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A resident using the new paper recycling machine at Block 68 Geylang Bahru. (Photo: Vanessa Lim) - 

Residents in towns managed by the People’s Action Party (PAP) will be encouraged to adopt a zero waste lifestyle, through a cash-for-recycling programme and more paper recycling machines set up in their estate, the party announced on Saturday (Dec 4).

Under its Action for Green Towns (AGT) initiative, the party has set a target of deploying at least 78 paper recycling machines across its 15 towns by the end of the month, in partnership with SGRecycle.

Residents will first have to scan a QR code on the machine to register, before depositing their items. They will get 6 cents per 1kg of paper or cardboard recycled. This will be stored in their digital wallets before being credited to their bank accounts.

When the COVID-19 situation improves, outreach programmes will be conducted to raise awareness of these machines among residents, PAP added in its press release.

All PAP town councils have also pledged to reduce paper use. For instance, by implementing electronic payments to contractors instead of issuing cheques when possible.

These were among a slew of initiatives announced by the party on Saturday, months after it first unveiled its Action for Green Towns initiative. 

Launched in May, the initiative aims to galvanise various stakeholders to work towards making every PAP-managed town "zero waste, energy efficient and greener" by 2025.

As part of the initiative, all of the PAP’s 15 town councils has a Member of Parliament (MP) as a "sustainability champion".

These 15 individuals, together with Young PAP representatives, form the Action for Green Towns task force led by chairperson of Jalan Besar Town Council Dr Wan Rizal.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Dr Wan Rizal said in coming up with the plans, the taskforce took stock of what each town was doing in terms of sustainability.

“We came out with a report card, and this report clearly shows what they’ve done over the years and how much impact it made,” said Dr Wan Rizal.

He added that the report card covered three categories including zero waste, energy efficiency, as well as green town.

“(At) a very fundamental level, we are all doing our part, but can we go further to reduce carbon footprint? I think that is the direction that we want to go. But as I mentioned, we want to take small steps as possible to get more people on board,” he added.

More than 3,000 lifts across PAP towns will be replaced by 2025 with more reliable and “electricity-saving” models when they reach their recommended lifespan, said the party.

To further improve energy efficiency, all PAP town councils will introduce electricity saving specifications in the lift replacement programmes.

“New lift models save electricity with features such as energy regeneration systems, LED displays, LED lights with sensors, better ventilation,” said the party in a press release.

Currently, almost all the common area lights in PAP-managed estates have been changed to energy-saving LED lights.

“This has helped us save 1,413 million kWh of energy, equivalent to powering 313,665 four-room HDB homes for a year, and reduce over 586,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions,” said Coordinating Chair of PAP Town Councils Lim Biow Chuan, adding that it has also provided more reliable lighting for residents.

To further reduce energy usage, the party said it intends to progressively incorporate smart sensors across its towns when the LED lights are due to be replaced.

“The lights with smart sensors will provide more reliable light as they can be remotely monitored,” said PAP. It added that this measure is expected to reduce up to 62 million kWh of energy usage by 2025, equivalent to the energy used by 14,452 four-room HDB homes in a year.

By 2023, all of the party’s town councils will implement equipment to convert fallen leaves and branches into mulch, in order to reduce waste and carbon footprint from transporting excess plant material.

More greenery will also be incorporated when PAP town councils redesign and refresh public spaces in order to allow residents to enjoy more nature and cooler temperatures//CNA

A person holds flags of Taiwan and the United States on Jan 14, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Stephen Lam) - 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Reuters Next conference on Friday (Dec 3) that Chinese leaders should think carefully about their actions toward Taiwan, warning of "terrible consequences" if China precipitates a crisis across the Taiwan Strait.

In an interview, Blinken addressed multiple foreign policy challenges facing the administration of President Joe Biden, including faltering efforts to repair the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Russia's military buildup near Ukraine, and the spiraling conflict in Ethiopia.

Most acute may be China's increasingly aggressive posture toward Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. Taiwan's defense minister has said tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years adding that China will be capable of mounting a "full-scale" invasion by 2025.

Asked if China was going to invade Taiwan, Blinken said “that would be a potentially disastrous decision", repeating Washington's position that it is "resolutely committed" to making sure Taiwan has the means to defend itself.

China had been trying to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait in recent years by engaging in provocative military maneuvers and trying to isolate Taiwan from the rest of world, Blinken said.

“I hope that China’s leaders think very carefully about this and about not precipitating a crisis that would have I think terrible consequences for lots of people and one that’s in no one’s interest, starting with China," Blinken said.

China remains Biden's number one foreign policy priority, but his administration has also been buffeted by crises elsewhere.

