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by Anastasia CLARK Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Friday banned top officials from US President Joe Biden’s administration from entering the country and announced a wave of tit-for-tat sanctions and expulsions of diplomats, as tensions soar between the rivals. The wave of Russian action comes a day after the Washington announced sanctions against Moscow and the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats, in retaliation for what it says was interference by the […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s prime minister heads to Washington on Thursday to become the first foreign leader to hold face-to-face talks with US President Joe Biden, with concerns about China topping the agenda. Yoshihide Suga will be hoping to renew the all-important alliance with Washington after the Trump era, as well as compare notes on an increasingly assertive Beijing. The trip comes after two top US officials visited Japan in March, […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — US President Joe Biden sent an unofficial delegation of former US officials to Taiwan on Wednesday in a signal of support for the democratic island as it faces increasingly hostile moves by China. Taipei said former senator Christopher Dodd and former deputy secretaries of state Richard Armitage and James Steinberg would land in the capital on Wednesday afternoon. “Once again this visit demonstrates the firm relationship between Taiwan and the […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippine armed forces said Friday it was investigating a report that Chinese military boats pursued a civilian vessel carrying Filipino journalists in the disputed South China Sea. A television crew from Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN was travelling to Second Thomas Shoal in the contested Spratly Islands on Thursday when their vessel was allegedly chased by a Chinese Coast Guard boat and two attack craft. Tensions over the resource-rich sea have […]
Armed attack on PHL to “trigger our obligation” to defend PHL under US-PHL Mutual Defense Treaty, says US State Dep’t spokesman WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday warned China against what the Philippines and Taiwan see as increasingly aggressive moves, reminding Beijing of Washington’s obligations to its partners. “An armed attack against the Philippines’ armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea, will […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States will soon be able to ramp up vaccine assistance abroad and will not seek “favors in return,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, putting a veteran aid administrator in charge. Blinken said the top US priority was to fight Covid-19 at home but that the goal would be achieved soon, pointing to President Joe Biden’s promise that 90 percent of Americans will be near a […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — A Philippine air force jet is conducting daily patrols over Chinese fishing vessels parked near a disputed reef, the defence chief said, as Beijing refuses to pull the ships out of the area. Around 220 boats were first spotted earlier this month at the boomerang-shaped Whitsun Reef around 320 kilometres (175 nautical miles) west of Palawan Island, sparking a diplomatic row. Manila has ordered Beijing to recall the vessels, describing […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP ) — The Philippine military ordered the deployment of more navy ships to the South China Sea Thursday amid a growing diplomatic row over a fleet of Chinese boats parked near a disputed reef. China claims almost the entirety of the resource-rich sea, and was accused by the United States this week of efforts to “intimidate and provoke others” by parking its vessels near Whitsun Reef. Manila has ordered Beijing to recall […]
by Kang Jin-kyu SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea Thursday, in its first substantive provocation to the new US administration of Joe Biden. The nuclear-armed North has a long history of using weapons tests to ramp up tensions, in a carefully calibrated process to try to forward its objectives. Donald Trump’s first year in office was marked by a series of escalating launches, accompanied by a […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese vessels gathered near a disputed reef in the South China Sea are “fishing boats” sheltering from poor weather, the foreign ministry said Monday, a day after the Philippines described their presence as an incursion. China claims almost the entirety of the resource-rich sea, and has been accused by the United States of efforts to “intimidate, coerce and threaten other nations” to control it. The Philippines on Sunday said more than […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Thursday it will ignore attempts by the US to contact it, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported, hours before President Joe Biden’s top envoys were to hold talks in Seoul. “No US-DPRK contact nor dialogue can take place until the US withdraws its hostile DPRK policy,” Yonhap cited senior North Korean minister Choe Son Hui as saying in a statement carried by state media. “Therefore, we will […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel’s president on Monday formally received the first-ever ambassador from the United Arab Emirates to the Jewish state, following last year’s historic agreement between the countries to normalize ties. UAE envoy Mohamed Al Khaja, who arrived in Israel earlier Monday, delivered his credentials to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at a ceremony in Jerusalem. After greeting Khaja in Arabic, Rivlin said: “The entire Israeli people welcome you with joy. “This will be […]
