Day: September 2, 2023

Australia Says it Will Send More Police to Solomon Islands, Extend Mission

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SYDNEY —  Australia said on Sunday it would send additional police to the Solomon Islands to boost security for the Pacific Games in November, keeping them there until June to assist with a general election. The extended Australian police presence comes after the Solomon Islands upgraded ties with China, signing a policing agreement in July. Australia, New Zealand and the United States are concerned Chinese police could dislodge a long-standing security arrangement Canberra has with the Pacific Islands nation. The Solomon Islands said on Friday it had invited Australia to…

Billionaire founder of Foxconn leaves board to pursue Taiwan presidential bid

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Receive free Taiwan updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Taiwan news every morning. Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Apple supplier Foxconn, has left the company’s board following his decision to run to be Taiwan’s next president. The move to step down, which Foxconn announced on Saturday night, appeared aimed at shielding the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer from any political fallout from his campaign for the election on January 13. Gou could also cite it to respond to concerns that Foxconn’s massive…

Australian Icebreaker Heads to Antarctic Station on Rescue Mission

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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA —  An icebreaker is on its way from Australia to an Antarctic research station to rescue an expeditioner suffering from a medical condition, the government said on Saturday. The expeditioner is at Australia’s Casey Research Station which is on an ice cap 3,420 kilometers south of the Australian Antarctic Division headquarters in Hobart, Tasmania state. The division has not identified the person or specified the medical condition. “The expeditioner requires specialist medical assessment and care in Australia for a developing medical condition,” the division said in a statement.…

Britain and China are talking but ‘irritants in the relationship will remain’

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Cleverly raised thorny issues including human rights concerns in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, stability in the Taiwan Strait, China’s alleged malign cyber activity, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and North Korea, according to a Foreign Office statement. He also urged China to drop sanctions on some British lawmakers. But he also told reporters that it would be a mistake to isolate the world’s second-largest economy. Applications for Hong Kong path to UK citizenship show no signs of slowing Yu Jie, a senior research fellow on China at Chatham House, a think…

China’s economic slowdown reverberates across Asia

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Receive free Asia-Pacific economy updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Asia-Pacific economy news every morning. China’s slowing growth is sparking warnings of contagion in Asia, as waning consumer demand and slower manufacturing hit neighbouring countries with close ties to the world’s second-largest economy. A manufacturing slump in South Korea has extended to its longest in nearly half a century while other big exporters in east Asia area also being hit by slow demand. South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, is viewed as a bellwether…

Thousands Evacuated, Flights Canceled as Taiwan Girds for Typhoon Haikui

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TAIPEI —  Domestic flights were canceled and almost 3,000 people were evacuated as Taiwan prepared for the arrival of Typhoon Haikui on Sunday. The storm is expected to bring torrential rain and strong winds to the island’s south and east. Haikui is forecast to make landfall in the mountainous and sparsely populated far southeast of Taiwan late Sunday afternoon, with counties and cities in the east and south canceling classes and declaring a day off for workers. Haikui is a much weaker storm than Typhoon Saola, which hit Hong Kong…

North Korea Stages ‘Tactical Nuclear Attack’ Drill

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SEOUL, South Korea —  North Korea conducted a simulated “tactical nuclear attack” drill on Saturday that included two long-range cruise missiles, state media reported on Sunday, as leader Kim Jong Un inspected shipbuilding and munitions factories. The Korean Central News Agency said the drill was carried out early on Saturday to “warn enemies” that the country would be prepared in case of nuclear war as Pyongyang again vowed to bolster military deterrence against Washington and Seoul. The two cruise missiles carrying mock nuclear warheads were fired toward the West Sea…

Australian Ministers to Visit China in Sign of Improving Ties

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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA —  A delegation of Australian federal ministers will attend a high-level dialogue in Beijing next week in a further sign of a warming of relations after a yearslong chill. Delegates will discuss trade and investment, people-to-people links and regional and international security at the Thursday gathering. “This is the first time the dialogue has been held since early 2020 and it represents another step towards increasing bilateral engagement and stabilizing our relationship with China,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Saturday. The resumption of the talks was one of…

Terry Gou, Seeking Taiwan Presidency, Resigns from Foxconn Board

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TAIPEI —  Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of major Apple supplier Foxconn, resigned as a company board member, the Taiwanese company said Saturday, less than a week after announcing a bid to be the island’s next president. After months of speculation, Gou, who stepped down as Foxconn’s chairman in 2019, announced Monday he would stand as an independent candidate in a presidential election to be held in January. In a brief statement, Foxconn said Gou had resigned due to “personal reasons,” and noted he had “officially handed over leadership of…

Modi’s unifying message for the G20 summit looks dated as globalisation falls apart

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India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, will have the unenviable task of forging agreement between the world’s biggest developed and developing countries when G20 leaders gather in Delhi for their annual summit later this week. The scale of the challenge will be reflected in two significant no-shows. Vladimir Putin will not be leaving Moscow and nor will Xi Jinping be flying in from Beijing. The theme of the meeting is “One Earth, One Family, One Future” but in truth the G20 is riven by conflict and struggling to remain relevant. It…