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March
Taiwan calls on Britain to support its bid for Pacific trade pact
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday called on Britain to support its bid to join a major pan-Pacific free trade pact which London has also applied to enter.
Taiwan and China both applied in 2021 to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), but China says it opposes Taiwan - which it claims as its own territory - joining.
Britain, seeking post-Brexit opportunities, has also applied to join the pact which removes 95% of tariffs between its 11 members - Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Speaking to a group of visiting British lawmakers, Tsai said she hoped that Britain's accession to the CPTPP proceeded smoothly.
"I also hope that given its disposition for maintaining high standards, Britain will support Taiwan's bid to join the agreement. This would do much to allow Taiwan and Britain to continue deepening their partnership," she said.
In a statement released after a meeting in Singapore last October, trade pact members said Britain's application was progressing, and subsequent applicants would need to show "a demonstrated pattern of complying with their trade commitments".
Ecuador and Costa Rica have also applied to join.
China's embassy in Britain on Sunday condemned the visit of the British lawmakers to Taiwan, saying they were insisting on visiting the island despite China's strong opposition.
Britain, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but has been keen to show its support in the face of China's threats.
China has been ramping up military, political and economic pressure against Taiwan to assert its sovereignty claims.
Taiwan regularly hosts visiting foreign lawmakers, especially from fellow democracies, which China routinely condemns.
Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future. (Reuters)
March
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has endorsed a decree to dissolve parliament, according to an announcement in the Royal Gazette on Monday, paving the way for elections in May.
An election must be held 45 to 60 days after the house dissolution, which takes effect immediately.
"This is a return of political decision-making power to the people swiftly to continue democratic government with the King as head of state," said the decree published on Monday.
An election date has yet to be announced but Deputy Prime Minster Wissanu Krea-ngam earlier in the day said it would likely be held on May 14, if the house were dissolved on Monday.
Thailand's election is expected to showcase a long-running political battle between the billionaire Shinawatra family and the country's conservative pro-military establishment.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter and niece respectively of ousted former premiers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, is the frontrunner to be prime minister in opinion surveys, with her support jumping 10 points to 38.2% in a poll released at the weekend.
The poll by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) put Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has been in power since a 2014 coup against the Pheu Thai government, in third place with 15.65%.
Paetongtarn on Friday said she was confident of winning the election by a landslide, with the aim of averting any political manoeuvring against her party, which has previously been removed from office by judicial rulings and military coups. (Reuters)
March
US, Philippines to announce new sites for U.S. military as soon as possible - U.S. official
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States and Philippines will announce new sites as soon as possible for an expanded Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which gives the Western power access to military bases in the Southeast Asian country.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr last month granted the United States access to four military bases, on top of five existing locations under the 2014 EDCA, which comes amid China's increasing assertiveness towards the South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan.
Speaking at the Basa Air Base in Manila, one of the existing EDCA sites, visiting U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the defence agreements between the two countries were "not focused on any particular issue."
EDCA allows U.S. access to Philippine bases for joint training, pre-positioning of equipment and building of facilities such as runways, fuel storage and military housing, but it is not a permanent presence.
While the Philippines has yet to formally identify the sites, a former military chief has publicly said the United States had asked for access to bases in Isabela, Zambales and Cagayan, all on the island of Luzon, facing north towards Taiwan, and on Palawan in the southwest, near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
Leaders of local governments at the potential EDCA sites have backed the government's decision to allow the United States greater access to the bases, Philippines' defence chief, Carlito Galvez, said in a joint news conference with Kendall.
Galvez and Kendall were leading a groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation of the Basa Air Base's runway.
"Today's event is a physical manifestation of our Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, a key pillar of the U.S.-Philippine alliance," Kendall said in a speech, adding it built on a seven-decade-old Mutual Defense Treaty that applied anywhere in the South China Sea.
"We are at an inflection point in history and our cooperation will help ensure we stay on the path to peace and stability," he added.
The runway rehabilitation is part of $82 million the United States has allocated for infrastructure investments at the existing five EDCA sites.
"Moving forward we hope the U.S will consider more EDCA projects," Galvez said. (Reuters)
March
Pakistan police arrest dozens of supporters of former PM Imran Khan
Written by Nur Yasmin
Police in Pakistan have arrested dozens of supporters and aides of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in raids in two cities as part of a crackdown on those involved in recent clashes with the security forces, Khan's party and police said on Monday.
