🇻🇳 Vietnam ramps up island expansion

Vietnam has been ramping-up its dredging and landfill work in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, creating another 133 hectares of land since December last year.

The expansion, much larger than 49 hectares it had created from 2012 to last year, made Vietnam second only to China in terms of island buildup in the Spratly Islands.

China claims sovereignty over vast swathes of the South China Sea, including the areas where Vietnam has been building up islands.

#Vietnam

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🇨🇦🇨🇳 Canada PM Trudeau says he hopes to meet China’s Xi one day once tensions defused

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he hoped to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping once the two sides had put in the work needed to repair badly strained bilateral ties.

Trudeau said he had “a good exchange” with Xi on the sidelines of the APEC summit and told the Chinese leader the two sides needed to try to create a constructive dialogue.

China and Canada have had poor relations for years amid disagreements over human rights and complaints by Ottawa about alleged Chinese interference in the last two elections.

#Canada #China

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🇯🇵 Voter support for Japan PM Kishida slides to record low

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government slid to a record low, a poll conducted by Jiji news agency showed.

In the research, 21.3% of those polled said they supported Kishida’s government, down from 26.3% in October.

In the latest survey, 51% of respondents said they do not see his economy policies positively.

#Japan

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🇹🇼 Taiwan's former US envoy named VP candidate

Lai Ching-te, the frontrunner for Taiwan's presidency, named on Monday Taipei's former envoy to the United States as his running mate in January's election, a high-profile diplomat well known in Washington.

His running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, who had been Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States since 2020, has extensive connections in Washington, and had been widely expected to be Lai's running mate.

Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council who has known Hsiao since the 1990s, said she was a "formidable politician", and would add much needed diplomatic and security heft to Lai's ticket.

#Taiwan

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🇰🇷🇬🇧 South Korea's Yoon seeks stronger economic, security ties on UK state visit

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol heads to Britain on Monday for a state visit, hoping to boost economic ties and enhance security partnerships to counter North Korea's evolving threats and other regional challenges.

In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, Yoon said the conflicts in Ukraine and in Gaza, coupled with growing Russia-North Korea ties and tensions in the South China Sea, had compelled him to seek "very close security cooperation" with the West.

He will hold talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday, and adopt an accord on expanding a bilateral partnership.

#SouthKorea #UK

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🇦🇺🇨🇳 Australia PM says Chinese navy incident that injured diver was 'dangerous'

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a Chinese warship acted in a dangerous and unprofessional manner during an incident with an Australian navy vessel that injured a military diver.

Albanese, who met briefly with Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperatio forum in San Francisco last week, has come under domestic political pressure over whether he raised the matter with the Chinese leader.

In an interview on Monday, Albanese said the incident caused injury to one person and shows the need for "communication guardrails" between militaries. Albanese said the incident was raised through "all of the normal channels", but didn't disclose if it was discussed in his private meeting with Xi at APEC.

#Australia #China

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🇵🇭🇻🇳🇲🇾🇨🇳 Philippines woos neighbours to craft code on South China Sea

The Philippines has approached neighbors such as Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss a separate code of conduct regarding the South China Sea citing limited progress towards striking a broader regional pact with China.

Marcos said escalating tension in the South China Sea required the Philippines to partner with allies and neighbors to maintain peace in the busy waterway, with the situation now "more dire".

"We have taken the initiative to approach those other countries around ASEAN with whom we have existing territorial conflicts, Vietnam being one of them, Malaysia being another and to make our own code of conduct," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said.

#ThePhilippines #Vietnam #Malaysia #China

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🇨🇳🇮🇱🇵🇸 In Beijing, Arab and Muslim ministers urge end to Gaza war

Arab and Muslim ministers called on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as their delegation visited Beijing on the first leg of a tour to push for an end to hostilities.

The delegation, which is set to meet officials representing each of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, is also piling pressure on the West to reject Israel's justification of its actions against Palestinians as self-defence.

The officials holding meetings with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Monday are from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, among others.

#China #Israel #Palestine

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🇯🇵🇺🇦 Japan vice ministers visit Ukraine to examine recovery needs

Two Japanese senior vice ministers have visited Ukraine along with a business delegation to examine requests for Japanese contributions to future reconstruction of the country.

Kiyoto Tsuji, a senior vice foreign minister, and Kazuchika Iwata, a senior vice minister of economy, trade and industry, arrived in Ukraine on Sunday.

The visit comes as part of preparations for the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Reconstruction, scheduled to be held in Tokyo on February 19.

#Japan #Ukraine

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🇹🇼🇨🇳 Taiwan election about choosing whether to embrace China, frontrunner says

Taiwan's people have to make a choice at next year's election about whether the island keeps moving forward on the road to democracy or "walks into the embrace of China", the frontrunner to be the next president said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters and supporters after formally registering his candidacy with the election commission, Lai Ching-te said Taiwan's security was an international issue and the whole world was watching this election.

