TAIPEI, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – Taiwan told China on Monday to stop its “destructive unilateral actions” after more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nine navy ships were detected in areas around the self-ruled island. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory to be seized one day, and has ramped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taipei in recent years. In the 24 hours between the morning of September 17 and 18, the defence […]
Tag: china
WHO calls on China for ‘full access’ for Covid investigators: FT
GENEVA, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – The head of the World Health Organization told the Financial Times he was ready to send a new mission of experts to China to investigate the origins of Covid-19. “We’re pressing China to give full access, and we are asking countries to raise it during their bilateral meetings — (to urge Beijing) to co-operate,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the FT. He said the WHO had already written to China […]
Chinese FM Wang Yi to visit Russia Sept 18-21: foreign ministry
BEIJING, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will begin a four-day visit to Russia for security talks on Monday, his foreign ministry said, the latest in a series of high-level visits and phone calls between the two sides. China and Russia are strategic allies, with both countries frequently touting their “no limits” partnership and economic and military cooperation. Their ties became even closer after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, […]
Taiwan detects 28 Chinese warplanes around island
TAIPEI, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – China flew 28 warplanes around Taiwan on Sunday, with most crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait for unspecified “long range” missions, Taipei authorities said. Taiwan’s defence ministry said 20 of the aircraft detected since Sunday morning crossed the median line of the waterway separating Taiwan and mainland China, and entered the self-ruled island’s southeast and southwest air defence identification zone. China was conducting “missions such as long […]
US believes China defense chief under investigation by Beijing: report
WASHINGTON, Sept 15, 2023 (AFP) – The US government believes China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu is the subject of an investigation by Beijing and has been relieved of his duties, the Financial Times reported late Thursday citing American officials. The report came shortly before high-ranking diplomat Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, stated on social media that Li “hasn’t been seen or heard from in 3 weeks,” and that the minister might have been […]
China releases new measures for Taiwan ‘integration’
BEIJING, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – China outlined on Tuesday a raft of measures for strengthening integration with Taiwan, in an indication that Beijing aims to expand links with the self-ruled island that were severed during the Covid-19 pandemic. China claims the democratic island as part of its territory and relations have soured since Taiwan’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016. Ties drifted further as coronavirus curbs gummed up trade and other […]
Pres. Biden hails closer ties with Vietnam, but says not aiming to contain China
HANOI, Sept 11, 2023 (AFP) US President Joe Biden hailed closer ties with Vietnam on Sunday as the two countries struck a deal to deepen cooperation, including on semiconductors, but said he was not aiming to contain China. The “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Hanoi is part of Washington’s push to bolster its network of allies around Asia and the Pacific in the face of Beijing’s rising influence. Biden accused Beijing of seeking to bend the […]
Embracing extraordinary times! ASEAN in Focus – September 6, 2023
Embracing extraordinary times! ASEAN in Focus – Sept. 4, 2023
Australia sending delegation to China to ‘stabilise’ ties
SYDNEY, Sept 2, 2023 (AFP) – Australia will send a delegation of industry, government, academic, media and arts representatives to Beijing for a dialogue with their Chinese counterparts next week to stabilise its relationship with China, Canberra’s foreign ministry said Saturday. Trade, investment, people-to-people links as well as regional and international security are among the issues up for discussion in next Thursday’s talks, Foreign Minster Penny Wong’s office said. The high-level dialogue had been held […]
Typhoon Saola slams southern China after battering Hong Kong
HONG KONG, Sept 1, 2023 (AFP) – Typhoon Saola roared ashore in southern China early Saturday as a weakened but still dangerous threat that has lashed Hong Kong and forced millions to hunker down for one of the region’s strongest storms in decades. Tens of millions of people across Hong Kong, Shenzhen and other southern Chinese megacities had braced for the menace of a cyclone rated as a super typhoon. And while it delivered a […]
Indonesia arrests 88 Chinese nationals over love scams
BATAM, Indonesia, Aug 30, 2023 (AFP) – Dozens of Chinese nationals were arrested in Indonesia on suspicion of running an online love scam syndicate that ensnared hundreds of victims in China, police said Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off from their Chinese counterparts, Indonesian police arrested 83 men and five women at an industrial park in Batam city in Riau Islands province on Tuesday. Police said the syndicate blackmailed hundreds of victims in China, many of […]
