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October
Aid spending soared to record level in Pacific islands as COVID hit
Written by Nur Yasmin
A record $3.3 billion in aid flowed to the Pacific islands in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a 33% increase on the previous year, according to a report released by the Lowy Institute think-tank on Monday.
The pandemic led to border closures, confronting governments reliant on tourism with economic crisis. It also brought a shift in how aid was delivered, with more loans than grants made, and more direct funding to help deliver critical services.
The Lowy Institute's annual Pacific Aid Map showed Chinese aid to the region dropped to $187 million in 2020, its lowest since the institute began tracking aid flows in 2008.
Australia and New Zealand provided a third of all aid in 2020.
The map tracks development assistance to the Pacific islands, an effort the Institute says increases transparency of money flows, as China and the United States and its allies vie for influence in the strategically important region.
A move by the Solomon Islands to sign a security pact with China in 2022 has alarmed Washington and its allies, including Australia.
Since 2008, Australia has provided 40% of all aid to the region, followed by New Zealand, with 8.6%, Japan, with 8.5% and China, with 8.5%, the report said. Chinese aid, predominantly loans for infrastructure, had peaked in 2016.
The project director of the Pacific Aid Map, Alexandre Dayant, said development assistance remained a diplomatic tool for Beijing, with regional aid focusing on Kiribati and Solomon Islands, which switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing a year earlier.
Dayant said the overall drop in Chinese aid in the region comes amid negative publicity about the cost of Chinese infrastructure loans, and Pacific island nations having more choice.
Australia, which has committed A$600 million in infrastructure loans since 2019, is becoming a prominent Pacific lender and needed to take "considerable care" it did not contribute to the region's debt problems, the report said.
Australia last week said it would spend another A$900 million ($576.99 million) in Pacific aid.
The United States has also pledged $800 million more after hosting a dozen Pacific islands leaders at a White House summit in September. (reuters)
October
NATO calls on Russia to urgently renew Ukraine grain deal
Written by Nur Yasmin
NATO on Sunday called on Moscow to urgently renew the U.N.-brokered deal that enabled Ukraine to resume grain exports via the Black Sea amid a global food crisis.
"President Putin must stop weaponising food and end his illegal war on Ukraine," NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said. "We call on Russia to reconsider its decision and renew the deal urgently, enabling food to reach those who need it most."
All NATO allies had welcomed the agreement that came about with the help of Turkey, she noted.
"These exports have helped reduce food prices the world over," Lungescu added. (Reuters)
October
About 50 people hurt in stampede in South Korea, Yonhap reports
Written by Nur YasminDozens of people were injured in a stampede in Seoul as a huge crowd poured into a central district of the South Korean capital for Halloween festivities late on Saturday, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Fire authorities were administrating CPR to at least 50 people in the Itaewon district as of 11:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) on Saturday, according to the news agency.
Social media footage showed several people being assisted by rescue officials and private citizens at the scene. Reuters could not verify authenticity of the footage.
South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the dispatch of emergency medical team to the area and said hospital beds should be prepared to minimise casualties, his office said. (Reuters)
October
New Zealand PM Ardern delayed in Antarctica after plane breaks down
Written by Nur Yasmin
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spent an extra night Friday at the country's research station in Antarctica after the military aircraft she was meant to be travelling back to New Zealand on broke down.
Ardern has been in Antarctica meeting with the country's scientists and visiting the sites of historical importance while promoting the need for co-operation in the region.
A spokeswoman for the prime minister said on Saturday that Ardern and those travelling with her are due to return Saturday on a Italian C-13 Hercules military aircraft.
Ardern flew on a U.S. military plane to Antarctica after her first flight had to turn back midflight due to bad weather.
New Zealand is one of seven countries, including Australia, France and Chile, with a territorial claim to Antarctica. (Reuters)
October
U.S. says North Korea policy unchanged after nuclear remark raises eyebrows
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States said on Friday its policy towards North Korea had not changed after a senior U.S. official responsible for nuclear policy raised some eyebrows by saying Washington would be willing to engage in arms-control talks with Pyongyang.
Some experts argue that recognizing North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, something Pyongyang seeks, is a prerequisite for such talks. But Washington has long argued that the North Korean nuclear program is illegal and subject to United Nations sanctions.
Bonnie Jenkins, State Department under secretary for arms control, was asked at a Washington nuclear conference on Thursday at which point North Korea should be treated as an arms-control problem.
"If they would have a conversation with us ... arms control can always be an option if you have two willing countries willing to sit down at the table and talk," she replied.
"And not just arms control, but risk reduction - everything that leads up to a traditional arms-control treaty and all the different aspects of arms control that we can have with them. We’ve made it very clear to the DPRK ... that we’re ready to talk to them - we have no pre-conditions," she said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name.
Referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, she added: "If he picked up the phone and said, 'I want to talk about arms control,' we're not going to say no. I think, if anything, we would want to explore what that means."