Supporters of Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), clashed with police in the city of Lahore last week as they attempted to arrest him at his home, and later with police in Islamabad as he arrived to appear before a court on Saturday.
"Around 285 PTI supporters have been arrested in Lahore and Islamabad. Houses of all major leaders were raided by police last night," Khan's aide, Fawad Chaudhry, told Reuters.
Khan, a former cricket star, was prime minister from 2018 until 2022, when he was ousted from office in a parliamentary vote. Since then he has been demanding a snap election and holding protest rallies across the country to press his case.
His successor as prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has rejected his demand and said an election would be held as scheduled later this year.
Khan, 70, is facing several legal cases, including one that prompted a failed attempt to arrest him on Tuesday after a court issued warrants for his arrest for not appearing before it.
Clashes between Khan's supporters and the security forces have brought a new round of political chaos to Pakistan, which is in the midst of a crippling economic crisis.
Khan says the government and the powerful military are trying to stop him from contesting the next election, scheduled for November. If convicted in a case, Khan could face disqualification from the polls.
Both the government and military deny this.
Police in both Lahore and Islamabad confirmed the raids and the arrest of PTI workers they said were involved in clashes with police and arson.
"Police are raiding the houses because seven cases on various charges, including terrorism, have been registered against the leaders and workers," Lahore police chief Bilal Kamiana told Reuters referring to the clashes with police.
He said 125 activists had been arrested in Lahore, including some last week.
In Islamabad, a police spokesman 198 PTI supporters had been arrested in connection with arson and attacks on police in which 58 people were injured and more than a dozen vehicles, including some police cars, were set ablaze.
More raids were being carried out, the spokesman said.
He said police had also gone to the home of a sitting PTI senator, Shibli Faraz, with a search warrant, but the senator was not home.
Khan, remembered by many for his success as a cricket player and later for his charity work, won considerable support among sections of the electorate with his conservative, nationalistic policies. (Reuters)
March
Magnitude 6.8 earthquake shakes Ecuador, at least 14 deaths reported
Written by Nur Yasmin
At least 14 people were killed in a strong earthquake that shook a coastal region of Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday, causing structural damage to multiple homes, schools and medical centers.
The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured at magnitude 6.8, struck at a depth of 66.4 km (41.3 miles) about 10 km (6.2 miles) from the city of Balao in the province of Guayas.
The earthquake did not appear likely to generate a tsunami, authorities said.
"We remain in the territory verifying the damage caused by the earthquake this morning. I want to confirm that I am with you and express my solidarity and commitment to the victims," Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso said in a tweet.
The presidency's communication agency said the quake left 14 people dead, and more than 380 people were injured, largely in the El Oro province.
The agency said at least 44 homes were destroyed, while 90 more were damaged. Around 50 educational buildings and more than 30 health centers were also affected, while multiple roadways were blocked by landslides caused by the earthquake. The Santa Rosa airport suffered minor damage, but remained in operation.
Ecuador's Secretariat of Risk Management said in an earlier statement that one death in Azuay province occurred when a wall collapsed on to a vehicle. In other provinces, structural damage included a collapsed wharf and a fallen wall in a supermarket.
State-run oil company Petroecuador had evacuated and suspended activities in multiple facilities out of precaution, but had not reported damage, the agency said.
"We all ran out into the streets... we were very scared," Ernesto Alvarado, a resident of Isla Puna near the epicenter, told Reuters, adding that some homes had collapsed.
The initial quake was followed by two weaker aftershocks in the following hour, according to the Geophysics Institute of Ecuador.
Peruvian authorities said the quake was felt in the country's northern region, but there were no immediate reports of harm to people or structures. (Reuters)
March
Putin makes surprise trip to Russian-occupied Mariupol in wake of ICC warrant
Written by Nur Yasmin
A day after being accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, scene of some of the worst devastation of his year-old invasion.
State television showed extended footage of Putin being shown around the city on Saturday night, meeting rehoused residents and being briefed on reconstruction efforts by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.
The port city of Mariupol became known around the world as a byword for death and destruction as much of it was reduced to ruins in the first months of the war, eventually falling to Russian forces in May.
Hundreds were killed in the bombing of a theatre where families with children were sheltering. The Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) said Russia's early bombing of a maternity hospital there was a war crime. Moscow denied that and has said since it invaded on Feb. 24 last year that it does not target civilians.
