Asia News fra SCMP

The warning by the former commerce minister Chen Deming that China should not assume it will overtake the United States to become the world’s top superpower should serve as a wake-up call to those harbouring illusions about China’s place in the world, while ignoring the challenges ahead.“Do not take it for granted that China is number two, and do not make the assumption that we will be number one sooner or later,” Chen told a forum organised by the Centre for China and Globalisation, a Beijing […]

Long before Sara Duterte became First Daughter, she made headlines as the feisty mayor of Davao City who punched a sheriff – thrice in quick succession.In an incident that prompted a TV station to nickname her “the slugger”, Sara had become enraged after her request to delay a demolition of illegal shanties was ignored, sparking a riot that she had been trying to prevent.When the sheriff of the court tried to flee, her bodyguards dragged him and held him as Sara yanked his hair in front of TV […]

The chief justice of India’s Supreme Court, Ranjan Gogoi, denied on Saturday allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances towards a junior court assistant who worked in an office at his home and that she was subsequently victimised.“This is unbelievable,” Gogoi, India’s most powerful judge, told a special hearing of the court he called on Saturday so that the allegations could be addressed. “I should not stoop low even in denying it.”Modi, a dead judge, and ghosts from the pastGogoi said […]

Police in Tokyo suspect a car crash on Saturday that killed a 3-year-old girl and her 31-year-old mother may have been caused by human error, in the absence of evidence suggesting mechanical trouble.Mana Matsunaga and her daughter Riko were killed when a car driven by an 87-year-old man rammed into their bicycle in the city’s Ikebukuro district. The car also struck another cyclist, injured the driver of a garbage truck and mowed down four pedestrians before coming to halt some 150 metres after […]

A blind Japanese sailor on Saturday successfully completed a near two-month, non-stop voyage from San Diego to Fukushima prefecture, making him the first to make a so-called blind sailing Pacific Ocean crossing.Joined by a sighted navigator, it was 52-year-old Mitsuhiro Iwamoto’s second two-handed attempt at the 14,000-kilometre journey. His first ended when his boat hit a whale and sank.“I didn’t give up and I made a dream come true. I’m the happiest person on Earth,” Iwamoto said.A native of […]

Opposition hopeful Bill Shorten has used the Easter public holidays to highlight how Australia’s low-paid workers are losing hundreds of dollars from cuts to minimum pay rates, and that they will face further hits to their income if the governing Coalition is re-elected.As both he and incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison hit the trail again on Saturday after the Good Friday break, Labor focused on the so-called penalty rates debate, while the Coalition was set to announce A$100m (US$71 […]

A huge statue of a Chinese chef hurrying with a delivery container in hand has drawn tourists to a grey-and-red brick building in South Korea’s oldest Chinatown in the port city of Incheon. Welcome to Jjajangmyeon Museum, an unusual facility dedicated to the country’s popular noodles served with brown sauce and its inventor, a Chinese immigrant. The renovated two-storey building with green window panes used to house the once-popular Gonghhuachun Chinese restaurant, the birthplace of t […]

Weeks after the collapse of the summit between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, the North Korean leader finally broke his silence. In a speech heavily focused on foreign affairs delivered to the Supreme People’s Assembly – North Korea’s pro forma parliament – Kim made clear his position. He said that a third summit with Trump wasn’t off the table just yet, but getting there would require evidence that the US position on sanctions relief had changed. To this end, […]

While much of Southeast Asia has embraced Huawei as the preferred provider of 5G communications equipment, Japan and South Korea seem to be hedging their bets, and India’s implementation of the technology is still a long way off.JAPANJapan has found itself at odds with its larger neighbour in recent months over whose equipment will lay the groundwork for the country’s roll-out of 5G – the fifth generation of mobile communications technology that has been lauded for its potential to resha […]

The new millennium is yet to dawn, the internet is in its infancy and Apple’s iPhone is but a distant sparkle in the eye of Steve Jobs. Technology is filling the world with both hope and fear. On one hand, a new generation of pocket-sized handsets, led by the soon-to-be released Nokia 3310, have made mobile phones truly mobile for the first time – offering monochrome visions of the future that pack battery lives of up to 11 days. On the other, the world is gripped by a deep paranoia that a […]