Seawater samples taken following the release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor showed radioactivity levels well within safe limits, operator TEPCO said on Friday.

The start on Thursday of the discharge of some of the 1.34 million tonnes of water, collected on-site in the 12 years since the plant was swamped by a tsunami, prompted China to ban all Japanese seafood imports.

TEPCO took what it called rapid tests on Thursday afternoon after the release into the Pacific Ocean began, and on Friday it said that the results showed that radioactivity levels were within safe limits.

“We confirmed that the analysed value is equal to the calculated concentration and that the analysed value is below 1,500 bq/L,” TEPCO spokesman Keisuke Matsuo told a news conference.

Becquerels per litre is a measure of radioactivity. The national safety standard is 60,000.

The results were “similar to our previous simulation and sufficiently below” the safety limit, Matsuo added.

“We will continue to conduct analysis every day over the next one month and even after that, maintain our analysis effort,” he said.

“By providing swift, easy-to-understand explanations we hope to dispel various concerns.”

Japan’s environment ministry said it had collected seawater samples from 11 different locations on Friday, results of which would be released on Sunday.

The Fisheries Agency also pulled a flounder and a Gurnard fish early Friday from designated sampling spots near the pipe that released the Fukushima water.

“By publishing those data every day in a highly transparent fashion, we will demonstrate our actions based on scientific evidence,” said Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of nuclear policies.

IAEA backing

TEPCO says that the water — more than 500 Olympic pools’ worth — from cooling the remains of three reactors has been filtered of all radioactive elements except for tritium and is safe.

This is backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which said on Thursday that samples taken from the first batch of diluted water prepared for discharge showed that tritium levels were well within safe limits.

“IAEA experts are there on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned consistent with IAEA safety standards,” said the chief of the UN body, Rafael Grossi, in a statement.

Most analysts agree although environmental pressure group Greenpeace has said that the filtration process, known as ALPS, does not work and that a vast amount of radioactivity will be released into the ocean.

Japan’s move infuriated China, which says the action contaminates the ocean, and widened a ban on aquatic produce in place for 10 Japanese prefectures to cover the whole country.

Nishimura on Friday echoed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in urging China, Japan’s biggest market for seafood, to reverse the ban.

“The Japanese government… will strongly demand baseless regulations to be immediately terminated,” Nishimura said.

South Korea’s government, which is trying to improve relations with Japan in order to counter China, has endorsed the water release although some ordinary people are alarmed.

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By Natsuko Fukue

Japan will release water from the stricken Fukushima power plant into the Pacific Ocean from Thursday, 12 years after one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.

China, which has already partially halted Japanese food shipments, sharply criticised the announcement while Hong Kong said it would ban the import of “aquatic products” from 10 Japanese regions.

Japan insists that the gradual discharge of the more than 500 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of water from the site in northeast Japan, announced by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday, is safe.

The Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station was knocked out by a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed around 18,000 people in March 2011, sending three of its reactors into meltdown.

Operator TEPCO has since collected 1.34 million tonnes of water used to cool what remains of the still highly radioactive reactors, mixed with groundwater and rain that has seeped in.

TEPCO says the water will be diluted and filtered before release to remove all radioactive substances except tritium, levels of which are far below dangerous levels.

It has failed to reassure China, which said it would take “necessary measures to safeguard the marine environment, food safety and public health”.

“The ocean is the common property of all humankind, not a place for Japan to arbitrarily dump nuclear-contaminated water,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Tuesday.

A nuclear expert however said the level of tritium was well below WHO drinking water limits.

“Tritium has been released (by nuclear power plants) for decades with no evidential detrimental environmental or health effects,” Tony Hooker, a nuclear expert from the University of Adelaide, told AFP.

‘Immense’

This water will be released, if weather conditions allow, into the ocean off Japan’s northeast coast at a maximum rate of 500,000 litres (132,000 US gallons) per day.

The UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in July the release would have a “negligible radiological impact on people and the environment”.

On Tuesday, the IAEA said its staff would be on site for the start of the discharge and beyond and would publish “real-time and near real-time monitoring data”.

Japan’s fisheries agency will take samples of bottom-dwelling flatfish at two designated sampling spots near the outlet of the water pipe.

But environmental pressure group Greenpeace has said the filtration process is flawed.

Japan “has opted for a false solution — decades of deliberate radioactive pollution of the marine environment — during a time when the world’s oceans are already facing immense stress and pressures”, Greenpeace said Tuesday.

Salt panic

Many South Koreans are alarmed at the prospect of the release, staging demonstrations and even stocking up on sea salt because of fears of contamination.

Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul on Tuesday, with more rallies planned.

One protester held up a sign reading: “We denounce the Japanese government for killing the ocean!”

But President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government, taking political risks at home, has sought to improve long-frosty relations with Japan and has not objected to the plan.

Meanwhile, China had already accused Japan of treating the ocean like a “sewer”, banning imports of food from 10 Japanese prefectures even before the release and imposing strict radiation checks.

James Brady from the Teneo risk consultancy said that, while China’s safety concerns may be sincere, there was a distinct whiff of geopolitics and economic rivalry in its harsh reaction.

“The multifaceted nature of the Fukushima wastewater release issue makes it quite a useful one for Beijing to potentially exploit,” Brady told AFP.

The threat of restrictions worries people in Japan’s fishing industry, just as business was beginning to recover.

“Nothing about the water release is beneficial to us,” third-generation fisherman Haruo Ono, 71, whose brother was killed in 2011, told AFP in Shinchimachi, 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of the nuclear plant.

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Singapore authorities have seized assets worth nearly US$750 million in sweeping raids against a suspected international money laundering ring, police said Wednesday.

During the operation, which targeted locations across the city-state on Tuesday, the police arrested 10 foreign nationals — from China, Turkey, Cambodia, Cyprus and Vanuatu.

Authorities also seized properties, vehicles, and luxury items such as bags and watches in a haul that police said had a total value of Sg$1 billion (US$736 million).

Police said they discovered a group that was laundering proceeds from “overseas organised crime activities including scams and online gambling”.

Also seized were bank accounts with a total estimated balance of more than Sg$110 million, cash amounting to more than Sg$23 million, and documents with information on virtual assets, police said.

More than 400 officers took part in the raids, during which the suspects were arrested from luxury homes and high-end condominiums.

“Investigations are ongoing. More assets may be seized (and) bank accounts frozen,” police said.

Singapore is a global financial hub, and has strict laws against laundering illicit funds, which can carry up to 10 years in jail.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin visited Australia Friday on the final leg of a Pacific tour designed to reinforce Washington’s standing in the region.

The United States has been ramping up efforts to re-engage in the South Pacific, where China has emerged as a rising diplomatic and military power.

Blinken’s trip to Brisbane caps a diplomatic blitz in which he has also visited Tonga and New Zealand, while US Secretary of Defense Austin arrived from Papua New Guinea.

The US duo sat down with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles ahead of formal talks taking place on Saturday.

“It comes at a time of increasing strategic competition,” Albanese said Friday, setting the scene before talks began.

“Australia and the United States are working together to promote security, stability and prosperity in the region.”

Blinken said that, in his experience, the alliance had “never been stronger”.

“In challenging times, it makes such a difference to have close partners and close friends,” he said.

While military cooperation is expected to dominate discussions, Blinken also used the trip to signal that issues such as climate change and supply chain security also sit high on the agenda.

The clean energy transition was fast becoming a “pillar” of the US-Australia alliance, Blinken said Friday during a trip to Tritium, a local business making chargers for electric vehicles.

“It all comes down to having the technology to make it work commercially,” he told reporters.

The United States views Australia as a useful friend in its quest to loosen Beijing’s dominance of emerging clean energy industries such as electric vehicle manufacturing.

Australia is one of the world’s largest producers of lithium — a key component of rechargeable batteries — but currently sends most of its ore to be processed in China.

“The United States is looking at options to source critical technologies and their components from allied countries in place of China,” said researcher Tom Corben from the United States Studies Centre at Sydney University.

“That applies as much to the climate as it does to defence — given the emphasis placed on things like next-generation batteries,” he told AFP.

Climate change is also emerging as a security threat in its own right as the toll from increasingly severe natural disasters mounts in Australia and the broader Pacific.

Nailing down AUKUS

The discussions are a chance to nail down the details of the AUKUS pact, a fledgling military alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Under “pillar one” of the agreement, Australia will acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines — billed as one of its biggest-ever military upgrades.

Attention now turns to “pillar two”, which revolves around cyber warfare, artificial intelligence and the development of hypersonic missiles.

Another key issue likely to come up concerns efforts to shore up longstanding relationships with Pacific nations that are being aggressively courted by China.

Two days after Blinken left Tonga, the Chinese “Peace Ark” hospital ship docked in the capital Nuku’alofa, where it is to offer free health services to thousands of patients.

The Peace Ark arrives in the island kingdom after visiting Kiribati, and will also sail to Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Pentagon chief Austin comes to Australia from Port Moresby, where the United States signed a defence agreement earlier this year giving troops access to key military facilities.

“It all fits into wider efforts to make US force posture in the Indo-Pacific more resilient by drastically increasing the number of locations the Chinese military have to consider,” said Corben.

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Olivia Chow won election Monday to become the first Chinese-Canadian mayor of Toronto, vowing to pursue a more progressive approach in Canada’s largest city after ending more than a decade of conservative rule.

Hong Kong-born Chow, who emerged victorious from a record field of 102 candidates, has promised to raise property taxes and do more to support tenants to help tackle the city’s housing affordability crisis.

In her acceptance speech Monday evening, Chow highlighted “the mandate for change” voters in Canada’s economic capital had given her.

“If you ever doubted what’s possible together, if you ever questioned your faith in a better future and what we can do with each other, for each other, tonight is your answer,” she told supporters shortly after the announcement of her victory.

Chow won with 37.2 percent of the vote, ahead of Ana Bailao on 32.5 percent. Former city police chief Mark Saunders came in third with 8.6 percent.