Putin's visit had the air of a gesture of defiance after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on Friday, accusing him of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
He has not publicly commented on the move, but his spokesman said it was legally "null and void" and that Russia found the very questions raised by the ICC to be "outrageous and unacceptable".
The visit to Mariupol was the first that Putin has made to the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine's Donbas region since the war started, and the closest he has come to the front lines.
While Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made a number of trips to the battlefield to boost the morale of his troops and talk strategy, Putin has largely remained inside the Kremlin while running what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Kyiv and its allies say the invasion is an imperialistic land grab that has killed thousands and displaced millions of people in Ukraine.
'PIECE OF HEAVEN'
Putin's trip to Mariupol took place in darkness. State TV showed him at the wheel of a car, driving through the city in the company of his deputy prime minister, Khusnullin, and being briefed in detail on the rebuilding of housing, bridges, hospitals, transport routes and a concert hall.
State media said he visited a new residential neighbourhood that had been built by Russian military with the first people moving in last September.
"Do you live here? Do you like it?" Putin was shown asking residents.
"Very much. It's a little piece of heaven that we have here now," a woman replied, clasping her hands and thanking Putin for "the victory".
Residents have been "actively" returning, Khusnullin told Putin. Mariupol had a population of half a million people before the war and was home to the Azovstal steel plant, one of Europe's largest, where Ukrainian fighters held out for weeks in underground tunnels and bunkers before being forced to surrender.
"The downtown has been badly damaged," Khusnullin said. "We want to finish (reconstruction) of the centre by the end of the year, at least the facade part. The centre is very beautiful."
There was no immediate reaction to the visit from the Ukrainian government.
Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, one of four largely Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that Putin moved in September to annex in an action rejected as illegal by most countries at the United Nations General Assembly.
Putin travelled there by helicopter after a visit to Crimea on the ninth anniversary of its annexation by Russia from Ukraine.
From Mariupol, he went to Rostov in southern Russia, where state TV on Sunday showed him meeting Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, commander of Russia's war effort in Ukraine. (Reuters)
March
Australia did not vow to help US defend Taiwan in submarine deal -minister
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia "absolutely" did not promise to support the U.S. in any military conflict over Taiwan in return for a deal to acquire U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines, Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday.
Australia, the U.S. and Britain unveiled the multi-decade AUKUS project on Monday. Canberra is to buy the U.S. Virginia-class military submarines, with Britain and Australia eventually producing and operating a new submarine class, SSN-AUKUS.
Australia's centre-left Labor government says the A$368 billion ($246 billion) deal is necessary given China's military buildup in the region, which it has labelled the largest since World War Two.
Asked whether Australia had given the U.S. any commitment to help during a conflict over Taiwan in return for access to the submarines, Marles told ABC television: "Of course not, and nor was one sought".
He said there was "absolutely not" a quid pro quo obligation on Australia from the deal.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the option of force to take the island back. President Joe Biden has said the U.S. would defend Taiwan in the event of "an unprecedented attack" by China.
Under the AUKUS deal, which Asian allies welcomed but which Beijing has called an act of nuclear proliferation, the U.S. will sell Australia three subs, built by General Dynamics, in the early 2030s, with an option for Australia to buy two more.
Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said on Sunday he was confident a scheduled visit to China to meet his counterpart Wang Wentao would go ahead, despite AUKUS. Farrell said last month the meeting was a signal that Australia-China relations were thawing.
He expressed hope for a visit to China by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this year, according to a government transcript of his interview with Sky News.
The AUKUS programme is to start with a A$6 billion ($4 billion) investment over the next four years to expand a submarine base and the country's submarine shipyards and train skilled workers.
Australia is also set to provide A$3 billion to expand U.S. and British shipbuilding capacity, with most of that to speed up production of U.S. Virginia-class submarines. (Reuters)
March
Ruling party likely to sweep Kazakh parliamentary election
Written by Nur Yasmin
Kazakhstan votes in a snap parliamentary election on Sunday widely expected to cement President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's grip on power and complete the reshuffle of the ruling elite which began after he fully assumed leadership last year.
A stronger mandate will help Tokayev navigate through regional turmoil caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent damage to trade, investment and supply chains throughout the former Soviet Union.
Although he formally became president three years ago, Tokayev, 69, had remained in the shadow of his predecessor and former patron Nursultan Nazarbayev until January 2022 when the two fell out amid an attempted coup and violent unrest.
