Tokyo would step up militarily to defend Taiwan if Beijing moved to reunify the island with mainland China by force, former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger said in a panel discussion on Tuesday with other top Trump administration officials.Pottinger, considered one of the key architects of the Trump administration’s hardline China policies, said Japan first suggested a quadrilateral alliance with the US, India and Australia – now known as the “Quad” – as a defence strategy…
Coronavirus: Rodrigo Duterte urges public to get vaccinated after Philippines misses targets; Vietnam resumes flights
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appealed to the public on Wednesday to get vaccinated against Covid-19, after data showed the government was far behind its immunisation targets as it battles one of Asia’s worst and longest-running outbreaks.“I invite all our countrymen to be vaccinated at the earliest possible opportunity because this is the most, if not the only way, effective way, to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic,” Duterte said in a televised address.“Let us all keep in mind that the…
Emirate of Sharjah raises minimum wage for UAE nationals
The ruler of the emirate of Sharjah has increased the minimum wage for United Arab Emirate (UAE) nationals to AED 25,000 (US$6,800) from AED 17,500.
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Cambodian workers at NagaWorld casino vexed over lay-offs as Hong Kong-listed parent firm reports profits
When Reoun Sreyneang received notice she would be let go from her job tending hotel rooms for US$300 a month at Phnom Penh’s gold-tinted NagaWorld casino complex, she decided to accept the news without a fight.“I don’t believe I can win against the company that has millions of dollars in its pocket. They will always win,” said the hospitality worker.Still, she admitted she was shocked that NagaWorld, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed firm NagaCorp that has an exclusive licence to run a casino in…
Restructuring – a view from the Netherlands
Dutch lawyer Laurens de Graaf outlines the essential steps when restructuring a business in the Netherlands
As Malaysia begins ‘total lockdown’, disgraced Najib rises as complainer-in-chief
As the coronavirus situation deteriorates in Malaysia, brickbats are coming thick and fast for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin – not just from the official opposition, but from ostensibly friendly forces as well.Former prime minister Najib Razak – voted out of office in 2018 and facing jail time for convictions linking him to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal – has emerged as a complainer-in-chief of sorts against the current administration.A third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic…
Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base upgrade sparks worries of China link before US diplomat’s visit
The rapid construction of two buildings at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, just north of where United States-funded facilities were demolished by Phnom Penh last year, has raised concerns that China stands to benefit from the upgrades, according to a Washington-based think tank.The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), which is part of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said in a report released on May 21 and updated on May 28 that the new buildings appeared to have been…
US, China regulators have a problem with bitcoin. Hong Kong, Singapore may have solutions
China’s warning earlier this month that it intended to curb bitcoin trading and mining was the latest indication that the world’s growing army of cryptocurrency backers face bigger headaches than Elon Musk changing his tune and saying Tesla would no longer accept it as payment.The Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and the State Council said it was necessary to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading behaviour to “resolutely prevent the transmission of individual risks to the social field”.Bitcoin…
Coronavirus: Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City to test entire population of 13 million
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s most populous city, is preparing to test all of its 13 million residents for the coronavirus after a steep rise in community transmissions, state media said on Sunday.The southern metropolis is expecting to carry out a mass testing programme that will see 100,000 tests each day, city chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said during an emergency meeting on Sunday, according to online newspaper VnExpress.The news follows an announcement made earlier on Sunday that Ho Chi Minh…