Torrential rains from Tropical Cyclone Seroja, one of the most destructive storms to hit the region in years, turned small communities into wastelands of mud
While vaccines can protect you against COVID-19 for up to 18 months, a booster dose may eventually be needed.
A Syrian officer was killed and three soldiers wounded Thursday in strikes launched by Israel after a missile was fired towards a secretive nuclear site in the Jewish state, a monitor said.
‘Shangri-La has continued its relationship with the same body that purchases weapons used to murder our people.’ - Justice for Myanmar This article, Myanmar activists put pressure on Robert Kuok’s niece over alleged business ties with military, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company.
The foreign ministers of China and Germany have underscored the need for Brussels to engage rather than isolate Beijing as sanctions over alleged labour abuses in Xinjiang cast a shadow over a landmark investment agreement with the EU. The call for cooperation came during a video conference on Wednesday between German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Wang said China and Germany should ensure the stability of global industrial and supply chains and resist decoupling, according to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. “China does not approve of division based on ideology and engaging in new collective confrontations. It is even more opposed to engaging in ‘small cliques’, advocating a ‘new cold war’, and even arbitrarily imposing unilateral sanctions based on false information,” Wang was quoted as saying. “China and Germany should jointly be defenders of multilateralism and contributors to global development.” Before the meeting, Maas stressed the need for strong communication with Beijing. “In the European Union, we have been describing China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival at the same time,” he said. “Decoupling is the wrong way to go.” The meeting comes just weeks after China was hit by a round of coordinated sanctions from the United States, the EU, Britain and Canada over reports of forced labour in the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang, accusations that Beijing rejects. Those reports prompted calls from some European lawmakers to scrap the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, which China and the European Union reached in December but have still to ratify. At the time, Beijing described the agreement as a showcase of China-Europe cooperation. Prospects for engagement between the EU and China are also clouded by the departure of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been a leading advocate of better relations with Beijing and will step down this year. In the last two weeks, Merkel has spoken twice to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Official government readouts from Germany and China indicate that the agenda did not include possible sanctions on German officials or issues such as Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan or Huawei – Europe’s biggest talking points on China. On Wednesday, Wang said ties between China and Germany remained stable, benefiting both China and Europe, and the two countries should embark on a fresh round of high-level exchanges as soon as possible. “China and Germany must always grasp the important principles and valuable experience of mutual respect,” he was quoted as saying. Wang said China and Germany should cooperate on 5G technology, clean energy, public health and digital economy. “We hope Germany can be opened to China, and remove the export restrictions on high technology to China, creating a fair, open and non-discriminatory operation environment to Chinese businesses in Germany,” he said.This article China-Germany relations: engage, don’t isolate, foreign ministers urge European Union first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
Both veteran Marxists who have spent decades campaigning for Hong Kong democracy, Chan Po-ying and Leung Kwok-hung viewed marriage as something of a patriarchal and unnecessary institution.
All travellers who have been to India in the preceding two weeks will be barred from entering Singapore from 11.59pm on Friday.
Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou has won an application to adjourn her Canadian extradition case for more than three months in light of new evidence being provided by the bank HSBC, throwing the schedule for the already-marathon case into disarray. The final phase of the legal battle, which has lasted 28 months and has upended China’s relations with Canada and the US, had been scheduled to begin next week. But Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes ruled in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Wednesday that Meng’s bid to adjourn the case should be granted so the defence can examine the bank documents they believe may be relevant. Meng’s lawyers had said on Monday that some of the material has already been provided by HSBC, with more expected to be delivered over the next six weeks. