Tag: china

Australia to upgrade military bases with eye on Pacific tensions

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia announced Wednesday it would upgrade military bases in its far north and expand joint drills with US forces after warnings about the “drums of war” beating in the Pacific region. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a plan worth more than half a billion US dollars to revamp four military training facilities in the remote north over the next five years. The package of upgrades is more extensive and more costly […]

Wall of sand engulfs Chinese town

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A towering wall of sand rushed over factories and apartment blocks in northwestern China’s Gansu province as seasonal sandstorms barrelled across the country, causing air pollution and traffic accidents. Aerial images as it struck showed an apocalyptic scene as a billowing cloud of yellow dust smothered Gansu’s Linze county on Sunday. State media CCTV reported multiple car accidents in the province caused by low visibility, while meteorologists have warned people to […]

PCG, BFAR step up conduct of maritime exercises in the West Philippine Sea

(Eagle News) — The Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources stepped up the conduct of comprehensive maritime exercises in the West Philippine Sea on April 24. The PCG made the announcement after the Philippines lodged two new diplomatic protests against China due to the “continued unauthorized presence and activities” of 160 Chinese fishing vessels, Chinese maritime militia vessels and other vessels in Philippine waters. According to the PCG, BRP Gabriela […]

Philippine coast guard holds drills in disputed South China Sea

    MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippine coast guard is conducting drills in the South China Sea which an official said Sunday were part of efforts to secure “our maritime jurisdiction” over the disputed waters. The exercises near the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island and China-controlled Scarborough Shoal come amid heightened tensions over the resource-rich sea. The latest diplomatic wrangle between the two countries was triggered by the detection last month of hundreds of Chinese vessels […]

Japan to host first joint military drill with US, France

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will hold a joint military drill with US and French troops in the country’s southwest next month, the defence minister said Friday, as China’s actions in regional waters raise concern. The exercise, running from May 11 to 17, will be the first large-scale exercise in Japan involving ground troops from all three countries, the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) said in a statement. It comes as Tokyo seeks to deepen […]

DFA lodges two new protests vs China over 160 Chinese vessels spotted in PHL waters

(Eagle News) — The Department of Foreign Affairs has lodged two new diplomatic protests against China. In a statement released on Friday, April 23, the DFA said the new protests were due to the “continued unauthorized presence and activities” of 160 Chinese fishing vessels, Chinese maritime militia vessels and other vessels in Philippine waters. The department said the vessels were observed “within the territorial sea of high tide features in the Kalayaan Island Group, in […]

Pakistan Taliban claim deadly blast at luxury hotel

QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) — The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for a deadly suicide blast at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in the southwest of the country, as officials raised the death toll to five. Beijing said it strongly condemned the attack, although the Taliban said Pakistan security officials were the target of the blast. The bomber detonated the explosives late Wednesday while inside a vehicle in the car park of the Serena […]

500k more Sinovac doses arrive in PHL; total Sinovac doses delivered reach 3 million

  (Eagle News) – Another 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine arrived from China on Thursday, April 22, as scheduled, bringing the total number of Sinovac doses delivered to the country at 3 million. Total vaccine doses now reached 3.525 million including the 525,600 AstraZeneca doses from the COVAX Facility. The Philippine government said that the additional SInovac doses would be used to vaccinate those in the A1 to the A4 priority list. The A1 group […]

WHO seeks next steps in Covid origins probe

by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — After an international mission to China turned up more questions than answers about the pandemic origins, the WHO is evaluating how to move forward through a diplomatic quagmire to solve the mystery. Determining how the virus that causes Covid-19 first began spreading among humans is seen as vital to preventing future outbreaks. But a long-delayed report, drafted by the team of international experts sent to Wuhan at the […]

Deadly blast at Pakistan hotel hosting China ambassador: official

QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) — At least four people were killed and a dozen others wounded when a bomb exploded at a top hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in southwestern Pakistan, officials said late Wednesday. The blast took place in the car park of the Serena — a luxury hotel chain throughout Pakistan — in the city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province where the military has been fighting a decade-long low level insurgency. “At […]

China’s Xi to attend online Biden climate summit

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping will attend a virtual climate summit this week hosted by US President Joe Biden, the Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday, as political tensions between the two countries remain high. Biden has invited 40 world leaders including Xi and Russia’s Vladimir Putin to the meet starting on Earth Day, meant to mark Washington’s return to the front lines of the fight against climate change after former president Donald […]

Carpio pushes joint patrols with other countries to protect PHL EEZ; says China not ready to go to war on WPS

Says PHL should not be intimidated to fight for rights in this intergenerational struggle   (Eagle News) — Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that China is employing scare and intimidation tactics in the West Philippine Sea and is not really prepared to go to war over its ambitions since war would be extremely disadvantageous to China. In an interview with the Eagle News Service program “Mata ng Agila” recently, Carpio said […]