Asia
Taiwan's ex-President Chen released from hospital, back to jail
Asia › 20 November, 2008 03:02
TAIPEI - Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian was released Wednesday from a Taipei hospital and escorted back to a detention center as he entered the eighth day of a hunger strike to protest what he said is a politically motivated
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Crime Blotter › 23 October, 2008 01:37
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Woman in China identified as war-displaced Japanese
Asia › 20 November, 2008 02:59
TOKYO - A Japanese woman left behind in China after World War II was identified Wednesday as Sadako Takahashi from Yamagata Prefecture after she was interviewed with her cousin at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, a ministry official said.The ...
Ethnic minority activists get long prison sentences in Myanmar
Asia › 20 November, 2008 02:53
YANGON - A Myanmar court has sentenced three ethnic minority activists to 33 years in jail each as part of the junta's continuing crackdown on pro-democracy activists which began early this month, an official source confirmed Wednesday.Kam Lat Khaot and ...
Malaysia ends gasoline subsidy as oil prices fall
Asia › 19 November, 2008 10:12
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has stopped subsidizing gasoline prices since the beginning of November due to falling global oil prices, a minister said Tuesday.According to the Star online edition, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad said that if ...
Indonesian firms destroying rainforests for palm oil: Greenpeace
Asia › 18 November, 2008 08:50
SINGAPORE - Environmental group Greenpeace on Monday accused Indonesia's largest palm oil companies of continuing to destroy Southeast Asia's last remaining rainforests with their huge expansion plans.The group said its recent seven-week tour of parts of Indonesia found evidence of ...
Asia-Pacific economies to caution against protectionism
Asia › 18 November, 2008 08:49
LIMA - Asia-Pacific economies will be ready to form a joint front against all forms of protectionism when their leaders, ministers and hundreds of business executives gather later this week in Peru.The 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ...
Tibetan exiles begin meeting to discuss future course
Asia › 18 November, 2008 08:30
DHARAMSALA, India - A special meeting of Tibetan exiles began Monday to discuss the future course of action on Tibet even as their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama appears to have given up in the face of the Chinese position ...
Taiwan's detained ex-president hospitalized after hunger strike
Asia › 18 November, 2008 02:30
TAIPEI - Taiwan's former President Chen Shui-bian has been taken from a detention center to a hospital, several days after he went on a hunger strike to protest his jailing on graft charges, local media reported Sunday.Chen, 57, has reportedly ...
Thailand's fugitive ex-premier Thaksin divorces wife
Asia › 16 November, 2008 01:07
BANGKOK - Thailand's ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a fugitive from the law, has divorced his wife in Hong Kong and vowed to fight his political enemies, according to Thai parliamentarians who visited him there Friday.According to the Thaksin-allied People ...
China subway tunnel collapse leaves 1 dead, 16 missing: Xinhua
Asia › 16 November, 2008 12:55
BEIJING - A subway tunnel being constructed in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou collapsed on Saturday, killing at least one person and leaving 16 others missing in a 75-meter-long, 50-meter-wide crater, state-run media reported.The road caved in above the ...
Japanese skipper of fishing boat hijacked off Kenya identified
Asia › 16 November, 2008 12:53
NAHA, Japan - The Japanese skipper of a Chinese tuna fishing boat hijacked off the coast of Kenya has been identified as Toyokazu Kugai, 53, from Yaese, Okinawa Prefecture, his family said Saturday.The family said they have been contacted by ...
Chinese boat captained by Japanese hijacked off Kenya
Asia › 15 November, 2008 03:10
BEIJING - A Chinese tuna fishing boat captained by a Japanese officer has been hijacked off the coast of Kenya, reports said Friday.The president of the company owning the tuna boat told Kyodo News the vessel's captain is Japanese, but ...
G-20 to tackle global downturn, weigh redesign of financial regime
Asia › 15 November, 2008 03:08
WASHINGTON - Leaders of the world's major industrialized and emerging economies are set to work out ways to tackle the rapid slowdown of the global economy amid the U.S.-triggered financial crisis and to study redesigning the current international financial regime ...
