Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Thai court dismisses prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra

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Daughter of former PM Thaksin accused of failing to protect country’s interests over leaked phone call with Cambodia’s leader

Thailand’s constitutional court has dismissed Paetongtarn Shinawatra from her position as prime minister, ruling that as the country’s leader she violated ethical rules during a phone call with Cambodia’s senate president, Hun Sen.

The ruling, which threatens to usher in a fresh period of instability in the country, means she immediately loses her job, which she had held for about a year. The 39-year-old had already been suspended from her duties on 1 July after a recording was leaked of the phone conversation, in which they discussed a simmering border dispute between the neighbouring countries.

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Putin and Kim to join Xi at Chinese military parade in show of defiance to the west

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The Victory Day parade in Beijing on 3 September will mark the formal surrender of Japan during the second world war. No western leaders will attend

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are among the world leaders who will attend a military parade with President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week, in a show of collective defiance amid western pressure.

No western leaders will be among the 26 foreign heads of state and government attending the parade next week – with the exception of Robert Fico, prime minister of Slovakia, a member of the European Union – according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

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Japanese town wants residents to limit smartphone use to two hours a day

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Draft ordinance in Toyoake has triggered a backlash from locals, with some calling it an attack on individual freedom

A town in Japan is to urge all residents to restrict their smartphone use to two hours a day in an attempt to tackle online addiction and sleep deprivation.

Officials in Toyoake, Aichi prefecture, said the measure would target not only children but also adults, amid growing concern about the physical and psychological toll excessive smartphone use is taking on people of all ages.

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Attempt to partner African countries with Japanese cities triggers xenophobic backlash

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Cities in Japan have received thousands of complaints amid confusion over scheme that was intended to foster closer ties

An attempt to promote friendship between Japan and countries in Africa has transformed into a xenophobic row about migration after inaccurate media reports suggested the scheme would lead to a “flood of immigrants”.

The controversy erupted after the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, said this month it had designated four Japanese cities as “Africa hometowns” for partner countries in Africa: Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania.

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Trump says he hopes to meet Kim Jong-un and raises prospect of US taking over some South Korean land

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South Korean president Lee Jae Myung uses Oval Office meeting to encourage Trump to engage with North Korean leader

Donald Trump has said he wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, possibly this year, in an attempt to revive the failed nuclear diplomacy of his first term as US president.

“I’d like to have a meeting. I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un in the appropriate future,” Trump said during an occasionally awkward meeting at the Oval Office with South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, in which he raised the prospect of taking ownership of South Korean land that hosts a US military base.

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Taiwan referendum on reopening last nuclear plant fails

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Clear majority backs restarting Maanshan reactor but doesn’t reach legal threshold, as president says nuclear power may be reconsidered if it becomes safe

A referendum to push for the reopening of Taiwan’s last nuclear plant has failed to reach the legal threshold to be valid, though the president said the island could return to the technology in the future if safety standards improved.

The plebiscite on Saturday, backed by the opposition, asked whether the Maanshan power plant should be reopened if it was “confirmed” there were no safety issues. The plant was closed in May as the government shifts to renewables and liquefied natural gas.

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North Korea accuses South Korea of ‘deliberate provocation’ after warning shots fired at soldiers on border

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Seoul says military fired warning shots on Tuesday after troops from the North briefly crossed border

South Korea fired warning shots at North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the heavily fortified border earlier this week, Seoul said on Saturday, after Pyongyang accused it of a “deliberate provocation” that risks “uncontrollable” tensions.

South Korea’s new leader Lee Jae Myung has sought warmer ties with the nuclear-armed North and vowed to build “military trust”, but Pyongyang has said it has no interest in improving relations with Seoul.

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Thailand former PM cleared of royal insult charge but Shinawatra dynasty’s fate still hangs in balance

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Lese-majesty case against Thaksin Shinawatra is dismissed, but his daughter Paetongtarn will hear next week if she will be removed as prime minster

A criminal court in Thailand has dismissed a case accusing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of defaming the monarchy, the first of three court cases that could decide the fate of one of the country’s prominent political families.

Thaksin was accused of insulting the monarchy during an interview with South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo in 2015.

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Indonesia working on details of plan to treat 2,000 people from Gaza amid concerns about right to return

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Security ministry and the ministries of health and foreign affairs have met to discuss how the controversial proposal to treat Palestinians would work

The Indonesian government is working on plans to treat 2,000 people from war-ravaged Gaza, holding a series of inter-ministerial discussions to discuss logistics, legality and foreign policy implications relating to the highly sensitive proposal, according to a senior government official.

Indonesia announced earlier this month that it would provide temporary medical assistance to 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza, with the uninhabited island of Galang identified as one possible site. Located just south of Singapore, the island was once home to a former camp for Vietnamese refugees and most recently the site of a pandemic hospital.