Tokayev sidelined Nazarbayev, after suppressing the political unrest in the oil-rich Central Asian country and had a number of his associates removed from senior positions in the public sector, some of whom later faced corruption charges.
While Tokayev has reshuffled the government, the lower house of parliament - elected when Nazarbayev still had sweeping powers and led the ruling Nur Otan party - was not due for election until 2026, and the president called a snap vote.
Unlike Nazarbayev, Tokayev has chosen not to lead the ruling party - now rebranded Amanat - but polls show it is likely to retain a comfortable majority and form the core of his support base in the legislature, especially in the absence of strong opposition parties on the ballot.
However, for the first time in almost two decades, several opposition figures are running as independents, a move which may allow some government critics to win a limited number of seats.
Tokayev has said that the vote would allow him to start implementing his plan to reform the country and ensure fairer distribution of its oil wealth.
The completion of political transition is also likely to strengthen Tokayev's hand in foreign policy. Despite receiving Moscow's backing during the 2022 unrest, he has refused to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine or recognise its annexation of some Ukrainian territories.
At the same time, Astana is trying to maintain good relationships with both Moscow, its neighbour and major trading partner, and the West, which seeks to isolate Russia. (Reuters)
March
North Korea fires short-range ballistic missile, South Korea says
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile towards the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday, according to South Korea and Japan, the latest in a barrage of weapons tests from the nuclear-armed state.
The missile, launched from the Dongchang-ri site on the west coast around 11:05 a.m. (0205 GMT), flew some 800 km (500 miles) before hitting a target, according to a South Korean military statement. Japan's Defense Ministry said the missile flew as high as 50 km (30 miles).
Seoul has condemned the recent ballistic missile launches by the North as a "clear violation" of a U.N. Security Council resolution.
Soon after the launch, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said the U.S. deployed a B-1B strategic bomber to a joint air drill, which Seoul and Washington say they are holding to strengthen extended deterrence.
The launches have also prompted criticism from Tokyo and Washington.
"North Korea's behaviour threatens international peace and security, and is unacceptable," Japan's state minister of defense, Toshiro Ino, told a news conference, adding that Japan had protested strongly via North Korea's embassy in Beijing.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Sunday's launch does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or its allies. But the recent missile launches highlight the destabilising impact of Pyongyang's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes, it said in a statement.
The North on Thursday fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, hours before South Korea's president flew to Tokyo for a summit that discussed ways to counter the North.
Pyongyang said Thursday's ICBM launch was a warning against the U.S.-South Korea military drills, state media KCNA reported.
South Korean and American forces kicked off the 11-day drills, dubbed "Freedom Shield 23", a week ago on a scale not seen since 2017.
North Korea also criticised the U.S. and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, KCNA reported later in the day, for bringing up its human rights abuses at a recent informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council, describing the move as a "serious challenge" to its sovereignty.
"The U.S. launched a 'human rights' campaign against the DPRK in the U.N. arena while staging the aggressive joint military exercise which poses a grave threat to our national security," the North Korea's Permanent Mission to the U.N. was quoted as saying by state media. (Reuters)
March
Australia's Victoria state premier condemns Nazi salute
Written by Nur Yasmin
The premier of Australia's Victoria state condemned on Sunday Nazi salutes at a protest in the state capital Melbourne as an attempt "to scapegoat minorities" using "evil ideology".
Transgender rights protesters clashed with neo-Nazis in Melbourne on Saturday after a British anti-transgender activist sought to address supporters at the city's parliament building, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
On Sunday, The Australian newspaper posted to Twitter an image of several men dressed in black performing a Nazi salute outside the parliament.
Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews said the anti-transgender activists had "gathered to spread hate" in the city.
"On the steps of our parliament, some of them performed a Nazi salute. They were there to say the trans community don't deserve rights, safety or dignity," Andrews said on Twitter.
"That's what Nazis do. Their evil ideology is to scapegoat minorities - and it's got no place here. And those who stand with them don't, either."
Police told Reuters there were around 300 protestors in total, with around 15 "possibly belonging to right wing groups".
Victoria in December passed laws criminalising the public display of Nazi symbols in what the centre-left Labor state government said was a move to stamp out antisemitism and hate.
In November, a soccer fan who gave a Nazi salute at the Australia Cup final in Sydney, the capital of neighbouring New South Wales state, was banned for life from any games sanctioned by Football Australia (FA).
The behaviour of the fan was described as "absolutely horrendous" by New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet. (Reuters)