Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Families of missing Uighurs use Tiktok video app to publicise China detentions

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Short messages campaign for information on loved ones held in Xinjiang camps

Uighurs are sending out messages on social media video app Tiktok showing family members who have gone missing, in their latest attempt to raise awareness about the estimated 1 million Uighurs who have been detained in camps that have sprung up across China’s Xinjiang region.

The videos, many of which are over eery music, show images of missing people, with a photograph or video of the person posting the clip superimposed over the top. Many of those posting the videos are crying.

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Vanuatu will host the next Pacific Islands Forum. We want to know if Australia really wants a seat at the table | Ralph Regenvanu

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Scott Morrison should bring strong climate commitments to next year’s forum to avoid a repeat of this year’s summit

Last week at the close of the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu I described the leaders’ discussions as frank and fierce. It is now well-known that the leaders debated the text of the Kainaki II Declaration for Urgent Climate Change Action Now for many hours. I do not want to comment on the tone of the debate, as many others have done that already.

Instead, as incoming Pacific Islands Forum chair, Vanuatu has a message for Australia: we ask that Australia prepares well ahead of the next forum meeting in 2020 and comes to the table ready to make real, tangible commitments on climate change.

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‘Terrifying’ hand sculpture flies in to give Wellington nightmares

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‘Monstrous’ and ‘malevolent’ sculpture Quasi alarms office workers and divides opinion

A “terrifying” five-metre tall sculpture of a hand with a face has been flown in from the South Island to perch on top of a contemporary art gallery in the New Zealand capital of Wellington.

It fixes passers by with a disapproving expression. Meant to liven up the Civic Square that was damaged in a 2016 earthquake, the work has instead alarmed and terrified locals, who have described the work as “a Lovecraftian nightmare [that] has come to life”.

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Hong Kong protesters express their demands as thousands gather in demonstrations – video

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Hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers flocked to a downtown park for a rally after two months of increasingly violent clashes that have prompted severe warnings from Beijing and failed to win concessions from the city’s government. Torrential rain came down an hour into the rally, turning the park into a sea of colourful umbrellas. Many began walking on the streets, despite the police ban on a march, as the park became overcrowded

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Hong Kong: 1.7m people defy police to march in pouring rain

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An estimated quarter of the population fill downtown park and surrounding streets

An estimated 1.7 million people in Hong Kong – a quarter of the population – defied police orders to stage a peaceful march after a rally in a downtown park, after two months of increasingly violent clashes that have prompted severe warnings from Beijing and failed to win concessions from the city’s government.

Huge crowds filled Victoria Park on Sunday afternoon and spilled on to nearby streets, forcing police to block traffic in the area. Torrential rain came down an hour into the rally, turning the park into a sea of umbrellas. At the same time, protesters walked towards Central, the heart of Hong Kong’s business district, and surrounded government headquarters.

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The nuclear arms race is back … and ever more dangerous now

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Donald Trump has increased spending on America’s arsenal while ripping up cold war treaties. Russia and China are following suit

Imagine the uproar if the entire populations of York, Portsmouth or Swindon were suddenly exposed to three times the permissible level of penetrating gamma radiation, or what the nuclear physicist Ernest Rutherford termed gamma rays. The outpouring of rage and fear would be heard across the world.

That’s what happened to the roughly 200,000 people who live in the similarly sized northern Russian city of Severodvinsk on 8 August, after an explosion at a nearby top-secret missile testing range. Russia’s weather service, Rosgidromet, recorded radiation levels up to 16 times higher than the usual ambient rate.

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Stand-off in Hong Kong: ‘Get out of the airport,’ they said. ‘Something’s going to happen’

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The comedian describes how he was caught up in ‘extraordinary’ scenes at Hong Kong airport as protesters’ anger boiled over

When I first landed in Hong Kong for a family holiday a few nights before the clashes with police, we were greeted in the arrivals hall by a large and vocal crowd of protesters, chanting and handing out leaflets.

When we returned to the airport to depart a few days later, there was a marked change. The protesters had swelled from a few hundred to several thousand and there was now a very tense atmosphere. In front of the abandoned check-in desks, a crowd had gathered around a man who was allegedly a police officer posing as a protester. He was, by all accounts, being roughed up and had been cable-tied to a luggage trolley.

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Hong Kong: three rallies mark 11th weekend of protests

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Demonstrators aim to show public support for movement remains strong

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Hong Kong, as they sought to show their movement still had public support even after two months of increasingly violent clashes.

Protesters, clad in their signature black and holding umbrellas, marched down major streets in Kowloon, chanting: “Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our time!” Volunteers handed out herbal tea and juice, while some shops that had closed for the day left boxes of drinks out for protesters.

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Nora Quoirin’s family dismiss ‘unhelpful’ speculation over death

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Family of teenager found dead in Malaysian jungle say reports may hinder investigations

The family of Nora Quoirin, the British teenager found dead in the Malaysian jungle after a 10-day search, have dismissed “unhelpful” speculation about her disappearance.

