Indonesia has granted clemency to a Canadian teacher convicted of sexually abusing students, an official said on Friday, in a case that critics say was riddled with irregularities and threw a spotlight on the Southeast Asian country’s justice system.Neil Bantleman and Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong were convicted in 2014 on charges of abusing kindergarten students at the Jakarta Intercultural School, where the children of many expatriates, diplomats and wealthy Indonesians are…
Anti-China protests in the Philippines mark third anniversary of Manila’s South China Sea legal victory
Dozens of protesters on Friday staged a rally in front of the Chinese consulate in Manila as the Philippines marked the third anniversary of its arbitral victory over China at The Hague, which rejected Beijing’s historical claims to resources in the South China Sea.They condemned President Rodrigo Duterte’s actions since the legal win as “unconstitutional” and called for his impeachment, while urging China to “get out” of the disputed waterway,While presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo on…
Philippines warns of ‘consequences’ after UN rights council orders report on Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday narrowly approved a resolution mandating a “comprehensive” international review of the drug war in the Philippines, which watchdogs say has claimed more than 20,000 lives.The resolution had faced strong resistance from President Rodrigo Duterte’s government, which counters that the toll has been exaggerated – its own estimates say 5,300 have died – and that the crackdown enjoys widespread popular support in the Southeast Asian nation.Duterte’s…
US names new ambassador to Indonesia as diplomat who helped set up historic first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore
President Donald Trump has named the diplomat who helped organise his summit last year in Singapore with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un as the new US ambassador to Indonesia, replacing former leader Barack Obama’s pick. Sung Yong Kim, a career diplomat, is currently the US ambassador to the Philippines and his move to Jakarta will need to be confirmed by the US Senate. He will replace Joseph Donovan Jnr, who was sworn in as the US ambassador to Indonesia in November 2016, four days before Trump was…
Is Vanuatu’s deportation of six Chinese nationals an erosion of its democratic rights at Beijing’s bidding?
The Chinese police officers touched down at Vanuatu’s main gateway, Bauerfield International Airport in the capital Port Vila, on a Wednesday afternoon. A little over a week later, on July 6, the law enforcement officers, dressed in plain clothes and accompanied by Vanuatu police, marched a half-dozen Chinese nationals onto a chartered jet bound for China.The five men and one woman, reportedly accused by Chinese authorities of running an internet scam, were charged with no crime in Vanuatu, a…
Mahathir Mohamad turns 94 and has a new goal to reunite Malays. But what for?
As Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad turned 94 on Wednesday, well-wishers marvelled at his political staying power, while analysts wondered what new tricks the elder statesman of Asian politics might have up his sleeve.Mahathir’s return to the apex of power last year – after a famous election victory over one time protégé Najib Razak – was widely seen as the greatest feat of a political career that stretches back to the 1940s.That achievement came about because Mahathir quit the United…
AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes says no to any involvement with ailing Malaysia Airlines
AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes has ruled out any involvement with Malaysia’s ailing national airline, which is at risk of being sold or shut down, saying the profitable budget airline he co-founded is focused on growing organically and speeding up its push to become a digital enterprise.Fernandes – group chief executive officer of Southeast Asia’s largest budget carrier, which flew some 80 million passengers last year – was asked about Malaysia Airlines (MAS) as Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on…
Singaporeans support Hong Kong protests against controversial extradition bill, survey shows
Over three quarters of 1,000 Singaporeans surveyed in June said they supported Hong Kong’s ongoing protests against a controversial extradition bill – a result political analysts suggested was a reflection of the close-knit ties between the “twin cities”.Still, the observers said the strong support level did not necessarily mean Hong Kong-style street politics would soon spring up in the strictly governed Lion City.Singapore media have been covering the protests extensively, and the results of…
Chinese vessel mainly to blame for sinking of Philippine boat in South China Sea, but Filipino crew had ‘deficiencies’: leaked report
A leaked report into the June 9 ramming and sinking of Philippine vessel F/B Gem-Ver in the disputed South China Sea has found the Chinese vessel involved to be mainly at fault for the incident, and that it “failed to take appropriate action to avoid the risk of collision and to render assistance to a vessel in distress”. While it said the incident was a “very serious marine casualty due to the total loss of the [Philippine] ship”, the report also found that F/B Gem-Ver had certain…
There is a ‘ray of hope’ in US-China trade war after Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met at G20, says Beijing’s ambassador to Malaysia
The accord between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit offers a “ray of hope” for easing trade tensions, according to Bai Tian, Beijing’s ambassador to Malaysia.“We wish the US side would live up to its words and meet halfway with the Chinese side,” he said at the Malaysia-China Outlook forum in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.The forum hosted discussions of Malaysia’s and China’s shared economic and strategic interests under the theme “What’s Next After Beijing BRI?” –…