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Holmes vacated three weeks of court hearings scheduled from April 26 to May 14. She ordered them rescheduled on or about August 3. The decision scrambles the end game for the case. Holmes, Meng’s lawyers and the Canadian government lawyers representing US interests will hold a conference on April 28 to chart a new path forward. In her brief oral ruling, which included no reasons for the decision, Holmes said new applications resulting from the HSBC evidence would have to be made before August 3. Written reasons for the decision would be forthcoming, she said. Meng Wanzhou seeks three-month delay to marathon extradition case HSBC agreed to turn over documents to Meng – who is Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei – after settling a case with her in the High Court of Hong Kong. Previously, HSBC had defeated another request to turn over the material in the British courts. The Canadian Department of Justice’s top lawyer, Robert Frater, had said it was “inexplicable” that HSBC had acquiesced to Meng in Hong Kong, considering the bank had “won on every point” in the British case. Frater, whose team opposed the application, had characterised Meng as engaging in a global fishing expedition for evidence that had no place in the Canadian extradition hearing and should instead be presented at a US trial. But Meng’s lawyers had claimed the material from HSBC could support their contention that US authorities have deceived the Canadian court, and Meng’s extradition should therefore be thrown out. Meng is accused by US authorities of defrauding HSBC by lying to the bank about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran, thus putting the bank at risk of breaching US sanctions. She was arrested at Vancouver’s airport on December 1, 2018, and has been fighting a US request to have her extradited to face trial in New York ever since. Her treatment has infuriated Beijing. The new HSBC material is said by Meng’s lawyers to relate to the relationship between Huawei and HSBC and two subsidiaries – Skycom, through which Huawei did business in Iran, and a shell company called Canicula. Meng’s lawyer Richard Peck had said on Monday the material would be “copious”, but none of it has been made public. Its unknown nature apparently dismayed Frater, who had told Holmes: “They do not know what is in these documents and they do not know when they are going to get them.” HSBC, Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou settle Hong Kong case seeking documents The schedule for the case has been tightly calibrated and the subject of much negotiation between the government side, which is seeking to hasten proceedings, and Meng’s team, apparently happy to extend them. Peck had denied that Meng was “trying to string this out”; the adjournment was a matter of fundamental fairness, he had said. The government’s written response to the application, however, had lambasted the request. “Two and a half years from the start of these proceedings, countless hours spent fashioning a schedule agreed by both sides, and mere days from reaching the finishing line, the applicant asks this court to take a several month pause,” it said. In court on Monday, Frater had said “there is literally no basis for this request … they are asking once again to have this court turn itself into a trial court”. But Holmes disagreed. Now both sides will try to map out the rest of the complicated case, which involves some of Canada’s leading defence and government lawyers, negotiating pandemic travel restrictions on both sides of the country with a mix of in-person, video and telephone hearings. Meng will await the resumption of her case under partial house arrest in her C$13.7 million (US$11 million) home, one of two houses she owns in Vancouver. In the days after her arrest, Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained in China and accused of espionage. Last month, they underwent closed-door trials that each lasted only a couple of hours; no verdicts have been announced. Canada’s government says Kovrig and Spavor are victims of hostage diplomacy and has called for their release. China, meanwhile, has repeatedly called on Canada to free Meng, categorising her arrest in similar terms.More from South China Morning Post:Meng Wanzhou seeks three-month delay to marathon extradition case, citing new evidence from HSBCExtradition judge is told she, not minister, must decide if US has jurisdiction over Meng Wanzhou’s actions in Hong KongMeng Wanzhou’s extradition judge should not decide on US jurisdiction, Canadian government lawyer saysHSBC, Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou settle Hong Kong case seeking documents as she fights extraditionMeng Wanzhou’s lawyer blasts ex-Mountie for ‘shock’ refusal to testify at extradition hearingThis article Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou wins bid to delay extradition hearing by three months, throwing marathon case into turmoil first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
A Mrs World winner facing criminal charges after an on-stage fracas at a Sri Lankan beauty pageant has relinquished her title, organisers said Wednesday.
China on Thursday said Australia's sudden scrapping of a Belt and Road Initiative deal risked "serious harm" to relations and warned of retaliatory actions, but Canberra insisted it would not be bullied.
