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April
China says it will keep backing Central Asian nations' sovereignty after outcry over envoy's remarks
Written by Nur Yasmin
China will continue to firmly support Central Asian countries in safeguarding their independence and territorial integrity, its foreign ministry said, after a senior Chinese envoy in Europe raised an uproar by questioning the sovereignty of those states.
"China will, as always, firmly support Central Asian countries in safeguarding (their) national sovereignty, independence, security and territorial integrity," the ministry quoted Foreign Minister Qin Gang as saying on Wednesday.
Qin spoke as he met counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in the northwestern Chinese city of Xian, a ministry statement said.
"China firmly supports Central Asian countries in choosing their own development paths in light of their national conditions," Qin said, adding that it opposes any external interference in their internal affairs.
Beijing's ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, raised a diplomatic outcry in Europe when, in a French TV interview on April 21, he questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia last year, and five other ex-Soviet republics.
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia were also part of the Russian-dominated Soviet Union before it broke up in 1991.
The Chinese foreign ministry distanced itself from Lu's remarks on Monday, and Beijing's embassy in Paris issued a statement saying Lu's comments "were not a political declaration but an expression of his personal views".
Both statements appeared to be an effort to alleviate tension with the EU while the U.S. also cited concerns about growing closeness between Beijing and Moscow.
Qin on Wednesday also pledged to strengthen communications and collaboration with the five Central Asian republics under the frameworks of the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, according to his ministry. (Reuters)
April
Taiwan drills to focus on piercing blockade, get 'Five Eyes' intelligence link
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's annual military drills this year take into account China's recent war games and focus on breaking a blockade, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, as a senior security official said Taiwan now had a "Five Eyes" intelligence link.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military pressure in the past three years to try to assert its sovereignty claim.
China practised precision strikes and blockades in drills around the island this month staged after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.
Taiwan's defence ministry said the "Han Kuang" exercises would be split into two parts - tabletop drills from May 15 to 19, and forces mobilised from July 24 to 28 in live-fire exercises.
The focus will be on combat forces "preservation" and "maritime interception", it said.
That will include using civilian airports and dispersing air assets, as well as disguising forces on the ground, the ministry added.
The naval element will integrate sea, air and land forces to attack enemy forces and amphibious assault ships, and to protect sea lanes and counter blockade efforts, it said.
"Of course our drills are based on the threat of the communists invading Taiwan and its recent military exercises around Taiwan," the ministry's combat planning chief, General Lin Wen-huang, told a news conference.
Beijing has never renounced using force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and has vowed to defend its freedom and democracy.
In view of the rising threat level from China, Taiwan has sought closer security co-operation with the United States and its allies.
Taking lawmaker questions in parliament on Wednesday, Tsai Ming-yen, the director-general of Taiwan's National Security Bureau said it had upgraded its computers to exchange real-time intelligence with the "Five Eyes" alliance of the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
"We can connect with the 'Five Eyes' alliance through a confidential system," he said, without giving details.
'STRONG NAVY'
Last week China's navy put out a slickly produced video to celebrate its 74th anniversary, showing the Shandong aircraft carrier and new amphibious assault ships simulating an attack and landing somewhere in "Western Pacific waters", suggesting it was planning a Taiwan contingency.
"It takes a strong navy to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday, when asked what message the video sent.
"The Democratic Progressive Party authorities and Taiwan independence separatist forces are trying to collude with external forces, but there's no chance of splitting the country," she said, referring to Taiwan's ruling party.
Taiwan is trying to boost its defensive capabilities by investing in new equipment such as long-range missiles and drones and by extending compulsory military service to one year.
Although Taiwan's military is generally well-trained and well-equipped with mostly U.S.-made hardware, China has huge numerical superiority and is adding advanced equipment such as stealth fighters.
Taiwan's domestic security chief Tsai told reporters China was using new "cognitive warfare" methods, such as artificial intelligence applications, to try to sway public opinion and spread fake news ahead of January's presidential elections.
"We need to continue paying attention to what they are up to during the election process," he said. (Reuters)
April
Former NZ PM Jacinda Ardern accepts Harvard fellowships
Written by Nur Yasmin
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday that she was taking up three fellowships at Harvard University later in 2023.
