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August
'Hundreds of thousands' trafficked into SE Asia scam centres - UN
Written by Nur Yasmin
Hundreds of thousands of people are being trafficked by criminal gangs and forced to work in scam centres and other illegal online operations that have sprung up across Southeast Asia in recent years, the United Nations said in a report on Tuesday.
The report cited "credible sources" estimating that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar and around 100,000 in Cambodia may be trapped in scam operations, with other criminal-owned enterprises in Laos, the Philippines and Thailand ranging from crypto-fraud to online gambling.
"People who are coerced into working in these scamming operations endure inhumane treatment while being forced to carry out crimes. They are victims. They are not criminals," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.
Cambodian police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun said he had not seen the U.N. report but queried the number.
"I don't know how to respond, where did they get the (100,000) number from? Have they investigated? Where did they get the data? Foreigners are just saying things."
Myanmar's military-run government did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.N. Human Rights Office report was one of the most detailed of the phenomenon that has emerged since the COVID pandemic, fuelled by closure of casinos that prompted moves into less regulated areas in Southeast Asia.
The fast-growing scams centres are generating billions of U.S. dollars in revenue each year, the report said.
"Faced with new operational realities, criminal actors increasingly targeted migrants in vulnerable situations ... for recruitment into criminal operations, under the pretence of offering them real jobs," the report said.
It said most of the trafficking victims were from other Southeast Asian countries as well as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, but some were recruited from as far away as Africa and Latin America.
The U.N. rights office called on regional governments to strengthen rule of law and tackle corruption to "break the cycle of impunity" that allows criminal enterprises to thrive. (Reuters)
August
Taiwan warns of surge in tensions as Chinese planes cross median line
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's defence ministry warned on Tuesday of a possible "sharp increase" in military tensions after reporting renewed Chinese military activity including fighter jets crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait.
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for three years of increased military pressure from Beijing, mostly in the form of China's air force flying near the island.
The ministry said that on Tuesday morning, it spotted 12 Chinese military aircraft in its air defence identification zone, of which seven crossed the median line - six J-10 fighters and a single drone.
Five Chinese ships also carried out "combat readiness patrols", the ministry said, without giving a location.
The median line had for years served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, until China's air force began regularly crossing it a year ago.
"The continued military harassment by the Communist military in the region may lead to a sharp increase in tensions and worsen regional security," the ministry said, calling on Beijing to "immediately stop such unilateral acts".
Maintaining the peaceful and stable status quo in the Taiwan Strait is critical to the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, and all parties, including Beijing, have a common responsibility to uphold it, the ministry added.
The latest Chinese mission happened the same day Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, from Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang which traditionally favours close relations with Beijing, arrived in Shanghai for annual city-to-city talks.
His office said the city government has many times reiterated that "the more difficult the environment is, the more the two sides should communicate".
"What the people of Taiwan want is peace and prosperity. This is the voice of the people and the firm position of the city government," it said.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Shanghai, Chiang said the city forum was a good way to keep communication channels open and send a message of "peaceful values".
Taipei city councillors for Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party issued a joint statement saying Chiang should "speak for the Taiwanese people" and demand an end to China's military activities. (Reuters)
August
Air pollution now a major risk to life expectancy in South Asia - study
Written by Nur Yasmin
Rising air pollution can cut life expectancy by more than five years per person in South Asia, one of the world's most polluted regions, according to a report published on Tuesday which flagged the growing burden of hazardous air on health.
The region, which includes the world's most polluted countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, accounts for more than half of the total life years lost globally to pollution, the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) said in its latest Air Quality Life Index.
Rapid industrialization and population growth have contributed to declining air quality in South Asia, where particulate pollution levels are currently more than 50% higher than at the start of the century and now overshadow dangers posed by larger health threats.
People in Bangladesh, the world's most polluted country, stands to lose 6.8 years of life on average per person, compared to 3.6 months in the United States, according to the study, which uses satellite data to calculate the impact of an increase in airborne fine particles on life expectancy.
India is responsible for about 59% of the world's increase in pollution since 2013, the report said, as hazardous air threatens to shorten lives further in some of the country's more polluted regions. In the densely populated New Delhi, the world's most polluted mega-city, the average life span is down by more than 10 years.
Reducing global levels of lung-damaging airborne particles, known as PM 2.5, to levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) could raise average life expectancy by 2.3 years, or a combined 17.8 billion life years, the report said.
An average resident of Pakistan would gain 3.9 years from meeting the WHO guidelines of limiting average annual PM 2.5 concentration to 5 micrograms per cubic meter, while someone in Nepal would live 4.6 years longer if the guideline was met, according to the report.
China, meanwhile, has worked to reduce pollution by 42.3% between 2013 and 2021, the report said, highlighting the need for governments to generate accessible air quality data to help bridge global inequalities in accessing tools to combat pollution. (Reuters)
August
China, Japan agree to postpone head of Japan coalition partner visit -Chinese ministry
Written by Nur Yasmin
China's foreign ministry said on Monday that China and Japan have agreed to postpone a visit by the head of Japan's Komeito party, the junior partner in the coalition government, given current strains between the two countries.