An immigrant who arrived in Canada at the age of 13, Chow takes charge of Toronto at a time when the city of 2.7 million is struggling with a surge in rents, a massive budget deficit and public safety concerns.

The previous mayor of Toronto, John Tory, resigned in February after admitting to having had an extramarital affair with an employee.

During the election campaign, Ontario Premier Doug Ford had backed Saunders, saying a Chow victory would be an “unmitigated disaster.”

Monday evening, however, Ford congratulated Chow on her election as Toronto’s mayor.

“Throughout Olivia’s life, she has proven her desire and dedication to serving the city that many of us call home,” the conservative premier said.

“While we’re not always going to agree on everything, what we can agree on is our shared commitment to making Toronto a place where businesses, families, and workers can thrive,” he said in a social media post.

A former member of parliament for the New Democratic Party, Chow, 66, previously served as a city councillor in Toronto.

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Vigils to remember those who died during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown have been held in cities across the world, as the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese diaspora marked the 34th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

In Hong Kong, where civil society groups have disappeared and pro-democracy figures have been detained in the wake of the 2020 national security law, individuals carrying flowers, candles or wearing black at Victoria Park, where memorial activities took place for 30 years, were among those taken away by police on Sunday.

While historically, many overseas memorials were hosted by exiled Tiananmen activists, this year they were joined by young emigrants from Hong Kong and young Chinese who joined the “blank placard“ protests in the mainland last November.

The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989 ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing.

Japan

An assembly to commemorate the 34th anniversary of Tiananmen Crackdown took place in Shinjuku, the major commercial district of Tokyo, Japan, with Uyghurs, Hongkongers and mainland Chinese in attendance.

The predominantly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group are among the minorities targeted in what Beijing claims is a campaign to tackle unrest and separatism. The UN says a million Uyghurs were arbitrarily detained in “political re-education camps,” whilst Human Rights Watch reports that surveillance and repression in Xinjiang has increased dramatically since 2016. Several western countries have imposed sanctions over Beijing’s actions.

This year’s assembly was co-organised by a group of young Chinese dissidents and Hongkonger William Lee, all living in Tokyo, according to The Initium. It was marked by a candlelight vigil.

“If we think commemoration of the crackdown lacks perspectives from China, it is better to host one ourselves,” an organiser from mainland China told The Initium, adding that they had become “awakened” after last year’s blank placard protests.

Canada

In Canada, there were memorial assemblies and vigils held in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal.

Assembly of Citizens Official, a mainland Chinese student organisation set up in 2022, co-hosted a Tiananmen memorial event for the first time on Saturday in Toronto, according to its official twitter account.

An assembly in Edmonton was hosted by an overseas group of Hongkongers, Edmonton Hong Kong Civil Rights United, on Sunday evening.

“As diasporic Hongkongers and those who support democracy and liberty, it seems that we have responsibilities to continue to lit the memorial candles,” the organiser said during a speech at the event in Edmonton, followed by a silent tribute and singing Democracy Will Triumph and Flowers of Liberty, songs that used to be sung during the candlelit vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park.

A candlelit vigil was also held in Vancouver. The organiser Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement, a group founded in 1989 by Vancouver Hongkongers to support the Chinese movement, hosted the vigil.

UK

Hundreds of Hongkongers and mainland Chinese living in the UK gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday and marched towards the Embassy of People’s Republic of China to mourn victims of Tiananmen crackdown and protest, shouting, “We demand freedom of speech”, and “It’s my duty”.

The latter was a slogan chanted during the 1989 student-led movement in mainland China and reactivated during the blank placard protests.

Unlike previous years, the assembly and march were organised by young mainland Chinese inspired by the blank placard protests, and it was attended by people from Hong Kong, mainland China and Xinjiang, British broadcaster the BBC reported.

Memorial events were also held elsewhere around the UK, including Birmingham, Leeds, and Kingston. Some 144,500 people have left Hong Kong and moved to the UK in the two years since London launched an emigration scheme for holders of British National (Overseas) passports after Beijing enacted the national security law in the city.

The memorial assembly of Kingston saw attendance of numerous figures who were once active players in Hong Kong’s civil society and democratic movement, including  Chung Kim-wah, a social science professor and former deputy chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, and Lee Wing-tat, a former legislative councillor and former chairman and deputy charman of the Democratic Party.

The event was organised by Hongkongers living in the UK.

Around the world

Activities to mourn the historical incident also took place in cities including Berlin, in Germany, and Melbourne and Sydney, in Australia, and in New York, in the US, where a new museum preserving photos and evidence from the Tiananmen crackdown opened last Friday, Ming Pao reported.

In Taiwan, hundreds gathered in Taiwan’s capital on Sunday to mark the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown as the annual vigil took place outside Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

According to Hong Kong Democracy Council, there were at least 37 memorial events all over the world to mourn the crackdown.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China used to run such a museum in Hong Kong, but it closed in September 2021 when the group disbanded after several of its members were arrested under the national security law.

In June 2020, Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution – bypassing the local legislature – following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts, which were broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers, alarming democrats, civil society groups and trade partners, as such laws have been used broadly to silence and punish dissidents in China. However, the authorities say it has restored stability and peace to the city.

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Thailand’s Move Forward Party was never supposed to win. But on Sunday night the upstart opposition rode a dramatic wave of support to take the lead position in national polls and upend decades of Thai politics.

A new force in Thai politics, MFP channelled the energy of youth-led pro-democracy protests in 2020 in an election campaign pitting a young generation yearning for change against a conservative old guard of septuagenarian generals and backroom billionaires.

Written off by the establishment as backed by online-only youngsters, the party capitalised on its youthful base but then moved beyond it with a broad spectrum of detail-heavy policy positions that tackled the economy, inequality and the environment.

Napisa Waitoolkiat, a political analyst at Naresuan University, said the MFP’s success was built on a depth of research and level of policy detail unheard of in Thai politics.

“Never before to my knowledge has the opposition party done this kind of level of preparation,” she told AFP.

“I think this is really a unique policy message to the public, and the public love it.”

The result is potentially a seismic change, with Napisa comparing it to the United States electing former president Barack Obama in 2008.

“I think this election is a slap on the face of the older generation, the old mindset, the old belief, and the old politics,” student protest leader Panussaya Sitthijirawattanakul told AFP.

“The status quo has been demolished and shown that the people are ready to ‘move forward’,” said the activist, better known in Thailand by her nickname Rung.

The 24-year-old is representative of a generation still doggedly speaking truth to power, despite facing a battery of royal defamation charges that could see her jailed for years.

And she said that if the establishment conspired to block an MFP government — by either parliamentary plotting or court orders — the protesters would not hesitate to turn out.

“We are ready to hit the street again,” she said.

– Royal controversy –

The election campaign highlighted the stark contrast between MFP’s energetic 42-year-old leader Pita Limjaroenrat and the grizzled candidates against him.

Next to 69-year-old Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha and his 77-year-old deputy, general Prawit Wongsuwan, Pita’s youth and good looks played in the party’s favour.

Even opposition rival Pheu Thai’s frontrunner Paetongtarn Shinawatra could not compete, despite her gutsy campaigning, with the polls slipping away from her in the final week.

Father-of-one Pita enthralled supporters at pre-election rallies with a dizzying atmosphere combining K-pop concerts and high-octane TED Talks.

MFP has not shied from the issue that connects Thai politics like a bright yellow thread — the monarchy.

It kept up its rhetoric on amending the strict royal defamation laws, which shield King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his family from criticism.

Taking on elites

MFP’s stance on lese-majeste has been its most controversial policy, but the party’s repeated promises of broader wholesale change may also ruffle feathers among the kingdom’s powerful nexus of business, military and royalist interests.

In an interview with AFP in April, Pita laid out his “three Ds”: de-militarisation, de-centralisation and de-monopolisation.

MFP has promised to halt military conscription, replacing it with voluntary enlistment, and recognised the need for more autonomy for rural regions like Chiang Mai, which have long felt abandoned by Bangkok.

The party has also pledged to tackle Thailand’s monopolies, which see a handful of mega-wealthy families control much of the kingdom’s economy.

Taking on the establishment seems like a gamble but Pita was confident even in April, clear that Thailand was ready for something new.

“The sentiment of the era has changed so much for every institution in this country,” he said.

“I am sure they will vote for the future, and not the good old days.”

Napisa kiboshed suggestions MFP were not ready to lead, saying they had cut their teeth over years in opposition.

“It allowed them to learn and get experience about parliamentary politics,” she said.

But undoubtedly there are roadblocks ahead for the party.

While Pheu Thai agreed on Monday to a coalition, the two parties must scrabble together a majority to see their as yet unannounced prime ministerial candidate past the army-stacked senate.

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Charles III on Saturday finally met his date with destiny after a lifetime as heir to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, as he was officially crowned king in the first coronation in Britain since 1953.

At exactly 12:02 pm (1102 GMT), the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby placed the solid gold St Edward’s Crown on Charles’s head as a sacred and ancient symbol of the monarch’s authority.

Cries of “God Save the King” rang out from the 2,300-member congregation at Westminster Abbey and trumpet fanfares sounded at the climax of the solemn religious confirmation of his accession.

Outside, ceremonial gun salutes blasted out across land and sea while bells pealed in celebration at churches.

Charles, 74, will wear the St Edward’s Crown only once during his reign. His wife, Camilla, 75, was crowned queen in a simpler ceremony soon afterwards.

The build-up to the Christian ceremony of prayer and praise — steeped in 1,000 years of British history and tradition, with sumptuous robes and priceless regalia — has been mostly celebratory.

But even before Charles and Camilla left Buckingham Palace for a rainy procession to the abbey, police arrested dozens of protesters using new powers rushed onto the statute book to crack down on direct action groups.

The anti-monarchy movement Republic — which wants an elected head of state — said six of its organisers were detained, while climate activists Just Stop Oil said 19 of its number were held.

Nevertheless, dozens of Republic activists held aloft banners on the route of the procession route, declaring: “Not My King.”

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International voiced concern at the arrests. “This is something you would expect to see in Moscow, not London,” HRW said.