Ardern stepped down as prime minister in January saying she had "no more in the tank" to lead the country and would also not seek re-election to parliament. She quit parliament earlier this month.
Harvard University said in a statement she had been appointed to dual fellowships at Harvard Kennedy School and to a concurrent fellowship at the Berkman Klein Center.
“I am incredibly humbled to be joining Harvard University as a fellow - not only will it give me the opportunity to share my experience with others, it will give me a chance to learn," Ardern said in the statement.
She added on Instagram that the fellowship at the Berkman Klein Center would not only be a chance to work collaboratively with the center’s research community, but also to work on the challenges around the growth of generative AI tools.
Ardern has previously said she will continue to help tackle violent extremism online as an unpaid special envoy for the Christchurch Call. The Call is an initiative she co-founded in 2019 to bring together countries and technology companies to combat extremism.
Ardern is also to join the board of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, awarded for contributions to the environment. (Reuters)
April
Australia aims to start making guided missiles within two years
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia said on Wednesday it would start domestic manufacture of guided missiles by 2025, two years sooner than expected, in a wide-ranging shakeup of defence arrangements to focus on long-range strike capability.
On Monday, the Labor government said it accepted the recommendations of a defence review that said China had launched the largest military buildup of any country since the end of World War Two without transparency, and major power competition had "potential for conflict" in the Indo Pacific.
The timetable for domestic manufacture of guided weapons, originally set for 2027, will be hastened to within two years by allocating A$2.5 billion to the project, Defence Minister Richard Marles said in media interviews.
That represents a more than doubling in funding, which is being diverted from cancelled defence projects.
"That does radically shift the timeframe forward in terms of a manufacturing capability," Marles said in a television interview with Nine on Wednesday.
A further A$1.6 billion will be spent on buying long‑range strike systems from overseas within two years, he said.
The government was already in talks with missile manufacturers Raytheon (RTX.N) and Lockheed (LMT.N) about establishing production in Australia, Marles added.
Discussions were also being held with Kongsberg (KOG.OL), the Norwegian manufacturer of the naval strike missile Australia had already agreed to purchase, he said.
Pat Conroy, the minister for defence industry, said the review recommended acquiring Kongsberg's joint strike missile which would "allow us to look at manufacturing the Strike Missile family of missiles in Australia".
Australia will work more closely with its security ally, the United States, while boosting diplomacy in the region to deter conflict and step up defence ties with India, Japan, South East Asian nations and Pacific islands, the review said. (Reuters)
April
Former UN chief Ban returns to Myanmar, meets ruling general
Written by Nur Yasmin
Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Myanmar's military ruler on Monday, media reported, part of a trip aimed at promoting peace in a country racked by conflict since a coup two years ago.
Myanmar has been in crisis since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February 2021, with the generals struggling to consolidate power and fighting on multiple fronts against ethnic minority rebels and a pro-democracy resistance movement.
Ban made the surprise visit late on Sunday, according to state media. He met junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyitaw, pro-military news portal NP News reported.
"They exchanged views on the latest situation in Myanmar and discussed positively and openly," it quoted junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun as saying.
The spokesperson could not immediately be reached by Reuters.
Attempts to reach Ban by phone were unsuccessful. A former diplomat who works with Ban said the trip was arranged a long time ago and had been postponed several times.
He said Ban would call for the release of Suu Kyi, who was arrested during the coup and is serving 33 years in prison for multiple offences, adding a meeting with the Nobel laureate would not be possible.
Ban made multiple trips to Myanmar with the U.N. before and after the country's transition in 2011 away from five decades of military rule, supporting sweeping political and economic reforms that were later unravelled by the coup.
At least 1.2 million people have been displaced by fighting, according to the United Nations, and the junta has been accused by activists of atrocities and use of heavy weapons and air strikes against the civilian population in its operation against the resistance. The junta says it is fighting "terrorists".
