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International News (6891)
February
Cyclone Gabrielle Lashes Auckland, Homes Evacuated, Flights Disrupted, Power Cut
Written by Nur Yasmin
Residents in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland and the surrounding area are being told to brace for more heavy rain, flooding and gale-force winds, and some homes are being evacuated, as Cyclone Gabrielle nears the country's coast.
Gabrielle, is currently sitting 200 km (125 miles) northeast of Auckland and is forecast to move close to the east coast over the next 24 hours.
"We expect the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle to get, unfortunately, worse before they get better," said Rachel Kelleher, Deputy Controller Auckland Emergency Management on Monday.
"It's not the time to be complacent," she added.
The cyclone is the second significant weather event to hit Auckland and the upper North Island in just a few weeks. Last month Auckland and surrounding areas were hit by record rainfall that sparked floods and killed four people.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Monday announced a NZ$11.5 million ($7.25 million) package to support community groups such as food banks and to groups impacted by the floods.
On Monday, many schools and local government facilities across Auckland and the upper North Island were closed and people were being asked not to travel if possible.
States of emergency are in place in Auckland and at least six other regions. Around 50 apartments in Auckland have been evacuated because of fears a century-old steel framed tower could collapse.
Further evacuations have been ordered at beachside communities on the east coast ahead of an expected storm surge in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Electricity is out for 46,000 homes, cell service is patchy in some areas and trees have come down and roofs lifted off.
Public transport has been disrupted with ferries, buses and trains either suspended or operating on a reduced schedule.
Air New Zealand has cancelled 509 flights and said flights will resume on Tuesday when the weather is expected to improve.
Police said they were trying to locate a person who was onboard a boat near Great Barrier Island this morning, after responding to reports the boat was in distress.
"The Police Maritime Unit, with assistance from Eagle, have attempted to approach the boat throughout the morning, however conditions have been challenging, and at this stage no one has been located," the said in a statement.
Metservice meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said overnight that Auckland and Great Barrier Island could see heavy rain and winds.
"I think parts of Auckland that have not yet seen challenging wind conditions are expected to see gales overnight," she said.
"Storm surge is still coming and might peak with the high tide at 2am for eastern parts of Auckland."
She added that given Auckland was already saturated, some localised land slides and surface flooding was expected. (Reuters)
February
Philippines Urges China To Prevent Any 'Provocative Act' After Complaint Over Laser
Written by Nur Yasmin
China should restrain its forces to prevent them committing any "provocative act", the Philippine military said on Monday, after Manila accused China's coast guard of using a laser to try to disrupt a resupply mission to troops in the South China Sea.
The Philippine coast guard (PCG) said its vessel was assisting a navy mission to deliver food and supplies to troops on an atoll in the disputed waterway on Feb. 6 when a Chinese coast guard ship directed a "military-grade laser" at the ship, temporarily blinding its crew on the bridge.
"I think it's time for the Chinese government to restrain its forces so that it does not commit any provocative act that will endanger the lives of people," military spokesperson Medel Aguilar told reporters.
Aguilar quoted the Philippine defence chief as saying the Chinese action was "offensive" and unsafe.
The incident took place at the Second Thomas Shoal, 105 nautical miles (195 km) off the Philippine province of Palawan. The shoal is home to a small Philippine military contingent on board a rusty ship.
The 100-metre long (330-ft) World War Two ship was intentionally grounded on the shoal, known in the Philippines as Ayungin, in 1999 to reinforce Manila's sovereignty claims in the Spratly archipelago.
"The deliberate blocking of the Philippine government ships to deliver food and supplies to our military personnel ... is a blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights," the PCG said in a statement.
China's foreign ministry said in response that its coast guard conducted actions according to the law.
"We urge the Philippines to avoid such actions, and the actions of China's staff are professional and restrained," China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, told a regular briefing.
GREEN LIGHT
The PCG did not elaborate on what a "military grade laser" was but images it supplied showed green light emanating from a Chinese vessel with bow number 5205.
The office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declined to comment, referring reporters to the PCG statement.
Marcos visited Beijing last month when China said it was ready to manage maritime issues "cordially".
It is not the first time China has been accused of using lasers in the region.
In February last year, Australia accused China of an "act of intimidation" after a Chinese navy vessel directed a laser at an Australian military surveillance aircraft.
The reported bid to block the Philippine resupply mission comes as Marcos has expressed openness to forging a visiting forces agreement (VFA) with Japan to boost maritime security.
Marcos visited Japan last week to strengthen security ties.
Close U.S. ally Japan in December announced its biggest military-build up since World War Two, fuelled by concern about aggressive Chinese action in the region.
The Philippine president also recently granted former colonial power the United States access to more military bases under a VFA, which China said undermined regional stability and raised tensions.