Taiwan ex-president Chen goes on hunger strike in jail
Asia › 14 November, 2008 09:12
TAIPEI - Taiwan's former President Chen Shui-bian has gone on a hunger strike to protest his jailing, his lawyer said Thursday.Chen, who just six months ago held the island's top office, was detained Wednesday on suspicion of graft and reportedly ...
Malaysian man killed by tigers at Singapore zoo
Asia › 14 November, 2008 08:59
SINGAPORE - A Malaysian man working at the Singapore Zoo was mauled to death by tigers in front of terrified visitors Thursday.The zoo said in a statement that Nordin Bin Montong, a 32-year-old contract worker, at the zoo, jumped into ...
Asia-Pacific business travel market set to keep growing: survey
Asia › 13 November, 2008 04:32
LONDON - The business travel market in much of the Asia-Pacific region is expected to continue growing despite the global downturn, according to a survey report.The survey, compiled by Euromonitor International, said in its World Travel Market Global Trends Report ...
N. Korea hints at existence of Japan abductees other than 17 on list
Asia › 13 November, 2008 04:28
TOKYO - North Korea hinted at the existence of other Japanese nationals it had abducted, apart from the 17 abductees on Japan's official list, during preparatory talks for a bilateral meeting in June in Beijing, Japanese government sources said Wednesday.During ...
S. Korea voices regret over N. Korea's move to shut border
Asia › 13 November, 2008 10:13
SEOUL - South Korea on Wednesday voiced regret over North Korea's move to cut off overland passage through the military demarcation line between the South and the North from December.''We think it is regrettable for (North Korea) to take these ...
Chen's incarceration may slow growing Taiwan-China detente
Asia › 13 November, 2008 10:12
TAIPEI - Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was strip-searched and held incommunicado Wednesday after a court ordered him detained in a graft case that has reduced the former leader, once the face of the island's fledgling democracy, to a number ...
Nepal's 'Buddha boy' reappears after a year
Asia › 12 November, 2008 01:35
KATHMANDU - A teenager who attracted thousands of pilgrims in 2005 by meditating for 10 months, reportedly without food and water, has reappeared in southern Nepal, police said Tuesday.Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 18, believed by many to be a reincarnation of ...
Cambodia, Thailand agree to survey border markers pillars by yearend
Asia › 12 November, 2008 01:25
SIEM REAP, Cambodia - Cambodia and Thailand agreed Tuesday to conduct a joint field survey of border markers placed along the two countries' land boundary more than a century ago.Var Kimhong, chairman of Cambodian National Border Commission, told reporters after ...
Bangkok gov. found guilty of wrongdoing in fire equipment scandal
Asia › 12 November, 2008 01:24
BANGKOK - Thailand's anticorruption commission on Tuesday found Bangkok Gov. Apirak Kisayodhin guilty of wrongdoing in a firefighting equipment scandal.The nine-member National Counter Corruption Commission unanimously found that Apirak and another six officials, including former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, were ...
Millions gather in Phnom Penh for annual Mekong boat race
Asia › 12 November, 2008 01:23
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's water festival, a three-day annual event featuring boat races on the Mekong River, kicked off Tuesday with an estimated 2.5 million people flocking from the countryside into the capital Phnom Penh.Chea Kean, deputy secretary general of ...
Emperor Akihito should make personal apology if he visits S. Korea: Lee
Asia › 12 November, 2008 01:20
LONDON - Emperor Akihito should make a personal display of contrition for Japan's wartime aggression in Asia, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak suggested in an interview with three newspapers on Tuesday.In the interview at the presidential Blue House in ...
Taiwan ex-president Chen hauled to court in handcuffs, claims injury
Asia › 12 November, 2008 01:19
TAIPEI - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian was brought to court in handcuffs Tuesday but a decision on whether to formally detain him was delayed after he claimed to have been injured while being forced into a van by prosecutors.The ...
