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May
North Korea's Kim says Russia 'will prevail' over hostile forces
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Russia "will prevail" in its fight against what he described as "imperialists," state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday, in remarks seen to be aimed at Ukraine and its Western supporters, such as the United States.
North Korea has forged closer ties with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine last year, including its proclamation later of having annexed parts of Ukraine that most U.N. members condemned as illegal.
"We send warm wishes to you, the Russian army and the people of Russia for their holy fight to preserve world peace," the agency quoted Kim as telling Russian President Vladimir Putin in a letter.
Kim also congratulated Putin on Tuesday's Victory Day anniversary that celebrates the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany, saying Russia would continue to protect its "autonomy" and the "stability of the region". (Reuters)
May
Japan, South Korea to link radar systems to track N.Korea missiles -source
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan and South Korea are set to agree early next month to link their radars via a U.S. system to share real-time information on North Korea's ballistic missiles, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
Defence ministers from Japan, South Korea and the United States plan to reach an agreement on the sidelines of an Asian defence summit to be held in Singapore early next month, said the person, who declined to be identified because the discussions are not public.
The Japanese government's top spokesperson, Hirokazu Matsuno, said no decision has been made yet on the planned agreement, without elaborating.
South Korea's presidential office said the country would form a group with Japan and the United States to share information about North Korea's missiles, news agency Yonhap reported.
The system was currently in the works, the report said, citing a senior official.
A South Korean defence ministry spokesperson told a briefing earlier that the three countries have been in talks to boost information sharing but nothing had been finalised.
With North Korea launching ballistic missiles at an unprecedented pace in the past year, the three countries in November agreed to speed up information-sharing. Japan and South Korea are independently linked to the United States' radar systems but not to each other.
Ties between the United States' Asian allies have warmed in recent months in the face of the North Korean threat. Resuming their "shuttle diplomacy", Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Sunday, where they confirmed progress in defence cooperation.
Defence ministers from Japan and South Korea are separately arranging to meet on the sidelines of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue to be held in Singapore from June 2-4, in what would be the first such meeting since November 2019. (Reuters)
May
Sri Lanka Supreme Court clears path for decriminalisation of homosexuality
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has given the green light to a bill seeking to decriminalise homosexuality, the speaker of parliament said on Tuesday, in a move hailed as a "historic development" by campaigners.
LGBTQ+ rights activists in Sri Lanka have been campaigning for years to change the law in a country where homosexuality is still punishable by a prison sentence and a fine, leading to the private member's bill presented in parliament last month.
The Supreme Court, after hearing more than a dozen petitions on both sides of the argument, ruled it was not unconstitutional, Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said.
“The Supreme Court is of the opinion that the bill as a whole or as any provision thereof is not inconsistent with the constitution,” the speaker told parliament.
The decision is seen as a "historic development that has created hope towards real change", said Kaveesha Coswatte attorney-at-law and advocacy officer for iProbono in Sri Lanka, which supported many of the petitions backing the bill.
Activists will still have to lobby for support from the 225 parliamentarians to push forward the proposed legislation through parliament.
Neither the government nor the opposition have made any comment on whether they support the bill, proposed for consideration by an individual member of parliament, so the next steps for it to eventually become legislation, or not, are not yet clear.
"But the door is finally open. This Supreme Court decision is major for the community in terms of any kind of progress they have seen over the last couple of years," Coswatte added. (Reuters)
May
Imran Khan, the cricket star who ditched playboy image to rule Pakistan
Written by Nur Yasmin
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a cricketing hero-turned-politician who was arrested on Tuesday, whipped up popular support amid decades-high inflation and a crippling economic slowdown before his ouster last year.
The 70-year-old has since showed no sign of slowing down, even after being wounded in a November attack on his convoy as he lead a protest march to Islamabad calling for snap general elections.
Khan had for months averted arrest in a number of cases registered against him that include charges of instigating crowds to violence. There were massive protests against previous attempts to arrest him.
Khan was pushed out of the premiership in April last year amid public frustration at high inflation, rising deficits and endemic corruption that he had promised to stamp out.
The Supreme Court overturned his decision to dissolve parliament and defections from his ruling coalition meant he lost the no confidence vote that followed.
That put him among a long list of elected Pakistani prime ministers who have failed to see out their full terms - none has done so since independence in 1947.
