HONOLULU: Taiwan President Lai Ching-te discussed “China’s military threats” toward the island in a call with former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday (Dec 1), his spokeswoman said in Hawaii, Lai’s first stop on a Pacific trip that has enraged Beijing. Pelosi’s long-standing support for Taiwan has infuriated China,Continue Reading
SEOUL: Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and agreed to boost military cooperation between the two isolated nations, Pyongyang state media said Saturday (Nov 30). The United States and South Korea have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers toContinue Reading
Lai’s weeklong trip begins on Saturday, making what is officially called a stopover first in Hawaii before going to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, three of the 12 countries which have formal ties with Taiwan. He will also stop over in the US territory of Guam. Mao Ning, aContinue Reading
BEIJING: China said on Friday (Nov 29) it was “willing to work” with a probe into the severing of two Baltic Sea cables linked to a Chinese ship, after Sweden asked for Beijing’s cooperation with the investigation. “China is willing to work with relevant countries to find out the truth,”Continue Reading
After US President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 10 % tariff on all Chinese imports when he takes office on January 20, neither the United States nor China would win a trade war, the Chinese Embassy in Washington stated on Monday ( Nov 25 ). China believes thatContinue Reading
In the event of a crisis in Taiwan, the US is making disaster programs for military operations in Japan and the Philippines, according to Japan’s Kyodo information agency. According to sources with knowledge of Japan-US relations, they will be incorporated into a second shared operation plan that will be createdContinue Reading
Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te will travel to the Pacific with three of Taipei’s remaining diplomatic allies starting at the end of the month, his office announced on Friday ( Nov 22 ), but the government forewarned information on US transit stops. Taiwan’s presidents generally enrage Beijing by making what areContinue Reading
Conflict READY Kyiv immediately needs more air defenses to fight off the constant barrage of missiles that have targeted Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure and human areas, according to Han Kwon-hee of the Korea Association of Defense Industry. ” Counteroffensives require security in the back areas, which is why Kyiv has evenContinue Reading
As part of his second trip to Europe to strengthen relationships, Taiwan’s foreign minister Lin Chia-lung made an unannounced quit in Brussels this week to meet with members of the European Parliament. As Taiwan struggles to defend its place from an exceedingly forceful China, which claims the self-ruled political islandContinue Reading
In the midst of a surge in outbound tourism, Japan’s latest example of how it is grappling with misbehaving visitors became the victim of an American’s arrest for defacing a reverent Tokyo shrine.
Japan welcomed nearly 27 million visitors through September, a record pace, and their spending added 5.86 trillion yen ( US$ 37.5 billion ) to the economy. But instances of theft, public drunkenness, and “overtourism” at popular websites have sparked debate about how to handle the flood of customers and those who flout the rules.
A 65-year-old American was detained on Wednesday ( Nov 13 ) after being suspected of carving alphabetical characters into a Meiji Jingu Shrine’s pillar on Tuesday.
According to the Jiji information services, the suspect and his family made their way to Japan on Monday for sightseeing. According to Jiji, security camera footage led police to his hotel where he is suspected of infecting the wooden pillar with five letters, each representing a household name, with his finger.
A spokesperson for the US Embassy said employees were in the country and are providing consular help, but they declined to provide further information because of privacy concerns.