Chinese workers hold factory owner hostage, stage demonstration
Asia › 11 November, 2008 11:46
HONG KONG - Thousands of workers of a diesel engine factory in eastern China's Jiangsu Province have taken the factory owner hostage to demand compensation and staged demonstrations on major traffic routes, a human rights watchdog said Monday.The Information Center ...
Court grants S. Korean woman A-bomb passbook
Asia › 11 November, 2008 11:29
NAGASAKI - The Nagasaki District Court on Monday ordered the state and the Nagasaki prefectural government to give a South Korean woman an atomic-bomb sufferer's health passbook and associated benefits, declaring illegal the prefecture's earlier refusal to issue it to ...
China says will never give autonomy to Tibet
Asia › 11 November, 2008 11:24
BEIJING - The Chinese government said Monday it will never give greater autonomy to Tibet, appearing to rule out any chance of a political compromise with the Dalai Lama and his supporters.Government officials told reporters that the current political system ...
China unveils 4 tril. yuan stimulus package
Asia › 10 November, 2008 11:12
BEIJING - China will institute an estimated 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) economic package aimed at easing credit, enhancing investment and adjusting taxes through 2010, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.Without going into detail, Xinhua said the economic stimulus ...
Cambodia's police chief dies in helicopter crash
Asia › 10 November, 2008 11:11
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's national police chief Hok Lundy died in the crash of a helicopter in eastern Cambodia on Sunday, the chief government spokesman said.Khieu Kanharith told Kyodo News that all three others aboard the helicopter were also killed ...
N. Korea slows nuclear disablement to snail's pace
Asia › 09 November, 2008 07:54
BEIJING - North Korea has slowed disablement work at its key nuclear reactor to a snail's pace, complaining about the delay in delivery of energy aid it is supposed to receive as compensation, diplomatic sources said Saturday.The number of nuclear ...
China says not enough cash, expertise to cut greenhouse gases alone
Asia › 09 November, 2008 07:50
BEIJING - The Chinese government rejected Saturday suggestions it could use some of its $1.9 trillion in foreign exchange reserves to pay for cleaner forms of energy to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions rather than asking developed countries to pay ...
Aeon opens mega-mall in Beijing
Asia › 08 November, 2008 08:39
BEIJING - Supermarket operator Aeon Co. on Friday opened a large-scale shopping center in suburban Beijing with an eye to expanding its business in emerging China.Aeon Beijing International Mall Shopping Center, located in the Changping District of the Chinese capital, ...
Message from woman who could be abductee Matsumoto conveyed in Oct.
Asia › 08 November, 2008 08:37
TOKYO - A woman in North Korea who may be Kyoko Matsumoto, who was abducted in 1977, conveyed in mid-October a message that includes information only she could know and which was subsequently received by a Japanese civic group investigating ...
China envoy wraps up historic Taiwan visit, sees long road ahead
Asia › 08 November, 2008 03:08
TAIPEI - China's highest-level official to visit Taiwan wrapped up his five-day trip to the island Friday, hailing friendship between the peoples of the two sides while acknowledging anti-China protests that dogged his stay here and underscored lingering, widespread distrust ...
China rejects Dalai Lama's plea for greater Tibetan autonomy
Asia › 07 November, 2008 07:39
BEIJING - The Chinese government on Thursday appeared to rule out any form of constitutional reform in Tibet to give the region greater autonomy.The official Xinhua News Agency reported that senior Communist Party official Du Qinglin told representatives of the ...
Taiwan, China hold unprecedented meeting amid protests
Asia › 07 November, 2008 07:32
TAIPEI - Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met Thursday with China's top envoy for Taiwan affairs Chen Yunlin, the first meeting between the holder of Taiwan's highest office and a representative of the Beijing government, while anti-China protesters filled the streets ...