London’s Metropolitan Police has some 11,500 officers on the streets in one of its biggest ever security operations. It has warned that it has an “extremely low threshold” for protests.

As well as being the first coronation in 70 years, it was the first of a king since 1937. It was only the second to be televised and the first in colour and streamed online.

Changes

Much of the two-hour Anglican service, in which Charles pledged “I come not to be served but to serve”, would have been recognisable to the 39 other monarchs crowned at Westminster Abbey since 1066.

But while many of the intricate rituals and ceremony to recognise Charles as his people’s “undoubted king” remained, the king sought to bring other aspects of the service up to date.

Female bishops and choristers participated for the first time, as did leaders of Britain’s non-Christian faiths, while its Celtic languages — Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic — featured prominently.

A gospel choir sang for the first time at a coronation while a Greek choir intoned a psalm in tribute to Charles’s late father, Prince Philip, who was born on the island of Corfu.

As king, Charles is supreme governor of the Church of England and has described himself as a “committed Anglican Christian”.

But he heads a more religiously and ethnically diverse country than the one his mother inherited in the shadow of World War II.

As such, he sought to make the congregation more reflective of British society, inviting ordinary members of the public to sit alongside heads of state and global royalty.

In another change, the coronation themes mirrored his lifelong interest in biodiversity and sustainability.

Seasonal flowers and foliage were brought from the wind-battered Isle of Skye in northwest Scotland to Cornwall at the tip of England’s southwest coast to fill the abbey.

Ceremonial vestments from previous coronations were reused, and the anointing oil — created from olives on groves on the Mount of Olives and perfumed with essential oils — was vegan.

Charles was anointed out of sight of the congregation behind a three-sided screen in front of the High Altar, to the strains of Handel’s soaring anthem “Zadok the Priest”, sung at every coronation since 1727.

Opposition

Rishi Sunak — Britain’s first prime minister of colour, who gave a reading from the Bible at the service — has described the coronation as “a proud expression of our history, culture and traditions”.

But not everyone is convinced: polling indicates waning support for the monarchy, particularly among younger people.

Charles’s eldest brother Prince Andrew — sidelined due to his friendship with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein — was booed as he headed to the abbey.

Another royal exile, Prince Harry, who has criticised the family since leaving for the United States in 2020, attended the coronation on his own.

Overseas, Charles’s position as the hereditary monarch and head of state of 14 Commonwealth countries looks increasingly fragile.

Jamaica and Belize both signalled this week that they are moving toward becoming republics, while Australia, Canada and others may eventually follow suit.

Britons struggling with the soaring cost of living have meanwhile questioned why taxpayers should stump up for the coronation, with the bill estimated to be over £100 million (US$126 million).

Support

Yet the huge crowds of royal fans that have been building all week on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace indicate that the royals still have a central role in British culture and history.

Christine Wilen travelled from Niagara Falls in Canada for the event.

“I’m very excited to be here, to be part of this history,” said Wilen, wearing a visor and sweatshirt in Canadian colours.

“It’s just too good an opportunity to miss,” said Nick Demont, 60, outside the abbey. “There’s a good chance I won’t see another one.”

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Australia said Tuesday it will ban TikTok on government devices, joining a growing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned app due to national security fears.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the decision followed advice from the country’s intelligence agencies and would begin “as soon as practicable”.

Australia is the last member of the secretive Five Eyes security alliance to pursue a government TikTok ban, joining its allies the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

France, the Netherlands and the European Commission have made similar moves.

Dreyfus said the government would approve some exemptions on a “case-by-case basis” with “appropriate security mitigations in place”.

Cybersecurity experts have warned that the app — which boasts more than one billion global users — could be used to hoover up data that is then shared with the Chinese government.

Surveys have estimated that as many as seven million Australians use the app — or about a quarter of the population.

In a security notice outlining the ban, the Attorney-General’s Department said TikTok posed “significant security and privacy risks” stemming from the “extensive collection of user data”.

China condemned the ban, saying it had “lodged stern representations” with Canberra over the move and urging Australia to “provide Chinese companies with a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment”.

“China has always maintained that the issue of data security should not be used as a tool to generalise the concept of national security, abuse state power and unreasonably suppress companies from other countries,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

‘No-brainer’

But Fergus Ryan, an analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said stripping TikTok from government devices was a “no-brainer”.

“It’s been clear for years that TikTok user data is accessible in China,” Ryan told AFP.

“Banning the use of the app on government phones is a prudent decision given this fact.”

The security concerns are underpinned by a 2017 Chinese law that requires local firms to hand over personal data to the state if it is relevant to national security.

Beijing has denied these reforms pose a threat to ordinary users.

China “has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in a foreign country, in a way that violates local law”, the foreign ministry’s Mao said in March.

‘Rooted in xenophobia’

TikTok has said such bans are “rooted in xenophobia”, while insisting that it is not owned or operated by the Chinese government.

The company’s Australian spokesman Lee Hunter said it would “never” give data to the Chinese government.

“No one is working harder to make sure this would never be a possibility,” he told Australia’s Channel Seven.

But the firm acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access European user data, and in December it said employees had used the data to spy on journalists.

The app is typically used to share short, lighthearted videos and has exploded in popularity in recent years.

Many government departments were initially eager to use TikTok as a way to connect with a younger demographic that is harder to reach through traditional media channels.

New Zealand banned TikTok from government devices in March, saying the risks were “not acceptable in the current New Zealand Parliamentary environment”.

Earlier this year, the Australian government announced it would be stripping Chinese-made CCTV cameras from politicians’ offices due to security concerns.

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Comedic adventure flick Everything Everywhere All at Once has won seven Oscars at the 95th Academy Awards in the US, including Best Picture.

Michelle Yeoh won Best Lead Actress – the first Asian to do so – for her role as a dissatisfied Chinese-American laundromat owner: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.”

She thanked her “extended family in Hong Kong where I started my career, thank you for letting me stand on your shoulders, giving me a leg so I could be here today.”

Everything Everywhere All at Once follows Yeoh’s character, Evelyn Quan Wang, who has to connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent the multiverse from being destroyed – all whilst facing a tax audit. Released last March, and grossing US$108 million at the box office, the absurdist adventure touched on themes of mental health, transgenerational trauma and Asian-American identity.

It beat out war epic All Quiet on the Western Front and Tom Cruise hit Top Gun: Maverick for the top prize at the Sunday night awards in Hollywood.

Yeoh rose to fame performing her own stunts in Hong Kong movies such as Yes, Madam and Policy Story 3: Supercop before landing a role in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. She went onto international stardom after starring in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Hong Kong’s culture chief Kevin Yeung, paid tribute in a Monday press release: “Hong Kong’s film sector has nurtured many outstanding actors and filmmakers… Her honour of winning the Oscar award, one of the most significant awards in the film sector, is well deserved. This is a testimony to the strong potential of Hong Kong’s talents and film industry.”

Oscar haul

Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Evelyn’s goofy husband in Everything Everywhere: “My mom is 84 years old and she’s at home watching. Mom, I just won an Oscar… My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp, and somehow I ended up here, on Hollywood’s biggest stage,” he told the Academy.

Meanwhile, co-star Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress as tax inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdre: “To all of the people who have supported the genre movies that I’ve made for all these years that thousands and hundreds of thousands of people – we just won an Oscar together,” she said.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won Best Director. Kwan thanked his collaborator “who told me I was a storyteller before I could even say it myself.”

In January, Hong Kong’s Yeung congratulated actor Yeoh after she won a Golden Globe for her role in the movie, describing the Malaysian as a “Hong Kong actor.”

More to follow.

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The White House on Tuesday welcomed a bill that would allow the United States to ban Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

The bill was backed by Mark Warner, a senior US senator from the Democratic party, and John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, in a rare act of political entente by US lawmakers.

“We applaud the bipartisan group of senators, led by Senators Warner and Thune, who today introduced the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act,” Sullivan said.

The bipartisan bill “would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services… in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security,” Sullivan said in a statement.

The Senate bill and the backing of the White House accelerated the political momentum against TikTok, which is also the target of a separate piece of legislation in the US House of Representatives.

“Today, the threat that everyone is talking about is TikTok, and how it could enable surveillance by the Chinese Communist Party, or facilitate the spread of malign influence campaigns in the US,” Senator Warner said in a statement.

“Before TikTok, however, it was Huawei and ZTE, which threatened our nation’s telecommunications networks. And before that, it was Russia’s Kaspersky Lab, which threatened the security of government and corporate devices,” said Warner.

Appearing tough on China is one of the rare issues with potential for bipartisan support in both the Republican-run House and the Senate, where Biden’s Democratic Party holds a majority.

With Congress and the White House aligned on the idea that a law is necessary to curb the powers of TikTok, the chances of the legislation making it into law are greatly increased.

TikTok is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance and has more than a billion users worldwide including over 100 million in the US, where it has become a cultural force, especially for young people.

TikTok reacted by again pointing to its months of negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a government agency that assesses foreign investments’ risks to US national security.

“The Biden Administration does not need additional authority from Congress to address national security concerns about TikTok: It can approve the deal negotiated with CFIUS over two years that it has spent the last six months reviewing,” TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter told AFP.

Reflecting concerns voiced by free speech activists, she likened a US ban to a “ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide.”

The legislation comes after US government workers in January were banned from installing TikTok on their devices.

Civil servants at the European Union, as well as in Canada and Denmark are also barred from having TikTok on their phones.

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By Moisés Ávila

With his hat, big belt buckle and cowboy boots, Ly looks the part of a Texan and even speaks with a twang. He’s served in the US Navy but on Saturday, he was doing battle on a different front — against a proposed law that would bar Chinese citizens from owning property in Texas.

About 300 protesters marched through Houston’s Chinatown on Saturday, shouting “Stop Chinese hate” and “Texas is our home.” Demonstrators wearing a Chinese dragon costume marched alongside, and others pounded and clanged drums and cymbals.

Their ire is aimed at a proposal by Republican state Senator Lois Kolkhorst that would bar Chinese, Russian, North Korean and Iranian citizens or businesses from purchasing property in the state.