Hong Kong customs has arrested six people including a couple and their son on suspicion of laundering about HK$2.5 billion (US$322 million) through 59 bank accounts over two years, as officers investigate possible links to an even bigger criminal case involving another family. In the latest arrests revealed on Thursday, a 23-year-old man and his parents, aged 48 and 50, were held along with the mother’s 36-year-old male friend, who officers suspect are the core members of a money-laundering syndicate. Also arrested were two men – a garage worker, 23, and a chef, 25 – thought to be the holders of 13 bank accounts used to collect and launder HK$550 million in 2019 and 2020.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Hong Kong crime family arrested in HK$3 billion money-laundering investigation In September, officers picked up five members of another family accused of laundering more than HK$3 billion, alongside the owner of a money exchange company which had previously employed the woman, 48, arrested in the latest case. Officers from the Customs and Excise Department’s syndicate crimes investigation bureau are looking at whether the two cases are connected and if the same ringleader is behind both families. Law enforcers are also trying to track down two directors of another money exchange company in relation to the new arrests. The woman detained this month was in charge of that company and the 36-year-old man was her colleague before it closed for business last year. Acting on intelligence, Hong Kong customs began investigating the syndicate in mid-2020, but the couple and their son were not initially under investigation. The family was only identified in connection with the alleged money-laundering activities after customs officers arrested the three men in a series of raids in Tai Po last Thursday. It is understood the woman was at the home of the 36-year-old suspect during one of those raids, but she was not arrested at the time and officers took her personal details before letting her go. “While carrying out analysis and further investigation, we believe the woman and her husband and son were behind the three men. The family also involved a lot of suspicious financial transactions. Officers immediately took action and arrested them on the next day [last Friday],” a law enforcement source said. Superintendent Grace Tang Wai-ngan, of customs’ syndicate crimes investigation bureau, said the couple’s son was responsible for recruiting people to help process the suspicious transactions, and he had also opened 12 bank accounts for handling HK$200 million in 2018 and 2019. Tang said 22 bank accounts belonging to that suspect’s parents were also used to handle HK$1.2 billion in suspicious transactions, adding she believed the mother played a key role in the syndicate because her accounts dealt with about 45 per cent of the HK$2.5 billion involved in the case. According to officials, the woman was paid HK$20,000 a month while working at the money exchange company in Sheung Wan and her husband, 50, was employed at a restaurant on a monthly salary of HK$30,000, while their son earned HK$15,000 a month in the catering industry. They are all now unemployed. “The family had a total monthly income of HK$65,000, but around HK$1.4 billion had been funnelled through their 34 bank accounts in about 1,400 transactions in 2018 and 2019,” said Senior Superintendent Mark Woo Wai-kwan, who heads customs’ syndicate crimes investigation bureau. “The amount of the money dealt by the family is not commensurate with their family’s income and profiles.” The 36-year-old man was accused of using his 12 bank accounts to launder HK$600 million in 2019 and 2020. Woo said preliminary investigation revealed the group had laundered HK$2.5 billion through 59 bank accounts between January 2018 and February 2020. “Over 2,600 suspicious financial transactions were involved. The biggest single transaction was more than HK$22 million,” he said. More than half of the transactions involved dozens of shell companies with no record of running businesses in the city. Registered directors of the shell companies included residents of mainland China. The cash from the rest of the transactions came from other individuals and unknown sources. “It’s a typical money-laundering tactic used to conceal the origins and the flow of the dirty money,” Woo said. After a months-long probe, dozens of customs officers swooped to arrest the six suspects in a series of raids in Yuen Long and Tai Po on Thursday and Friday last week. Mobile phones and documents including bank statements were seized, but neither cash nor assets linked to the funds were confiscated or frozen in this case. It is understood the core members left hundreds of dollars in each of their accounts. The source said the suspects might have used other bank accounts to hide their money or for deploying other tactics to conceal their assets. All of the suspects have been released on bail pending further investigation. Customs officers are investigating the origins of the money and the types of illegal businesses behind the funds. Woo also warned of online employment traps in which jobseekers were offered high pay, but had to hand over control of their bank accounts to hold money from unknown sources. Regardless of whether monetary reward was involved, those offering up their personal bank accounts to deal with money from unknown sources might risk committing money-laundering crimes, he said. In Hong Kong, money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail and a HK$5 million fine. Police in January arrested seven current and former Hong Kong bankers in a crackdown on an international money-laundering syndicate alleged to have handled HK$6.3 billion in criminal proceeds over four years – the city’s biggest such case in nearly a decade. According to the force, the syndicate sent 16 people – a mix of Belgians and mainlanders – to the city to open business accounts to be used for money laundering. The city’s largest ever money-laundering case – involving HK$13.1 billion – came to light with the 2012 arrest of a 22-year-old mainland man. He laundered the money through his bank accounts between August 2009 and April 2010, making 4,800 deposits over an eight-month period. In January 2013, he was sentenced to 10½ years in jail.This article Hong Kong couple and son among six arrested for laundering HK$2.5 billion, officers probe links to other transactions involving different family and even more cash first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 24 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore on Thursday (22 April) including 22 imported cases, one case in the community, and one dormitory resident, taking the country's total case count to 60,904.
