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by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan this week marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed over 200,000 people and left many more deeply traumatised and even stigmatised. Here are some facts about the devastating attacks: – The bombs – The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in western Japan on August 6, 1945 by the US bomber Enola Gay. The bomb, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States and Australia on Monday opened top-level talks in which they are expected to seek a common front amid soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper welcomed to Washington their Australian counterparts, Marise Payne and Linda Reynolds, for two days of talks that will include a news conference on Tuesday. The annual talks come as President Donald Trump’s […]
by Leo Ramirez and Noel Celis CHENGDU, China (AFP) — The American flag was lowered at the US consulate in Chengdu on Monday and Chinese authorities entered the building as Beijing carried out a Cold War-style retaliatory closure of the mission. Relations have deteriorated in recent weeks in an intensifying standoff between Washington and Beijing, with the Chengdu mission ordered to shut in retaliation for the forced closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas. […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A huge fleet of Chinese fishing boats has been operating illegally in North Korean waters catching hundreds of millions of dollars worth of squid, a study showed Wednesday. The competition from hundreds of larger, better-equipped Chinese vessels was forcing North Korean fishermen to poach in Russian waters, according to a group of international researchers involved in the Global Fishing Watch study. The study combined four satellite technologies to identify widespread […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China said Friday it had revoked the license for the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, in retaliation for the closure of China’s Houston consulate earlier this week. The move is a “legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States”, the foreign ministry said in a statement. “The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible […]
by Mark Felix Agence France Presse HOUSTON, United States (AFP) — US-Chinese relations, already tense over the coronavirus pandemic and Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong, deteriorated once again Wednesday as Washington ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston within 72 hours. China slammed the US move, which came one day after the unveiling of a US indictment targeting two Chinese nationals for allegedly hacking hundreds of companies worldwide and seeking to steal […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope Wednesday of holding high-level talks soon with North Korea and did not rule out a summit, a break with recent pessimistic signs from both countries. Pompeo, without elaborating, said there was “more discussion than is publicly noticed” with North Korea. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to have a senior discussion before too long and hopefully advance the ball,” Pompeo said at […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada warned its citizens in Hong Kong on Wednesday that they faced a higher risk of arbitrary detention and extradition to mainland China after Beijing imposed a new security law on the city. The warning illustrates Western governments’ heightened concern for citizens under the new law that criminalizes subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces. “You may be at increased risk of arbitrary detention on national security grounds and possible […]
by Bhuvan BAGGA NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — TikTok denied Tuesday sharing Indian users’ data with the Chinese government, after New Delhi banned the wildly popular app in a sharp deterioration of relations with Beijing two weeks after a deadly border clash. “TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government,” […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has scrapped the deployment of a multibillion-dollar US anti-missile system, the government confirmed Thursday, days after saying the program had been suspended. Interceptors for the Aegis Ashore system were to be placed in two regions under the costly and controversial programme. But the government reversed course under pressure from local residents concerned about the risks posed by a missile defence system in their backyard. “The National Security Council discussed this […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has suspended plans for military action against the South, state media reported Wednesday in an apparent sudden dialling-down of tensions after Pyongyang blew up a liaison office. In recent weeks, Pyongyang has issued a series of vitriolic condemnations of Seoul over anti-North leaflets, which defectors based in the South send across the border — usually attached to balloons or floated in bottles. Last week […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — China and India have agreed to reduce tensions a week after clashes on their disputed Himalayan border left 20 Indian troops dead in brutal hand-to-hand fighting. The June 15 battle, reportedly fought with fists, clubs and rocks, was the first time troops have been killed on their border since 1975 and marked a major deterioration in ties between the two Asian giants. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that […]