Anti-China protesters trap Beijing envoy in Taipei hotel
Asia › 06 November, 2008 06:30
TAIPEI - Anti-China protesters mobbed Thursday a five-star Taipei hotel, trapping inside for five hours a Chinese envoy conducting a landmark visit to Taiwan, as police in riot gear clashed with protesters well into the night.The Regent Hotel's Wednesday evening ...
Asian leaders hail Obama's electoral win, vow to work together
Asia › 06 November, 2008 05:53
TOKYO - Government leaders of Asia on Wednesday congratulated U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on his presidential election victory and vowed to work with the new Democratic White House after eight years of Republican rule under George W. Bush.Japanese Prime Minister ...
Dalai Lama's envoys end talks with China on Tibet
Asia › 06 November, 2008 05:50
NEW DELHI - The Dalai Lama's envoys have ended the latest round of talks with Chinese government officials in Beijing, a Tibetan government official said Wednesday.''Talks have ended today,'' Tibetan government-in-exile spokesman Thubten Samphel told Kyodo News by telephone. He ...
N. Korean media reports leader visits military units
Asia › 06 November, 2008 02:46
PYONGYANG - North Korea's official media said Wednesday the country's leader Kim Jong Il inspected two military units, marking his second reported public appearance in less than a week even as speculation of his ill health lingers outside the country.The ...
N. Korean media reports leader's visits to military units
Asia › 05 November, 2008 07:35
PYONGYANG - North Korea's official media said Wednesday that the country's leader Kim Jong Il inspected training by two military units, the second time in less than a week there has been a report on his public appearance.The Korean Central ...
73 injured in bomb attacks in S. Thailand
Asia › 05 November, 2008 01:11
BANGKOK - Two bomb blasts in Thailand's restive south on Tuesday injured 73 people, six of them seriously, police said.The first blast occurred at a fruit market and the second happened outside a teashop near a local administrative office in ...
N. Korea trade to gain from U.S. terror delisting
Asia › 05 November, 2008 01:00
PYONGYANG - North Korea's removal from a U.S. blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism last month will have a positive impact on the country's trade but will not spell the end of constraints on its international trade, a North Korean ...
N. Korea to accept oil from nonmembers of 6-way talks
Asia › 05 November, 2008 12:54
PYONGYANG - North Korea is willing to accept oil from countries that are not members of the six-party denuclearization talks in place of a share of energy aid that Japan is refusing to give due to a bilateral row, a ...
26 killed in China landslides
Asia › 04 November, 2008 01:05
BEIJING - At least 26 people have been killed in landslides triggered by torrential rain that hit the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan early Sunday, state media reported Monday.About 41 people are also missing in Chuxiong autonomous prefecture, the area ...
Left arm of N. Korea's Kim Jong Il may be paralyzed: S. Korea media
Asia › 04 November, 2008 12:54
SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il may be suffering from paralysis of his left arm, South Korea's Joongang Ilbo newspaper reported Monday, citing a study by South Korean government analysts of photos of Kim at a soccer game ...
Dalai Lama envoys in northern China for talks with China officials
Asia › 04 November, 2008 12:45
BEIJING - The Tibetan government-in-exile said Monday that envoys of the Dalai Lama have spent the past few days touring a Muslim autonomous region in northern China as part of their talks with Chinese government officials.An official at the prime ...
Chinese delegation arrives in Taiwan for historic talks
Asia › 04 November, 2008 12:37
TAIPEI - The highest-level Chinese delegation to visit Taiwan in nearly 60 years arrived Monday for landmark talks amid a mixed reception ranging from fanfare to protests.Led by China's top envoy for Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, a Chinese delegation comprising 60 ...
17 people dead in flooding in Hanoi as torrential rains continue
Asia › 03 November, 2008 03:21
HANOI - At least 17 people have died in the Vietnamese capital as torrential rains continue to batter Hanoi and other cities and districts, according to local media.The death toll across Vietnam since the start of heavy rains on Oct. ...