The agreement with the United States provides rules for the rotation of thousands of U.S. troops in and out of the Philippines for exercises. (Reuters)
February
New Zealand's Auckland braces for ex-cyclone Gabrielle impact
Written by Nur Yasmin
Residents of New Zealand's biggest city were urged on Sunday to prepare for the impact of a storm that buffeted Australia's Norfolk Island overnight.
Gabrielle, downgraded to a sub-tropical low pressure system from a Category 2 cyclone, hit Norfolk Island on Saturday night, with its most destructive winds missing the island, before tracking to New Zealand, 1,460 kilometres (910 miles) south.
New Zealand's North Island and its largest city Auckland braced for the storm's full impact from Sunday night. Last month Auckland was hit by record rainfall that sparked floods and killed four people.
The city of 1.6 million was in line for a "full trifecta" of heavy rain, strong winds and storm surges, said Georgina Griffith, a spokeswoman for the nation's weather forecaster, MetService.
"Don't be fooled if you're not affected until Tuesday," she told reporters.
Wind and rain were spreading from the country's north, with a 140 km per hour (87 miles per hour) wind gust reported on the country's North Island on Sunday afternoon, MetService said.
"Rainfall amounts over the next three days show that although things get going today, the bulk of the rain is expected on Monday," it warned, as authorities tipped rain of up to 40 mm (1.6 inches) on Monday.
Auckland Emergency Management said it was working to get 26 emergency shelters up-and-running in the city in time for the wild weather's arrival.
With Gabrielle closing in, Air New Zealand said it was cancelling multiple long-haul international fights on Monday, as well as Tasman and Pacific Island flights, and domestic services in and out of Auckland.
Auckland Airport said airlines were announcing flight cancellations in the "evolving situation", and encouraged people with travel booked to watch for updates.
Mayor Wayne Brown's office urged residents to prepare, including by tying down loose outdoor items and ensuring houses were clear of debris.
The storm was on track to lie off Cape Reinga at the North Island's north end on Sunday afternoon, after moving away from Norfolk Island, MetService said.
On Norfolk Island, which covers just over 34 square km (13 square miles) in the Pacific Ocean between New Caledonia and New Zealand, authorities said they were clearing debris and trees from roads and restoring power knocked out in the storm.
The island's roughly 2,000 residents, some descended from British sailors who mutinied on the HMS Bounty in the 18th century, had been "extremely fortunate" with the passage of the cyclone, authorities said. (reuters)
February
Pakistani PM approves IMF agreement, says Geo citing sources
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has approved a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and all mattters over the bailout program are settled, local broadcaster Geo said on Thursday, citing sources.
Cash-strapped Pakistan had been due to wrap up talks on Thursday with the IMF in a bid to unlock stalled funds from a $6.5 billion bailout to ward off economic meltdown. (Reuters)
February
Singapore relaxes COVID travel curbs, mask rules further
Written by Nur Yasmin
Singapore will drop a requirement for travellers who are not fully vaccinated to show COVID test results or purchase coronavirus travel insurance from Feb 13, the government's virus taskforce said on Thursday.
Masks will also not be required to be worn on public transport, the health ministry said in a statement, as authorities lowered the disease outbreak response level to "green" from "yellow", indicating COVID-19 is not threatening.
However, masks will still be mandatory in healthcare settings, where there is interaction with patients and in indoor patient-facing areas.
"Within Singapore our COVID situation has remained stable over the recent months, despite increased travel over the year-end holidays and China's shift from zero COVID," Lawrence Wong, deputy prime minister and co-chair of the virus taskforce, told a media briefing.
"Our population has developed a high level of hybrid immunity," he said.
Around 80% of the city-state’s 5.6 million population have achieved minimum COVID-19 vaccination protection, and around half are up to date with their additional booster shots, health ministry data showed.
"We've had to deal with many unexpected curveballs and surprises along the way. But we managed to reach this point together because we all did our part," Wong said.
The public can also remove COVID-19 contact-tracing apps, and the government has deleted identifiable data from its servers and database, health minister Ong Ye Kung said.
Since April last year, Singapore had lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions with many international events returning to the city-state, attracting tourists and businesses.
The Asian financial hub is expecting the tourism sector to recover to pre-pandemic levels by 2024. (Reuters)
February
Investors turn picky in Asia after easy wins from China’s reopening
Written by Nur Yasmin
As a swift and broad rally in Asian stock markets after China's reopening from COVID curbs peters out, investors are targeting beaten down stocks in sectors including retail, hospitality and technology to lead a narrower advance from here.
The initial wave of optimism over the lifting of lockdowns in the world's second-largest economy lifted a host of trade and tourism stocks around the region, led predictably by the most obvious beneficiaries - sectors such as Macau hotels and Thailand tourism.