The body of the 15-year-old, who had severe learning difficulties, was discovered less than two miles from an eco-holiday resort where her family had been staying.

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Morrison’s ‘arrogance’ on climate blasted as Australia accused of ‘trying to destroy’ Pacific islands

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Labor says PM has trashed Australia’s standing as former Kiribati president urges review of Australia’s membership

Labor has accused Scott Morrison of trashing Australia’s standing in the Pacific and alienating its friends at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, while a former president of Kiribati has urged Australia’s membership to be reviewed.

Anote Tong said the forum should consider possible sanctions or suspension of Australia for its continued “protestations” on coal and climate.

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Thailand’s ‘sweetheart’ dugong dies with plastic in stomach

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Vets say plastic caused orphan mammal’s infection and should serve as warning about pollution

An orphaned dugong named Marium, who became an internet star after being rescued in Thailand in April, has died.

Veterinarians caring for the dugong off the island of Koh Libong, in south Thailand’s Trang province, said an infection caused by ingesting plastic contributed to her death. They added that the loss of the animal, named “the nation’s sweetheart” by Thailand’s department of marine and coastal resources (DMCR), should serve as a warning about the effects of plastic waste on wildlife.

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Disney’s Mulan star sparks call for boycott with Hong Kong stance

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Crystal Liu, the lead in Disney’s live-action remake, voiced support for police in the city

Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan is facing calls for a boycott after its star voiced support for police in Hong Kong.

Crystal Liu, also known as Liu Yifei, reportedly posted a message on the Chinese social media site Weibo, which translated as: “I also support Hong Kong police. You can beat me up now.” In English, the post added: “What a shame for Hong Kong.”

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Fiji PM accuses Scott Morrison of ‘insulting’ and alienating Pacific leaders

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Exclusive: Frank Bainimarama says Australian leader is pushing nations towards China

Scott Morrison has been accused of causing an extraordinary rift between Australia and Pacific countries by the prime minister of Fiji, who said the Australian prime minister’s insulting behaviour while at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu would push nations closer to China.

In an exclusive interview with Guardian Australia after the conclusion of the PIF, Frank Bainimarama, the prime minister of Fiji and a political heavyweight in the region, said Morrison’s approach during the leaders’ retreat on Thursday was “very insulting and condescending”.

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Man charged over murder of Australian tourist in New Zealand

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Killer fled with body while tourist’s Canadian partner ran several kilometres to get help

A man has been charged over the murder of Australian surfer Sean McKinnon, who was shot in a random attack while camping in New Zealand.

The 23-year-old man will face Hamilton district court on Saturday charged with murder, aggravated robbery and threatening to kill, New Zealand Police said.

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North Korea fires more projectiles and says talks with ‘impudent’ South are over

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Regime says Pyongyang and Seoul have nothing to talk about while South Korea continues military drills with US

North Korea has fired at least two unidentified projectiles into the sea off its east coast, shortly after it denounced South Korea’s military drills with the US and declared that inter-Korean talks were over.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS] said the North conducted the launch early on Friday from a site near the city of Tongchon. It has conducted six rounds of weapons launches since 25 July, apparently in retaliation for military drills involving South Korean and US forces.

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Revealed: ‘fierce’ Pacific forum meeting almost collapsed over climate crisis

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Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison came under fire from Tuvalu’s leader Enele Sopoaga

Critical talks at the Pacific Islands Forum almost collapsed twice amid “fierce” clashes between the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, and Tuvalu’s prime minister, Enele Sopoaga, over Australia’s “red lines” on climate change.

Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s foreign minister, who was part of the drafting committee of the forum communique and observed the leaders’ retreat, said there was heated discussion over the Australian delegation’s insistence on the removal of references to coal, setting a target of limiting global warming to below 1.5C and announcing a strategy for zero emissions by 2050.

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Markets jittery as trade war and recession worries spook investors -as it happened

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Beijing has alarmed investors by threatening counter-measures against the US, threatening to escalate the trade war

Earlier:

Update: Britain’s FTSE 100 has hit a new six-month closing low.

The blue-chip index just closed 80 points lower at 7,067, a drop of 1.1%.

Time for a quick recap

Financial markets remain volatile today, as fears of an economic downturn hit stock prices and drive bond prices to new record highs.

Related: Online shoppers and Amazon Prime Day lift UK retail sales

If President Xi would meet directly and personally with the protesters, there would be a happy and enlightened ending to the Hong Kong problem. I have no doubt! https://t.co/eFxMjgsG1K

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Hong Kong protests: envoy says China has ‘power to quell unrest’

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China’s ambassador to UK also accuses British politicians of ‘colonial mindset’

China has issued its most pointed threat yet to pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, warning that it has “enough solutions and enough power to swiftly quell unrest” should it deem the situation “uncontrollable”.

Speaking to international media in London on Thursday, China’s ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, also accused some British politicians of harbouring a “colonial mindset” in their interventions.

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