A Chinese drone maker says it has manufactured a prototype unmanned stealth aircraft that it claims could rival the B-21 Raider being developed for the US Air Force. Zhongtian Feilong Intelligent Technology, based in Xian, said in a statement on its WeChat social media account on Tuesday that the Feilong-2 – or Flying Dragon-2 – prototype had recently been completed. It said the multirole high-subsonic unmanned aerial vehicle could be used for precision strikes on key assets such as enemy command centres, military airstrips and aircraft carriers.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. The Feilong-2 could also be used with a swarm of drones to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance, a saturation attack or damage assessment, the statement said. It is designed to identify targets using optical and active radars in difficult weather conditions, and stealth features include a special coating to reduce reflection. The drone has an internal payload capacity of 6 tonnes and an operating range of 7,000km (4,350 miles) and it can be flown at an altitude of 49,000 feet. The aircraft can fly at up to 780km/h. According to its developer, the Chinese drone comes close to Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider in terms of speed, attack range, payload and stealth capabilities – but Zhongtian Feilong claims its unmanned aircraft is cheaper to produce and is expected to last longer. “This means the American B-21 has already fallen behind, even before it enters service,” the statement said. The B-21 Raider is an advanced, very long-range, heavy-payload stealth strategic bomber that will be able to deliver both conventional and thermonuclear weapons. It is expected to enter service around 2026. The US Air Force plans to retire its B-1B long-range supersonic conventional bombers to make way for the B-21s. The B-1Bs have been used for missions including reconnaissance over the South China Sea and near Chinese airspace, according to Beijing-based think tank the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative. Zhongtian Feilong’s other drones include an unmanned attack aircraft, long-range reconnaissance aircraft and a fixed-wing light small drone, according to the China Aerospace Studies Institute in the US. China should use drones to patrol and defend contested seas, academics say Drones, which can be used to carry out attacks against enemies while minimising a military’s own casualties, have become increasingly important for defence forces around the world, and developing them is a key part of the rivalry between China and the United States. A Shenzhen-based company unveiled a new military micro drone for surveillance in February that could rival the Black Hornet Nano used by the US, while in October, Chinese media reported that a low-cost “suicide drone” – dispatched in a swarm to attack a target – had been developed in the country.More from South China Morning Post:Chinese fishermen find drone ship ‘used for spying by a foreign country’How Shenzhen, the hi-tech hub of China, became the drone capital of the worldChinese military micro drone unveiled at Abu Dhabi weapons showThis article Chinese firm claims new stealth drone may rival US Air Force’s B-21 Raider first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
Thousands of protesters massed outside German parliament on Wednesday as lawmakers prepared to vote on a law amendment giving Angela Merkel's government power to impose tougher measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
A Chinese scientist on the joint international team investigating the origins of Covid-19 has accused WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of being “extremely irresponsible” for pursuing the “lab leak” theory. The rare public display of discontent – voiced by an anonymous expert and reported in local state media – showed how Beijing subtly protested against the World Health Organization’s pursuit of a hypothesis that China preferred to abandon while leaving room not to bruise ties with the UN agency. The issue might potentially sour the relationship between China and the world health body but would not fundamentally change it, an observer said.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. China has been firmly pushing back against any suggestions that a leak from a high-level biosecurity lab in the central Chinese city of Wuhan started the Covid-19 pandemic. It has also insisted China was very cooperative and transparent with the investigation. Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday afternoon that all parties should respect science and the opinions and conclusions of scientists, and the WHO in particular, should play an exemplary role. Last month, following the release of the report by the Chinese and international experts on their 28-day mission to study how Covid-19 erupted in Wuhan, Tedros expressed concern that the international team had difficulty gaining access to raw data during the visit early this year and that the team was too quick to dismiss the laboratory leak theory. He told member states during a meeting in late March that the laboratory leak required further investigation, potentially via additional missions involving specialist experts he was ready to deploy. “Tedros’ remarks were extremely irresponsible,” state-owned broadcaster Hubei Media Group reported, citing an unidentified Chinese expert from the mission. There were 17 Chinese experts in the joint mission. Hubei province administers Wuhan, where the investigation mission took place. Scientists call for new probe into coronavirus origins – with or without China The unnamed expert expressed “surprise” and “discontent” that Tedros made such comments after scientific facts and expert consensus showed the laboratory leak hypothesis was unfounded, the report said. “As an authoritative body in the field of global public health, the WHO should have shown more respect for science, held science in awe and taken the lead in maintaining the authority of the report. However, director general Tedros disregarded the experts’ painstaking research and scientific consensus, which should not be the WHO’s position,” the expert was quoted as saying. The expert said Tedros’ remarks were being used by “forces with ulterior motives” to attack the report, although did not elaborate. The expert said foreign counterparts in the mission were under pressure from the United States and senior officials from the WHO in their exchange. Such remarks by Tedros might jeopardise future coronavirus tracing work, the expert warned. “There are already forces with ulterior motives seizing on the director general’s statement to question the authority and scientific validity of the report. The joint experts are very worried about it, and even discontent,” the expert said. “If the next phase of global virus origin tracing is thus stalled because of this, then the WHO should also be held responsible.” Tedros, who prompted criticism for publicly praising China for its handling of the Covid-19 outbreak after his visit to the country in January 2020, has been caught in the crossfire between China and the US over the handling of the outbreak during the early stages. He was personally attacked by then US president Donald Trump, who accused the WHO of being China-centric, writing in an open letter to Tedros that the WHO must show its independence from China. The accusations by the anonymous expert was a reversal of China’s long-time call for supporting the WHO, though Tedros had been consistent in keeping the lab leak theory hypothesis open. Liang Wannian, leader of the Chinese side of the investigation team, has said repeatedly that biological samples and data could not be taken out of the country or photographed, citing China’s privacy law, but that international experts could view the database and materials just as much as Chinese experts could. Beijing’s floating of views through unofficial channels and with anonymous sources is not an uncommon method. An anonymous expert from the Chinese team told the Global Times last month he was “surprised” after the WHO announced the release of the investigation report without telling China first and was concerned the report would be a “deviation from consensus”. The report was eventually released later than the WHO’s original announcement. Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank, said that even though it was unclear whether the expert’s view represented the official stance of the Chinese government, publication by a state media outlet showed it had received official approval. “I feel it’s not so much indication of China’s displeasure of what Tedros said as China’s frustration that WHO is siding with the US and some Western countries to pressure China,” Huang said, adding that China had repeatedly indicated the origin tracing had become a political issue rather than a scientific one. Unseen Wuhan research notes could hold answers – and why lab-leak rumours refuse to die This display of discontent could sour the China-WHO relationship and it remained to be seen how damaging it was, Huang said. “I don’t think China will act like Trump [by starting to exit the WHO] because it would undermine China’s image in the global health leadership. I don’t think this will fundamentally change the relationship between China and the WHO,” Huang said. “China seeks to play that leadership role in the world health governance and they count on the WHO’s support in critical events.” But the episode was likely to have an impact on the future of tracing the coronavirus origins in China, Huang added.More from South China Morning Post:Coronavirus: US diplomat Anthony Blinken criticises China, insists on ‘need to get to the bottom’ of pandemic originWHO team probing coronavirus origins in China pushes back as report faces global criticismCovid-19 hunt needs more research and better data-sharing, says WHO chief after Wuhan report fails to find originWhy limiting AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines over blood clot fears could do more harm than goodCoronavirus vaccine scams pose a growing threat to the global economy and public healthThis article Coronavirus: Chinese expert rails against WHO chief and Wuhan lab leak theory first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
A public servant and her husband were charged on Wednesday (21 April) over the leak of a government statement on the implementation of home-based learning before its official release.