“I’m a veteran of the United States Navy. I feel that there are many patriots in the military… Some of them probably have the same last name as me. And they cannot… buy any house or land or property in Texas (under this bill). That doesn’t make any sense,” said Ly, 23, who declined to give his full name.

He said he had just obtained US citizenship a few days earlier.

“This law here is discrimination against one people simply because where (they are) from. We are all created equal,” said Nancy Zhao, a 50-year-old accountant.

The distress of people like Zhao and Ly comes as tensions mount between the US and China over a host of issues, including the status of Taiwan and the intrusion earlier this month of a Chinese balloon into US airspace.

After the balloon drifted across the country, President Joe Biden ordered the military to shoot it down, and it fell into the Atlantic Ocean off South Carolina on February 4. The Pentagon called it a surveillance airship.

Proponents of the Texas bill say it is needed for national security, and Kolkhorst says it will not affect legal residents, or green card holders.

But ironclad legal protections are not written clearly into the bill as it stands now, experts say, and issues such as how it would affect dual nationals (those who are citizens of the United States and another country, like China) are either not addressed or ambiguous, leading immigrants to fear the worst.

“I worked 18 years,” said Frank Win, a 31-year-old scientist. “I paid my tax. You know, I’m working hard. And we just had a little boy last July. So we’re thinking about buying a new house for him.”

“But now this bill came out, it’s suddenly like, all my American dreams have been smashed.”

‘Used as a scapegoat’

In the stores of Houston’s  Chinatown, English mixes with Mandarin. Stores, including gun shops, have signs in both languages. In Texas, most people over age 21 can carry handguns openly.

Of the state’s 28.8 million inhabitants, 1.4 million self-identify as Asian and 223,500 consider themselves to be of Chinese origin, according to official data.

While Chinese migrants made up the bulk of the protesters, others in the march said they feel they may be affected as well, such as Nikki Hafizi, a member of the US-Iranian community in Houston.

“They do this to remind us that we shouldn’t have the same rights everyone else does,” Hafizi said.

“I’m a dual citizen so if I can ever afford a home I guess this would apply to me,” she said, noting that she remains an Iranian citizen even after obtaining a US passport and citizenship.

“For a long time, our community has been used as a scapegoat for the rest of the world,” said Gene Wu, a state lawmaker. “So during Covid-19 people blamed Asian Americans…  We are not responsible for anything that goes on in the rest of the world.”

“And we’re here to say no, no more.”

In addition to Kolkhorst’s bill, called SB 147, another one on the agenda, sponsored by Republicans Donna Campbell and Tan Parker, would prevent “hostile foreign governments” from buying or leasing farmland in Texas.

It would expand an existing 2021 law that bars citizens and companies from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from connecting to critical infrastructure, like the energy grid.

Among those who came to support the protest was Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who brought several Asian children on stage.

“No to SB 147, because the Statue of Liberty has not fallen, and the American flag is still standing,” Jackson Lee said. “Stop the Asian hate, stand for the American flag.”

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A US fighter jet shot down an unidentified object drifting high over Alaska on Friday, the White House said, just six days after the downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon sparked a fresh diplomatic rift with Beijing.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was unclear what the purpose or origin of the new object was, but said that it was taken down because, floating at 40,000 feet, it was a threat to civil aviation.

“The president ordered the military to down the object,” Kirby said.

Questioned about the incident by reporters at the White House, Biden said the shoot-down “was a success.”

Kirby said the object was much smaller than a huge Chinese balloon that crossed the United States last week and was shot down by a US fighter jet off the Atlantic coast on Saturday.

It was “roughly the size of a small car,” he said.

“We do not know who owns it, whether state owned or corporate owned,” he said. “We don’t understand the full purpose.”

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said an F-22 Raptor used an AIM-9X missile to bring down the object — the same aircraft and munition used to target the alleged Chinese spy balloon.

The incident took place amid a new alarm over what US officials say is an ongoing program by China to fly surveillance balloons to collect intelligence around the world.

US officials said such balloons have flown over 40 countries, including at least four times previously over United States territory.

The Chinese balloon last week sparked particular concern as it overflew areas where the United States keeps nuclear missiles in underground silos and bases strategic bombers.

The incident led US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel an imminent trip to Beijing that had been long in planning and aimed at improving communications between the two rival superpowers.

Kirby said the new object was detected late Thursday, and shot down Friday afternoon Washington time.

It went down in northern Alaska near the Canadian border and fell over a frozen body of water, making recovery feasible, Kirby said.

‘Reasonable threat’

“We do expect to be able to recover the debris,” he said.

Biden ordered the shoot-down because at the altitude it was flying, Kirby said, the object posed “a reasonable threat” to civil aviation.

Kirby said the US military sent a plane to observe the object before it was taken down and “the pilot’s assessment was that this was not manned.”

The Chinese surveillance balloon had clear abilities to propel and maneuver itself, he noted.

It “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons,” a senior State Department official said Thursday.

“It had multiple antennas to include an array likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications,” the official.

The official also tied the balloon to China’s People’s Liberation Army, without saying directly that it had been deployed by the PLA.

The Pentagon’s Ryder said the US recovery teams have finished mapping the debris field from the downed Chinese balloon and “are in the process of searching for and identifying debris on the ocean floor.”

“Debris that’s been recovered so far is being loaded on the vessels, taken ashore, catalogued and then moved onwards to labs for subsequent analysis,” he added.

Beijing has rejected US allegations that it sent the balloon to spy on the United States, and said it had simply drifted by accident into US airspace.

But since Saturday China has rejected an overture by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to speak by phone about the issue.

“The US insisted on using force to attack the airship, which seriously violated international practice and sets a bad precedent,” the Chinese defense ministry said in a statement.

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by W.G. Dunlop/Allison Jackson

The United States and the Philippines announced a deal Thursday to give US troops access to another four bases in the Southeast Asian nation, as the longtime allies seek to counter China’s military rise.

The agreement to expand cooperation in “strategic areas of the country” was made during a visit by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

It comes as the countries seek to repair ties that were fractured in recent years. Previous Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte favoured China over his country’s former colonial master, but the new administration of Ferdinand Marcos has been keen to reverse that.

Beijing’s growing assertiveness on Taiwan and its building of bases in the disputed South China Sea have given fresh impetus to Washington and Manila to strengthen their partnership.

Given its proximity to Taiwan and its surrounding waters, cooperation from the Philippines would be key in the event of a conflict with China, which a four-star US Air Force general has warned could happen as early as 2025.

The four new locations bring the total number of sites accessible to US forces to nine, Austin told reporters on Thursday.

Talks were ongoing for a potential 10th site, a senior Philippine official told AFP.

The announcement came as the United States reopened its embassy in the Solomon Islands after a 30-year hiatus as it competes with China for influence in the South Pacific.

The United States and the Philippines have a decades-old security alliance that includes a mutual defence treaty and the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which allows US troops to rotate through five Philippine bases, including those near disputed waters.

It also allows the US military to store defence equipment and supplies on those bases.

The EDCA stalled under Duterte, but Marcos has sought to accelerate its implementation.

Philippine defence secretary Carlito Galvez told reporters the location of the new sites would be made public after local communities and officials had been consulted.

But it has been widely reported that most of the locations are on the main island of Luzon — the closest Philippine landmass to Taiwan — where the United States already has access to two bases.

The fourth will reportedly be on the western island of Palawan, facing the Spratly Islands in the hotly contested South China Sea, taking the number of sites there to two.

‘Illegitimate claims’

Austin said the allies were committed to “strengthening our mutual capacities to resist armed attack”, as he accused China of making “illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea”.

Manila refers to waters immediately west of the country as the West Philippine Sea.

Beijing responded Thursday, saying Washington was exacerbating “regional tensions” by continuously strengthening its military deployment.

The United States is also seeking to bolster alliances with other nations to counter China’s rapid military advances, including its AUKUS partnership with Australia and Britain.

Australia has agreed to step up the pace of military interactions with Washington, while Japan is planning to enter joint exercises with both countries.

While Marcos has sought to strike a balance between China and the United States, he has insisted he will not let Beijing trample on Manila’s maritime rights.

About 500 US military personnel are currently in the Philippines, with others rotating through the country for joint exercises as required. 

Protest against EDCA

The US military presence has long been a sensitive issue in the Philippines. Around 100 protesters rallied outside the country’s military headquarters on Thursday calling for the EDCA to be scrapped. 

The United States previously had two major bases in its former colony, but in 1991 the Senate voted to terminate the lease agreement after growing nationalist sentiment.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored a ruling at The Hague that its claims have no legal basis.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims to parts of the sea.

China also claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, to be reclaimed one day, by force if necessary.

“Looking at the location of the proposed sites, it seems pretty clear that these sites are in relation to a Taiwan contingency,” said Greg Wyatt of PSA Philippines Consultancy. 

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By Mikhail Flores

Philippine Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa was on Wednesday acquitted of tax evasion, among a slew of charges she has long maintained are politically motivated, calling the verdict a victory for “truth”.  

Ressa, who shared the Nobel with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov in 2021, still faces three other cases, including a cyber libel conviction now under appeal that could mean nearly seven years in prison.

“Today, facts win. Truth wins,” a teary-eyed and defiant Ressa told reporters outside the Manila courtroom after the court ruled on four government charges that she and her online media company Rappler had dodged taxes in a 2015 bond sale to foreign investors.

The tax court said prosecutors failed to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that Ressa and Rappler Holdings Corp. had evaded paying income taxes owed.

“These charges were politically motivated,” Ressa said Wednesday. “We were able to prove that Rappler is not a tax evader.”

The 59-year-old has been battling a series of cases that media advocates say were filed due to her vocal criticism of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his drug war, which claimed thousands of lives.

Ressa and Muratov were awarded the 2021 Nobel for their efforts to “safeguard freedom of expression”.

Asked what the tax court ruling meant, Ressa said: “Hope. That’s what it provides.”