Natsuo Yamaguchi was planning to visit China from Aug. 28 to 30 in hopes of meeting China's President Xi Jinping and to hand over a personal letter from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
"In light of current China-Japan relations, the two sides have agreed to postpone the Komeito delegation's visit to China," ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular news briefing.
Wang added that China attached great importance to exchanges and cooperation with the party which has long been committed to promoting friendship between China and Japan, and "stands ready to work with it to make active efforts for improving and growing China-Japan relations".
Despite opposition both within Japan and from abroad, the country began releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific last week.
China has strongly opposed the move and banned all aquatic product imports from Japan.
Japan summoned the Chinese ambassador on Monday after various offices received what it called harassing phone calls from China regarding the release of the treated water.
Further straining Sino-Japanese ties, Kishida and the leaders of the United States and South Korea met last week and issued their strongest joint condemnation yet of China's "dangerous and aggressive behaviour" in the South China Sea. (Reuters)
August
Pakistan court quashes sedition case against Imran Khan
Written by Nur Yasmin
A Pakistani court on Monday quashed a sedition case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, his lawyer and a court order said, providing some relief for the cricket hero turned politician who was jailed on corruption charges earlier this month.
Khan, 70, had been charged in March with the sedition case registered in southwestern city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, on a complaint that alleged that one of his speeches amounted to sedition.
Following an appeal by Khan, the Balochistan High Court said prosecutors had failed to obtain the required consent from the federal or provincial government to lodge the charges of sedition.
The charges are "without lawful authority and are of no legal effect," the court ruled, directing authorities to quash the case.
"God be praised," Khan's lawyer Naeem Panjutha said in a post on X, the messaging platform formerly known as Twitter, celebrating the dismissal of the case.
The sedition case was among dozens of cases brought against Khan since he lost power after being defeated in a parliamentary confidence vote in April, 2022.
Later on Monday, a high court in Islamabad is expected to rule on Khan's appeal to suspend his conviction and three-year jail sentence for corruption.
Khan lost power after falling out with Pakistan's influential military, and his attempts to rally popular support have stirred political turmoil in a country already struggling through one of its worst economic crises.
A general election was expected in November, though it is likely to be delayed until at least early next year.
Khan cannot contest and has been barred from holding political office for five years. (Reuters)
August
Japan suspends H-IIA rocket launch for moonshot because of strong winds
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's space agency suspended a planned launch on Monday of a rocket carrying what would be the country's first spacecraft to land on the moon, with operator Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) (7011.T) citing high winds.
Although the H-IIA rocket, the Japanese flagship launch vehicle, has a 98% launch success rate, unsuitable wind conditions in the upper atmosphere forced a suspension 27 minutes before the planned liftoff.
"High-altitude winds hit our constraint for a launch... which had been set to ensure no impact from debris falling outside of pre-warned areas," said MHI H-IIA launch unit chief Tatsuru Tokunaga.
Strong winds of nearly 108 kph (67 mph) were observed at an altitude of 5,000-15,000 metres (16400-49200 ft), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) safety manager Michio Kawakami said. Multiple typhoons around Japan could have affected the wind conditions, he added.
The new launch date has not been decided, but will be no sooner than Thursday because of necessary processes such as re-fuelling, Tokunaga said. MHI and JAXA have said a launch could take place as late as Sept. 15.
The rocket was to be launched from JAXA's Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on Monday morning; it had already been postponed twice since last week because of bad weather. It will mark the 47th H-IIA Japan has launched.
'MOON SNIPER' MISSION
The rocket is carrying JAXA's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), which would be the first Japanese spacecraft to land on the moon. Tokyo-based startup ispace's (9348.T) Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander crashed on the lunar surface in April.
JAXA was planning to start SLIM's landing from lunar orbit in January-February 2024 after Monday's launch, aiming to follow the success of India's Chandrayaan-3 moon exploration mission this month.
Dubbed the "moon sniper", the SLIM mission seeks to achieve a high-precision landing within 100 metres of its target on the moon's surface - a technological leap from conventional lunar-landing accuracy of several kilometres, according to JAXA.
The rocket is also carrying an X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) satellite, a joint project of JAXA, NASA and the European Space Agency.
H-IIA, jointly developed by JAXA and MHI, has been Japan's flagship space launch vehicle, with 45 successful launches in 46 tries since 2001. However, after JAXA's new medium-lift H3 rocket failed on its debut in March, the agency postponed the launch of H-IIA No. 47 for several months to investigate the cause.
Despite its goal to send astronauts on the lunar surface in the late 2020s, Japan's space missions have faced recent setbacks, with the launch failure of the Epsilon small rocket in October 2022, followed by an engine explosion during a test last month. (Reuters)
August
China to drop COVID antigen test requirement for inbound travellers
Written by Nur Yasmin
China's foreign ministry said on Monday that inbound travellers to the country no longer need a pre-departure antigen test for COVID-19 from Aug. 30. (Reuters)
August
Japan complains of harassment calls from China over Fukushima water release
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan said on Monday it had received many "extremely regrettable" harassment phone calls, likely from China, after the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific.