The United States and its allies are concerned that North Korea may be about to resume nuclear bomb testing for the first time since 2017, something that would be highly unwelcome to the Biden administration ahead of mid-term elections early next month. North Korea has rejected U.S. calls to return to talks.
Asked about Jenkins' comment, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said: "I want to be very clear about this. There has been no change to U.S. policy."
Price said U.S. policy remained "the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," while adding, "we continue to be open to diplomacy with the DPRK, we continue to reach out to the DPRK, we're committed to pursuing a diplomatic approach. We're prepared to meet without preconditions and we call on the DPRK to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy."
'KIM JONG UN'S TRAP'
Speaking on Friday at the same nuclear policy conference Jenkins addressed, Alexandra Bell, another senior State Department arms-control official, also stressed there was no change in U.S. policy.
Asked if it was time to accept North Korea as a nuclear state, she replied: "Wording aside, we are committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We do not accept North Korea with that status. But we are interested in having a conversation with the North Koreans."
Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia under then-President Barack Obama and now with the Asia Society, told Reuters Jenkins had "fallen straight into Kim Jong Un's trap" with her remarks.
"Suggesting that North Korea only has to agree to have a conversation with the U.S. about arms control and risk reduction is a terrible mistake, because it moves the issue from North Korea’s right to possess nuclear weapons to the question of how many it should have and how they are used," he said.
"Kim would love nothing better than to push his risk reduction agenda — the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Korea."
Other experts played down Jenkins' remarks.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the U.S.-based Arms Control Association, said she was not making a statement recognizing North Korea as a nuclear weapons state under the international Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"She was acknowledging, as other officials in other administrations have, that North Korea does have nuclear weapons, but in violation of its commitments under the NPT not to pursue nuclear weapons," he told Reuters.
Kimball and Toby Dalton, a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which hosted the nuclear conference, said they did not see formal recognition as a nuclear-armed state as a prerequisite for arms-control talks. Dalton said Jenkins appeared essentially to be restating the U.S. position that it was willing to talk to Pyongyang without preconditions. (Reuters)
October
Biden to travel to Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia for November summits
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Egypt to participate in the COP27 United Nations climate change summit on Nov. 11, where he will call on the world to act "in this decisive decade", the White House said on Friday.
Biden will then travel to Cambodia from Nov. 12-13 to participate in the annual U.S.-ASEAN summit and the East Asia Summit, the White House said in a statement. After that, Biden will visit Indonesia Nov. 13-16 to participate in a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 major economies, it added.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog first disclosed Biden's visit to Egypt during a meeting with the U.S. president in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would use COP27 to "build on the significant work the United States has undertaken to advance the global climate fight and help the most vulnerable build resilience to climate impacts."
In Cambodia, Biden will reaffirm the United States' enduring commitment to Southeast Asia, while underscoring the importance of U.S.-ASEAN cooperation in ensuring security and prosperity in the region, Jean-Pierre said.
In Bali, Indonesia, Biden will work with G20 partners to address key challenges such as climate change, the global impact of Putin's war on Ukraine, including on energy and food security and affordability, and a range of other priorities important to the global economic recovery, the White House said.
Vice President Kamala Harris would also travel to Asia and North Africa, following the president's visit, the White House said.
Harris will travel to Bangkok to attend the Nov. 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting, underscoring Washington's commitment to economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
She will also travel to Manila, where she will meet with government leaders and civil society representatives, the White House said. (Reuters)
October
Japan plans new joint command to manage armed forces, Nikkei reports
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan will set up a new joint command to manage the operations of its land, sea and air forces, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday, as part of a major defence overhaul in the face of China's increasing assertiveness over Taiwan.
The government aims to have the joint command functioning by 2024. It will be tasked with coordinating strategies and boosting Japan's defence cooperation with the U.S. military, Nikkei reported.
The defence ministry could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government is boosting its military spending in response to China's growing might and geopolitical uncertainty over Taiwan and North Korea's missile developments. read more
The new arrangements will be included in the defence overhaul that the government will unveil by the year-end, Nikkei said.
The joint command will be overseen by a joint commander, a newly created position that will report directly to Japan's defence minister, it added. (Reuters)
October
Philippines president orders urgent aid as storm Nalgae kills 45
Written by Nur Yasmin
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Saturday ordered urgent aid distribution in a southern province where landslides have been triggered by Tropical Storm Nalgae, which has killed 45 people across the country so far.
Heavy rains and strong winds pounded the capital, Manila, and surrounding areas for most of Saturday as Nalgae forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes and disrupted peak holiday travel in much of the nation.
Nalgae is the second deadliest cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, with the disasters agency reporting 45 deaths, mostly in hard-hit Maguindanao province. Another 33 people have been injured and 17 are registered missing.
"We could have done better in Maguindanao in terms of preparing. The 40 deaths, with 10 people missing there is a little too high," Marcos said in a briefing with disaster officials.
He ordered the immediate distribution of drinking water and purifying systems to the province and other parts of the badly affected southern Philippines.
In the country's capital region, which includes Manila and other cities, flooding prompted authorities to suspend classes and sports events.