Blinken said the United States had sanctions it could use for parties perpetuating Ethiopia's conflict.

On Iran, Blinken said Washington ended indirect talks in Vienna this week because Tehran did not seem serious about a return to compliance with the nuclear deal.

"If the path to a return to compliance with the agreement turns out to be a dead-end, we will pursue other options," he said.

Blinken returned on Thursday from Europe, where he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and delivered a warning over Russia's military buildup near Ukraine.

Biden is expected to speak to President Vladimir Putin in the near future, and will tell the Russian leader that Washington is determined to stand up against any "reckless or aggressive" actions, Blinken said. The United States wants a more predictable relationship with Russia, he said.

“There are areas where we have overlapping interests and we should be able to work together if we can have some stability and predictability in the relationship. Russia’s actions and the threat of further aggression against Ukraine moves in exactly the opposite direction," Blinken said//CNA

A girl waits while her father undergoes a COVID-19 test in central Seoul, South Korea, Dec 1, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Kim Hong-ji) - 

South Korea reported a record daily 5,352 new COVID-19 infections and 70 deaths, while a nationwide total of nine cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday (Dec 4).

The government on Friday announced that people visiting restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces will have to show vaccine passes. It is also reducing the limit on private gatherings to six people in the greater Seoul area, from 10 currently, and to eight from 12 for those residing outside of the capital, starting next Monday.

The hospitalisation rate was rising rapidly led by severe cases of COVID-19, with the number of serious and critical patients at 752 as of Friday, KDCA said.

South Korea has also confirmed three additional Omicron cases, bringing the total to nine after a fully vaccinated couple tested positive for the variant after travelling from Nigeria last week.

To fend off the new variant, authorities on Friday announced a 10-day mandatory quarantine requirement for all inbound travellers for two weeks, halting exemptions given earlier to fully vaccinated people.

South Korea has been battling the worst wave of infections since July, when the daily cases stood below 2,000 until the government switched to "living with COVID-19". The cases hit 5,000s for the first time this week, putting a strain on the healthcare system.

The country, which has fully inoculated 91.7 per cent of its adult population, has so far reported a total of 467,907 COVID-19 infections, with 3,809 deaths since the start of the pandemic//CNA

FILE PHOTO: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman speaks at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S. August 18, 2021. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo - 

The approach of the United States and Europe toward China is "increasingly convergent," US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on Friday (Dec 3), following meetings with the chief of the European Union's diplomatic service.

US President Joe Biden has stressed as a hallmark of his foreign policy the importance of working closely with allies in pushing back against what his administration sees as China's increasingly assertive behavior worldwide.

The EU and United States on Thursday expressed concern over China's actions in the South and East China Seas and the Taiwan Strait, which they said had a "direct impact" on their respective security and prosperity.

Sherman, speaking at a briefing hosted by the Brookings Institution with Stefano Sannino, the Secretary General of the European External Action Service, said Washington was committed to standing "shoulder to shoulder" with European partners to engage China with "collective strength."

"We see our approach and the EU's approach to the PRC as complementary and increasingly convergent and aligned," she said, referring to the People's Republic of China.

Sannino, speaking after two days of talks with Sherman in Washington, said the EU recognized China's importance, but was not shying away when Beijing actions were not according to the rules. He called recent Chinese moves against EU member Lithuania "extremely worrying" and "not acceptable."

"When I see the way ... the Biden-Harris administration are defining their relations with China, when I see how they are defining their interests in the Indo-Pacific region, I think we are going really in the same direction," Sannino said.

Sannino said Europe was working to create an environment in the Indo-Pacific conducive to cooperation, but where the cost of confrontation was "extremely high," including by enhancing its security presence.

He said the EU wanted to strengthen its economic and cultural ties with democratic Taiwan, an exporter of key components for European industry which Beijing claims as its own.

China downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania after the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania opened on Nov 18.

Since then, Lithuanian officials have said China has imposed a customs block on Lithuanian exports, and is pressuring companies in third countries to not do business with the small Baltic state.

While both Sherman and Sannino stressed shared concerns and approaches, EU-US relations are still recovering from the shock of a deal by the United States and former EU member Britain to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, which torpedoed a major French contract with Canberra.

Sannino said it was not just a commercial issue, but one of trust.

"We cannot say that this is not left scars, but all scars case can be healed," he said. "So it depends a little bit on the effort that is being done, on the medicine that you apply."

He said Australia was an important and like-minded regional partner.

"So I hope that this can be done and it can go back to a more normal situation. And I hope that this can happen sooner rather than later."//CNA