VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

China, Japan and South Korea need to send a clear signal of regrouping towards co-operation, and resist "the coercion of bullying and domination", China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, said on Monday, in an apparent swipe at the United States.

The remarks come at a time of heightened tension as the United States moves to forge closer ties with allies Japan and South Korea to push back against China's growing regional influence.

Wang was speaking on efforts to revitalise co-operation among the three neighbours at a forum organised by the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, a body set up by agreement among Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo.

He called for them to "foster a sense of strategic autonomy, maintain regional unity and stability, resist the return of the Cold War mentality, and be free from the coercion of bullying and domination," the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Although Wang stopped short of mentioning the United States, he said "certain major countries outside the region" had attempted to replace unity with division while seeking geographical gains, the ministry said in a statement.

"If this trend is allowed to develop, it will not only seriously interfere with the smooth progress of trilateral co-operation, but also increase tension and confrontation in the region," Wang added.

Wang emphasised the need to solve disputes through dialogue and consultation, and oppose words or deeds that could plunge the region into war.

At the event in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Wang also called for accelerating talks on free trade zones and efforts to free up and smoothe trade among the neighbours.

However, Wang reiterated Beijing's opposition to Japan's plan to release into the sea treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Co's (9501.T) Fukushima nuclear plant, saying it would affect the marine ecosystem and people's safety.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa addressed the event via video link. (Reuters)

Taiwan's main opposition presidential candidate has promised to reverse an extension of compulsory military service due to take effect in January, saying he will ease tensions with China making the longer service unnecessary.

The democratically governed island's relationship with Beijing is a central issue in the run-up to a presidential election on Jan. 13 next year, as fears have grown in recent years that China might invade the island it claims as its own.

Responding to the growing security concerns, President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) announced in December that compulsory military service for all men would be extended to one year from four months from Jan. 1.

Hou Yu-ih, candidate of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, said the DPP had triggered the "danger of war" but he would work to ensure peace.

"After I am elected president, I will work hard to ensure stability and peace across the strait. After that, I will resume the four-month service," Hou said in an interview with TVBS broadcast late on Monday.

"Stability across the strait will decide the issue of our military service, and that's why I will work hard to ensure stability," said Hou, who is mayor of New Taipei City.

China claims Taiwan as its own and has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to get the island to accept Chinese sovereignty. The island's DPP-led government says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.

The KMT traditionally favours close ties with China while Tsai has infuriated Beijing by rejecting its position that both sides are part of a single China.

Hou is running against the DPP's William Lai, who is now vice president and is leading in the polls.

Hou said he supported the KMT position that both Taiwan and China are part of a single China though each can have its own interpretation of the term.

Tsai took office in 2016 and cannot run again due to term limits. (Reuters)

Chinese fighter jets again crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, as a senior Taiwanese official decried "annoying disinformation" about how safe the island is given the mounting tensions with Beijing.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the island's strong objections, has over the past three years reported almost daily missions by Chinese military aircraft nearby, and since last August, regular crossings of the median line that used to serve as an unofficial boundary.

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Tuesday morning that eight Chinese fighters had crossed the median line and four Chinese warships also joined a "joint combat readiness patrol".

"We believe that any unilateral and irrational provocations are not helping regional security," ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters in Pingtung in southern Taiwan on a trip to see pre-planned anti-aircraft drills, where soldiers fired U.S.-made Stinger missiles to shoot down drone targets.

China practised precision strikes and blockading the island in war games around it in April after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.

Despite China's frequent military activities, there has been no sign of public alarm in Taiwan and life has carried on as normal.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Taiwan deputy foreign minister Roy Lee said one of the reasons the government wanted foreign lawmakers, officials and academics to visit was to see the situation on the ground.

"A lot of colleagues and friends outside of Taiwan are subject to this annoying disinformation campaign. They have a mismatched conception and understanding about the situation in Taiwan," he said. "We are confident that when they are here they will see Taiwan is very calm; we are not provoking or making any dangerous movements. On the other hand we are demonstrating a very high level of resilience against China's intimidation and threats."

As Lee spoke, Tsai met a delegation led by U.S. Representative Kevin Hern, who leads the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the latest in a string of such visits to Taipei.

"Support for Taiwan as an independent and sovereign nation has been one of the founding principles of the RSC," Hern told Tsai.

Taiwan's government strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims and has vowed to defend itself if China attacks the island. (Reuters)

North Korea appeared to have eased a strict COVID-19 mask mandate, media reports said this week, after state news agencies showed many people maskless.

The isolated country has maintained border lockdowns and other anti-COVID measures long after most other nations ditched such restrictions.

North Korean state television and newspapers did not make any official announcement, but showed crowds of people at theatres and other locations without masks.

That was a "stark change" compared to newspaper coverage dating back to September, according to analysts with NK News, a Seoul-based site that monitors North Korea.

Residents, factories and social groups were told that the mandate was lifted as of July 1, U.S.-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) said on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

The report said authorities had eased the mandates because wearing used masks and strict mask control had led to the spread of skin and eye infections.

Last August, North Korean state news agency KCNA said Pyongyang had dropped a face mask mandate along with other social distancing rules as leader Kim Jong Un declared victory over COVID-19.

But one month after the announcement, the authorities ordered citizens to wear masks in public again, citing flu and infectious diseases that can occur during fall and winter, but without specifying COVID-19.

South Korea's spy agency has said defectors who fled North Korea in May decided to do so because of the country's strict COVID-19 controls.

North Korea's strict coronavirus curbs have also been criticized by a United Nations report last year as worsening its human rights violations. (Reuters)