Late on Monday, Chinese state television lambasted Lai in a commentary on its website, saying that he and his candidate for vice president, Hsiao Bi-khim, were "villains colluding together".

#Taiwan #China

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🇺🇸🇲🇾 The USA is trying to spread its influence in the Southeast Asia region – and that it’s a fact. According to Rybar new article, the CIA and the Malaysian External Intelligence Organization are conducting reconnaissance operation on the South China Sea.

The main tasks of the operation include managing the threat from China and other countries in national waters, strengthening cooperation with internal and external partner agencies, and providing research in gray zones.

It is proposed to carry out these tasks not only by the forces of the two intelligence agencies, but also to involve government and civilian organizations. For example, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation is mentioned, which deals with protected areas and biodiversity conservation.

In addition to aerial observation, the working group proposed getting 3D hydrological and seismic data in disputed areas in the waters of the South China Sea, where Malaysia has territorial claims to China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Indonesia. Petronas, Malaysian oil company, is also a part of the operation.

I wonder, how many other clandestine operations does CIA conduct in the Southeast Asia? The Philippines and Indonesia are highly likely to participate in them in order to counter China’s influence and have good relations with Washington.

#USA #Malaysia

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🇰🇵🇯🇵🇰🇷 North Korea tells Japan it plans to launch satellite in the coming days

North Korea has notified Japan it plans to launch a satellite between Wednesday and December 1.

Japan's Coast Guard said on Tuesday the North gave notice of the launch in the direction of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. South Korea's state maritime safety agency issued a warning to vessels of the planned launch for the same areas as previous launches.

South Korea's defense ministry said it was watching the North's planned launch. Previous launches came in the early hours of the first day of the window, the ministry said, and it was possible the third attempt would be successful.

#NorthKorea #Japan #SouthKorea

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🇺🇸🇰🇷🇰🇵 US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson arrives in South Korea port

The US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson arrived at a port in the South Korean city of Busan on Tuesday, in a show of extended deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

South Korean Rear Admiral Kim Ji-hoon said the arrival of the Carl Vinson showed a "strong combined defense posture and a determined willingness to respond to North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats" by the South Korea-US alliance.

The arrival comes as North Korea plans to launch a rocket carrying a space satellite between November 22 and December 1 in the direction of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.

#USA #SouthKorea #NorthKorea

@asianomics

🇰🇷🇬🇧 Britain to launch South Korea trade talks during Yoon visit

Britain and South Korea will launch negotiations on a new free trade agreement (FTA) and sign a new diplomatic accord during a state visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol this week.

The Downing Street accord will also see the countries agree to work closely on areas such as semiconductors - which South Korea is a major producer of - and artificial intelligence.

Yoon's visit officially starts on Tuesday with a welcome from King Charles, where he will receive a guard of honor and take part in a procession towards Buckingham Palace.

#SouthKorea #UK

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🇰🇵 According to South Korean military, North Korea launched what it claims to be military spy satellite southward of the peninsula. No other data is available right now.

#NorthKorea

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🇰🇵 The rocket passed Japanese territory and entered the airspace of the Pacific Ocean.

#NorthKorea

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🇨🇦🇺🇸🇨🇳 Canadian parliamentary delegation visits US Congress to discuss China policies

Members of a special Canadian parliamentary committee on China met with their US counterparts for the first time last week, signaling closer alignment of the two legislatures’ approaches towards Beijing.

Seven members from Canada’s top four political parties met with a bipartisan group of representatives from the US House select committee on China, as well as with members of other House and Senate committees.

Ken Hardie, chair of the Canadian group, suggested that the US and Canada could coordinate on responses to Beijing’s alleged attempts to target the Chinese diaspora and influence education in both countries.

#Canada #USA #China

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🇹🇼🇺🇸🇨🇳 US not ‘trustworthy’, say Taiwanese: survey

A majority of Taiwanese do not view the US as a “trustworthy” country, a recent survey has found, despite most respondents saying they believe in Washington’s security commitment to the island.

The survey found that only 34% of those polled agreed that the US is a trustworthy country, holding steady from last year when the figure fell to 34% from 43.4% in 2021.

However, unlike the mixed views about the US, perceptions of China were decidedly dismal. A mere 9.3% of those surveyed agreed that the Asian giant is “trustworthy”, slightly lower than last year’s 9.4%.

#Taiwan #USA #China

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🇫🇯🇨🇳 Fiji PM: China likely to collaborate on key port, shipyard project

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told parliament the Pacific Islands nation was likely to collaborate with China on a key port modernization and shipyard project, after discussing it in a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Fiji previously sought Australia's involvement to build a modern ship-building facility at Lautoka, officials and a consultant to Rabuka on the project said.

Rabuka met Xi for the first time on the sidelines of the APEC forum in San Francisco last week. He said Fiji supports China's vision for global security, and that Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative "aligns with our nation's development agenda".

#Fiji #China

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