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New Zealand to spend $3bn upgrading helicopters and ‘embarrassing’ defence planes

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Government says country will buy five Seahawk helicopters and two Airbus A321XLR aircraft

New Zealand will spend nearly NZ$3bn ($1.7bn) upgrading its ageing defence fleet, including replacing its “embarrassing” planes that have left multiple prime ministers grounded during international travel, the government has announced.

The defence minister, Judith Collins, said NZ$2bn would be spent buying five MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and another NZ$700m to buy two Airbus A321XLR aircraft.

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Fireball lights up sky over western Japan

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Flash of light visible for hundreds of miles was an exceptionally bright meteor, say experts

A huge fireball dashed across the skies of western Japan, shocking residents and dazzling stargazers, though experts said it was a natural phenomenon and not an alien invasion.

Videos and photos emerged online of the extremely bright ball of light visible for hundreds of miles shortly after 11.00pm local time (1400 BST) on Tuesday.

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Family of New Zealand fugitive on the run for almost four years with his children plead for his return

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In a New Zealand television interview, relatives spoke of their anguish since Tom Phillips disappeared with his three children in late 2021

The family of a fugitive father who has been hiding for more than three years in New Zealand’s rugged wilderness with his three children has pleaded with the man to come home, in some of their first public comments since he vanished.

Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into the Waikato wilderness with his children Ember, now 9, Maverick, 1o, and Jayda, 12, following a dispute with their mother. Phillips does not have legal custody of his children.

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Soldier found guilty of attempted espionage in New Zealand’s first spying conviction

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Court martial heard soldier was caught offering to share military base maps and photographs to an undercover officer of an unnamed foreign nation

A military court has convicted a New Zealand soldier of attempted espionage for a foreign power – the first spying conviction in the country’s history.

The soldier was caught offering to pass military base maps and photographs to an undercover officer posing as an agent for the foreign nation, the court martial heard.

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Swatch pulls ‘slanted eye’ ad after backlash in China

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Calls for boycott after Swiss watchmaker becomes latest western brand accused of racist imagery

The Swiss watchmaker Swatch has apologised and removed an advert featuring a model pulling the corners of his eyes, after the image prompted accusations of racism and calls for a boycott on Chinese social media.

Internet users heavily criticised the “slanted eye” gesture made by the Asian male model as racist.

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New Zealand woman and six-year-old son released from US detention

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Sarah Shaw was detained by Ice owing to a problem with her ‘combo card’ visa as she tried to re-enter the US from Canada

A New Zealand woman and her six-year-old son, who were held for more than three weeks at a US immigration centre after being detained crossing the Canada-US border, have been released.

In a short update on Saturday, the woman’s friend Victoria Besancon said Sarah Shaw and her son were safely home. The family would be taking some time to settle in before speaking about their experience, she added.

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Trump says Xi told him China will not invade Taiwan while he is in office

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US president says Chinese counterpart told him ‘I am very patient and China is very patient’

The US president, Donald Trump, has said that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office.

Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News on Friday, ahead of talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Tuvalu considers pulling out of Pacific leaders’ summit amid China-linked power struggle

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Exclusive: Prime minister Feletei Teo says Tuvalu may withdraw from crucial meeting after key countries such as Taiwan were barred from attending

Tuvalu’s prime minister Feletei Teo said his country may pull out of the region’s top political meeting next month, after host nation Solomon Islands moved to block all external partners – including China, US and Taiwan – from attending.

The Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting will be held in Honiara in September. On 7 August, Solomon Islands prime minister Jeremiah Manele told parliament that no dialogue partners would be invited to the annual gathering.

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Online fashion retailer Shein’s UK sales leap by a third to more than £2bn

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Profits rise 56% to £38.2m in 2024 as company overtakes British rival Boohoo and closes in on Asos

Shein, the online fast-fashion retailer founded in China, increased sales in the UK by about a third to more than £2bn last year, overtaking the British rival Boohoo and closing in on Asos.

The company, which had been considering a £50bn float on the London Stock Exchange but is expected to list in Hong Kong, said profits rose 56% to £38.2m last year on which it paid £9.6m corporation tax, according to accounts filed at Companies House this week.

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Hundreds hit with food poisoning in Indonesia after eating free meals from president’s flagship program

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Since its launch in January, Prabowo Subianto’s signature policy has been marred by mass food poisoning cases affecting over 1,000 people

More than 360 people fell ill in the Indonesian town of Sragen in Central Java after consuming school lunches, according to officials, in the largest food poisoning case to hit President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free meals programme to date.

Since its launch in January, the free school meals programme has been marred by mass food poisoning cases across the archipelago, affecting more than 1,000 people.

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Baby Shark: South Korean court rejects US composer’s claim song was plagiarised

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Ruling upheld that there was insufficient evidence of copyright infringement on song that is YouTube’s most viewed video

South Korea’s supreme court has rejected a US composer’s allegation that the producers of the catchy children’s song Baby Shark plagiarised his work, ending a six-year-long legal battle.

The court upheld two lower court verdicts in favour of Pinkfong, the South Korean company behind the tune with the famous “doo doo doo doo doo doo” refrain.

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