Asia

US says NKorea ignores multiple overtures for talks

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –North Korea, believed poised to test a new nuclear weapon, has ignored multiple US overtures for discussions as well as offers to help in its Covid-19 outbreak, a US diplomat said Tuesday. Speaking after Pyongyang test-launched eight ballistic missiles in a single day Sunday, Sung Kim, the US Special Representative to North Korea, said the country has not responded to months of public and private communications seeking to engage over tensions. […]

Hong Kong not becoming ‘police state’, says city’s top cop

Hong Kong is not becoming a “police state”, the city’s top law enforcement officer said Tuesday, days after his officers stamped out the city’s once-permitted commemorations marking Beijing’s deadly Tiananmen crackdown. The Chinese business hub is preparing for an upcoming leadership change as well as the 25th anniversary of the city’s handover from Britain, for which President Xi Jinping is widely expected to visit. Speaking to local outlet HK01 about beefed-up security activity around the event, commissioner Raymond […]

China accuses Australia, Canada of ‘disinformation’ over jet encounters

Beijing on Tuesday accused Australia and Canada of “spreading disinformation” over allegedly dangerous manoeuvres by Chinese military pilots in international airspace. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a day earlier hit out at “irresponsible and provocative” actions by Beijing’s air force after Canadian aircraft deployed in Japan narrowly avoided a collision with Chinese jets late last month. The incident has again heightened tensions between Beijing and Ottawa, just as a lengthy crisis over Canada’s 2018 arrest […]

US, South Korea fly warplanes after North’s missile tests

  South Korea and the United States flew warplanes including stealth fighter jets over waters around the Korean peninsula Tuesday in a fresh show of force following recent missile tests by the North, Seoul said. Sixteen South Korean warplanes, including F-35 stealth fighters and four US F-16 jets, formed an attack squadron over the West Sea — also known as the Yellow Sea — to “respond to the enemy threat,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff […]

Hong Kong pro-democracy figures set for largest national security trial

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s largest national security case was sent to trial on Tuesday, after lingering 15 months in pre-trial procedures during which most of the 47 defendants were denied bail. Under the security law, which Beijing imposed in 2020 following huge, sometimes violent democracy protests, the pro-democracy figures are charged with “conspiracy to subversion” for organizing an unofficial primary election. Subversion is one of the four major crimes under the security […]

Relief, caution in Beijing as city lifts Covid dine-in curbs

BEIJING, China (AFP) — After staying home for more than a month, Chen Chunmei joined a long line of customers at a popular Beijing restaurant where diners tucked into massive bowls of crayfish following an easing of Covid restrictions in the Chinese capital. Last month, the city of 22 million stopped people from eating out, closed gyms and sealed off dozens of subway stations to try and stamp out a coronavirus outbreak. The curbs are […]

Update: US suspending solar panel tariffs on four ASEAN nations, not China

 President Joe Biden on Monday will suspend tariffs for two years on solar panel imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam — but not China — as the US seeks to boost domestic clean energy manufacturing, the White House said. Biden’s administration will also invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to accelerate domestic production, and use the federal government’s purchasing power to increase demand, a fact sheet said. China is excluded as the Commerce Department […]

Bangladesh depot accused over blast that killed at least 49

by Sam JAHAN / Shamsuddin Illius Bangladesh authorities accused a container depot operator Monday of not telling firefighters about a chemical stockpile before it exploded with devastating consequences, killing at least 49 people — nine of them from the fire service. The toll from the giant blast, which followed a fire at the B.M Container Depot in Sitakunda and sent fireballs into the sky, was expected to rise further. Some containers were still smouldering on […]

China warns Australia risks ‘serious consequences’ after jet interception

  Beijing on Monday warned Australia to “act prudently” or face “serious consequences” after Canberra accused a Chinese fighter jet of dangerously intercepting one of its spy planes over the South China Sea. Australia has argued it is not unusual for it to undertake surveillance flights in the South China Sea — a region Beijing insists comes under its domain despite a 2016 Hague ruling that dismissed its claims. China’s stance has heightened tensions with […]

S. Korea, US fire ballistic missiles in response to N. Korea tests

South Korea and the United States fired eight ballistic missiles on Monday in response to North Korean weapons tests the previous day, Seoul’s military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the allies launched the ground-to-ground Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile at targets in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, in the early morning. The 10-minute volley comes a day after North Korea launched eight short-range ballistic missiles following a […]

At least 16 killed, 170 injured in Bangladesh depot fire

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AFP) — At least 16 people were killed and 170 others injured after a massive fire tore through a container depot in southern Bangladesh, officials said Sunday. The fire broke out shortly before midnight at a container storage facility in Sitakunda, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the key port of Chittagong, fire service official Jalal Ahmed said. “Sixteen people have been killed in the fire. The number of fatalities is expected to […]

Hong Kong police make multiple arrests as Tiananmen gatherings banned

by Holmes CHAN Hong Kong authorities on Saturday detained multiple people as they pounced on any attempt at public commemoration of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, as China vies to remove all reminders of the deadly event. Discussion of June 4, 1989, when China set troops and tanks on peaceful protestors, is all but forbidden on the mainland. Semi-autonomous Hong Kong had been the one place in China where large-scale remembrance was still […]