Japan, China, S. Korea cooperate to combat flu
Asia › 03 November, 2008 09:40
BEIJING - Health ministers from Japan, China and South Korea on Sunday agreed to an action plan to fight a potential pandemic of avian flu or new strains of influenza.The action plan calls for sharing information about avian flu and ...
N. Korean media shows Kim Jong Il at soccer match
Asia › 03 November, 2008 09:30
PYONGYANG - North Korea's state-run media said Sunday the country's leader Kim Jong Il had attended a soccer match, the third report of a public appearance by Kim since foreign reports surfaced in September that he had suffered a stroke.The ...
Hong Kong mogul nearing deal to buy Taiwan media: sources
Asia › 02 November, 2008 04:11
TAIPEI - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai's Next Media Group is nearing a deal to buy out Taiwan's biggest media conglomerate in a deal set to shake up the island's media and political landscape, sources say.Lai is ready to ...
Nepal slashes fuel prices for 2nd time in 8 days
Asia › 02 November, 2008 04:05
KATHMANDU - Nepal's state-run fuel distribution monopoly slashed fuel prices for the second time in eight days Saturday.Nepal Oil Corp. issued a new price list, which has made gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel cheaper by 5 rupees per liter.Effective Saturday, ...
Taiwan group vows to throw eggs at China envoy during landmark visit
Asia › 02 November, 2008 10:10
TAIPEI - A Taiwanese pro-independence group promised Saturday a reward of up to $300 to anybody who can hit top Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin in the face with an egg, as part of protest activities planned during Chen's landmark trip ...
Thaksin supporters rally in Bangkok
Asia › 02 November, 2008 06:53
BANGKOK - More than 60,000 red-shirted supporters of the government and ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra staged a peaceful rally at Rajamangala national stadium on Saturday to express their support for the government.Thaksin, who fled abroad last month, addressed the ...
Japanese rocket may carry S. Korean satellite into orbit
Asia › 01 November, 2008 03:48
SEOUL - The Korea Aerospace Research Institute has selected Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. as the preferred negotiator for the launch of a South Korean multipurpose satellite currently under development, according to local reports.The Japanese company earned the highest score ...
Chinese dairy giant posts $33 million loss in 3rd qtr on milk scandal
Asia › 01 November, 2008 03:47
BEIJING - One of the biggest dairy firms implicated in the contaminated milk scandal in China said Friday it posted a loss of 226 million yuan ($33 million) in the third quarter.A statement released by the Yili Group based in ...
ASDF chief justifies Japan's wartime aggression in China
Asia › 01 November, 2008 03:46
TOKYO - Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami justifies Japan's military aggression in China before and during World War II in an essay released Friday, saying it is ''false'' to accuse Japan of having been an aggressor ...
6 dead in Tibet's worst snowstorm on record, 1,700 stranded: Xinhua
Asia › 31 October, 2008 09:45
BEIJING - At least six people have died in a record-breaking snowstorm in Tibet that has left another 1,700 stranded, state-run media reported Thursday.The six either froze to death or died in the collapse of buildings, the official Xinhua News ...
U.S. proposes action plan in case of N. Korea collapse
Asia › 30 October, 2008 05:24
SEOUL - The United States has proposed setting up a detailed action plan in case of the collapse of North Korea, a move that South Korea once rejected for fears it would provoke North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.The ...
China says still in touch with Tibet envoys on talks
Asia › 29 October, 2008 04:13
BEIJING - China said Tuesday it is still communicating with envoys of the Dalai Lama on further talks, despite reported comments by the Tibetan spiritual leader that he had given up efforts to convince Beijing to allow Tibet greater autonomy.''My ...
Kim Jong Il 'well enough to perform duties': S. Korean intelligence
Asia › 29 October, 2008 02:05
SEOUL - South Korea's intelligence chief said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, thought to have suffered a stroke in August, is believed to be ''well enough to perform his duties,'' according to Yonhap News Agency.''Even if his ...
