Philippines – Three Chinese Coast Guard ships halted and deployed water cannons on two Manila supply boats on their route to a Philippine-occupied island in the South China Sea, which the Philippines denounced “in the strongest terms,” according to its top diplomat. No one was injured in the November 16 incident at the Second Thomas Shoal, according to Teodoro Locsin , …

Hong Kong – Nathan Law, an exiled Hong Kong activist, released his first English-language book, Freedom, on Thursday, warning of the worldwide danger posed by Chinese authoritarianism. Law, 29, was a key activist in the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement demonstrations in the former British colony in 2014. At the age of 23, he was elected as the youngest member of Hong …

China – China retaliated over US President Joe Biden’s criticism of Beijing for failing to demonstrate leadership after President Xi Jinping missed the crucial COP26 United Nations summit in Glasgow. Xi, who heads the world’s top emitter of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, has not left China since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak and has not attended …

Taiwan – In an interview with CNN, the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen expressed confidence that the US would protect the island if China launched a military assault. “I have trust” that US soldiers would assist Taiwan protect itself, Tsai told the television network, adding that Washington’s commitment includes sending Americans to train Taiwan’s military, a program confirmed to the …

Indonesia – After an almost two-decade waiting, Indonesia finally won the renowned Thomas Cup by defeating China 3-0 in the finals at the Ceres Arena. Despite having won 13 championships and being the most successful team in tournament history, Indonesia last won the trophy in 2002 in Guangzhou, China, when they defeated Malaysia 3-2. World number five Anthony Sinisuka Ginting …

China – President Xi Jinping of China recently declared that “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan “would be and can be realized,” days after Chinese aircraft made unprecedented incursions into the democratically ruled island’s air defense zone. Taiwan, which has never officially proclaimed independence, is constantly threatened by China, which regards the island as its own and has promised to take it, …

Malaysia – Lim Guan Eng, the DAP secretary-general, was the hero who defended Tabung Haji for the greater benefit of Malaysia, according to Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu. The former defense minister, popularly known as Mat Sabu, said that it was Lim who persuaded the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Cabinet in 2019 to “rescue” the Muslim pilgrims’ fund, which had …

Unlike several of its neighbors, the Philippines supports a new US-UK-Australia military alliance aimed at maintaining the Indo-Pacific balance of power. The AUKUS alliance, which would see Australia get technology to deploy nuclear-powered submarines as part of a deal designed to counter the rise of Chinese dominance, will be known by the acronym. In a statement on Tuesday, Philippines Foreign …

The Chinese embassy in Australia denounced on Friday the “unfounded allegations” leveled against China by Australia’s defence and foreign ministers and their US counterparts after their annual meeting in Washington. In a statement released after the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations, the two nations voiced worry over China’s “expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea that lack legal foundation” and declared …

Hong Kong’s political elite begin selecting a powerful committee on Sunday that will choose nearly half the legislature. It is also decided that later on a new leader will be selected too under a new patriot system imposed by Beijing. The first poll under that new system, dubbed patriots rule Hong Kong, will take place today as members of the …