The Chinese embassy in Tokyo said it too had been receiving nuisance calls, from Japan.
Japan started the water discharge on Thursday in a key step towards decommissioning the Fukushima plant, which suffered triple meltdowns after being hit by a tsunami in 2011 in the world's worst nuclear plant disaster since Chernobyl 25 years earlier.
"A lot of harassment phone calls believed to be originating from China are occurring in Japan ... These developments are extremely regrettable and we are concerned," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief government spokesman, told a regular news conference.
Such calls prompted vice foreign minister Masataka Okano to summon the Chinese ambassador, Japan's foreign ministry said.
A spokesman for China's foreign ministry said it was not aware of the matter when asked about the harassment accusations at a regular briefing on Monday.
But the Chinese embassy in Tokyo released a statement saying it had lodged stern representations with Japan about the Chinese embassy and consulates in Japan receiving "a large number of nuisance calls from Japan".
The calls have caused "serious interference in the normal operation of the embassy and consulates", ambassador Wu Jianghao said, according to an embassy statement.
In a statement, Japan's foreign ministry said the harassment calls were also occurring at Japanese facilities in China, and urged the government to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government had "strongly" requested Beijing to urge its citizens to act "calmly and responsibly" after incidents of stone-throwing were also reported at a Japanese school and embassy.
Fukushima city hall started receiving calls with the China country code +86 on Thursday and the number of such calls exceeded 200 the following day, flooding phone lines and disrupting city employees' ordinary work, a city official said.
On the same day, elementary and junior high schools in the city, 60 km (38 miles) northwest of the crippled plant, received 65 similar calls, he said.
He said one caller made a comment to the effect of, "Why are you releasing tainted water into the Pacific Ocean, which is a sea for everyone?".
Other municipalities, hotels and restaurants have also been getting such calls, domestic media said.
An executive at a Japanese restaurant chain operator said branches in central Tokyo were receiving frequent calls from people speaking Chinese from an +86 number. The company had reported the incidents to police, the executive said, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing even more harassment.
In China, a rock was thrown at the Japanese school in the coastal city of Qingdao on Thursday, according to the Consulate-General of Japan in the city.
When asked about the incident in Qingdao and the harassment calls, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin defended China's record of keeping foreigners safe.
"China always safeguards the safety and lawful rights and interests of foreign nationals in China in accordance with law," Wang said.
Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (9501.T) (Tepco) has been filtering the contaminated water to remove isotopes, leaving only tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is hard to separate.
China said Japan had not proved that the water would be safe and issued a blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan. (Reuters)
August
Taliban stopped 100 women flying to Dubai for university scholarships, UAE billionaire says
Written by Nur Yasmin
The head of a Dubai-based conglomerate on Wednesday said Afghanistan's Taliban authorities had stopped around 100 women from travelling to the United Arab Emirates where he was to sponsor their university education.
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, founding chairman of Al Habtoor Group, said in a video posted on X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, that he had planned to sponsor the female students to attend university and a plane he had paid for had been due to fly them to the UAE on Wednesday morning.
"Taliban government refused to allow the girls who were coming to study here – a hundred girls sponsored by me - they refused them to board the plane and already we have paid for the aircraft, we have organised everything for them here, accommodation, education, transportation security," he said in the video.
Spokespeople for the Taliban administration and Afghan foreign affairs ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Al Habtoor included audio of one of the Afghan students who said that she had been accompanied by a male chaperone but airport authorities in Kabul had stopped her and others from boarding the flight.
The Taliban administration have closed universities and high schools to female students in Afghanistan.
They allow Afghans to leave the country but usually require Afghan women travelling long distances and abroad to be accompanied by a male chaperone, such as their husband, father or brother. (Reuters)
August
Taiwan to allow Chinese tourists, business people to visit again
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's government on Thursday said it will from this month allow Chinese tourists and business people to visit again as it seeks to resume exchanges halted by the COVID-19 pandemic and extend an olive branch to Beijing.
China, which has been gradually resuming permission for its nationals to visit a host of popular tourist destinations including Japan, has yet to add Taiwan back on its approved list.
In 2019, China halted individual tourism permits for Taiwan amid rising tensions over the democratically governed island that Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.
Taiwan's China policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said that business people from China will be allowed from Monday to apply for short term visits such as for attending exhibitions, and will from Sept. 1 allow Chinese who live in third countries to come as tourists.
Tour groups from China will be limited to 2,000 arrivals per day, but the actual date from when this will begin will depend on the reaction of the Chinese government, the council added in a statement.
"We hope the mainland side will also take steps and meet us halfway to facilitate the promotion and implementation of the plans," it said.
There was no immediate reaction from China to the announcement.
Taiwan's government has been trying to improve relations with China starting with less sensitive issues like tourism, but China has instead blamed Taiwan for problems, including a slow resumption of direct flights.
Tourism is not a mainstay of Taiwan's tech-oriented economy, but the island is an increasingly fashionable destination for mainly Asian tourists attracted by its renowned food scene, history and mountains.
Taiwan has set a target of 6 million tourist arrivals this year. (Reuters)