ASEAN News

Monday, Hong Kong’s highest court ruled that a British attorney can defend pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai in a national security trial, rejecting a government appeal to prohibit foreign counsel from such cases. Hong Kong’s Department of Justice made repeated attempts to prevent British attorney Timothy Owen from representing Lai, arguably Hong Kong’s most outspoken opponent of Chinese Communist Party leaders …

A Japanese filmmaker who was imprisoned for over four months in Myanmar described parts of his captivity there as “hell” and urged Tokyo to take a harder stance against human rights violations in the military-controlled country. Since the military ousted an elected government in Southeast Asia a year ago, the nation has been in disarray. In an effort to stifle …

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has reached a new low, according to a poll released on Sunday, November 27. A string of cabinet resignations has exacerbated outrage over the ruling party’s ties to a controversial religious group. In a Kyodo news poll conducted one month ago, support for Kishida’s cabinet dropped from 37.6% to 33.1%, his lowest …

The government of South Korea planned to meet with the country’s striking truckers’ union on Monday (Nov 28) for the first time since a statewide strike began five days ago, as supply chain problems deteriorated and construction sites experienced concrete shortages. The government has upgraded its warning of cargo transport disruptions caused by the strike to “severe,” the highest rating …

The visit of US Vice President Kamala Harris to Palawan and yet another instance of China’s aggressive actions in our waters have once again brought to the fore the enduring tensions over the South China Sea and the underlying cultures that form the outlines of this war. The Philippine government has announced its intention to write a note verbale in …

Chuu was kicked out of the K-pop girl group LOONA after her agency Blockberry Creative (BBC) reported that she was verbally harassing business workers. BBC made the revelation on the group’s fancafé on Friday, November 25. The firm noted in the letter that the decision was taken after accusations of Chuu reportedly “assaulting her power” and verbally abusing the personnel …

Saturday, November 26 marked the beginning of municipal elections in Taiwan, which President Tsai Ing-wen has framed as a statement to the world about the island’s will to maintain its democracy in the face of China’s growing bellicosity. The elections for mayors, county heads, and local council men are nominally about internal matters like as the COVID-19 epidemic and criminality, …

On Friday, November 25, China recorded 35,183 new COVID-19 infections, of which 3,474 were symptomatic and 31,709 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission announced on Saturday, November 26, establishing a new daily record for the third consecutive day. This compares to 32,943 new cases a day earlier, of which 3,103 symptomatic and 29,840 asymptomatic illnesses are separately counted in China. …

The Biden administration has prohibited the certification of Huawei Technologies and ZTE’s new telecommunications equipment because they represent “an intolerable danger” to US national security. The US Federal Communications Commission said on November 25 that it has adopted the final regulations, which prohibit the sale or import of surveillance equipment manufactured by Chinese companies Dahua Technology Co, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital …

President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea warned that the government may intervene to break up a statewide strike by truckers, deeming it unlawful and undesirable to “hold hostage” the national supply chain during an economic crisis. On November 24, thousands of unionized truckers began their second major strike in less than six months, which is already impacting several businesses in …