World

Taipei, Taiwan:  Taiwan in order to answer the Chinese ban on their Agriculture and fishery products is planning to ban semiconductor chips.China has successively banned the import of Taiwan’s agricultural and fishery products, Radio Free Asia reported. Deng Zhenzhong, a political member of the Taiwan Executive Yuan who attended the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Geneva has proposed a countermeasure, saying that Taiwan’s biggest weapon is to reduce the export of chips to China. Experts pointed out that this move will impact China’s smartphones and electric vehicles, but the focus should be on adjusting the export structure of Taiwan’s agricultural and fishery industries to meet the standards for exporting to Europe, America and Japan. According to repo

Taipei, Taiwan: China keep violating Taiwan’s Air Defence identification zone (ADIZ). In the recent act, China again crossed the zone and entered in Taiwan’s air space.Two People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane were tracked in the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), reported Taiwan News. An ADIZ is an area that extends beyond a country’s airspace where air traffic controllers ask incoming aircraft to identify themselves. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, broadcasted radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the PLAAF planes. This marks the seventh day of intrusions this month. So far this month, China has sent 11 aircraft int

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A few weeks before 31 members of a white supremacist group were arrested for allegedly planning to riot at a northern Idaho LGBTQ pride event, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government. Around the same time, a lawmaker from the northernmost region of the state, Republican Rep. Heather Scott, told an audience that drag queens and other LGBTQ supporters are waging “a war of perversion against our children.“ A toxic brew of hateful rhetoric has been percolating in Idaho and elsewhere around the U.S., well ahead of the arrests of the Patriot Front members at the pride event Saturday in Coeur d’Alene. Police say dozens of men from the white supremacist group piled into a U-Haul t

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — David Pocock didn’t sound too concerned over the phone from the Australian capital of Canberra, despite it being more than two weeks since the country’s federal election and the retired rugby star still didn’t know if had a new day job in politics. A standout backrower in international rugby from 2008 to 2019, he was waiting patiently for the call which would confirm whether he could officially be called Senator David Pocock. “It’s taking a while, but I’m confident we’ll hear something this week,” Pocock told The Associated Press. “I think about 90% of the votes are in.” He had to wait just a bit longer — the confirmation came through on Tuesday, more than three weeks after the May 21 election. “We’ve officially made history! Thank you all,“ Pocock said in a

One in 10 Aussies trust China’s government - survey This handout photo taken and released on June 12, 2022, from the Australian Department of Defence shows Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles, left, meeting with China's Defence Minister Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore. (Photo: AFP) Just over one in 10 Australians have faith in the Chinese government to act responsibly in international affairs, according to a new survey, amid attempts to resume diplomatic links between the nations under the country’s new Labor leadership. An annual poll by the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based foreign policy think tank, found just 12% of Australians said they trusted China as an international player. The result was sharply down from four years ago in 2018 w

Criminal gangs tarnish Golden Triangle A recent photo shows Kings Romans Casino — an infamous gambling outlet on the Thai-Lao border by the Mekong River. Many Thais have been lured by the promise of work at the casino, only to find themselves in illegal roles. (Photo by Transborder news) Bo Keo airport which is under construction in the northern part of Laos may give the impression of economic development in this once quiet corner of the world. The airport which is located on the Golden Triangle -- a stone's throw from Thailand's Mae Fah Luang airport on the opposite side of the Mekong River -- is part of a mega-project pursued by Zhao Wei, a Chinese tycoon who owns Kings Romans Casino, an infamous gambling outlet on the Thai-Lao border. Inarguably, this 75%-complete modern airport att

Arrivals from China still continue to trickle in Despite stringent travel restrictions in China, Thailand still received 36,246 Chinese visitors in the first five months of 2022, with 20,000 arrivals recorded in the month of May alone, comprising business travellers, students and Elite Card holders. Even though the Chinese government hasn't given any hint about the country's reopening, the situation is expected to become clearer once the Communist Party National Congress begins in perhaps October, said Chuwit Sirivajjakul, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) executive director of the East Asia region. He said if China partially eases travel restrictions for some cities, as is the case in nine cities at present, or if the country allows more categories of travellers other than business p...

NEW DELHI (AP) — A special meeting of foreign ministers from India and Southeast Asian countries opened Thursday with co-chairs India and Singapore calling for a strengthening of ties amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and a heightened rivalry between the United States and China that threaten peace and stability in the region. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations face geopolitical headwinds from the war in Ukraine and its impact on food and energy security, prices and supply chains. “India fully supports a strong, unified, prosperous ASEAN whose centrality in the Indo-Pacific is fully recognized,” he said. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Russia’s actions have “upended the international system of rules and

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Myanmar’s defense minister, under sanctions from the United States, Britain and other countries for abuses committed by his country’s military, was welcomed Wednesday to an annual meeting with his counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Gen. Mya Tun Oo wore his military uniform as he attended the ASEAN defense ministers’ meeting in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. More than 600 civic groups inside and outside Myanmar had issued an appeal to the ministers not to invite him. They accuse him of complicity in violence committed by Myanmar’s military as it seeks to crush opposition to its seizure of power last year from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a private organization that tra

YES Taylor C. Noakes Public historian While there’s nothing like a televised celebrity defamation trial to bring about the doomsayers lamenting the end of Western Civilization, the debate over television cameras in the courtroom need not be restricted to the interests of television tabloids and their legions of viewers. Many of us have an interest in allowing courtroom proceedings to be recorded and broadcast for public consumption. The public demand for law enforcement and justice system accountability and transparency is at an all-time high, brought on because our faith in the justice system is at an all-time low. Where we once suspected the police of incompetence, corruption, and all too often using brutality as a first resort, we now have a seemingly endless supply of audio-visual p