VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): Religious Affairs Deputy Minister Zainud Tauhid Sa'adi has praised the Jayapura city government for maintaining the unity of the local community as well as providing a communication platform for religious, educational, traditional, and women leaders.

"Jayapura city, as a city of faith and modernity, is a valuable investment, which we should be grateful for," he remarked while inaugurating the Harmony Award Monument in South Jayapura Sub-district here on Tuesday.

He recalled that the city received the Harmony Award from the Religious Affairs Ministry on January 3, 2021.

Still, it is expected that the local people and the government will continue to strengthen their joint commitment to bolstering the spirit of harmony as well as the growth of the city for the glory of God, the deputy minister said.

He said he hoped that the commitment can actually be realized by developing the city in a conducive and orderly manner.

"Thus, we can create various development innovations to realize a peaceful and prosperous urban society," he added.

Sa'adi appealed to all regions of Indonesia to emulate the attempts made by the Jayapura city government for achieving harmony in society since harmonious conditions can prevent various negative impacts of the development of science and technology in terms of the social aspect.

He said he expects that instead, the community will optimize science and technology to capture business opportunities, improve spiritual and educational literacy, as well as promote the results of the development programs in their respective regions.

Meanwhile, acting Mayor of Jayapura City Frans Pekey said that the Harmony Award Monument is not a mere building as it will always remind the people in the region about the importance of religious tolerance.

"Thus, it (the monument) will be able to ignite people’s spirit to continue to maintain the harmony of inter-religious relations," he added.  (Antaranews)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is hoping to hold a summit meeting with South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol next week, the head of Japan's ruling coalition party Komeito said on Tuesday.

"Prime minister Kishida has indicated that he would like to hold a summit meeting with South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol as early as late next week," Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi told a news conference, adding that he hoped to see further progress in the thawing of relations between Tokyo and Seoul.

South Korea announced on Monday that it would compensate former forced labourers through an existing public foundation funded by private companies, as it sought to end a dispute with Japan which has led to fraught relations between the countries.

Japan welcomed the move while some forced labour victims and South Korea's main opposition party condemned the plan.

Kyodo reported on Monday that Tokyo was floating March 16 and 17 as potential dates for Yoon's visit to Japan. (Reuters)

Female employment in Afghanistan has dropped by a quarter after the Taliban took over the country, according to estimates from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which said the fall was exacerbated by restrictions on women working and studying.

The ILO said the 25% drop in female employment took place by the final quarter of 2022 from the second quarter of 2021, compared with a 7% drop for men. The Taliban took over the country in August 2021 as foreign forces withdrew.

"Restrictions on girls and women have severe implications for their education and labour market prospects," said Ramin Behzad, the Senior Coordinator for Afghanistan at the ILO, in a statement accompanying its assessment for 2022 of Afghanistan.

Taliban authorities have barred most girls from high school, stopped women from attending universities and most female NGO workers from working.

Afghanistan's economy has also been plunged into a crisis that has wiped out jobs. Following the Taliban takeover, foreign governments withdrew development aid and froze the country's central bank assets.

The ILO estimated GDP had contracted by 30-35 per cent across 2021 and 2022.

Taliban officials have called on the international community to unfreeze its assets to ease the country's liquidity crisis and have said they are focused on encouraging trade and investment to create economic self-sufficiency.

Youth unemployment had also shrunk by an estimated 25% for those aged between 15 and 24. The ILO noted that total employment had shown some signs of recovery in the first half of 2022, but that it had decreased for young men and all women over the year.

Taiwan will not allow "repeated provocations" from China, the island's defence minister said on Tuesday, as China's foreign minister said Taiwan was the "first red line" that must not be crossed in Sino-U.S. relations.

Tensions over democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, have spiked over the past three years as Beijing ramps up diplomatic and military pressure to get Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty.

China staged war games near Taiwan in August to protest the Taipei visit of then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen plans to meet current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States in coming weeks, two sources told Reuters.

Speaking to reporters at parliament, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said he was not aware of a planned meeting between Tsai and McCarthy.

"The Chinese communists use any reason to send troops," Chiu said. "But we won't just say 'bring it on'. We will take a peaceful and rational approach."

Although it hopes this does not happen, Taiwan's military is prepared to fight, he added.

"If the Chinese communists move again, the armed forces' job is to fight," Chiu said. "We won't allow repeated provocations against us. We can't accept that."

Taiwan's government has not announced a Tsai visit to the United States, which previously she has made as stop-overs on the way to countries which maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Taking lawmakers' questions, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said it was "inappropriate" to talk about foreign travel arrangements for the president "before there are definite plans".

McCarthy has also not confirmed a meeting with Tsai.

'INTERNAL AFFAIR'

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said it was "absurd" for U.S. officials to say that Taiwan is not an internal affair of China's.

"The Taiwan question is the core of the core interests of China, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. relations and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations," he said on the sidelines of China's annual meeting of parliament.

"The United States has unshakable responsibility for causing the Taiwan question."

China will keep working for "peaceful reunification", but reserves the right to take all necessary measures, Qin said.

"No one should ever underestimate the firm resolve strong will and great capability of the Chinese government and people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Taiwan's government strongly disputes China's territorial claims though has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing, and says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

One of the sources told Reuters that should the U.S. meeting go forward - likely in April - it did not necessarily rule out McCarthy visiting Taiwan in the future.

Four other sources - including U.S. officials and people with knowledge of the U.S. and Taiwan administrations' thinking - said both sides were deeply uneasy that a future visit by McCarthy would severely increase tensions across the Taiwan Strait at a time when the island is preparing for its own presidential election early next year. (Reuters)