Ban was representing "The Elders", a group of former international leaders established by the late Nelson Mandela to work for peace, human rights and justice. (Reuters)
April
US, S. Korea to sign space cooperation agreement during summit
Written by Nur Yasmin
NASA and South Korea's science agency will sign a pact on Tuesday intended to boost the two countries' cooperation in outer space, a White House official said, as the two allies meet this week to expand high-tech partnerships and security ties to deter North Korea.
The agreement comes as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol embarks this week on his country's first state visit to Washington in 12 years for a bilateral summit marking the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT head Jong-Ho Lee will sign a Joint Statement of Intent for Cooperation on Space Exploration and Science at the U.S. space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland on Tuesday, the White House official and a NASA official said.
The joint statement, to be signed before a tour of Goddard with Yoon and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, will affirm the countries' aim to work together on several areas such as space communications, space-based navigation and research on the moon, the White House official said.
South Korea has been developing its own space and launch capabilities while aligning itself closer to U.S. space efforts in recent years, as global military activity surges in Earth's orbit and civil space exploration re-emerges as a key tool of diplomacy.
Seoul in 2021 signed the Artemis Accords, a U.S.-led bilateral pact charting norms of behavior in space and on the moon's surface, and last year launched its Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter aboard a SpaceX rocket to conduct science observations in the moon's orbit.
U.S. Forces Korea in December set up a space force in the country tasked with monitoring, detecting and tracking incoming missiles, after South Korea in the same month set up its own space unit as part of its air force. (Reuters)
April
South Korea economy averts recession but faces tough headwinds
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea's heavily trade-reliant economy barely averted a recession posting slim growth in the first quarter, but the outlook remained clouded by weak exports due to a cooling global economy, even with China's reopening.
South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter expanded by 0.3% over the previous three-month period, official advance estimates showed on Tuesday, compared with a median 0.2% rise tipped in a Reuters survey.
Still, economists saw it as little more than a technical rebound after a 0.4% contraction during the final quarter of 2022, which was the first decline in 2-1/2 years, and reinforced their view that the central bank's tightening cycle is over.
"I don't see any sign of strength from the detailed figures about the future path of the economy," said Oh Suk-tae, economist at Societe Generale Securities in Seoul, adding he retains his forecast for 0.8% growth for the whole year.
The biggest contributor to GDP during the first quarter was private consumption, posting growth of 0.5%, while capital investment dented economic growth, dropping 4.0%. Exports rose 3.8%, while imports grew 3.5%.
There is high uncertainty both externally and internally, but a recovery in the IT sector and the Chinese economy is likely to stoke a rebound in the second half of the year, a central bank official said at a media briefing.
The Bank of Korea said earlier this month that this year's economic growth would be weaker than its earlier projection of 1.6%, as the central bank left interest rates steady for the second consecutive meeting in a row.
Economists now expect the Bank of Korea not to hike interest rates further after having raised them by 300 basis points since late 2021.
Over a year earlier, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 0.8% during the January-March period, according to the Bank of Korea's estimates, compared with gains of 1.3% in the prior quarter and 0.9% tipped in the survey. (Reuters)
April
Japan raises view on imports, sees rising bankruptcies
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan raised its official assessment of imports for first time in nine months, the government's monthly economic report showed on Tuesday, as the yen's double-digit depreciation from a year earlier puffed up the value of imported goods.
While the report maintained the overview of the economy that it was on a moderate recovery, it recognised rising bankruptcies and maintained a warning against global financial volatility it added last month in response to Western bank collapses.
The report, crafted by the Cabinet Office, said Japan's imports are generally staying flat, modifying a previous expression that they were weak, after shipments from the United States and Asia rebounded from a February dip.
Trade data out last week showed the hefty cost of coal and oil products, coupled with the yen's 16.5% slump from a year before, increased imports by 7.3% in March, helping bring Japan's trade deficit for fiscal 2022 to a record high.
The government also said bankruptcies are growing in Japan, having previously said they were staying at low levels. Data by credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research showed 809 bankruptcies filed in March in Japan, up 40% from the previous month to hit the highest level since June 2015.
A Cabinet Office official did not specify causes for the rise in bankruptcies. Analysts have said the end of the government's COVID-19 relief programme would prompt an increase in small businesses' insolvency.