But three months in, investors reckon it is time to get more discerning.
"We believe the next phase of the market's recovery will be focused on companies that can deliver resilient earnings growth," said Robert Secker, portfolio specialist in the equity division at T. Rowe Price.
Herald van der Linde, HSBC's head of equity strategy for Asia Pacific, points out that travel and gaming stocks have already benefited.
"I think in the remainder of 2023 it is all about how the recovery in China filters through to consumer companies and banks outside of China," he said.
For investors looking for their next leg of growth, analysts recommend sectors that stand to benefit from the pent-up demand of Chinese consumers, such as hospitality firms, retailers, and industries that struggled during the economic downturn, including online recruiters and shopping mall operators.
Investors are banking that sky-high Chinese household savings, which jumped to 17.8 trillion yuan ($2.62 trillion) last year, will be released and boost these sectors.
Man Wing Chung, lead manager for Value Partners' Asia ex-Japan Fund is adding to technology hardware and semiconductor stocks in Taiwan, saying their "valuation has already priced in a lot of the negative sentiment on the downward tech cycle."
While shares of Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW) have risen 45% from their October lows, they still trade at 15.5 times forward earnings, below a 5-year average of 18.8 times.
Driven by expectations people in the world's most populous country will rush to travel and socialise after three years of the most stringent pandemic lockdowns, shares of Macau gaming companies Sands China (1928.HK), Wynn Macau (1128.HK), MGM China (2282.HK) have all more than doubled in the past three months.
Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) is up 12%, while Trip.com Group Ltd (9961.HK) has gained 68% in the same period.
China's market has naturally benefited most, with the MSCI China index (.dMICN00000PUS) up nearly 50% since start of November, far outperforming the 13% rise in the MSCI Southeast Asia index (.MISU00000PUS) and 26% gain in MSCI's broad Asia-Pacific index (.MIAPJ0000PUS).
That has led investors to hunt for sectors and companies with depressed valuations outside China.
Also, since China accounts for more than 20% of exports from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a recovery in China will lift up growth of the entire region, said Value Partners' Chung, who is overweight on markets in the ASEAN bloc.
Data from stock exchanges in Taiwan, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea shows foreigners purchased $8.8 billion worth of stocks in January, with Taiwan and South Korea witnessing their biggest monthly purchases in at least two years.
Foreign investors had sold $57.2 billion in regional equities last year.
GLOBAL PUSH OR CHINA PULL?
After a torrid 2022, investors have been betting that a swift recovery in China's economy will somewhat cushion the impact of a global slowdown and possible recession.
Value Partners' Chung said the concerns over global recession have been largely priced into the market and the benefits from China reopening have yet to be felt.
With global inflation showings signs of easing and investors expecting major central banks to soon end their monetary tightening, their attention has been switching to the possibilities of a global recession.
"Everyone seems to 'know' we're going to have a recession, and everyone seems to 'know' it will be mild," said Christy Tan, investment strategist at Franklin Templeton Institute.
"China and its reopening trade, on the other hand, are in early stages and may be the additional tailwind for Asian equities later this year." (Reuters)
February
India to drop pre-departure COVID tests for travellers from China, other countries
Written by Nur Yasmin
India will drop the pre-departure COVID test requirement for travellers coming from or via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Japan from Monday, the health ministry said, as COVID-19 infections have fallen sharply globally.
The random testing of 2% of all travellers landing in India will continue, the health ministry wrote in the letter dated Feb. 9 to the civil aviation ministry. (Reuters)
February
South Korea court convicts 'comfort women' activist of embezzling donations
Written by Nur Yasmin
A South Korean court on Friday convicted a lawmaker who led an activist group for victims of Japanese wartime sexual exploitation of embezzling group funds and fined her nearly $12,000, while clearing her of other charges.
Yoon Mee-hyang was indicted in 2020 on several charges of fraud and embezzlement during her days as head of the group, which advocates for surviving "comfort women" - a Japanese euphemism for those forced to work in its wartime brothels during its 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean peninsula.
The Seoul Western District Court said Yoon embezzled at least 17 million won ($13,500) of group funds raised through donations.
"The organisation runs on the money from ordinary people ... but the defendant failed to meet expectations," the court said in its verdict, according to the News1 agency.
Yoon was fined 15 million won ($11,900) but the court acquitted her of other charges including illegally receiving government subsidies and coaxing a victim in failing health to donate her fortune to the group.
Yoon, who had apologised for causing controversy but denied the charges, smiled as she left the court.
"It proved my innocence on most of the unreasonable charges pressed by the prosecutors," she told reporters, adding she would appeal against her conviction.
Prosecutors had called for a five-year jail sentence, which would have forced her to give up her seat in parliament.
Calls to the court and the advocacy group known as Jungdaehyup, or the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, went unanswered.