In 2018, the cricket legend who led Pakistan to its only World Cup win in 1992, rallied the country behind his vision of a corruption-free, prosperous nation respected abroad. But the firebrand nationalist's fame and charisma were not enough.
Once criticised for being under the thumb of the powerful military establishment, Khan's ouster came following worsening relations between him and then army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The military, which has an outsized role in Pakistan having ruled the country for nearly half of its history and won control over some of its biggest economic institutions, has said it remains neutral towards politics.
SUDDEN RISE
But Khan is again among the country's most popular leaders, according to local polls.
His rise to power in 2018 came over two decades after he first launched his political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), or Pakistan Movement for Justice party, in 1996.
Despite his fame and status as a hero in cricket-mad Pakistan, PTI languished in Pakistan's political wilderness, not winning a seat other than Khan's for 17 years.
In 2011, Khan began drawing huge crowds of young Pakistanis disillusioned with endemic corruption, chronic electricity shortages and crises in education and unemployment.
He drew even greater backing in the ensuing years, with educated Pakistani expatriates leaving their jobs to work for his party and pop musicians and actors joining his campaign.
His goal, Khan told supporters in 2018, was to turn Pakistan from a country with a "small group of wealthy and a sea of poor" into an "example for a humane system, a just system, for the world, of what an Islamic welfare state is".
That year he was victorious, marking a rare ascension by a sporting hero to the pinnacle of politics. Observers cautioned, however, that his biggest enemy was his own rhetoric, having raised supporters' hopes sky high.
PLAYBOY TO REFORMER
Born in 1952, the son of a civil engineer, Khan grew up with four sisters in an affluent urban Pashtun family in Lahore, Pakistan's second-biggest city.
After a privileged education, he went on to the University of Oxford where he graduated with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
As his cricket career flourished, he developed a playboy reputation in London in the late 1970s.
In 1995, he married Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of business tycoon James Goldsmith. The couple, who had two sons together, divorced in 2004. A second marriage to TV journalist Reham Nayyar Khan also ended in divorce.
His third marriage to Bushra Bibi, a spiritual leader whom Khan had come to know during his visits to a 13th century shrine in Pakistan, reflected his deepening interest in Sufism - a form of Islamic practice that emphasises spiritual closeness to God.
Once in power, Khan embarked on his plan of building a "welfare" state modelled on what he said was an ideal system dating back to the Islamic world some 14 centuries earlier.
But his anti-corruption drive was heavily criticised as a tool for sidelining political opponents - many of whom were imprisoned on charges of graft.
Pakistan's generals also remained powerful and military officers, retired and serving, were placed in charge of more than a dozen civilian institutions. (Reuters)
May
Blinken threatened with contempt of US Congress over Afghanistan cable
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee threatened Secretary of State Antony Blinken with contempt of Congress if he does not comply with a subpoena seeking a classified cable related to the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In a letter to Blinken dated Friday and released on Monday, Representative Michael McCaul said information that has been provided about a "dissent channel" cable sent in July 2021 and the department's response to the cable were insufficient to satisfy the committee.
The committee issued a subpoena in March seeking the information.
The "dissent channel" allows State Department officials to communicate directly with senior officials. A Wall Street Journal article in August 2021 said the cable warned top officials of the potential collapse of Kabul soon after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The State Department has said some information can only be shared with senior officials to protect the identity of those expressing dissent. Asked for comment about McCaul's letter, a spokesperson said the department would provide Congress information needed to do its job while protecting the ability of State Department employees to do theirs.
"It’s unfortunate that despite having received a classified briefing on the dissent channel cable as well as a written summary that the House Foreign Affairs Committee continues to pursue this unnecessary and unproductive action," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
McCaul has launched an investigation into the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan and events there since. Republicans - and some Democrats - say there has never been a full accounting of the chaotic operation, in which 13 U.S. service members were killed at Kabul's airport.
The letter said the department must comply or assert a legal basis to withhold the documents no later than May 11 at 6:00 pm EDT (2200 GMT).
"As noted above, should the Department fail to comply with its legal obligation, the Committee is prepared to take the necessary steps to enforce its subpoena, including holding you in contempt of Congress and/or initiating a civil enforcement proceeding," the letter said. (Reuters)
May
China and U.S. see need to stabilise relations
Written by Nur Yasmin
China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Monday it is imperative to stabilise Sino-U.S. relations after a series of "erroneous words and deeds" threw ties back into a deep freeze.
