4 d. ago Jimmy Lai’s conviction in Hong Kong becomes flashpoint between China, West

Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s guilty verdict in the former media boss’ landmark national security trial in Hong Kong has become a political flashpoint between China and its Western opponents, as they demand his immediate release while Beijing strongly rejects their interference. But while the High Court’s ruling on Monday could send the businessman-turned-opposition activist to jail for life, Western countries were unlikely to hit Hong Kong with more sanctions as they needed to cooperate with Beijing to...

Politics

4 d. ago Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai used personal ties to seek foreign sanctions: court ruling

A landmark ruling of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s marathon trial has revealed how the former media boss used his personal ties with foreign political figures to solicit intervention before and after the national security law took effect five years ago. In an 857-page judgment handed down on Monday, three High Court judges ruled that Lai intended to tap his vast political network to trigger sanctions against Beijing and the Hong Kong government, knowing that his requests would be heeded. The 78-year-old...

Events

4 d. ago Beijing sanctions former Japanese military chief for ‘colluding with Taiwan separatists’

Beijing has imposed sanctions on Shigeru Iwasaki, former chief of the Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defence Forces, saying he had “colluded with separatist forces” in Taiwan, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. It comes after Beijing lodged a protest with Tokyo in March over the appointment of Iwasaki as an honorary adviser to the Executive Yuan, the Taiwanese government’s highest administrative body. The “countermeasures” include freezing Iwasaki’s movable and immovable assets and...

Events

7 d. ago Provocative Japanese actions risk plunging Asia into peril: China’s PLA Daily

China’s military mouthpiece warned on Friday that provocative actions by right-wing Japanese politicians risked plunging Asia into peril, as Beijing prepared to mark the 88th anniversary of the Nanking massacre amid heightened tensions with Tokyo. PLA Daily published the commentary as sirens are poised to wail across Nanjing, the capital of eastern Jiangsu province, at 10.01am on Saturday for the national memorial ceremony led by the Central Committee and the State Council. Introduced by China’s...

Events

7 d. ago Provocative Japanese actions risk plunging Asia into peril: PLA Daily

As Beijing prepared to mark the 88th anniversary of the Nanking massacre, China’s military mouthpiece warned on Friday that provocative actions by right-wing Japanese politicians risked plunging Asia into peril. PLA Daily published the warning in a commentary the day before sirens will sound out across Nanjing, the capital of eastern Jiangsu province, at 10.01am during national commemorations led by the Communist Party’s Central Committee and the State Council. According to China’s official...

Events

8 d. ago US military sends show of strength to Japan as China’s navy, air drills continue

US bombers and stealth fighters took part in a joint military exercise with Japan on Wednesday while an American aircraft carrier arrived at a Japanese port on Thursday, in a show of force amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. Japanese Self-Defence Forces (SDF) and the US military conducted the exercise “amid an increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan”, Tokyo’s Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. “Through this exercise, we confirmed the strong commitment of...

Events

8 d. ago US military sends show of support to Japan as China’s navy, air drills continue

US bombers and stealth fighters took part in a joint military exercise with Japan on Wednesday while an American aircraft carrier arrived at a Japanese port on Thursday, in a show of force amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. Japanese Self-Defence Forces (SDF) and the US military conducted the exercise “amid an increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan”, Tokyo’s Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. “Through this exercise, we confirmed the strong commitment of...

Events

9 d. ago Beijing protests "political" UK sanctions on Chinese cyber firms

Beijing protests "political" UK sanctions on Chinese cyber firms  Morningstar Canada

Politics

1 week ago China told Japan about air drills but not in enough detail to avoid danger, minister says

Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi acknowledged that China had notified Japan in advance about drills involving the aircraft carrier Liaoning that led to a stand-off between warplanes from the two countries over the weekend. However, Koizumi told a press conference on Wednesday that the notification lacked detail about the scale and location of the exercise in the Pacific southeast of Okinawa’s main island and Beijing had not provided “notices to air missions”, a warning to ships and...

Politics

1 week ago Japan keeps tabs on 4 Chinese navy ships near Okinawa after weekend stand

China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier continued its military drill in waters near Japan’s Okinawa on Sunday, Tokyo said, after a rare military stand-off between Chinese and Japanese fighter jets the previous day. The Liaoning and three guided missile destroyers were sailing northeast in the waters between Okinawa and Minami-Daito islands, and in waters around 190km east of Kikai Island, Japan’s defence ministry said on Sunday night. Furthermore, around 50 take-offs and landings by carrier-based...

Politics

1 week ago Japan protests after China military jet locks radar on Japanese aircraft

Japan protests after China military jet locks radar on Japanese aircraft  2 News Nevada

Events

1 week ago Japanese military aircraft 'harrassed' PLA Navy fighter jet's flight training, says China; Beijing urges...

Japanese military aircraft 'harrassed' PLA Navy fighter jet's flight training, says China; Beijing urges...  lokmattimes.com

Events

1 week ago Tokyo accuses Chinese fighters of locking on Japanese jets northeast of Taiwan

A rare military confrontation occurred in the waters northeast of Taiwan near the Miyako Strait on Saturday when Japan claimed that Chinese naval fighters had conducted intermittent fire-control radar illumination – a tactical precursor to missile engagement – on its F-15J fighter jets. According to Japan’s Ministry of Defence, J-15 fighters launched from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier performed two separate instances of radar targeting. The first incident happened between 4.32pm and 4.35pm...

Politics

2 w. ago Chinese and Japanese coastguard ships confront each other near disputed islands

Chinese and Japanese coastguard vessels have been involved in a stand-off near the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. The two sides gave conflicting accounts of Tuesday’s incident, with the Chinese coastguards saying they had driven a Japanese fishing boat away from the islands, which are known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan. Liu Dejun, a spokesman for the coastguard, said the Chinese vessels took “necessary control measures” and issued warnings to the boat. “The Diaoyu Islands and...

Politics

2 w. ago Singapore becomes Plan B for Chinese travellers giving Japan a wide berth

Amid the diplomatic fallout between Tokyo and Beijing, Hunanese accountant Echo He feels relieved she has chosen Southeast Asia for her year-end trip with her husband and colleagues, instead of the popular choice, Japan. The latest spat between both nations arose on November 7 when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested her country could deploy its military forces in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. This infuriated Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited...

Politics

last month Japan’s largest urban fire in decades devastates 170 buildings

A fire ripped through more than 170 buildings and killed one person in a southern Japanese coastal city on Wednesday, with military and firefighting helicopters scrambling to extinguish the country’s largest urban blaze in almost half a century. Aerial footage from broadcasters showed houses reduced to rubble and thick plumes of smoke rising from the hilly Saganoseki district of Oita city, which overlooks a fishing harbour renowned for its premium Seki-brand mackerel. The flames had also spread...

Events

last month Cathay Pacific will allow Hong Kong travellers to ‘modify’ flights to Japan

Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will allow travellers who have booked tickets to Japan to “modify” their flights after Beijing’s earlier call for Chinese citizens to avoid going to the country. In a statement on Wednesday, the airline said it was “closely monitoring the situation” as tensions escalated over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s suggestion that Tokyo could deploy military forces in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. “In light of the travel advisories...

Transport

last month Japanese Public Split on Possible Military Action Against China: Report

Japanese Public Split on Possible Military Action Against China: Report  The Defense Post

Events