Manila, which has a common defence alliance with Washington, has been engaged in times of clashes with Beijing over disputed areas of the South China Sea. Beijing claims nearly the entirety of the important lake, despite an global decision that its claim has no validity. United States Defense Secretary PeteContinue Reading
A Red Cross official told AFP on Saturday ( Mar 29 ) that more than 90 people were trapped inside the crushed remains of a devastating earthquake-ravaged Mandalay apartment block as rescuers worked to free the victims. The Mandalay sky villa property development, which had several of its 12 metresContinue Reading
On Friday ( Mar 28 ), an earthquake , strong , struck , central Myanmar , according to monitoring services. In the wake of the earthquake, citizens from Bangkok also poured into and out of the capital’s houses in fear of the earthquake’s aftermath and the tremors. Myanmar’s government has not provided any instantContinue Reading
11 days after the Constitutional Court heard her prosecution trial’s last quarrels, past president Park Geun-hye was removed from office. In the cash Seoul, there are a large numbers of South Koreans who support and oppose the liberal leader’s removal, claiming that the delay has caused confusion and frustration. Yoon’sContinue Reading
China:  , China said Saturday it did slap tariffs on French products including hemp oil and meat, after a Beijing spacecraft into levies imposed by Ottawa on Chinese goods next month.
Beijing’s trading ministry said it would strike imported soybean oil, oil cakes, and vegetables from Canada with a 100 percentage price.
Underwater products and meat will face a 25 percentage levy.
The procedures may come into effect on Mar 20, Beijing said.
Ottawa past August placed 100 percent tariffs on Chinese energy car goods, matching US actions seeking to fight off a storm of Chinese state-subsidised vehicles into North America.
It also announced a surtax on imports of steel and aluminum products from China.
Beijing’s commerce ministry said a probe into those measures found that Canadian policies “disrupted the normal trade order and harmed the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises”.
” China urges Canada to immediately correct its bad practices, lift its restrictive measures and eliminate its negative effects”, a ministry spokesperson said.
Bangkok: A Thai minister said on Thursday ( Mar 6 ) that Thailand’s deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China last week was in the country’s best interest because there was the possibility of retaliation if the group was sent elsewhere. The mysterious deportation, which was carried out in response toContinue Reading
“(China) is probably thinking, we don’t want to be seen as siding with Putin … (and) openly going against international law. So it is saying: ‘We’re the grown-ups. Let’s take it through the proper channels.’ And I think that’s a very subtle message,” he said.
Experts say China is also wary about the optics.
“The Chinese are not just thinking about their relationship with Moscow or their relationship with Washington. They also want to be careful about how other countries, especially those in the Indo-Pacific and Global South, receive China, and abstaining helps it (achieve) that,” said Muraviev from Curtin University.
The Ukraine-backed resolution passed with 93 votes in favour, 18 against and 65 abstentions – underscoring a significant erosion in international support for Ukraine and in diplomatic condemnation of Moscow.
A similar vote in 2022 when the war first broke out saw 141 countries voting in favour, with only five against and 35 abstaining.
The steep drop in affirmative votes reflects growing divisions over the war, as well as shifting geopolitical calculations among UN member states, noted Reyes.
He further pointed out that some voting shifts appear directly linked to Washington’s change in stance from support to opposition.
This includes the US’ three freely associated states in the Pacific – the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau. Having voted in favour of the 2022 vote, this time they switched to abstaining or outright opposition.
The Trump administration, inaugurated in January, has repeatedly criticised Ukraine – accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of starting the war with Russia and labelling him a “dictator”. Trump has also pushed for peace negotiations with Moscow, with the initial meeting excluding Kyiv.
Observers also highlighted the pronounced increase in abstentions.
Several countries in South and Central America, including Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras, as well as African nations such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia, all shifted their stance from supporting the 2022 resolution to abstaining in the latest vote.
Bangkok: The country’s defense minister confirmed a covert deportation that the United Nations and human rights organizations had condemned by China, promising that 40 Chinese Uyghurs who returned on Thursday ( Feb 27 ) would be looked after. UN human rights experts urged the Uyghurs to be released after tenContinue Reading
Japan and the Philippines need to strengthen their defense cooperation, according to Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Monday ( Feb 24 ), ahead of a bilateral meeting in Manila. A adaptable agreement was required to protect against “unilateral attempts by China and other countries to transform the global orderContinue Reading
Japan and the Philippines came to an agreement on Monday ( Feb 24 ) to strengthen defense ties in the face of an “increasingly severe” security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, according to Japanese defense minister Gen Nakatani. In a meeting held in Manila where Nakatani and his Spanish counterpartContinue Reading