HANOI: Southern Vietnam, including business hub Ho Chi Minh City and its “rice bowl” Mekong Delta region, suffered an unusually long heatwave in February, weather officials said Wednesday (Feb 28). Several areas of the delta are also suffering drought and farmers are struggling to transport their crops due to lowContinue Reading
BEIJING: Chinese lawmakers have expanded Beijing’s state secrets law for the first time since 2010, widening the scope of restricted sensitive information to “work secrets”, according to a full text of the law published online. China’s top legislative body passed the revised Law on Guarding State Secrets on Tuesday (FebContinue Reading
Starting next month, doctors who are serving in the military and at local clinics in lieu of mandatory military service will be assigned to hospitals affected by the walkout, Han said. About 9,000 trainee doctors have joined the protest, disrupting services at large hospitals which were forced to turn awayContinue Reading
SEOUL: North Korea’s first spy satellite is “alive”, a Netherlands-based space expert said on Tuesday (Feb 27), after detecting changes in its orbit that suggested Pyongyang was successfully controlling the spacecraft – although its capabilities remain unknown. After two fiery failures, North Korea successfully placed the Malligyong-1 satellite in orbitContinue Reading
BEIJING: China’s solar capacity growth could slow in 2024 to 31 per cent, a solar manufacturing association said on Wednesday (Feb 28), after a record 55 per cent increase last year as the industry struggles with renewable power overcapacity and curtailment. China has the world’s largest renewable power capacity butContinue Reading
SEOUL: South Korea’s fertility rate, already the world’s lowest, continued its dramatic decline in 2023, as women concerned about their career advancement and the financial cost of raising children decided to delay childbirth or to not have babies. The average number of expected babies for a South Korean woman duringContinue Reading
SEOUL: South Korea’s fertility rate, already the world’s lowest, dropped to a fresh record low in 2023, defying the billions of dollars spent by the country to try to reverse the trend as the population shrank for a fourth straight year. The average number of expected babies for a SouthContinue Reading
Hong Kong authorities, however, say the new law is necessary as “threats posed by external forces and local terrorism remain”, adding that national security is the “fundamental prerequisite for the survival and development of a state”. The government also said Article 23 would give “full and prudent consideration” to theContinue Reading
SYDNEY: Tuvalu’s new government has reaffirmed its relations with Taiwan after last month’s election, Tuvalu’s government said in a statement, adding that it wants dialogue with Australia over a security pact signed last year. “The new government wishes to reaffirm its commitment to the long-term and lasting special relationship betweenContinue Reading
Cheng told Taiwanese news reporters the following day, Feb 10, that she had reported the incident to the police. The Kaohsiung police said on Feb 11 that this was not the case and that Cheng had not filed any reports.
Police investigations then found that the attacker was Cheng’s 32-year-old Singaporean male assistant, who had worked with Cheng to garner attention with the staged attack, according to Taiwanese media.
Cheng admitted in a livestream on Feb 24 that the video was a prank and apologised for her actions, after Kaohsiung police asked her to issue a public apology as the incident “had impacted negatively on the image of the southern port city”, reported Focus Taiwan.
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Central News Agency, citing the immigration department, said that Cheng and her assistant had left the island and would not be allowed to enter Taiwan for up to five years.
The immigration department stated that foreigners were welcome in Taiwan as tourists but would not be allowed to engage in illegal activities.
“If cases similar to those that undermine social harmony and stability are found to be true after investigation, law enforcement will be implemented and severe punishment will be imposed,” read the statement.
CNA has approached Cheng for comment.