John McCallum had said Meng Wanzhou could make a strong argument against being sent to the US
In an unprecedented move, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday said he had fired his ambassador to China, who had prompted a political furor with comments about Huawei’s high-profile extradition case.
Related: 'I misspoke': Canada ambassador to China regrets saying Huawei chief had 'strong case'
Continue reading...Restrictions on political parties’ campaigning raises questions of how free and fair will much-postponed poll be
Social media campaigning will be heavily restricted in the upcoming Thai election, in a move political parties claim will gag freedom of expression and directly affect younger voters.
Following the confirmation that Thailand’s much-postponed election would finally be held on 24 March – the first election since the military seized power in a bloodless coup in 2014 – the election commission released strict guidelines on political campaigning.
Continue reading...Result raises hopes of an end to decades of violence including attacks by Isis-inspired groups
People in the Muslim-majority southern Philippines have voted by a landslide to create a new autonomous region covering five provinces and three cities, a result the government hopes will bring peace to a war-torn part of the country and address issues that lure recruits to Isis-inspired groups.
On Friday, the election commission declared the Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite “ratified”, four days after the vote was held. Almost 1.6 million voted yes, while 250,000 voted no.
Continue reading...Apichatpong Weerasethakul to receive £40,000 for his political artwork Invisibility
The Palme d’Or winning film director and artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul has won one of the UK’s most important and lucrative contemporary art prizes.
On Thursday evening, Weerasethakul was named winner of the eighth edition of the Artes Mundi prize, a biennial competition rewarding political art from across the world. It comes with a prize of £40,000, the largest visual art prize in Britain.
Continue reading...North Korea’s leader is making ‘good technical preparations’ for February summit, official news agency reports
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has expressed “great satisfaction” after receiving a letter from Donald Trump ahead of a second summit between the two leaders, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Thursday.
Kim is making “good technical preparations” for the meeting, the official KCNA news agency said, in the country’s first comments on the talks scheduled for February.
Continue reading...Exclusive: In an interview with the Guardian he pleads for his release and says he fears torture and jail if extradited to Bahrain
Hakeem al-Araibi, the refugee footballer from Bahrain who was detained in Thailand while on his honeymoon, has said he is “losing hope” and believes he will be tortured again or even killed if he is deported to Bahrain.
Speaking to the Guardian from Bangkok Remand Prison, a visibly distressed Al-Araibi said he was “terrified ” and that his fear was “getting worse every day”. Al-Araibi was given asylum in Australia in 2017 after fleeing his home country where he was persecuted for his beliefs, tortured in prison and convicted on a trumped-up vandalism charge.
Continue reading...Canada’s ambassador to China said Meng Wanzhou had ‘good arguments on her side’, in part because of Trump’s remarks
US efforts to extradite a Chinese telecoms executive from Canada may have been stymied by remarks on the case made by Donald trump, according to Canada’s top diplomat in Beijing.
Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was detained at the request of the US on 1 December in Vancouver, over alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran. She is currently under house arrest and the US justice department has until 30 January to file a formal extradition request.
Continue reading...After repeated postponements, polls will be first since military coup in 2014
Thailand is to hold its long-awaited general election on 24 March, its first since a military coup almost five years ago.
The announcement, which came hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed a royal decree formalising the election, marks a significant moment in the country’s return to democracy.
Continue reading...The next 15 megacities #9: Known as ‘the city of a hundred lakes’ until most got paved over, Wuhan has a flooding problem. Can permeable pavements and artificial wetlands soak it up?
Take a stroll down the central Chinese city’s Fan Lake Road or Fruit Lake Street and despite their names you won’t see any large bodies of water – unless it has been raining very hard, that is.
Wuhan was once known as “the city of a hundred lakes”. It had 127 lakes in its central area alone in the 1980s, but decades of rapid urbanisation mean only around 30 survive.
Continue reading...Noodle company Nissin says it will ‘pay more attention to diversity issues in the future’
One of Naomi Osaka’s sponsors has been forced to apologise after depicting the Japanese tennis star, who is half-Haitian, with pale skin in an advertisement.
Nissin featured Osaka in an ad for its Cup Noodle range of instant ramen. It depicts Osaka, who holds dual Japanese and American citizenship, with pale skin, wavy brown hair and Caucasian facial features.
