more to resist the security threat posed by China

The Chinese Communist party hopes Western democracies “go to sleep on the threat” it poses to the international order, former prime minister Scott Morrison has told a congressional committee in the US.

In a forthright appearance before the hawkish US House of Representatives select committee on the strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist party, Morrison said China had changed diplomatic tack after he lost the 2022 election to Anthony Albanese.

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Thailand recalls Cambodia ambassador after landmine injures soldier on border

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Thai foreign ministry says landmines along disputed border newly deployed as it downgrades diplomatic relations

Thailand has recalled its ambassador to Cambodia and will expel Cambodia’s ambassador, the ruling Pheu Thai party said on Wednesday after a landmine incident that injured a Thai soldier along the disputed border between the two countries.

The Thai foreign ministry has lodged a formal protest with Cambodia, saying the landmines found in the area were newly deployed and had not been encountered during previous patrols, the party said on social media.

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Chinese officials warn women comedians that men are no laughing matter

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The warning comes after a string of shows by women comedians joking about men went viral

Chinese provincial officials have warned comedians against stirring up discord between the genders, instructing them to criticise constructively rather than “for the sake of being funny”.

The warning came from authorities in eastern Zhejiang province on WeChat over the weekend after a comedian referred to her allegedly abusive marriage in a performance that went viral on Chinese social media.

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Trump announces Japan trade deal as doubt cast over future of PM Ishiba

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Tokyo’s failure to secure a US deal sooner had caused political unease and economic uncertainty in Japan

Donald Trump has announced a trade deal with Japan, potentially resolving weeks of fraught negotiations between the two allies which had caused economic uncertainty in Tokyo and mounting speculation about the future of the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.

“We just completed a massive deal with Japan,” the US president announced in a post online, adding: “Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 billion dollars into the United States.”

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Arrests in China after more than 230 kindergarten children poisoned by lead paint in food

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Principal at school in Gansu province reportedly wanted to attract more enrolments by ‘enhancing’ the colour and look of the food served to children

Chinese authorities have arrested six people and launched disciplinary investigations into almost 30 others after more than 230 kindergarten children were poisoned by food coloured with industrial-grade lead paint

The incident, which occurred in Gansu province earlier this month, is one of China’s worst school food safety incidents and has drawn national attention. An investigative report released by the Gansu provincial party committee on Sunday found a litany of failures in safety and oversight, as well as attempts to cover up the incident, bribe people in charge and modify test results.

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China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam

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1.2tn yuan project has broken ground in Tibet, premier says, despite fears of downstream nations India and Bangladesh

Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the century”.

The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory.

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Japan’s PM accepts ‘harsh’ election result after losing upper house majority

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Ballot heaps pressure on Shigeru Ishiba’s minority government just as it attempts to negotiate deal to avert Trump tariffs

Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba’s future was unclear on Monday after his coalition lost its upper house majority in elections that saw strong gains by a rightwing populist party.

While the ballot does not directly determine whether Ishiba’s minority government falls, it heaps pressure on the embattled leader, who also lost control of the more powerful lower house in October and who has never been popular within his own party.

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