MANILA, July 22 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he discussed with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday the need to identify areas of cooperation to lay the groundwork for a “very positive visit” to Washington in September by President Xi Jinping. Meeting with Wang in Manila on the sidelines of…
MANILA, July 22 (Reuters) – Australia’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that Asian countries face a choice in how they respond to instances of aggressive conduct in the South China Sea that were of concern to Canberra. A recent encounter in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines was a real concern, in addition…
A Hong Kong court has sentenced a man with an intellectual disability to two years and four months in prison for inciting subversion, promoting a pro-Taiwan party and disseminating anti-Communist Party messages, with the judge noting his condition had affected his moral judgment. District Court Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi on Monday handed the sentence to…
TAIPEI, July 20 (Reuters) – Taiwan detected a sharp rise in Chinese coast guard and research vessel activity around the island in June, prompting Taipei to plan drills simulating Chinese escalations off its Pacific coast, according to Taiwan Coast Guard data and officials. Taiwan reported 55 Chinese government vessel sightings, including coast guard and research…
By Yi-Chin Lee and Ann Wang TAIPEI, July 19 (Reuters) – Taiwan must work together to protect its democracy and not become part of China, President Lai Ching-te said on Sunday, calling on members of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to oppose the “red terror” coming from Beijing. Lai, who won election two years ago,…
Some 43,347 day-school candidates are sitting Hong Kong’s Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exam this year, but there are only about 12,000 subsidised undergraduate places at the city’s eight public universities. So what options do the tens of thousands of remaining students have? According to a survey by education authorities, 85 per cent of Form…
An animal welfare charity has apologised after facing a backlash for asking Hong Kong police to help remove videos of a dog and its pups being killed in mainland China, with the group accused of undermining efforts to raise public awareness of the case. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) issued…
NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — China sent coast guard vessels to patrol the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan in June and weeks later test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from the South China Sea to the Pacific. While the two maneuvers answered different security-related activities by U.S. allies in Asia, experts say China used both to…
Hong Kong’s observatory has warned of heavy showers and squally thunderstorms over the city in the coming week, but said it remains uncertain whether the low-pressure trough driving the storms will develop into a tropical cyclone. A spokesman for the Hong Kong Observatory said on Sunday that convective clouds associated with a broad trough of…
Typhoon Bavi was downgraded to a severe tropical storm on Sunday after making landfall in eastern China, where authorities had evacuated nearly two million people in its path. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Before reaching China, the storm lashed northern Taiwan and Japan‘s remote southwestern islands, toppling trees and leaving tens of thousands…