Two-minute incursion by military surveillance aircraft comes amid regional tensions in Asia-Pacific
Japan has condemned an unprecedented violation of its airspace by a Chinese military aircraft as “utterly unacceptable” and a threat to its security.
The incursion comes after repeated maritime provocations by Chinese vessels near disputed islands in the East China Sea in an escalation of regional tensions.
Continue reading...António Guterres calls for a ‘massive’ increase in finance and support for the countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels
Pacific island nations are in “grave danger” from rising sea levels and the world must “answer the SOS before it is too late”, the UN chief has warned during a visit to Tonga.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, urged the world to “look to the Pacific and listen to the science” as he released two new reports on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s most important annual political gathering.
Continue reading...Trudeau also announces 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum and says ‘China is not playing by the same rules’
Canada, following the lead of the United States, on Monday said it would impose a 100% tariff on the import of Chinese electric vehicles and also announced a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum from China.
The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said Ottawa was acting to counter what he called China’s intentional, state-directed policy of over-capacity. But he did not specify whether tariffs would be softened or would be the same on Tesla, whose shares were down over 3% on Monday after the announcement.
Continue reading...Path of Hurricane Gilma spared damage as Hurricane Hone passes close to Hawaii and Typhoon Shanshan approaches Japan
The Pacific Ocean has become a theatre of dynamic meteorological activity this week, showcasing two hurricanes in the north-east, and a typhoon in the north-west. Hurricane Gilma underwent rapid intensification into a powerful category 4 storm on Sunday as it tracked west through the Pacific. Fortunately, Gilma’s path was spared significant damage, but instead generated turbulent sea conditions over the weekend; 3.5-metre-high swells and sustained winds reaching 130mph made it a feature to be avoided by marine vessels. Gilma will eventually approach the Hawaiian archipelago, with models suggesting it will pass to the north of the islands by Friday. By then, however, Gilma is expected to have dissipated into a remnant area of low pressure with little destruction in its path.
In contrast, Hurricane Hone made its presence felt on the Hawaiian islands this weekend, passing just 50 nautical miles south of Hawai’i – the Big Island – with sustained winds towards the centre nearing 80mph on Sunday. Despite being classified as a category 1 hurricane, Hone has made a significant impact through elevated surf and sea swells, causing strong breaking waves of up to 4.3 metres, as well as strong winds gusting around 60mph. However, the biggest threat is that of flash flooding and landslides on steep slopes, especially on the eastern windward side of the island.
Continue reading...António Guterres to attend Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) in Tonga with climate crisis and unrest in New Caledonia among issues to watch
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, will attend a Pacific leaders’ summit this week in Tonga with a focus on climate change in the region, one of the world’s most vulnerable to rising sea levels and temperature changes.
The annual meeting of leaders is the top political decision-making body of the region. The week-long summit culminates in the leaders’ retreat, where key decisions are made, which may include an endorsement of a regional policing initiative promoted by Australia. The future for New Caledonia is among other big issues to be addressed at the Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) which began in Tonga on Monday.
Continue reading...Craze for the four-player game known as guandan may lead to the formation of cliques, Communist party warns
As recently as last year, Chinese state media was hailing guandan as the card game that “can get you a promotion in China”.
The country was holding open tournaments, and workers were encouraged to use it as a social and professional networking tool.
Continue reading...Manila alleges ‘harassment’ in past week, including deploying flares just 15 metres away from its aircraft in latest confrontation on strategic waterway
The Philippine government accused China on Saturday of firing flares just metres away from one of its aircraft as it flew patrols over the South China Sea in the past week.
A Chinese fighter jet “engaged in irresponsible and dangerous manoeuvres” on 19 August as the plane from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) made a “maritime domain awareness flight” near Scarborough Shoal, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said.
Continue reading...Excavator brought in as search continues for woman buried when eight metre hole opened in pavement
A woman is missing after falling into an eight metre (26ft) deep sinkhole in the Kuala Lumpur city centre on Friday after the pavement caved in, burying her, Malaysian authorities said.
It happened in the Dang Wangi area of the Malaysian capital. The local police chief, Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman, said that based on witness accounts, the woman was walking along the pavement when the earth suddenly collapsed beneath her.
Continue reading...Disclosure comes as campaigners call on UK to oppose company’s planned listing on London Stock Exchange
The online fashion seller Shein has admitted it found two cases of child labour and factories failing to pay the minimum wage in its supply chain last year, as it tries to gain backing for a potential £50bn UK stock market flotation.
The disclosure, in Shein’s 2023 sustainability report, comes after workers’ rights campaigners called for the government to oppose a possible listing of Shein on the London Stock Exchange over concerns about a lack of transparency about its supply chain and ethical questions. The British Fashion Council (BFC) has also said the listing, which could be announced as early as next month, would be a “significant concern” to the industry.
