Category Archives: Asia Pacific

New Zealand government loses ground in polls as economic concerns grow

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1News Verian poll shows Christoper Luxon dropped 22% in the preferred prime minister stakes, his lowest result as leader

New Zealand’s National-led coalition government is losing support among voters, new polling shows, amid frustrations over the economy and deepening concern the country is heading in the wrong direction.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary left bloc has taken a narrow lead for the third poll in a row, enough that the opposition would be able to form a government were an election held today.

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New Zealand raises ‘concern’ as Cook Islands prepares to sign China deal

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Deputy PM says New Zealand hasn’t been adequately consulted on an agreement the Cook Islands leader is expected to sign in Beijing this week

A diplomatic row has erupted between two tight-knit Pacific countries, after New Zealand said the Cook Islands failed to properly consult on its plans to deepen ties with China amid growing concerns over Beijing’s push for influence in the region.

The Cook Islands was a dependent New Zealand colony from 1901-1965 but has since operated as a self-governing nation in “free association” with New Zealand. Its roughly 17,000 citizens hold New Zealand citizenship. There are obligations between the two nations to regularly consult on matters of defence and security.

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‘We never gave up’: tears and elation as freed Thai hostages return home from Gaza

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The group of five workers were greeted at Bangkok airport by overjoyed family members and officials after being held for over a year in Gaza

The families of five Thai farm workers held hostage in Gaza for over a year wept with joy and hugged their loved ones as they arrived in Bangkok on Sunday.

The group smiled as they walked into the arrivals hall at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport after being freed on 30 January as part of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the Israel-Gaza war.

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Trump and Japanese PM Ishiba talk tariffs and vow to stand against Chinese ‘aggression’

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Leaders praise each other at White House but president warns Japan could face tariffs if it doesn’t cut US trade deficit to zero

The Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, and the US president, Donald Trump, struck a warm tone at their first meeting on Friday, with Tokyo avoiding tariffs that Trump has slapped on other allies – for now.

Heaping praise on each other at the White House, the two leaders pledged to stand together against Chinese “aggression” and said they found a solution for a blocked deal for troubled US Steel.

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Trump delays key piece of China tariff plan amid threats to other countries

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President halts plan to put tariffs on low-value packages but says he will impose duties on more countries next week

Donald Trump halted a key part of his tariff attack on China on Friday, as he threatened to impose new US duties on goods from many more countries next week.

Plans to ensure shipments from China to the US worth less than $800 still face tariffs – removing the longstanding duty-free status of low-cast packages – have been delayed to give more time to federal agencies to prepare for the change.

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US cedes ground to China with ‘self-inflicted wound’ of USAid shutdown, analysts say

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Sudden suspension of aid funding a ‘perfect opportunity’ for Beijing to fill the gap and grow its own soft power

Donald Trump’s shutdown of USAid has already had disastrous effects on humanitarian aid and development programmes around the world, but it has also ceded ground to the US’s chief rival, China, analysts have said.

The result of the sudden 90-day suspension of USAid funding – which accounts for 40% of global foreign aid – has been chaos: employees locked out of offices, humanitarian shipments left to rot, and lifesaving assistance stopped. Around the world, development programmes previously assisted by the USAid are panicking, warning of disastrous risks of escalating famine, death and disease.

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Japan’s PM heads to Washington hoping he can recreate rapport of Trump-Abe era

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Shigeru Ishiba will seek familiar guarantees: that the US will continue to stand on Japan’s side against China and North Korea

Donald Trump had yet to get his feet under the Oval Office desk when he held his first meeting with a foreign leader in late 2016. Shinzo Abe, then Japan’s prime minister, arrived at Trump Tower in November that year bearing a gift of a gold-plated golf club and harbouring a determination to get the Japan-US relationship under Trump off to the best possible start.

The success, or otherwise, of Abe’s charm offensive had potentially serious repercussions. During the election campaign, Trump had suggested he would withdraw US troops from Japan, contingent on Tokyo’s willingness to make a bigger financial contribution to their countries’ postwar alliance.

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Parts of Japan blanketed by thick snow during strongest cold front for years

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Hokkaido and the Japan Sea coast have been hardest hit, forcing domestic airlines to cancel flights between cities in the region and Tokyo

Large parts of Japan have been blanketed with snow, as the lowest temperatures this winter disrupted rail and air travel, amid warnings that more heavy snowfall was expected through the weekend.

Residents struggled to dig out cars that had been buried by snow in just a few hours, with the meteorological agency describing the cold front as the “strongest in several years”.

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Philippine vice-president Sara Duterte impeached over allegations including plot to kill president

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Move likely to deepen political rift between Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr

Philippine vice-president Sara Duterte has been impeached on a range of accusations that include plotting to assassinate the president, large-scale corruption and failing to strongly denounce China’s aggressive actions against Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea.

Wednesday’s move by legislators in the House of Representatives, many of them allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, deepens a bitter political rift between the two highest leaders of one of Asia’s most rambunctious democracies.

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US Postal Service briefly halts packages arriving from China and Hong Kong

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Normal service resumes after initial suspension, in latest episode of growing trade war between the US and China

The US Postal Service briefly suspended incoming parcels from China and Hong Kong on Tuesday before returning to normal service on Wednesday after accusations of “unreasonable suppression” from Beijing, in the latest episode of a growing trade war between the US and China.