Qin, in a meeting in Beijing with U.S. ambassador Nicholas Burns, stressed in particular that the United States must correct its handling of the Taiwan issue and stop the hollowing out of the "one China" principle.
The relationship between the world's two biggest economies sank to a low last year when then speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi paid an official visit to democratically governed Taiwan, angering China, which claims the island as its territory.
In response, Beijing severed formal communications channels with the United States including one between their militaries.
"The top priority is to stabilise Sino-U.S. relations, avoid a downward spiral and prevent any accidents between China and the United States," Qin told Burns, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
The tension between the two superpowers had eased last November when U.S. and Chinese leaders Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met at a G20 summit in Indonesia and pledged more frequent dialogue.
But tensions flared again in February when a Chinese high-altitude balloon appeared in U.S. airspace and in response U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a visit to Beijing.
"A series of erroneous words and deeds by the United States since then have undermined the hard-won positive momentum of Sino-U.S. relations," Qin said.
"The agenda of dialogue and cooperation agreed by the two sides has been disrupted, and the relationship between the two countries has once again encountered cold ice."
'CHALLENGES'
Burns, in a post on Twitter about his talks with Qin, also spoke of the need to bring stability to the relationship.
"We discussed challenges in the U.S.-China relationship and the necessity of stabilising ties and expanding high-level communication," Burns said.
Last week, Blinken appeared to offer hope of a visit, telling the Washington Post that it was important to re-establish regular lines of communication at all levels.
Also last week, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said China had invited him to visit "in the near term" for talks on averting a global climate crisis, further raising hope of resetting one of the world's most important state-to-state relationships.
Taiwan remains the thorniest issue in Sino-U.S. ties.
Last month, China staged war games around Taiwan after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.
Since 1979, the U.S.-Taiwan relationship has been governed by the Taiwan Relations Act, which gives a legal basis to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but does not mandate that the United States come to Taiwan's aid if attacked.
As a part of the 2023 budget, U.S. Congress has authorised up to $1 billion worth of weapons aid for Taiwan using a type of authority that expedites security assistance and has helped to deliver arms to Ukraine. (Reuters)
May
At least 22 dead after tourist boat capsizes in India's Kerala
Written by Nur Yasmin
At least 22 people including children died when an overcrowded double-decker tourist boat capsized in an estuary in southern India, authorities said.
Some passengers managed to jump off and swim to safety when the converted fishing vessel overturned in the waterway near the town of Tanur in Kerala state late on Sunday, one survivor said.
But others among the estimated 40 people on board were trapped in the boat, officials said. The dead included 11 people from one family, Manorama News channel reported, though there was no confirmation of that from officials.
Rescuers called off a search on Monday when the last missing passenger, an eight-year-old boy, turned up alive in Calicut hospital, B. Sandhya, the chief of Kerala's fire and rescue services, told reporters.
Police said they were searching for the owner of the boat and a case of homicide had been registered against him.
The vessel had listed badly soon after it set off, a survivor identified only as Shafeeq told Manorama.
"Most of the people on the upper deck jumped into the river and swam to safety," he said.
According to initial estimates there were about 40 people, most believed to be domestic tourists, on board including several children, Tanur police official Jeevan George said.
Famous for its picturesque backwaters, Kerala is a major destination for domestic and international tourists.
Local residents said the cruise service had only been launched last month and lacked safety measures. One man said he and his brother had decided not to go on the cruise because the boat looked too crowded.
"The operators were asking more people to join saying it was the last trip of the day," the man, identified as Ibrahim, told Manorama.
The state's health minister, Veena George, said two survivors were discharged from the hospital after treatment while eight were still receiving medical care. (Reuters)
May
After opening borders, China presses Singapore for visa-free travel deal
Written by Nur Yasmin
China is hammering out details with Singapore on a bilateral visa-free travel arrangement, according to Beijing's embassy, a move that could boost arrivals in the city-state from what was its biggest pre-pandemic tourism market.
There were 3.6 million Chinese visitors to Singapore in 2019, more than any other country, who spent a combined S$4.1 billion ($3.09 billion).
Many Chinese have in recent years been keen to invest, move assets or relocate to Singapore, with some buying into luxury real estate.
Among Singapore's 4 million citizens and permanent residents, three-quarters are of Chinese ethnicity and many speak Mandarin, making it easy for mainland Chinese to navigate the country.