In a statement, Rappler said: “An adverse decision would have had far-reaching repercussions on both the press and the capital markets … With you we will continue to #HoldTheLine” — a slogan used to symbolise their fight for press freedom.

An uncertain future

Despite the ruling, the future of Rappler, which Ressa founded in 2012, remains uncertain.

It is still fighting a Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission order to close it for allegedly violating a constitutional ban on foreign ownership in media. 

The news organisation, which remains operational, is accused of allowing foreigners to take control of its website through its parent company Rappler Holdings’ issuance of “depositary receipts”.

Under the constitution, investment in media is reserved for Filipinos or Filipino-controlled entities.

The case springs from a 2015 investment by the US-based Omidyar Network, established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.  

Omidyar later transferred its Rappler investment to the site’s local managers to stave off efforts by Duterte to shut it down.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said in September he would not interfere in Ressa’s cases, citing the separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches of government.

Shortly after Marcos took office last year, Ressa lost an appeal against a 2020 conviction for cyber libel.

Trouble for Ressa and Rappler began in 2016, when Duterte came to power and launched a drug war in which more than 6,200 people were killed in police anti-narcotics operations, official data shows.

Rights groups estimate tens of thousands were killed.

Rappler was among the domestic and foreign media outlets that published shocking images of the killings and questioned the crackdown’s legal basis.

Local broadcaster ABS-CBN — also critical of Duterte — lost its free-to-air licence, while Ressa and Rappler endured what press freedom advocates say was a grinding series of criminal charges, probes and online attacks. 

Duterte’s government said previously it had nothing to do with any of the cases against Ressa.

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Danish politicians have donned necklaces featuring 6,500 miniature skulls to raise awareness of Qatar’s migrant worker death toll in the decade-long lead-up to the World Cup.

Government data analysis by the Guardian last year showed that over 6,500 workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died since Qatar won the right to the sporting event in 2011.

The “#Qatar6500” art event was devised by sculptor Jens Galschiøt, most famous for his Tiananmen crackdown Pillar of Shame, which the University of Hong Kong removed from its campus a year ago.

“The MPs are sending a strong signal. Their criticism of the creation of the World Cup in Qatar will resonate internationally and not least in Qatar,” Galschiøt said in a press release. “I suggest all national soccer teams to have a picture taken wearing the skull necklace.”

Galschiøt said he hoped a high-profile person would come forward to wear the necklace in Qatar.

Thirty members of Denmark’s parliament – including ex-ministers – took part.

The unique artwork was inspired by ancient Tibetan traditions that used human craniums in jewellery. Each handmade skull measures around 6 x 5 millimetres.

Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary general of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for delivery and legacy, said last month that only 400-500 migrant workers died on World Cup-related projects. The government data compiled by the Guardian covers all migrant worker deaths over a decade.

The controversial World Cup ends on December 18.

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By Kelly Macnamara, Marlowe Hood and Laurent Thomet

A fraught UN summit wrapped up Sunday with a landmark deal on funding to help vulnerable countries cope with devastating climate impacts — but also anger over a failure to be more ambitious on cutting emissions.

The two-week talks in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, which at times appeared to teeter on the brink of collapse, delivered a major breakthrough on a fund for climate “loss and damage”.

Pakistani climate minister Sherry Rehman said COP27 “responded to the voices of the vulnerable”.

“We have struggled for 30 years on this path, and today in Sharm el-Sheikh this journey has achieved its first positive milestone,” she told the summit.

Tired delegates applauded when the fund was adopted as the sun came up Sunday following almost two extra days of round-the-clock negotiations.

But jubilation over that achievement was countered by stern warnings.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the talks had “taken an important step towards justice” with the loss and damage fund, but fell short in pushing for the urgent carbon-cutting needed to tackle global warming.

“Our planet is still in the emergency room,” Guterres said. “We need to drastically reduce emissions now and this is an issue this COP did not address.”

See also: ‘It’s happening to us as well’ – Hong Kong climate advocates sound alarm at COP27 in absence of city officials

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also warned that “more must be done”, while French President Emmanuel Macron proposed another summit in Paris ahead of COP28 in Dubai to agree “a new financial pact” for vulnerable nations. 

‘Stonewalled by emitters’

A final COP27 statement covering the broad efforts to grapple with a warming planet held the line on the aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

It also included language on renewable energy for the first time, while reiterating previous calls to accelerate “efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”.

But that failed to go much further than a similar decision from last year’s COP26 meeting in Glasgow on key issues around cutting planet-heating pollution.

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said the EU was “disappointed”, adding that more than 80 nations had backed a stronger emissions pledge.

“What we have in front of us… doesn’t bring enough added efforts from major emitters to increase and accelerate their emission cuts,” said Timmermans, who 24 hours earlier threatened to walk out of the talks.

Britain’s Alok Sharma, who chaired COP26 in Glasgow, said a passage on energy had been “weakened, in the final minutes”.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she was frustrated that the emissions cuts and fossil fuel phase-out were “stonewalled by a number of large emitters and oil producers”.

Criticised by some delegations for a lack of transparency during negotiations, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 chair, said any missteps were “certainly not intentional”, and that he worked to avoid any “backslide” by parties.

‘Loss and damage’

The deal on loss and damage gathered critical momentum during the talks.

Developing nations relentlessly pushed for the fund, finally succeeding in getting the backing of wealthy polluters long fearful of open-ended liability.

A statement from the Alliance of Small Island States, comprised of islands whose very existence is threatened by sea levels rising, said the loss and damage deal was “historic”.

“The agreements made at COP27 are a win for our entire world,” said Molwyn Joseph, of Antigua and Barbuda and chair of AOSIS.

“We have shown those who have felt neglected that we hear you, we see you, and we are giving you the respect and care you deserve.”

With around 1.2C of warming so far, the world has seen a cascade of climate-driven extremes, shining a spotlight on the plight of developing countries faced with escalating disasters, as well as an energy and food price crisis and ballooning debt.

The fund will be geared towards developing nations “that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change” — language that had been requested by the EU.

‘On the brink’

The Europeans had also wanted to broaden the funder base to cough up cash — code for China and other better-off emerging countries. 

The final loss and damage text left many of the thornier questions to be dealt with by a transitional committee, which will report to next year’s climate meeting in Dubai to get the funding operational.

The fund will focus on what can be done now to support loss and damage resources but the agreement does not provide for liability or compensation, said a US State Department spokesperson.

Scientists say limiting warming to 1.5C is a far safer guardrail against catastrophic climate impacts, with the world currently way off track and heading for around 2.5C under current commitments and plans.

“The historic outcome on loss and damage at COP27 shows international cooperation is possible,” said Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and Chair of The Elders.

“Equally, the renewed commitment on the 1.5C global warming limit was a source of relief. However, none of this changes the fact that the world remains on the brink of climate catastrophe.”  

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By Laurent Thomet and Kelly Macnamara

The UN’s chief warned Monday that nations must cooperate or face “collective suicide” in the fight against climate change, at a summit where developing countries reeling from global warming demanded more action from rich polluters.

Nearly 100 heads of state and government are meeting for two days in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, facing calls to deepen emissions cuts and financially back developing countries already devastated by the effects of rising temperatures.

“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,” António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, told the UN COP27 summit.

“It is either a Climate Solidarity Pact or a Collective Suicide Pact,” he added.

Guterres urged the world to ramp up the transition to renewable energy, and for richer polluting nations to come to the aid of poorer countries least responsible for heat-trapping emissions.

He said the target should be to provide renewable and affordable energy for all, calling on the United States and China in particular to lead the way.

US-Sino tensions, however, have prompted Beijing to freeze climate cooperation with Washington.

President Xi Jinping is absent from the summit, while President Joe Biden will attend it later this week after US midterm elections.

‘Persisting distrust’

Nations worldwide are coping with increasingly intense natural disasters that have taken thousands of lives this year and cost billions of dollars.

They range from devastating floods in Nigeria and Pakistan to droughts in the United States and several African nations, as well as unprecedented heatwaves across three continents.

“We have seen one catastrophe after another,” said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. “Is it not high time to put an end to all this suffering?”

Money has emerged as a major issue at COP27, with wealthy countries scolded for failing to fulfil their pledge to provide US$100 billion per year to help developing countries green their economies.

This is a “major cause for persisting distrust, and neither is there any sound reason for the continuing pollution”, said Kenyan President William Ruto, who announced an African climate summit for next year.

A salvo of crises — from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to soaring inflation and the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic — have raised concerns that climate change has dropped down the priority list of governments.

‘Highway to climate hell’

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said President Vladimir Putin’s “abhorrent war in Ukraine and rising energy prices across the world are not a reason to go slow on climate change.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose gas-dependent economy has been squeezed hard by cuts in Russian supplies, also warned against a “worldwide renaissance of fossil fuels”

Guterres called for a “historic” deal between rich emitters and emerging economies, with countries doubling down on emissions reductions to hold the rise in temperatures to the more ambitions Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era.

Current trends would see carbon pollution increase 10 percent by the end of the decade and put the world on a path to heat up to 2.8C.

“We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator,” Guterres said.

Poorer countries successfully fought to have the issue of “loss and damage” — compensation for the damage caused by climate-enhanced natural disasters — officially put on the COP27 agenda.

“We, the oceanic states that suffer the harsh effects of your activities, have to be assisted in repairing the damage you cause to us,” said Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan, whose island nation is threatened by rising waters.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley called for a windfall tax on the profits of oil companies, that would be funnelled to a loss and damage fund.

‘Living nightmare’

The United States and the European Union have dragged their feet for years on compensation for climate impacts, fearing it would create an open-ended reparations framework.

“Loss and damage is not an abstract topic of endless dialogue,” Ruto said. “It is our daily experience and the living nightmare for hundreds of millions of Africans”.

Guterres said that getting “concrete results on loss and damage is a litmus test of the commitment of governments to the success of COP27.”

In a possible blueprint for other developing nations, a group of wealthy nations approved a plan paving the way for South Africa to receive US$8.5 billion in loans and grants to move away from coal.

COP27 is scheduled to continue through November 18, with ministers joining the fray during the second week.