Continue reading...The department of disease control said tests on a traveller had confirmed he was infected with the Clade 1b strain of mpox
Thailand has confirmed Asia’s first known case of a new, deadlier strain of mpox in a patient who had travelled to the country from Africa.
The department of disease control said laboratory tests on the 66-year-old had confirmed he was infected with the mpox Clade 1b variant.
Continue reading...Company tells clients it also expects to receive a large fine following property developer’s collapse
The auditor PwC China has reportedly told clients that it expects to receive a six-month ban from Chinese authorities, and potentially a large fine, as a punishment for its role in auditing the collapsed property developer Evergrande.
PwC expects to be banned from conducting regulated activities in China, such as signing off on financial results, for six months starting in September, the Financial Times reported.
Continue reading...Thai parliament to investigate Prawit Wongsuwon after he repeatedly hit a journalist as she tried to ask him questions
Thailand’s parliament has said it will investigate a senior politician and former army chief after he was filmed slapping a reporter as she tried to ask him questions.
Prawit Wongsuwon lashed out at a journalist from the public broadcaster ThaiPBS on Friday as she asked him about the appointment of Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the kingdom’s new prime minister.
Continue reading...Permits for coal-fired power plants drop by 83% despite leading world in construction as focus turns to renewables
Coal-fired power is still enjoying a construction boom in China, but a marked slowdown in the permitting of future plants has given experts hope that the world’s biggest emitter may be turning a corner.
China led the world in the construction of new coal-fired power plants in the first half of 2024, with work beginning on more than 41GW of new generation capacity, data published on Thursday showed.
Continue reading...Inquiry into eight EU countries is latest chapter in hostility between Beijing and EU over trade
Chinese authorities have launched an anti-subsidy investigation into European dairy imports, in the latest sign of escalating trade tensions between Brussels and Beijing.
The announcement from China’s commerce ministry on Wednesday came a day after the European Commission revealed revised duties on Chinese electric vehicles as part of its examination into what it viewed as artificially cheap cars that posed a threat to jobs in Europe’s motor industry.
Continue reading...Alice Guo, a mayor with alleged links to China, denies any wrongdoing amid human trafficking investigation sparked by raid on compound in her town
The controversy surrounding wanted Filipino mayor Alice Guo has taken another dramatic turn, with government officials alleging that she fled the Philippines in July.
Guo was mayor of the town of Bamban in Tarlac province and is at the centre of a mystery that began in March when officials raided a compound in the town and found about 1,000 workers, including victims of human trafficking, along with luxury villas, high-end cars, and expensive cognac.
Continue reading...Unscripted remarks about the Japanese-administered islands were made during during a Chinese-language programme on the public broadcaster NHK
Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, has apologised after a member of staff referred to the disputed Senkaku Islands as “Chinese territory” during an internationally broadcast radio programme this week.
The presenter, a Chinese national in his 40s, made the unscripted remarks for about 20 seconds during a Chinese-language broadcast on Monday on the NHK World-Japan and Radio 2 channels, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
Continue reading...Police dug up and removed the rust-caked projectiles, which belonged to US troops during the second world war
Workers at a school in Solomon Islands discovered a buried stockpile of the second world war munitions as they “dug a hole for sewage”, police said.
More than 200 rust-caked projectiles – which once belonged to US troops – have been dug up and removed after they were found near a school staff member’s house, the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force said.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese and Prabowo Subianto announce conclusion of treaty negotiations but reporters weren’t able to ask questions about new deal
Australia and Indonesia have struck a new security pact that will lead to more joint military exercises and visits, prompting human rights advocates to call for safeguards.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told the Indonesian defence minister and president-elect, Prabowo Subianto, in Canberra on Tuesday that there was “no more important relationship than the one between our two great nations”.
Continue reading...South Korean military says it is investigating but can’t confirm the person’s ‘exact motivations and goals’
A North Korean has defected to South Korea by crossing the militarised border in the eastern part of the Korean peninsula, with Yonhap news agency reporting that the defector is a soldier.
Seoul’s military said on Tuesday it had picked up “one suspected North Korean individual on the eastern front and handed them over to the relevant authorities”. Yonhap news agency reported that the person was a staff sergeant.
Continue reading...1News Verian poll comes amid growing concern the coalition’s policy direction will wind back Māori rights
Nearly half of New Zealanders believe the government’s policies have increased racial tensions, new polling shows, as pressure mounts on the government over policy changes that many fear will undermine Māori rights.
The 1News Verian poll released on Monday found 46% of voters believed racial tensions have worsened as a result of the coalition’s policies, while 37% said there had been no difference and 10% thought tensions had reduced. Another 7% of respondents said they didn’t know or preferred not to comment.
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