TAIPEI : Comments by French President Emmanuel Macron on Taiwan are puzzling, a senior Taiwanese politician said, wondering whether France’s founding ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity are now out of fashion. Macron, in comments in an interview on a trip to China that was meant to showcase European unityContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday (Apr 11) condemned China’s sentencing of two human rights lawyers to more than a decade each in jail, the latest move in a years-long crackdown on civil society by President Xi Jinping. Xu Zhiyong, 50, and Ding Jiaxi, 55, were sentenced on Monday toContinue Reading
JERUSALEM: Thousands of Israelis, including ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, marched to an evacuated Jewish outpost in the West Bank on Monday (Apr 10) in support of settlements viewed as illegal under international law. As tensions mounted between Israelis and Palestinians, Israelis from across the country travelledContinue Reading
BEIJING: The US Navy said its guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a navigational rights and freedoms mission in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands on Monday (Apr 10). The announcement came as China’s military simulated precision strikes against Taiwan in military drills around the island amid growing tensionsContinue Reading
HANOI: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Vietnam next week, Senator Jeff Merkley told a news conference in Hanoi on Saturday (Apr 8), as part of Washington’s efforts to move diplomatic relations with Hanoi on to a higher level this year. Blinken’s visit, which has not yet beenContinue Reading
SHANGHAI: The head of China’s Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday (Apr 8) urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to return to a “scientific, fair” position in tracing the origin of COVID-19. At a news conference, Shen Hongbing warned the WHO against politicising the source of theContinue Reading
NEW DELHI: Indian opposition parties on Wednesday (Apr 5) condemned the removal from some schoolbooks of references to how independence hero Mahatma Gandhi’s pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity angered some Hindu extremists and led to his assassination. The new edition of a political science book for 17-18 year olds, published byContinue Reading
French President Emmanuel Macron is on his first trip to China since 2019, while European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is also visiting the country.Continue Reading
“COMMON AGENDA” The US and French presidents also hope to “obtain from the Chinese a contribution to the global effort of North-South solidarity” and to build “a common agenda” on climate and biodiversity. Macron landed in Beijing at around 3.15pm (7.15am GMT) and, after emerging into the capital’s brisk springContinue Reading
BEIJING: China warned on Tuesday (Apr 4) that Washington was “endangering regional peace and stability” with a new deal expanding American troops’ access to bases in the Philippines. “Out of self-interest, the US maintains a zero-sum mentality and continues to strengthen its military deployment in the region,” foreign ministry spokeswomanContinue Reading