Elsewhere in the report, the government maintained a reference to the need to monitor the impact of overseas financial and capital market fluctuations.
While worries after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank appeared to have settled, as seen in metrics such as growing U.S. bank lending, the government must stay vigilant against financial market risks, the official told a news conference. (Reuters)
April
Japan evacuates all citizens who wish to leave Sudan
Written by Nur Yasmin
All Japanese people who wished to leave Sudan have been evacuated, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday, part of an international exodus from an eruption of violence in the African nation.
In addition to the 45 who left late Monday night on a Japanese military flight, eight more have left with the help of France and other groups, Kishida told reporters.
It was not immediately clear if that eight included four Japanese who Kishida said late on Monday had left with the aid of France, the International Red Cross and others.
"The evacuation of all Japanese who wished to leave is now complete," he said without giving further details.
Battles between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group have killed at least 427 people and turned some residential areas into war zones.
The warring factions have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, starting on Tuesdy, although the two sides have not abided by several previous temporary truce deals. (Reuters)
April
S.Korea's Yoon to meet Biden as doubts grow over nuclear umbrella
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol set off on Monday for the United States and a summit with President Joe Biden at a time of rare questioning in South Korea of an alliance that has guaranteed its security for decades.
Yoon's April 24-29 trip is the first state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader in 12 years and will mark the 70th anniversary of a partnership that has helped anchor U.S. strategy in Asia and provided a foundation for South Korea's emergence as an economic powerhouse.
But as North Korea races ahead with the development of nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them, there are growing questions in South Korea about the relying on "extended deterrence", in essence the American nuclear umbrella, and calls, even from some senior members of Yoon's party, for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons.
A recent poll by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies showed that more than 54% of respondents believed the U.S. would not risk its safety to protect its Asian ally.
More than 64% supported South Korea developing its own nuclear weapons, with about 33% opposed.
Yoon has been pushing to boost South Korea's say in operating the U.S. extended deterrence but exactly what that might entail has not been spelt out.
Yoon's deputy national security adviser said both sides had been working on measures to operate the extended deterrence in a more concrete manner, hopefully with progress to be a revealed in a joint statement after the summit.
"What I can tell you now is that people's interest in and expectations for extended deterrence have been great, and there are several things that have been carried out over the past year in terms of information sharing, planning and execution," the adviser, Kim Tae-hyo, told reporters.
"We need to take steps to organise these things so that it can be easily understood to anyone in one big picture, how this is implemented and developed."
A senior U.S. official said on Friday that Biden, during the summit with Yoon, would pledge "substantial" steps to underscore U.S. commitments to deter a North Korean nuclear attack.
HELP FOR UKRAINE
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which some in South Korea feel is distracting the United States from dangers in Asia, has also led to some rare friction between Seoul and Washington.
Leaked U.S. documents recently highlighted South Korean difficulties in dealing with pressure from its ally to help with the supply of military aid to Ukraine.
South Korea, a major producer of artillery shells, says it has not provided lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing its relations with Russia. It has limited its support to humanitarian aid.
South Korea tries to avoid antagonising Russia, due chiefly to business interests and Russian influence over North Korea.
Suggestions reported in media that the United States had been spying on South Korean deliberations about its support to Ukraine have raised hackles in South Korea, though both sides have played the down the issue.
Yoon, in an interview with Reuters last week, Yoon signalled for the first time a softening in his position on arming Ukraine, saying his government might not "insist only on humanitarian or financial support" if Ukraine comes under a large-scale attack on civilians or a "situation the international community cannot condone".
A South Korean official said the government's position against arms support for Ukraine "raised eyebrows" in some countries at a time when South Korean defence firms have won big deals in Europe, including a $5.8 billion contract to supply howitzers and tanks to Poland.
Another South Korean official said the government had been "treading a fine line" as it tried to maintain ties with Russia but Yoon's remarks could give South Korea greater flexibility.
Yoon is due to meet Biden for their summit on Wednesday. He will address the U.S. Congress on Thursday.
Yoon is bringing business leaders to boost partnerships on supply chains and high-tech areas including chips and batteries. He will also discuss space cooperation at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. (Reuters)