New scientific research released last month warns of an increasingly ominous future for the environment. People may think that warning is more of the usual, but something in the report should concern Filipinos in particular: In about three decades, the Philippines could find many of its coastal areas, including those surrounding Manila Bay, underwater due to the effects of climate… Read more »
China’s efforts to study the DNA of the country’s ethnic minorities have incited a growing backlash from the global scientific community, as a number of scientists warn that Beijing could use its growing knowledge to spy on and oppress its people. Two publishers of prestigious scientific journals, Springer Nature and Wiley, said this week that they would re-evaluate papers they… Read more »
The recent announcement of the US–Japan Trade Agreement (USJTA) must have come as a surprise to many in Japan given its unusual expeditiousness. The agreement was concluded just six months after negotiations began — a dramatic contrast to the EU–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement which took more than five years to achieve. One reason why the United States and Japan were able to… Read more »
China has suspended a joint human rights programme with Australia and blocked two parliamentarians from visiting the country as diplomatic ties between the two nations continue to flounder. Canberra said on Monday it had not been able to reach agreement with Beijing on continuing a two decades old technical dialogue, which is aimed at advancing human rights reform in China…. Read more »
Escalating violence between pro-democracy protesters and police had pushed Hong Kong to “breaking point,” Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said, warning a similar situation could “easily happen” in his country if the government is complacent. Speaking to reporters from his offices in the city-state on Monday, the trade minister said Singapore should heed the lessons from what… Read more »
China’s Defense Minister told his US counterpart that Washington must stop “flexing its muscles” in the South China Sea when the two met Monday, according to a spokesman for Beijing.At the same time, China announced that its new domestically produced aircraft carrier was headed to the South China Sea for training and research purposes.US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chinese Defense Minister… Read more »
Arianne Baldesimo’s heart sank when she received a notification on her mobile phone claiming that Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, the leader of a pro-democracy group behind some of the largest protest marches in Hong Kong, had been attacked by a group that included “ethnic minority” assailants. She felt sorrow for Sham, who had been smashed over the head with hammers and… Read more »
As violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters raged across Hong Kong university campuses this week, some South Koreans were reminded of the fiery student-led protests that took place on their own soil three decades ago. More than 2,000 students at Yonsei University, one of the country’s top universities, fought with police on campus in 1987 to protest against military… Read more »
Washington should suspend the special economic status granted to Hong Kong if Beijing deploys its military forces in the city, a congressional body warned on Thursday, along with a range of other recommendations addressing perceived threats the US faces as a result of its engagement with China. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which has a mandate to advise… Read more »
A group of 312 Chinese nationals who were arrested in the Philippines last month in connection with telecommunications fraud were deported on Thursday. They were among 512 foreigners arrested on October 9 during a raid on an illegal business process outsourcing office in Pasay city in Metro Manila, the bureau said. The office was allegedly conducting telephone scamming operations, using… Read more »