Security is tight at the meeting, with Human Rights Watch saying authorities have arrested dozens of people and restricted the right to demonstrate in the days leading up to COP27.

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By Peter Wuetherich

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told President Xi Jinping on Friday he wished to deepen economic cooperation, on a trip to Beijing that has prompted criticism over Berlin’s heavy reliance on an increasingly authoritarian China.

Scholz is the first G7 leader to visit China since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen the world’s number two economy largely close its borders.

But the trip has sparked controversy, coming so soon after Xi strengthened his hold on power and as tensions run high between the West and Beijing on issues ranging from Taiwan to alleged human rights abuses. 

Received by Xi at the Great Hall of the People shortly after arriving in Beijing, Scholz said he was seeking to “further develop” economic cooperation while alluding to areas of disagreement. 

“It is good that we are able to have an exchange here about all questions, including those questions where we have different perspectives — that’s what an exchange is for,” Scholz said. 

“We also want to talk about how we can further develop our economic cooperation on other topics: climate change, food security, indebted countries.”

Xi said he believed the visit would “enhance mutual understanding and mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, and create sound plans for the development of China-Germany relations in the next stage”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Scholz is also set to meet Premier Li Keqiang on the one-day trip, on which he is being accompanied by top business executives. 

The delegation of more than 60 people was met on the tarmac at Beijing airport by a military guard — as well as health workers in white hazmat suits who conducted mandatory PCR tests in buses converted into mobile laboratories. 

Scholz’s PCR test was taken in his plane by a German doctor he brought with him and supervised by Chinese health officials, according to the German government.

‘Keep doing business’

China’s economic importance is seen by some in Berlin as more crucial than ever, as Germany hurtles towards a recession battling an energy crisis triggered by the Ukraine war. 

China is a major market for German goods, from machinery to vehicles made by the likes of Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

But German industry’s heavy dependence on China is facing fresh scrutiny after the over-reliance on Russian energy imports left it exposed when Moscow turned off the taps.

Scholz’s approach is still underpinned by the idea that “we want to keep doing business with China, no matter what that means for the dependence of our economy, and for our ability to act”, opposition lawmaker Norbert Roettgen told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

Concern about China has also come from within the ruling coalition, with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying mistakes made in the past with Russia must not be repeated.

The sensitivity of the issue was highlighted when a row erupted last month about whether to allow Chinese shipping giant Cosco to buy a stake in a Hamburg port terminal. 

Ultimately, Scholz defied calls from six ministries to veto the sale over security concerns, instead permitting the company to acquire a reduced stake.

‘Going it alone’

There are also concerns that the trip — coming on the heels of Xi securing a historic third term at a Communist Party Congress last month — may have unsettled the United States and the European Union.

“The chancellor is pursuing a foreign policy which will lead to a loss of trust in Germany among our closest partners,” said Roettgen from the conservative CDU party, accusing Scholz of “going it alone”.

Berlin, however, says there have been consultations with key partners, while Scholz has insisted he is visiting China as a “European” as well as the leader of Germany.

He said direct talks with Chinese leaders were “all the more important” after the long hiatus caused by the pandemic.

In a newspaper article, he promised thorny topics like respect for civil liberties and the rights of minorities in Xinjiang would figure in talks.

But Beijing has already warned that “the Chinese side is opposed to interference in our internal affairs, and smearing us under the guise of discussing human rights issues”, said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

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China said Wednesday it has lodged a formal complaint with Britain over an altercation between its diplomats and a Hong Kong protester on the grounds of its Manchester consulate.

British police have said a group of men came out of the consulate during a weekend demonstration, dragging one of the protesters inside the grounds and assaulting him. 

The incident has drawn widespread condemnation in Britain and triggered an international row that saw the UK foreign office summon a senior Chinese diplomat.

Beijing said Wednesday its diplomats were not to blame for the altercation.

“Due to lawless elements’ malicious harassment and illegal entry to the Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester, this caused Chinese personnel to be wounded and threatened the security of the Chinese premises,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a routine briefing.

Beijing had already “made representations” to British authorities and urged London to do more to protect Chinese diplomats, he added.

Previously, China said the protesters had “illegally entered” the consulate — claims that were missing from an official foreign ministry briefing transcript on Wednesday.

Local police in Manchester have said they are investigating the incident, which the UK prime minister’s office called “deeply concerning” and which sparked an outcry from British lawmakers.

The man involved in the incident, who is in his 30s, sustained injuries and spent the night in hospital, police said.

The newly appointed chair of the UK parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Alicia Kearns, accused the Chinese Consul-General Zheng Xiyuan, one of Beijing’s most senior UK diplomats, of being at the scene and “ripping down posters” during a “peaceful protest”.

China has not responded to those claims.

The protest took place as China opened its five-yearly Communist Party Congress, where President Xi Jinping is widely expected to be handed a historic third term in power.

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China on Tuesday accused demonstrators of “illegally entering” Beijing’s consulate in the British city of Manchester, after footage of a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester being assaulted on the grounds sparked outrage in the UK.

British police have said a group of men came out of the consulate during a peaceful demonstration on Sunday afternoon and dragged one of the protesters inside the grounds and assaulted him.

But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Tuesday said the protesters were to blame and that “violation of the peace and dignity of China’s overseas embassies and consulates will not be tolerated”.

“The troublemakers illegally entered the Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester, endangering the security of the premises,” Wang said at a daily press briefing.

He urged the UK to “earnestly fulfil its duties and take effective measures to step up protection of the premises and personnel of the Chinese embassy and consulates”.

A British government spokesman on Monday said reports of the incident were “obviously deeply concerning,” adding that it would be “inappropriate” to comment further while the police probe was ongoing.

The protest took place as China opened its five-yearly Communist Party Congress, where President Xi Jinping is widely expected to be handed a historic third term in power.

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British lawmakers have urged an investigation after a Hong Kong protester was dragged into the Chinese consulate grounds in Manchester and beaten up on Sunday, as a major Communist Party Congress began in Beijing.

A Hong Kong man protesting peacefully outside the Chinese consulate in the northern city was dragged into the premises by unidentified men who came out of the consulate, the BBC reported. The protester escaped with the help of the police and other protesters.

According to a video circulating on social media, a man kicked down protest signs erected outside the consulate that read, “may the higher power destroy the Chinese communist [party], screw the celebration,” before returning to the compound.

Additionally, flags that read “Hong Kong independence,” and “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” were displayed outside the consulate. The latter was a popular refrain during the protests and unrest in 2019 and has been ruled to be capable of inciting others to commit secession. Footage from the BBC showed a picture of China’s Xi Jinping with a noose around his neck.

Some of the men who could be seen punching and kicking the protester inside the consulate grounds were wearing protective gear, such as helmets and vests.

The man who was beaten up, who identified himself as “Bob,” told the BBC that the incident was “ridiculous.”

“Your so-called Hong Kong government said that we are rioters, but now your government, Chinese people, what are they doing? Who really is the rioter here?” Bob told the BBC.

British Members of Parliament, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, as well as Catherine West and Alicia Kearns, urged the Foreign Office and the home secretary to investigate the incident.

“The CCP will not import their beating of protestors and denial of free speech to British streets,” Kearns’ post on Twitter read. “Chinese Ambassador should be summoned & if any official has beaten protesters, they must be expelled or prosecuted.”

The Chinese consulate, in response to the BBC, criticised the protesters as “a small bunch of Hong Kong independence advocates,” and said that no consulate would tolerate people displaying images that insult Xi.

“”This would be intolerable and unacceptable for any diplomatic and consular missions of any country. Therefore, we condemn this deplorable act with strong indignation and firm opposition,” the consulate told the BBC.

Pro-Beijing protesters have often wielded effigies of foreign leaders at overseas consulates in Hong Kong.

The Greater Manchester Police told the BBC that there were ongoing enquiries over the incident.

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By M Jegathesan

World Cup hosts Qatar will stage the 2023 Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation said on Monday, after China withdrew earlier this year because of Covid.

China pulled out in May because of its “zero-Covid” policy, leaving the AFC scrambling to find a new host for its flagship men’s 24-team football tournament.

The tournament had been due to be held in 10 Chinese cities from June 16 to July 16 next year.

The AFC did not say in its statement when the Asian Cup would now take place, but secretary-general Windsor John told AFP it will likely be in January 2024 because of the cooler weather in Qatar at that time of year.

South Korea and Indonesia were the other two countries in the running after China’s withdrawal, but Qatar got the nod.

“The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee has today confirmed the Qatar Football Association (QFA) as the host association for the AFC Asian Cup 2023,” the Malaysia-based AFC said in a statement.

AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said Qatar is ready to put on the event despite the short lead time to prepare. It will also host the World Cup starting next month.

The AFC chief hailed Qatar’s “existing world-class infrastructure and unrivalled hosting capabilities”.

“Qatar’s capabilities and track record in hosting major international sporting events and their meticulous attention to detail are well admired throughout the globe,” he said.

“I must also commend the AFC for showcasing utmost professionalism in conducting a fair and transparent expedited bidding process and I thank all our commercial partners and sponsors for their patience during these unprecedented times.”

The AFC also said its executive committee has shortlisted India and Saudi Arabia for the 2027 Asian Cup.

Qatar has come under fire from human rights groups as hosts of the World Cup over the country’s treatment of migrant workers who built the tournament’s venues. 

Qatar, however, has said it has undertaken reforms in its labour practices.

The Asian Cup is staged every four years. Qatar won the tournament’s last edition, in 2019, which was hosted by the United Arab Emirates.

Qatar hosted the 1988 and 2011 editions.

South Korea jointly held the men’s 2002 World Cup with Japan, but has not staged the Asian Cup since 1960.

Indonesia held matches at the 2007 Asian Cup along with Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

But earlier this month Indonesia was struck by a deadly football tragedy that has become one of the world’s worst stadium disasters, with experts raising doubts about its capability to host major international events.

The disaster in an overcrowded stadium in Malang in East Java left 132 people dead and hundreds injured.