The initial suspension came as Donald Trump said he was not in a hurry to speak to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, despite expectations that they would hold talks after announcing tit-for-tat tariffs.

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EU to tighten checks on goods sold by sites such as Shein and Temu

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European Commission also urges EU lawmakers to phase out exemption on customs duties for parcels under €150

Parcels sent from China by online retailers such as Shein and Temu will face strict new customs controls as part of a crackdown by the European Commission on “dangerous products” flooding the EU market.

Brussels officials also urged EU lawmakers to phase out the exemption on customs duties that is allowed for parcels under €150 (£125), which enables foreign suppliers to sell cheap goods in the bloc without paying the tax.

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Māori protesters turn their backs on government ministers at Waitangi Day event

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Anger at policies that roll back Māori rights surface as rightwing Act party leader David Seymour has microphone removed twice and protesters stage walkout

If New Zealand’s coalition government had prepared for political fireworks from Indigenous leaders on the eve of the country’s national day, they were met with something arguably even louder: turned backs and silence.

Under a blazing hot sun on Wednesday, political leaders gathered at the Waitangi treaty grounds in New Zealand’s far north to celebrate Waitangi Day, which marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840. The treaty, signed by Māori chiefs and the British Crown is considered New Zealand’s founding document and is instrumental in upholding Māori rights.

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China has reacted in kind to Trump’s tariffs, but a deal may still emerge

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Beijing will defend its core interests, but its initial response is more cautious than when Trump imposed levies in 2018

Moments after Donald Trump introduced tariffs of 10% on Chinese goods, Beijing retaliated with countermeasures.

China’s finance ministry put tariffs of 10-15% on imports of a range of US goods and its anti-trust regulator announced an investigation into Google. Several US companies were also added to China’s “unreliable entity” list, potentially restricting their ability to conduct business in the country.

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British investigative journalist banned from Cambodia

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Treatment of Gerald Flynn, who writes for the outlet Mongabay, condemned as attack on independent media

A British environmental and investigative journalist has been banned from entering Cambodia, in what press groups have condemned as yet another attack on independent media by the country’s authoritarian leaders.

Gerald Flynn, who writes for the news outlet Mongabay, was denied entry to Cambodia on 5 January as he returned from a holiday, according to the publication, which said he was forced on to a plane and flown to Thailand.

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Asian stock markets tumble in response to Trump tariffs

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European futures also down more than 3% after Trump indicates tariffs will ‘definitely happen’ in EU countries

Asian sharemarkets tumbled in early trade on Monday after the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China sparked fears of an escalating global trade war.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 4.4% at the open, led by a more than 6% plunge in semiconductor heavyweight TSMC. Japan’s Topix index was down as much as 2.3% and Korea’s Kospi fell as much as 2.4%, led by major exporters with exposure to global markets, including Canada and Mexico such as electronics manufacturers Samsung and LG, and automaker Kia. China’s sharemarkets remain closed for the lunar new year holidays.

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Leaders in the Pacific raise alarm over ‘direct impact’ of Trump’s climate retreat and aid freeze

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Samoa’s prime minister says US withdrawal from Paris climate agreement is ‘very disappointing’ and puts the survival of Pacific countries at greater risk

Leaders and environmental advocates in the Pacific have expressed alarm over Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and freeze foreign aid, warning the moves will accelerate the existential threats they face as nations on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

The Paris agreement is the world’s main effort to address the impacts of the climate crisis. Trump has called it “unfair” and a “rip off”.

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Fears grow in Japan for truck driver trapped in sinkhole for third day

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Residents near Tokyo question slow pace of effort to rescue 74-year-old as workers race to build 30-metre ramp

Fears are growing for a truck driver who has spent three days trapped inside a sinkhole in Japan, as rescue workers started building a ramp in a desperate attempt to reach him.

The 74-year-old, who has not been named, became trapped when the sinkhole opened up in a road near Tokyo on Tuesday, swallowing him and his two-tonne truck.

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SoftBank ‘in talks’ to invest up to $25bn in OpenAI

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Reported move would make Japanese group largest financial backer of US startup behind ChatGPT

The Japanese investment group SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest up to $25bn (£20bn) in OpenAI in a deal that would make it the biggest financial backer of the startup behind ChatGPT.

The lender is considering putting a sum of between $15bn and $25bn into the San Francisco-based company, according to the Financial Times.

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Race to rescue driver trapped in Japan sinkhole for two days

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Attempts in Japan to retrieve the man were temporarily halted early on Wednesday after a second sinkhole appeared

Rescue workers in Japan are battling water leaks, gas pipes and unstable ground as they attempt to reach a man whose truck fell into a sinkhole near Tokyo two days ago.

The hole, which is reportedly 10 metres across and 10 metres deep, opened up at an intersection in Yashio, Saitama prefecture, on Tuesday morning, swallowing the 74-year-old truck driver and his two-tonne vehicle.

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Picture prefect: Japanese city deploys guards to control unruly tourists seeking perfect shot

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Overseas tourists are blocking roads or walking onto railway tracks in Otaru to capture its views, stoking local resentment and complaints of overtourism

Authorities in Japan are stepping up measures to deter crowds of overseas visitors from taking risks in their quest for the perfect photo, in another attempt to address the negative impact of a record surge in inbound tourism.

Tourism officials in Otaru, a small city in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, deployed security guards this week to prevent people congregating on Funami-za, a steep street and the perfect spot for photos of the port and sea in the distance.

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