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Paris, France | AFP | Saturday 4/23/2023 EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on European navies to patrol the disputed Taiwan Strait, in a opinion piece in a French weekly published Sunday. Borrell’s comments in the Journal Du Dimanche, echo comments he made last week when he stressed how crucial Taiwan is to Europe. Taiwan “concerns us economically, commercially and technologically”, Borrell said. “That’s why I call on European navies to patrol the Taiwan […]
Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Vietnam of kidnapping a blogger critical of the communist government who was living as a refugee in Thailand. Thai Van Duong, who fled to Thailand in 2019 to escape Vietnamese authorities and was subsequently given refugee status, disappeared last week. According to Vietnamese state media, the 41-year-old is now in custody in Vietnam after being detained for “illegally entering” the country through an unofficial border crossing close to Laos […]
Manila, Philippines | AFP | Tuesday 4/18/2023 Albert del Rosario, the Philippines’ former foreign minister who stood up to Beijing in the South China Sea, has died at the age of 83, Manila said Tuesday. Del Rosario, who served under Philippine president Benigno Aquino from 2011 to 2016, died while en route to the United States, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement that did not specify the cause of death. Born […]
The United States has sent a naval warship through the Taiwan Strait in a “freedom of navigation” operation days after China staged massive war games around the self-ruled island. The USS Milius guided-missile destroyer “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Sunday, the US Navy said, in the first US operation in the waters separating Taiwan from mainland China since January. Beijing launched three days of military exercises around Taiwan on April 8 in which […]
Taipei, Taiwan | AFP | Sunday 4/16/2023 China said Sunday it had launched a satellite into orbit, with authorities in Taiwan saying rocket debris had fallen into the sea where Beijing announced a no-sail zone this week. Maritime authorities in China’s eastern Fujian province this week banned ships from an area north of Taiwan from 9:00 am (0100 GMT) to 3:00 pm (0700 GMT) on Sunday due to “possible falling rocket wreckage”. Taiwan’s transport ministry […]
The United States and Vietnam said Saturday they hoped to upgrade diplomatic ties, days after a flare-up in tensions with China over Taiwan. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, passing through Hanoi on his way to a Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers’ meeting in Japan, met Vietnamese leaders on Saturday to pave the way for a potential diplomatic upgrade to a “strategic partnership”. The two countries have increasingly close trade links, while both […]
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Vietnam Friday looking to expand diplomatic ties with Hanoi, days after a flare-up in tensions with China over Taiwan. Blinken — who is passing through Hanoi on his way to a Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers meeting in Japan — will meet top Vietnamese leaders on Saturday to pave the way for a potential diplomatic upgrade with the country. The two countries have increasingly close trade […]
Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP | Thursday 4/13/2023 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), criticised for its inaction over the deepening Myanmar crisis, strongly condemned on Thursday air strikes that reportedly killed dozens of people. Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, is the 2023 chair of the regional bloc and is hoping to kickstart a five-point plan, agreed with the Myanmar junta two years ago, and other mediation attempts that have so far failed to end […]
Washington, United States | AFP | Monday 4/10/2023 Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Vietnam later this week in the latest bid to build relations with a growing US partner as tensions flare with China over Taiwan, the State Department said Monday. Blinken will visit Hanoi on his way to a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting this weekend in the Japanese mountain resort of Karuizawa. Blinken will “discuss our shared vision of a […]
Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP | Saturday 3/18/2023 Indonesia’s Mount Merapi, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, erupted late Friday and continued to spew hot ash and other volcanic material on Saturday. Footage of flaming lava pouring out of the crater and a tall column of hot cloud rising 1,300 metres into the air was taken by the government-run Merapi Volcano Observatory on Friday night. The volcano continued to spew hot ash and hot lava […]
The Philippines and the United States will hold their largest ever joint military exercises next month, Philippine and US officials said Tuesday, as the longtime allies seek to counter China’s growing regional influence. A total of 17,680 soldiers will take part in the annual drills, which for the first time will include live-fire exercises in the disputed South China Sea and a simulated defence of a tiny Philippine island nearly 300 kilometres (190 miles) south […]
San Diego, United States | AFP | by Jim Watson with Sebastian Smith in Washington Australia has unveiled plans to buy up to five US nuclear-powered submarines, then build a new model with US and British technology under an ambitious plan to bulk up Western muscle across the Asia-Pacific in the face of a rising China. The announcement came Monday at an event at a San Diego, California, naval base where President Joe Biden […]