China urged to introduce 'carbon tax' on coal to tackle global warming
Asia › 28 October, 2008 01:31
BEIJING - Greenpeace and other environmental groups on Monday urged China to introduce a ''carbon tax'' on coal to try to reduce the country's massive greenhouse gas emissions.In a report titled ''The True Cost of Coal,'' they said carbon tax ...
Taiwan, China to hold 2nd round of talks in Taipei on Nov. 3
Asia › 28 October, 2008 01:26
TAIPEI - Taiwan and China have agreed to hold their second round of formal talks in Taipei on Nov. 3 in what will be the highest-level meeting ever held on the island between the two sides, Taiwan's government announced Monday.China's ...
S. Korea vows liquidity to stabilize markets
Asia › 28 October, 2008 12:26
SEOUL - President Lee Myung Bak said Monday his government is determined to provide liquidity to help stabilize the financial markets.''The government will provide liquidity in a preemptive, sufficient and decisive way until the market gets away from its fears,'' ...
H.K. to inspect raw food from mainland after melamine found in eggs
Asia › 28 October, 2008 03:22
HONG KONG - Hong Kong's food safety authorities will test raw food from mainland China after a sample of eggs tested positive for the toxin melamine, which was blamed for causing kidney ailments in thousands of children on the mainland, ...
China unveils job creation incentives amid global economic slowdown
Asia › 28 October, 2008 03:21
BEIJING - The Chinese government said Monday that it will give tax breaks and grants to labor-intensive businesses to help secure and create jobs as China feels the effects of a global economic slowdown.Ministry of Human Resources spokesman Yin Chengji ...
China pledges $280 mil. in loans to Cambodia
Asia › 27 October, 2008 12:09
PHNOM PENH - Following a request from the Cambodian government, China has pledged $280 million in loans for infrastructural development in the country, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Sunday.Hor Namhong told reporters that Premier Wen Jiabao made the pledge ...
Myanmar junta reopens road near Suu Kyi's house to daytime traffic
Asia › 27 October, 2008 11:58
YANGON - Myanmar's junta on Sunday reopened a Yangon road near the house of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi that had been closed to traffic since anti-government demonstrations last year, an official source confirmed.Dozens of barbed wired barricades ...
Taiwan, China to expand exploration of oil and gas field
Asia › 27 October, 2008 02:35
TAIPEI - China and Taiwan are set to put aside political rivalry to expand their joint exploration of an oil and gas field in the Taiwan Strait, a Taiwanese newspaper reported Sunday.CPC Corp., Taiwan's state-run oil refiner, and China National ...
6 Myanmar activists get jail terms for anti-junta protests
Asia › 26 October, 2008 03:15
YANGON - A court in central Myanmar has handed down prison sentences to six opposition party activists who were arrested after the nationwide anti-junta protests in September last year, a party spokesman said Saturday.A special court in the central Myanmar ...
Cambodia claims ancient temple damaged by Thai troops
Asia › 26 October, 2008 03:14
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia has complained to the U.N. agency for culture and education alleging Thai troops damaged a temple that is a world heritage site during a recent border clash, a senior government official said Saturday.Phay Siphan, vice minister ...
Mass rally in Taiwan takes aim at China, contaminated food
Asia › 26 October, 2008 08:23
TAIPEI - Hundreds of thousands of protesters fed up with toxic food products from China and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took to the streets of Taipei on Saturday in a rally held by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.Waving banners and ...
Japan's top nuke negotiator to visit U.S. for N. Korea talks next week
Asia › 26 October, 2008 08:10
WASHINGTON - Japan's top nuclear negotiator, Akitaka Saiki, will visit Washington next Tuesday for talks with his U.S. counterpart, Christopher Hill, on denuclearizing North Korea, sources involved in six-party denuclearization talks said Friday.It will be the first meeting between Saiki, ...
Taiwan recalls cookies found to contain melamine
Asia › 25 October, 2008 02:44
TAIPEI - Taiwan began pulling from its store shelves island-wide a popular brand of cookies Friday after the treats were found to contain excessive amounts of melamine, a toxic chemical used in plastics and fertilizers.Taiwan's Health Department ordered all Peacock ...