Yoon's case threatened to damage the campaign on behalf of the surviving victims of the Japanese military.
The legacy of Japan's colonial rule, especially the issues of sexual exploitation and forced labour, remain highly sensitive in South Korea and have for decades frayed ties with Japan. (Reuters)
February
Let's work to keep peace, China tells visiting Taiwan KMT official
Written by Nur Yasmin
A top Chinese official told a senior Taiwan opposition figure on Friday that both China's Communist Party and Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) should oppose Taiwan independence and interference by external forces.
Wang Huning, the Communist Party's fourth ranked leader, told Andrew Hsia, Taiwan's opposition KMT's deputy chairman, during a meeting in Beijing that both parties should maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, Chinese state television reported.
China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own and has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to get the island to accept Chinese sovereignty. Taiwan's government says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.
The KMT said Hsia told Wang that no matter how big their differences are, as long as the two sides can continue dialogue and regard maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait as an important goal, "there are no difficulties that cannot be resolved".
"Maintaining the peace and stability of cross-strait relations and promoting the well-being of the people of Taiwan and the people on both sides of the strait have always been the KMT's highest priority policy goal," the party paraphrased Hsia as saying.
Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council, responding to the meeting, said cross-strait exchanges should be based on equality and mutual respect, and that authoritarianism, and democracy, peace and stability are "incompatible".
"Senior Chinese Communist Party officials must think about constructive, meaningful and pragmatic ways to handle" relations, it said in a statement.
Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has seized on Hsia's China trip to attack the KMT for being too close to Beijing and wanting to sell out Taiwan, and has criticised Hsia for going to "pay court to the communists".
The KMT traditionally favours close ties with China, but strongly denies being pro-Beijing.
Wang is one of just two top officials reappointed to join President Xi Jinping on the elite seven-man Politburo Standing Committee at a party congress last year, and is the party's top theoretician.
In Xi's third leadership term, Wang is on track to be in charge of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference when a government reshuffle takes place next month, an advisory body which has an important role in working with - and co-opting - non-communists, as well as people from Taiwan.
China has not spoken with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's administration since she took office in 2016, believing she is a separatist, and has rebuffed frequent calls from Tsai for dialogue to resume.
China says Tsai has to accept that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to "one China", which she has refused to do. (Reuters)
February
Crucial $1.1 bln IMF deal eludes Pakistan for now; talks continue
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund are to resume talks online next week they said on Friday, after ten days of face-to-face discussions in Islamabad on how to keep the country afloat ended without a deal.
With the nuclear-armed nation in the grip of a full-blown economic crisis, the IMF talks are aimed at unlocking at least $1.1 billion of stalled funding as part of a $6.5 billion bailout signed in 2019.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told reporters Pakistan had agreed with the IMF on the conditions to release the funds, which have been delayed since last December.
Talks would resume virtually on Monday, he added, citing "routine procedures" for the delay. "We will implement whatever has been agreed upon between our teams," Dar said.
In a statement, Pakistan IMF Mission Chief Nathan Porter confirmed talks were continuing and that considerable progress had already been made. The hold-up though sent the price of the country's government bonds tumbling again.
Pakistan is in dire need of a successful outcome. The $350-billion economy is still reeling from devastating floods last year, and the government estimates rebuilding efforts will cost $16 billion.
The heavily-indebted nation only has enough foreign reserves to cover less than three weeks of crucial imports. The longer it takes for the IMF tranche to be paid out, the higher the risk of default, analysts say, especially with elections also looming.
Last week, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif called Pakistan's economic situation "unimaginable."
"Ideally, Pakistan should have reached a staff level agreement at the end of the IMF mission," Khaqan Najeeb, a former finance ministry adviser, told Reuters.
"Delay is untenable."
IMF MEASURES
The so-called staff-level agreement, which then needs to be approved by the IMF's head office in Washington, must be reached before the funds are disbursed.
In addition to the stalled tranche, another $1.4 billion remains of the $6.5 billion bailout programme, which is due to end in June.
Experts said Pakistan needs the payout as soon as possible. "If this drags on for, say, longer than a month, things get more difficult as our forex reserves have reached a critical level," former central bank Deputy Governor Murtaza Syed told Reuters.
The conditions set by the IMF include a return to a market-based exchange rate and higher fuel prices, measures that Pakistan recently implemented and that have already sent inflation to a record high - 27.5% year on year in January - and created shortages in some imported goods.
Dar said Pakistan had also agreed with the IMF to introduce fiscal measures, including new taxes.
Analysts fear more fiscal tightening could tip the economy further into crisis.
"The government has not only wasted over five months in realising the gravity of the situation, it is still sleepwalking the country into an economic abyss," said Sakib Sherani, who served as the finance ministry's principal economic adviser in 2009-10. (Reuters)