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By Mathias Cena

Japan reopened its doors to tourists Tuesday after two-and-a-half years of tough Covid-19 restrictions, with officials hoping an influx of travellers enticed by a weak yen will boost the economy.

By mid-morning, tourists from Israel, France and Britain were already pouring in, including Chris Irwin, 38, on his first trip to Japan.

“We have always wanted to come to Japan, and it seemed like the stars just aligned,” said Irwin, who arrived at Haneda airport from Britain with his wife.

Adi Bromshtine, a 69-year-old retiree from Israel, said she had been “planning before Covid and waiting and waiting” for the chance to visit Japan.

“It’s a long, long dream come true,” she told AFP.

Japan slammed its borders shut early in the pandemic, at one point even barring foreign residents from returning, and has only recently begun cautiously reopening.

In June, it began allowing tourists to visit in groups accompanied by guides, a requirement that was further relaxed to include self-guided package tours.

From Tuesday, visa-free entry resumed for travellers from 68 countries and territories.

Japan also lifted a cap on the number of arrivals and ended the package tour requirement.

Tourists must still present either proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test taken three days before departure.

In 2019, a record 31.9 million foreign visitors came to Japan, putting the country on track for its goal of 40 million by 2020, when Tokyo was supposed to host the Summer Olympics.

But in 2021, the figure plummeted to just 250,000.

Demand soaring

In Japan, tourists will find a country that is still adhering to many of the health guidelines that helped it keep pandemic deaths to around 45,500, far lower than many other developed economies.

Masks are ubiquitous, and though not mandated by law, parliament is set to pass legislation allowing hotels to deny service to customers who refuse to wear one or flout other health rules.

Masks are worn not only indoors and on public transport, but outdoors as well, despite the government saying they are not necessary outside in uncrowded settings.

There is hand sanitiser at the entrance of most businesses, and plastic dividers are still often used in restaurants.

Many arriving tourists seemed unfazed by the rules though.

“We’re more excited to see Japan than we will be annoyed by the masks, so we’ll be fine with it,” said British traveller Irwin.

Another major change for tourists will be the weakness of the yen, which is hovering around 145 to the dollar, a level not seen for two decades.

The government has already had to intervene once to prop up the currency, and government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno on Tuesday said officials are hoping rebounding tourism “will lead to recovery after the Covid pandemic and the revitalisation of communities.”

There is certainly no shortage of demand, according to Antoine Chanthavong, of Paris-based travel agency Destination Japan.

Since the reopening announcement, “we’ve been absolutely drowning, we don’t have enough time to deal with all the requests,” he told AFP.

Japanese carrier ANA has said reservations for international flights to the country surged five-fold after the reopening was announced.

For now, tickets are not coming cheap, with fuel prices soaring and airlines forced to take circuitous routes to avoid Russian airspace.

Itay Galili, a 22-year-old student arriving from Israel, said he wasn’t put off by the cost.

“As soon as I heard it was going to reopen on the 11th, I started planning. Tickets were expensive… but no price (is) too heavy,” he told AFP.

For all the rebound in demand though, there is little expectation that tourist numbers will quickly reach their 2019 levels.

Before the pandemic, travellers from Hong Kong and mainland China made up 37 percent of all foreign visitors to Japan, and 44 percent of tourism income.

But tough Covid restrictions in China make it unlikely visitors from there will be flocking back to Japan anytime soon.

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By Hiroshi Hiyama and Sara Hussein

Japanese and foreign dignitaries paid tribute to assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe at a state funeral on Tuesday that drew both mourners and protesters to central Tokyo.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described the former leader as a “person of courage” in a eulogy, listing his achievements, including efforts to strengthen Japan’s diplomatic ties.

“I feel heart-breaking grief,” Kishida said as he faced a photograph of Abe that was hung above a grand floral structure used to display his ashes, medals and the Japanese flag.

The decorative box of ashes had been carried by his widow Akie into Tokyo’s storied Budokan venue, where a 19-gun salute sounded in honour of the slain politician.

Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister and one of the country’s most recognisable political figures, known for cultivating international alliances and his “Abenomics” economic strategy.

He resigned in 2020 over recurring health problems, but remained a key political voice and was campaigning for his ruling party when a lone gunman killed him with a homemade weapon on July 8.

The shooting sent shock waves through a country with famously low gun crime and prompted international condemnation.

But the decision to give him a state funeral — only the second for a former premier in the post-war period — has provoked opposition, with around 60 percent of Japanese against the event in recent polls.

‘So much opposition’

US Vice-President Kamala Harris and world leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian premier Anthony Albanese were among those in attendance at the Budokan.

Outside, thousands of people stood in line as the ashes arrived, waiting to deliver flowers and say a prayer in two mourning tents.

Koji Takamori came all the way from northern Hokkaido with his nine-year-old son.

“I wanted to thank him. He has done so much for Japan,” the 46-year-old told AFP.

“The way he died was so shocking. To be honest, I also came because there has been so much opposition. It’s almost like I’m here to oppose those who are opposing this (funeral),” he added.

Those opponents were also out, marching near the tents before a larger demonstration in front of the parliament.

“There are people struggling financially who suffered particularly under the ‘Abenomics’ policies. We must not forget this,” Ryo Machida, a 19-year-old student, said outside the Budokan.

“He may have been a strong leader, but in hindsight, he was iron-fisted and anti-democratic.”

Divisive tenure

Abe’s accused killer targeted the former leader believing he had ties to the Unification Church, which the attacker resented over massive donations his mother had made to the sect.

The assassination prompted fresh scrutiny of the church and its fundraising — and uncomfortable questions for Japan’s political establishment, with the ruling party admitting around half its lawmakers had links to the religious organisation.

Kishida has pledged the party will sever all ties with the church, but the scandal helped fuel discontent over the state funeral.

Thousands have protested in the run-up to the ceremony and a man set himself on fire last week near the prime minister’s office, leaving notes reportedly expressing his objection to the event.

Some lawmakers from opposition parties are also boycotting the funeral.

The controversy has several roots, with some accusing Kishida of unilaterally approving the funeral instead of consulting parliament, and others resentful of a nearly US$12 million price tag.

It is also the legacy of Abe’s divisive tenure, marked by persistent allegations of cronyism, and opposition to his nationalism and plans to reform the pacifist constitution.

Kishida’s government may have hoped the solemnity of the event, attended by an estimated 4,300 people including 700 foreign invitees, would drown out the controversy.

Abe worked to cultivate close ties with Washington to bolster the key US-Japan alliance, and also courted a stronger “Quad” grouping of Japan, the United States, India and Australia.

Japan’s emperor and empress are not attending, as neutral national figures, but Crown Prince Akishino and his wife led mourners in offering flowers at the end of the service.

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Japan announced Thursday that it will lift tough Covid restrictions on foreign tourists, reopening the borders after two and a half years.

Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the pandemic had interrupted the free flow of people, goods and capital that had helped the nation flourish.

“But from October 11, Japan will relax border control measures to be on par with the US, as well as resume visa-free travel and individual travel,” said Kishida, who is in the city for the United Nations General Assembly.

Japan, along with China, has been a holdout in continuing tough restrictions on visitors as much of the world has moved on from the pandemic.

But unlike China, Japan never imposed a strict lockdown during the crisis.

Tourists who come to Japan will enjoy a weak yen, which has plummeted so low against the dollar that the finance ministry intervened in the currency market Thursday for the first time since 1998.

The return of the visa-waiver program suspended in March 2020 will restore the ease of access that saw a record 31.9 million foreign visitors to the country in 2019.

Since June, Japan has allowed tourists to visit in groups accompanied by guides, a requirement that was further relaxed to include self-guided package tours.

The cautious approach to reopening has been deliberate, said James Brady, Japan analysis lead at US-based consultancy Teneo.

Kishida “took office a year ago knowing that perceived mishandling of the pandemic had been a key factor in undermining public confidence” in his predecessor’s government, Brady told AFP.

“He has been extremely careful not to repeat those mistakes.”

Japan has recorded around 42,600 coronavirus deaths in total — a vastly lower rate than many other countries — and 90 percent of residents aged 65 and over have had three vaccine shots.

There is no law requiring people to wear masks, but they are still near-ubiquitous in public places like trains and shops, with many Japanese willing to sport masks when ill even before the pandemic.

While the return of mass tourism should give a “slight bump” to Japan’s economy, the benefits are likely to be limited by China’s zero-Covid policy, Brady said.

“Much of the economic benefit pre-pandemic came from high numbers of Chinese visitors coming and spending lots of money on tech products, cosmetics,” he explained.

But “currently, Chinese citizens face their own travel restrictions at home and won’t be traveling to Japan in large numbers.”

There is pent-up demand for travel to the country, however, according to Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights for travel analytics firm ForwardKeys.

“Searches for travel to Japan reached their highest point this year at the end of August,” and while flight bookings were just 16 percent of 2019 levels in early September, “we’d expect bookings to jump” when the visa rules are scrapped, Ponti said.

Demand from Europe may still be subdued “due to the increase in the cost of living in Europe caused by the Russian-Ukraine crisis plus the rising fuel costs driving up air travel costs,” said Liz Ortiguera, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

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by Jitendra Joshi & Phil Hazlewood

Britain said farewell to Queen Elizabeth II on Monday at a state funeral attended by world leaders, before a historic last ceremonial journey through the streets of London packed with sorrowful mourners.

Huge crowds gathered in near silence to watch as the queen’s flag-draped coffin, topped with the Imperial State Crown, her orb and sceptre, was carried slowly to a gun carriage from parliament’s Westminster Hall where it had lain in state since Wednesday.

To the tune of pipes and drums, the gun carriage — used at every state funeral since Queen Victoria’s in 1901 — was then drawn by 142 junior enlisted sailors in the Royal Navy to Westminster Abbey.

The thousand-year-old church’s tenor bell tolled 96 times at one-minute intervals — one for every year of her life — stopping a minute before the service began at 11:00 am (1000 GMT).

In his funeral sermon, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby praised the queen’s life of duty and service to the UK and Commonwealth.

