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HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam’s economy slowed in the first half of 2016, official figures showed Wednesday, with a severe regional drought and a spate of fish deaths adding to losses caused by turmoil in global markets. GDP growth dropped to 5.52 percent in the first six months compared to 6.32 percent in the same period last year. The country grew at its fastest pace for five years in 2015 thanks to strong exports and […]
(REUTERS) China will offer its first regular civilian cruises to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea by 2020, state media said on Wednesday, a move likely to irk other claimants to the disputed waters. China’s activities in the contested area, such as building artificial islands, airfields and other military facilities, have fueled tension in Southeast Asia, although it says most of the construction is for civilian purposes. The island province of Hainan […]
PHNOM PENH / AFP- Cambodian Premier Hun Sen lashed out Monday at claims his government had bowed to Chinese pressure to help scupper a joint statement by Southeast Asian nations on the South China Sea. In an angry speech Hun Sen also accused an international court of political bias as it prepares to rule on a sea dispute between the Philippines and China. The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration is widely expected to rule […]
(REUTERS) Southeast Asian countries withdrew a statement that expressed the region’s deep concerns over tension in the South China Sea, where China is involved in protracted territorial disputes with some of its neighbors. The strongly-worded statement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), released by the Malaysian foreign ministry, did not name China directly but warned against raising tension in the waters, where Beijing has been building artificial islands and increasing its military presence. […]
(REUTERS) A Chinese observation ship shadowed the powerful U.S. aircraft carrier, John C. Stennis, in the Western Pacific on Wednesday, a Japanese official said, joining warships from Japan and India in drills close to waters Beijing considers its backyard. The show of American naval power comes as Japan and the United States worry Beijing will look to extend its influence into the Western Pacific with submarines and surface vessels as it pushes its territorial […]
(Reuters) China came under pressure from the United States and Asian powers to rein in its actions in the South China Sea, with the U.S. defense secretary urging Beijing to join in on regional cooperation or risk erecting a “Great Wall of self-isolation.” U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter encouraged China to participate in a “principled security network” for Asia to help counter concerns about its strategic intentions following “expansive and unprecedented actions” in the South […]
POP singer Katy Perry visited the rural Ninh Thuan province in Vietnam as part of her role as Unicef goodwill ambassador. The singer visited various Unicef-backed institutions and rural villages to highlight the plight of children affected by exclusion or poverty in the region. According to the Unicef press release, in some regions of Ninh Thuan, 20 percent of children don’t go to school and around half of children live in poverty. 15 per cent […]
(Reuters) Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Wednesday his country was not pursuing a military buildup over the South China Sea and would work with allies to seek peaceful solutions to disputes, with no use of force. Speaking in a rare interview with some foreign journalists after a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, Phuc said the South China Sea dynamic had grown in complexity and needed regional friends and strategic partners […]
by Jérôme CARTILLIER HANOI , Vietnam (AFP) — US President Barack Obama landed in Vietnam late Sunday for a landmark visit capping two decades of rapprochement between the former wartime foes, as both countries look to push trade and check Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. Air Force One touched down in Hanoi just after 9:30 pm (1430 GMT) for the beginning of a three-day trip in which Obama will meet Vietnam’s communist […]
WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — Two Chinese fighters have conducted an “unsafe” intercept of a US spy plane in international air space over the South China Sea, the Pentagon said Wednesday. “The Department of Defense is reviewing a May 17 intercept of a US maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft by two tactical aircraft from the People’s Republic of China,” Pentagon spokesman Major Jamie Davis said in a statement. “Initial reports characterized the incident as unsafe,” […]
(Reuters) A Taiwanese group has intervened in the Philippines’ international court case against China’s claims in the South China Sea, pressing Taipei’s position that Taiwan is entitled to a swathe of the disputed waterway as an economic zone. The unusual submission has emerged just as judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague are poised to rule on the Philippines’ landmark case, brought under the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Hundreds of people gathered Sunday in the Vietnamese capital to protest against a Taiwanese company suspected of involvement in a toxic leak that has hit the fishing industry along the central coast. Tonnes of dead clams were found last week in Ha Tinh province where fish began washing up on beaches earlier in April, sparking a public outcry. The area is home to a large steel mill run by a Taiwanese […]