Japan works with China, others on financial crisis
Asia › 25 October, 2008 02:34
BEIJING - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso agreed with his South Korean, Chinese and German counterparts in separate bilateral meetings on Friday to collaborate in addressing the global financial upheaval ahead of the Group of 20 summit on the crisis ...
Japan, China agree on setting up hotline
Asia › 25 October, 2008 05:13
BEIJING - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has proposed that Tokyo and Beijing open a hotline for bilateral communications by top leaders during his talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday, and the two countries ...
Thai, Cambodian leaders agree to bilaterally resolve border dispute
Asia › 25 October, 2008 05:11
BEIJING - Leaders of Thailand and Cambodia agreed Friday to resolve a border dispute by peaceful means through existing bilateral mechanisms and give up attempts to internationalize the conflict.At the end of a half-hour meeting between Thai Prime Minister Somchai ...
Asia-Europe summit opens in Beijing, economic crisis tops agenda
Asia › 25 October, 2008 05:10
BEIJING - An Asia-Europe summit opened in Beijing on Friday, with discussions on how to tackle the global economic crisis dominating the agenda.Heads of state and leaders from over 40 countries are attending the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting, including the Japanese ...
Taiwan opposition warns talks with China leading to unification
Asia › 25 October, 2008 05:04
TAIPEI - The upcoming second round of formal talks between Taiwan and China in Taipei is a step in the direction of unification between the historic rivals, the island's opposition leader warned Friday, a day before a major anti-China protest ...
Chinese dissident Hu Jia wins Europe's top human rights prize
Asia › 24 October, 2008 05:42
BRUSSELS - Europe's top human rights prize has been awarded this year to jailed Chinese political activist Hu Jia, the European Parliament's President Hans-Gert Pottering announced Thursday in Strasbourg, France.''By awarding the Sakharov Prize to Hu Jia, the European Parliament ...
6 nations move to protect marine resources in Oceania, S.E. Asia
Asia › 24 October, 2008 05:32
MANILA - Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and East Timor have agreed to hold a summit in Indonesia next May to adopt an action plan to protect coral reefs and fisheries on the so-called ''coral ...
Aso leaves for ASEM talks
Asia › 24 October, 2008 01:51
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will leave for Beijing on Thursday evening to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting summit and to hold his first bilateral summit with the leaders of China and South Korea.In the bilateral talks to be ...
Taiwan military exercises canceled after deadly crashes
Asia › 23 October, 2008 01:28
TAIPEI - Taiwan canceled Wednesday all military aircraft training exercises after a string of deadly crashes.The three-day flight ban, announced by Defense Minister Chen Chao-min, came after a U.S.-made helicopter plunged into waters off the island's eastern coast Tuesday night ...
China envoy cuts short Taiwan visit after attack
Asia › 23 October, 2008 06:02
TAIPEI - A Chinese envoy who was roughed up by protesters pulled the plug on his Taiwan visit Wednesday, complaining of soreness and fighting back tears, as political shockwaves from the incident jolted Taipei and Beijing.Zhang Mingqing, vice chairman of ...
N. Korean media says Japan nullified bilateral deal
Asia › 23 October, 2008 06:00
BEIJING - North Korea's official newspaper said Wednesday that Japan's new administration under Prime Minister Taro Aso has taken a bilateral deal reached in August ''back to square one,'' and that it was a ''waste of time'' to negotiate with ...
China can lead fight against global economic meltdown: ASEAN leader
Asia › 23 October, 2008 05:49
NANNING, China - China can do a lot to help Southeast Asian nations in their fight against the financial tsunami, the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said Tuesday.Surin Pitsuwan told reporters on the eve of the ...
India's Singh calls for investment from Japan
Asia › 23 October, 2008 05:43
TOKYO - Visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday asked Japanese busine