For co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan, who’ll hold 2.2% of Grab after the deal, that means his fortune will surge to US$829 million, while co-founder Tan Hooi Ling and President Ming Maa will worth US$256 million and US$144 million,.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday downplayed the possibility of getting militarily involved in the Taiwan issue after angering Beijing with a call for “peace and stability” across the strait. Suga made the call with US President Joe Biden on Friday during talks at the White House, the first reference to Taiwan – which Beijing claims as its territory – in a joint statement in over 50 years. The two leaders also said they would counter China’s “intimidation” in the Asia-Pacific region. Asked by an opposition lawmaker on Tuesday whether Japan would get militarily involved in issues related to the Taiwan Strait, in line with US strategy on China, Suga told parliament that the joint statement “does not presuppose military involvement at all”.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Beijing – which has not renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control – has been wary of Japan’s growing alliance with the United States under the Biden administration, particularly after US and Japanese defence chiefs agreed in March to cooperate closely if Beijing decided to attack Taiwan. According to Kyodo news agency, Tokyo has been looking at the feasibility of issuing an order for its Self-Defence Forces to protect US warships and military planes in the event of a crisis between mainland China and Taiwan, given their proximity to Japan and the possibility that an armed conflict could affect the safety of Japanese citizens. Japan has meanwhile voiced concerns over China’s new coastguard law that allows its quasi-military force to use weapons against foreign ships that Beijing sees as illegally entering its waters. Takashi Terada, a professor of international relations at Doshisha University in Kyoto, said Suga’s remarks on Tuesday suggested there was not a strong expectation for military engagement over Taiwan. “Japan expects China to find a peaceful (non-military) solution, [so] it would be contradictory if Japan stressed the military element in its approach to this,” Terada said. He said the joint statement on Taiwan was already a “big step” demonstrating Japan’s alliance with the US, and there was no point in Tokyo taking steps that would aggravate Beijing further. But Xing Yuqing, an economics professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, said Japan would be obliged to assist the US if a conflict erupted with China over the Taiwan Strait due to a defence policy shift made under the previous administration of Shinzo Abe. The change in 2014 saw the government reinterpret the pacifist constitution to allow troops to fight overseas for the first time since 1945. “Japan has agreed to the US request to address Taiwan in the joint statement because it wants to demonstrate its position on this matter,” Xing said. “But more importantly, it wants to express the hope not to get involved in a potential military conflict in the Taiwan Strait.” Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping said he believed Japan would still take a position of “ambiguity” on the issue of a possible conflict over Taiwan. “Japan’s strategy is still vague on whether or not it’s committed to assisting the US to protect Taiwan – Japan doesn’t want to take a clear stand because that would be a huge threat to its own security,” Song said. “Even the US hasn’t clarified its strategic ambiguity on Taiwan, so Japan must also take that approach.” Washington recognises a single China but will come to Taiwan’s defence – without spelling out what that means – and will not pressure Taipei to settle with Beijing, a policy short-handed as “strategic ambiguity”.More from South China Morning Post:China conducts aerial bombing drill after US-Japan statement on TaiwanJapan troops won’t get involved if China invades Taiwan, PM Yoshihide Suga saysChina may hit back against Japan over Taiwan issue but economic action unlikely, analysts sayThis article Japan expected to take position of ‘ambiguity’ on Taiwan issue first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
Global smartphone sales snapped back in the first quarter of the year to show the strongest growth since 2015, a market tracker said Tuesday.
A US spy plane buzzed the Chinese coast this week, one of several warplanes deployed close to Chinese territorial waters amid live-fire exercises by the PLA Navy, according to a think tank. The Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative said a US Air Force RC-135W electronic reconnaissance aircraft made an unusually close flight along China’s eastern coast on Tuesday, coming within 40 nautical miles of Qingdao, the headquarters of People’s Liberation Army Navy’s North Sea Fleet. An RC-135W and a P-8A anti-submarine aircraft also patrolled the South China Sea on Wednesday during live-fire exercises in the disputed waters, according to the think tank.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Last week, US spy planes patrolled along the southeast coast of Guangdong province before heading south to the disputed Paracel Islands, also in the South China Sea, according to open-source aviation radar responder records. The think tank said the aircraft involved in the patrols last week and on Wednesday temporarily “disappeared” from public radar records when flying over the eastern to northern section of the Paracels, possibly “having turned off their responders”. Beijing’s ‘combat drills’ near Taiwan seen as a message to US military State broadcaster China Central Television said near-shore patrols enabled planes to detect electronic signals on land in their mission to collect intelligence on the PLA. “The patrols enable them to obtain more information in the shortest time and more valuable signals in the most efficient manner,” the broadcaster said. At the same time, PLA’s Liaoning aircraft carrier strike group has been conducting exercises near Taiwan. Last September, China accused US warplanes of masquerading as civilian aircraft in close-shore reconnaissance missions, posing a “serious security threat”. Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said identity disguise was a “common trick”, with the US Air Force carrying out such exercises at least 100 times in 2020. In August, a US surveillance plane flew into the no-fly zone China announced for a military exercise in the Yellow Sea, prompting a protest from the Chinese defense ministry.More from South China Morning Post:China ‘not afraid of falling behind’ on military technology, analyst saysWas China’s military modernisation driven by its ‘humiliation’ in 1996?China’s aviation capabilities stuck at ‘low-end’ as military-civil fusion weighs on innovation: official reportChina’s military to hold live-fire drills off Taiwan as US delegation visits the islandThis article US spy planes keep close eye on China amid live-fire military exercises first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.
The Czech government on Wednesday warned Moscow it might expel more Russian diplomats unless the 20 Czech nationals ejected from Russia were allowed to return to work within a day.