Continue reading...Those breaking the rule could be jailed for up to three years and fined under proposed legislation
Hong Kong is set to introduce a controversial bill on Wednesday that would make disrespecting the Chinese national anthem a crime punishable by up to three years in prison, raising fresh fears about freedom of expression in the city.
Chinese authorities have sought to instil greater patriotism in the former British colony at a time of heightened tension between democracy activists and forces loyal to Beijing, with some in Hong Kong advocating independence from China.
Continue reading...New Zealand academic says Chinese intimidation tactics she has studied are now being used against her
It’s just gone midday at Canterbury University and Professor Anne-Marie Brady is rock-hopping across a crystal clear stream.
The life-long academic takes an overgrown bush track to reach the Okeover community gardens, her eyes scanning the sky for native birds. It’s the height of summer in Christchurch and the garden is filled with rhubarb plants, clumps of chewy spinach and spring onions whose tips have turned white in the sun.
Continue reading...An urban photo essay of the Chinese territory made between October and December 2018
Continue reading...PM urges president Joko Widodo to show respect for Australia over the planned early prison release of alleged mastermind
Indonesia’s security minister says the decision to release alleged Bali bombing mastermind Abu Bakar Bashir is being reviewed, hours after Scott Morrison urged president Joko Widodo to show respect for Australia.
The minister, Wiranto, told a hastily called news conference on Monday night that Widodo had asked him to coordinate a review of all aspects of the planned release.
Continue reading...Open letter says the arrests mean diplomats are more cautious about work in China
More than 140 former diplomats and leading China experts have called on Xi Jinping to release two Canadian citizens detained last month as a diplomatic stand-off between Ottawa and Beijing escalates.
In an open letter Chinese president, former envoys to China from Canada, the UK, the US, Australia, Germany, Sweden and Mexico described how the arrests of Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Michael Spavor, a businessman, have sent a chill through the diplomatic community.
Continue reading...The next 15 megacities #7: More than a third of the Vietnamese city’s historic buildings have been destroyed over the past 20 years. Can it learn from mistakes made by other fast-growing Asian cities before it is too late?
“People don’t realise what they’ve lost,” says Candy Nguyen as she peers through the locked gates of what was until recently the historic Ba Son shipyard. “Many don’t even know what was here before.”
Ho Chi Minh City’s oldest and most important maritime heritage site is hidden from the street by high blue hoardings peppered with slogans such as “Never still” and “Redefine the skylines”.
Continue reading...Vote seeks to solve half a century of unrest and counter a new wave of extremist Islamic State-linked groups
Muslims in the southern Philippines are voting in a referendum on a new autonomous region that seeks to end nearly half a century of unrest, in what their leaders are touting as the best alternative to a new wave of Islamic State group-inspired militants.
The vote caps a tumultuous peace effort by the government in Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main rebel group, to seal a deal that was signed in 2014 but languished in the Philippine congress until it was finally approved last year.
Continue reading...Fears China may not be able to help shore up weakening global growth as GDP figures are slowest nation has reported in 28 years
China’s economy grew 6.6% in 2018, its slowest pace in almost 30 years, confirming a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy that could threaten global growth.
After years of breakneck expansion, the world’s second largest economy is losing steam, official data on Monday confirmed. China’s growth in 2018 was the country’s slowest reported rate since 1990 and down from 6.8% growth in 2017.
Continue reading...Masazo Nonaka, who enjoyed watching sumo wrestling and eating sweets, died at home
The world’s oldest man has died at his home, a hot springs on Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido, at the age of 113.
His family said Masazo Nonaka died peacefully from natural causes in the early hours of Sunday while sleeping in the inn in Ashoro, which has been run by his family for four generations.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Greens and the ACTU say parliament should investigate AFP’s role in the detention of Bahraini refugee in Thailand
A parliamentary inquiry should examine the actions of the Australian Federal Police which led to the arrest of Hakeem al-Araibi in Thailand, Australia’s peak union body and the Greens have said.
Al-Araibi, a 25-year-old Bahraini refugee who has permanent residency in Australia, was arrested on arrival in Bangkok for a holiday, on the basis of an Interpol red notice, which was later lifted.
Continue reading...