Airlines have cancelled 116 domestic and international flights to and from the Philippines' main gateway, which stopped operations from 0800 to 1400 GMT because of strong winds, the transport ministry said.
Nearly 7,500 passengers and workers, and 107 vessels, were stranded in the country's ports, the coast guard said.
Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan on Saturday ordered the closure of the city's cemeteries, where millions had been expected to visit during the extended All Saints' Day weekend.
Nalgae has maintained its strength, with maximum winds of 95 kilometres (60 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 115 kph (71 mph) as it cut through the main Luzon island and headed to the South China Sea, the state weather agency said.
Another tropical depression gaining strength in the Pacific Ocean could enter Philippine territory on Tuesday, it added.
Almost 170,000 people have been forced from their homes by the storm, nearly a third of whom were sheltering in evacuation centres, government data showed.
In the central Leyte province, coast guard personnel led residents through chest-deep floodwaters, with rescuers using a plastic chair and an old refrigerator to float children and elderly people to safety, photos shared by the weather agency showed.
Marcos said the aid response should be stepped up once Nalgae exits land areas - on Sunday morning, according to the latest forecasts.
"Let us not wait for the helicopters and air assets to fly. If the weather is not good, look for more ways to deliver relief goods, water and medicines," he said.
The Philippines sees an average of 20 tropical storms annually. In December, category 5 Typhoon Rai ravaged central provinces, leaving 407 dead and more than 1,100 injured. (Reuters)
October
Tunisia to start difficult economic reforms soon - cbank governor
Written by Nur Yasmin
Tunisia will soon enact difficult economic reforms that have been delayed for years, the central bank governor said on Saturday, adding that financial authorities were trying to keep the dinar currency stable.
Tunisia this month reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.9 billion rescue package that could be finalised in December.
Tunisia has been in need of international help for months as it grapples with a crisis in public finances that has raised fears it may default on debt and has contributed to shortages of food and fuel.
The IMF agreement is also critical to unlock bilateral aid from country donors that want reassurance Tunisia will put its finances on a more sustainable footing.
The reforms are expected to include reducing food and energy subsidies, in addition to reforming public companies and reducing public sector wages in real terms, according government officials.
"In times of crisis, we find serious solutions. We did not take difficult reforms for years. During this period, we will," Marouan Abassi, the central bank governor, told reporters.
He added that Tunisia aimed to keep the dinar stable and to give clarity to investors.
Opposition politicians and Tunisia's powerful UGTT labour union have warned of a "social explosion" if painful reforms are implemented. (reuters)
October
Outgoing president says Lebanon at risk of 'constitutional chaos'
Written by Nur Yasmin
Outgoing Lebanese President Michel Aoun told Reuters on Saturday his nation could be sliding into "constitutional chaos", with an unprecedented situation of having no one in line to succeed him and a cabinet that is operating in a caretaker capacity.
Aoun is set to leave the presidential palace on Sunday, a day before his six-year term ends, but four sessions in the nation's fractured parliament have failed to reach consensus on a candidate to succeed him.
Aoun said in an interview an 11th-hour political move to address the constitutional crisis might be possible, but added "there is no final decision" on what that could involve.
Aoun's presidency is inextricably linked in the minds of many Lebanese to their country's worst days since the 1975-1990 civil war, with the financial crisis that began in 2019 and the deadly Beirut port blast of 2020.
In the days after the blast, Aoun said he had received a report about the roughly 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at the port of Beirut weeks before they detonated and killed some 220 people.
He declined to comment on the blast on Saturday.
Aoun's son-in-law Gebran Bassil, who was put on a sanctions list by the United States in 2020 for alleged corruption, has presidential ambitions, according to political sources.
Bassil has denied the allegations of corruption, and Aoun said on Saturday the sanctions would not stop Bassil from eventually being a presidential candidate.
"Once he's elected (as president), the sanctions will go away," Aoun said, without elaborating.
In his final week as president, Aoun signed a U.S.-brokered deal delineating Lebanon's southern maritime border with Israel - a modest diplomatic breakthrough that would allow both countries to extract natural gas from maritime deposits.
He said powerful Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which sent unarmed drones over Israel and threatened to attack its offshore rigs multiple times, had served as a "deterrent" that had helped keep the negotiations going in Lebanon's favour.
"It wasn't coordinated (with the government). It was an initiative taken by Hezbollah and it was useful," Aoun said, adding that the Lebanese army "had no role" in this regard.
He said the deal paved the way for gas discoveries that could be Lebanon's "last chance" at recovering from a three-year financial meltdown that has cost the currency 95% of its value and pushed 80% of the population into poverty.
Lebanon has otherwise made slow progress on a checklist of reforms required to gain access to $3 billion in financing from the International Monetary Fund.
Aoun said he would stay involved in politics in Lebanon even after he leaves office, particularly to fight Central Bank governor Riad Salameh, one of the president's main political adversaries.
Salameh is being in investigated in Lebanon and at least five countries abroad on charges of corruption and embezzlement of public funds, charges he denies. (Reuters)