"It is something that citizens of both countries are eagerly awaiting, and is also a shared concern for the leaders of both countries," a spokesperson for China's embassy in Singapore said.
Singapore's foreign ministry did not respond to Reuters request for comment.
Chinese travellers at present are required to apply for visas to visit Singapore.
Singaporeans were allowed 15-day visa-free visits prior to the pandemic. That arrangement has yet to be reinstated, which has led to lengthy queues, some overnight, at the Chinese visa application centre in Singapore.
The Chinese ambassador to Singapore Sun Haiyan wrote in a Facebook post last month: "Hope that the competent authorities of the two sides can achieve positive results as soon as possible." (Reuters)
May
New Zealand defence spending set to increase by around $472 million
Written by Nur Yasmin
The New Zealand Defence Force will get an additional NZ$748 million ($472.14 million) over four years, as the government tries to stop the loss of military personnel and ensure the country’s military can operate alongside allies and partners.
Andrew Little said in a statement that the government would invest a further NZ$419 million in defence force salaries and NZ$328 million to upgrade assets and infrastructure over four years.
"With climate change and an increasingly contested geostrategic environment, including in our Pacific neighbourhood, it is important that New Zealand has the personnel and equipment to play our part in supporting global peace and security,” Little said.
Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short said in an email that the new funding was the most meaningful funding allocation the military had received in many years, and was great news.
The defence force has been struggling with high staff attrition, which has led to the idling of three ships and the early retirement of the P-3 Orion aircraft fleet, leaving New Zealand with limited air surveillance capability. The challenges come as competition is increasing in the Pacific, climate change is adding to the number of natural disasters and New Zealand is providing support to Ukraine.
The infrastructure investment will upgrade the country's frigates and Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, as well as build a new fuel precinct at Ohakea air force base on the North Island. The salary increase will mean 90% of NZDF personnel are paid at or near market rates.
In the last two years, the Regular Force - full-time military personnel - has lost 29.8% of its personnel, excluding those who have served less than two years. That number is expected to hit 32.6% by June 30 if nothing is done as the defence force has struggled to match private-sector wages. (Reuters)
May
Key issues up for discussion at ASEAN Summit include code of conduct on South China Sea
Written by nuke
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits -
As Indonesia hosts the first of two Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits this year in Labuan Bajo on Tuesday (May 9), key issues on the agenda include the acceleration of negotiations on the text of a code of conduct with China.
The code seeks to serve as a guideline for conduct to prevent military incidents and manage conflict in the South China Sea.
Despite the ongoing negotiations, “we are not optimistic that there will be a signing this year”, said Ms Sharon Seah, senior fellow and coordinator at the ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
“The train may have already left the station because of events that are happening on the ground,” she said.
The conversation on the code of conduct is in addition to the eradication of human trafficking, preparation of a roadmap for Timor Leste’s full membership in ASEAN and signing of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Protocol.
On the cards are also strengthening health architecture, energy security, regional food and financial stability, and digitisation of the economy and the tourism sector. The three pillars of Indonesia’s chairmanship based on its theme are ASEAN matters, epicentrum of growth, and the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific. Experts expect Jakarta to show its leadership in tackling some of the region’s most sensitive issues.
“Particularly in the areas of political security issues, people tend to look up to Indonesia, and that's where Indonesia has a special expertise,” said research professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar.
The first ASEAN summit was hosted by Indonesia, which came up with “the most important document”, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, noted Prof Anwar from the Research Center for Politics, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in Jakarta.
The document forms the regional code of conduct for Southeast Asia, she said. Experts said the road ahead will be challenging. There is a “sharpening of grip” multilaterally by the United States and China, with potential flashpoints likely in Taiwan and South China Sea, said researcher at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma.
“There's a pressure for ASEAN to be relevant in that sense. And then internally, for example, (for it to deal with) the economy and development issues (and) how ASEAN can stay resilient in the middle of crises like the climate,” he said.
The issue of ASEAN unity and centrality will be “foremost in the minds of the leaders”, said Ms Seah.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a press conference in Jakarta previously that it is important to strengthen ASEAN’s capacity and ensure the bloc works more effectively to overcome future challenges.
“It is important to continue to maintain the unity and centrality of ASEAN so that ASEAN is able to continue to be a locomotive for regional peace and stability,” she said//VOI-CNA