“People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer,” he told the 2,000 guests, who included US President Joe Biden and Japan’s reclusive Emperor Naruhito.

“But in all cases, those who serve will be loved and remembered,” the Anglican leader added, before the coffin was borne on another procession towards her final resting place in Windsor Castle, west of London.

The longest-serving monarch in British history died at Balmoral, her Scottish Highland retreat, on September 8 after a year of declining health. 

Her eldest son and successor, King Charles III, dressed in ceremonial military uniform, followed the solemn processions, alongside his three siblings.

‘She was my boss’

Charles’s eldest son Prince William accompanied them alongside William’s estranged brother, Prince Harry, and other senior royals.

William’s two eldest children, George and Charlotte, who are next in line to the throne, also walked behind the coffin inside the abbey.

Late Sunday, Charles, 73, and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, said they had been “deeply touched” by the public’s flood of messages.

“As we all prepare to say our last farewell, I wanted simply to take this opportunity to say thank you,” he said.

Britain, a country much changed since the queen’s coronation in the same abbey in 1953, has dug deep into its centuries of tradition to honour the only monarch that most of its people have ever known.

“It’s once in a lifetime,” said student Naomi Thompson, 22, camped out in the crowds at London’s Hyde Park.

“It’s a moment of history… She’s everyone’s granny,” added engineer Alice Garret, 28. 

Others unable to be in London gathered in cinemas and churches around England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to watch the service and procession on big screens.

Auto engineer Jamie Page, a 41-year-old former soldier, stood on Whitehall to observe the funeral procession, wearing his military medals from service in the Iraq war.

Two minutes of silence

But on Charles, the oldest person yet to ascend the British throne, Page added: “Who knows, time will tell.”

The funeral lasted just under an hour, brought to an end by a bugler playing “The Last Post”, before two minutes of silence and the reworded national anthem, “God Save the King”. 

After an hour-long procession that was to go past Buckingham Palace, the coffin was to be taken west by road to Windsor Castle, where thousands had lined the route since early morning. 

Some 6,000 military personnel have been drafted in to take part in proceedings in what Britain’s highest-ranking military officer has called “our last duty for Her Majesty the Queen”.

The queen will be buried alongside her father king George VI, her mother queen Elizabeth and sister princess Margaret, reuniting in death the family who once called themselves “us four”. 

The coffin of her husband, Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99, will also be transferred to lie alongside her.  

Elizabeth’s funeral could not be more different from Philip’s at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in April 2021.

Coronavirus restrictions limited mourners to just 30, led by the queen, a solitary figure in mourning black and a matching facemask. 

The contrast was profound on Monday, the abbey packed with dignitaries and some ordinary Britons who were honoured for their military or community service, especially during the Covid pandemic.

Biden’s tribute

“You were fortunate to have had her for 70 years; we all were,” Biden said on Sunday after signing a book of condolence. “The world is better for her.”

In the abbey pews was Liz Truss, whom the queen appointed as the 15th British prime minister of her reign just two days before her death, in her last major ceremonial duty.

All of Truss’s living predecessors were there plus her counterparts and representatives from the 14 Commonwealth countries outside Britain where Charles is also head of state.

Whether they remain constitutional monarchies or become republics is likely to be the defining feature of Charles’s reign.

The queen’s death has prompted deep reflection about the Britain she reigned over, the legacy of its past, its present state and what the future might hold, as well as the values of lifelong service and duty she came to represent during her 70-year reign.

Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to have queued, sometimes for up to 25 hours and overnight, to file past the queen’s coffin as it lay in state.

Chrissy Heerey, a serving member of the Royal Air Force who joined the marathon queue twice, was the last person through the doors and described the experience as “amazing”.

“When they came to me and said, ‘right, you’re the last person’, I said, really?!” she told AFP, before heading off to join the crowds for the coffin’s procession through London.

Big Ben tolls

Throughout the procession after the funeral, Big Ben, the giant bell atop the Elizabeth Tower at one end of the Houses of Parliament, tolled and military guns fired at one-minute intervals.

At Windsor, the Sebastopol Bell — captured in Crimea in 1856 — and the Curfew Tower Bell also sounded.

A vast television audience was expected to watch the funeral worldwide and live online, in a sign of the enduring fascination with the woman once described as “the last global monarch”.

Those lining the streets of London — already jammed at sunrise on Monday — said they had to bear witness.

“I will talk about this moment to my children,” said Jack Davies, 14, camped out for the procession with his parents at Hyde Park Corner, where the coffin will be transferred from the gun carriage for the drive to Windsor.

“I’ll say: ‘I was there!'”

At Windsor, the queen’s crown, orb and sceptre will be removed and placed on the altar. 

The most senior officer of the royal household, the lord chamberlain, breaks his “wand of office” and places it on the coffin, symbolising the end of her reign.

The lead-lined oak casket, draped with the queen’s colours, will be lowered into the Royal Vault as a lone bagpiper plays a lament. 

A private interment ceremony will take place at the adjoining King George VI Memorial Chapel at 1830 GMT.

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Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history and an icon instantly recognisable to billions of people around the world, died on Thursday. She was 96.

Buckingham Palace announced her death in a short statement, triggering 10 days of national mourning and an outpouring of tributes to her long life and record-breaking reign.

“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT).

“The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

The eldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 is the oldest heir apparent in British history, becomes king immediately.

The queen’s death came after the palace announced on Thursday that doctors were “concerned” for her health and recommended she stayed under medical supervision.

All her children — Charles, Princess Anne, 72, Prince Andrew, 62, and Prince Edward, 58, flocked to her Scottish Highland retreat, Balmoral.

They were joined by Charles’s sons, Prince William, and his estranged brother Prince Harry.

Two days earlier the queen appointed Liz Truss as the 15th prime minister of her reign and was seen smiling in photographs but looking frail and using a walking stick. 

One photograph of the meeting sparked alarm, showing a deep purple bruise on the monarch’s right hand.

Seismic change

Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne aged just 25 in 1952 in the aftermath of World War II, joining a world stage dominated by political figures from China’s Mao Zedong to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and US president Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Her 70-year reign straddled two centuries of seismic social, political and technological upheaval. 

The last vestiges of Britain’s vast empire crumbled. At home, Brexit shook the foundations of her kingdom, and her family endured a series of scandals.

But throughout, she remained consistently popular and was queen and head of state not just of the United Kingdom but 14 former British colonies, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

She was also head of the 56-nation Commonwealth, which takes in a quarter of humanity, and supreme governor of the Church of England, the mother church of the worldwide Anglican communion. 

But questions will be asked about whether the golden age of the British monarchy has now passed, how an ancient institution can remain viable in the modern era and whether Charles will command the same respect or reign in his mother’s shadow.

Official mourning

Television and radio stations interrupted regular programming to broadcast the news, with long-rehearsed special schedules set in place to remember her long life and reign.

The national anthem, “God Save the Queen”, was played. Flags were lowered and church bells tolled to remember a woman once described as the “last global monarch”.

The national mourning period will culminate in a final public farewell at Westminster Abbey in central London.

Charles’ coronation, an elaborate ritual steeped in tradition and history, will take place in the same historic surroundings, as it has for centuries, on a date to be fixed.

Longevity 

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was for most of her subjects the only monarch they have ever known — an immutable figurehead on stamps, banknotes and coins. 

Diminutive in stature yet an icon of popular culture, she was instantly recognisable in her brightly coloured suits and matching hat, with pearls, gloves and a handbag.

During her reign, the royals went from stiff, remote figures to tabloid fodder and were then popularised anew in television dramas such as “The Crown,” watched by tens of millions worldwide.

Her time on the throne spanned an era of remarkable change, from the Cold War to the 9/11 attacks, from climate change to coronavirus, “snail mail” and steam ships to email and space exploration. 

She became seen as the living embodiment of post-war Britain and a link between the modern era and a bygone age. 

The mother of one of the most famous families in the world, she retained huge public support throughout, surviving even a backlash in the wake of the death of Charles’ first wife, Diana, in 1997.

More recently, the royal family was rocked by claims from Prince Harry and his mixed-race wife Meghan of racism in the royal family.

She also endured a scandal involving her second son Prince Andrew, whose friendship with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell saw him settle a civil claim for sexual assault in the United States. 

‘None of us will live forever’

Britons were jolted into recognising the beginning of the end of her reign when in April 2021 she lost her beloved husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Yet the palace had long recognised her mortality and the transition to Charles was already well under way.

He, his eldest son Prince William, who now becomes heir, and his wife, Catherine, began to assume more of the queen’s official roles.

The coronavirus pandemic and her advanced years forced her into the splendid isolation of Windsor Castle, west of London.

But from behind its stately walls, she remained a reassuring presence, popping up on video calls with members of the public.

In a rare, televised address during the first lockdown, she recalled the “Blitz spirit” of Britain under siege during World War II that defined her generation.

“We will meet again,” she said.

She cast off the shroud of Philip’s death and her enforced confinement to resume public duties, but age and ill-health forced her slow down. 

After a unscheduled night in hospital in October 2021 following undisclosed health tests, her appearances became rarer.

“None of us will live forever,” she told world leaders attending a UN climate change summit soon afterwards, urging them to leave a legacy for generations to come.

One of her last decisive acts was to settle an unanswered question for the succession, giving her blessing for Charles’ second wife, Camilla, to be called “queen consort”.

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Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced Sunday the country will repeal a colonial-era law criminalising gay sex, though he maintained that the government will continue to “uphold” marriage as being between a man and a woman. 

Inherited from the British colonial era, section 377A of Singapore’s penal code penalises sex between men with up to two years in jail.

Gay rights campaigners have long said the law runs afoul of the affluent city-state’s increasingly modern and vibrant culture, and had mounted two unsuccessful legal challenges.

During a major policy speech Sunday, Lee said attitudes have shifted since 15 years ago when the government decided the law should remain, although it has not been actively enforced.

Gay people “are now better accepted” locally, especially among younger Singaporeans, he said.

“It is timely to ask ourselves again the fundamental question: Should sex between men in private be a criminal offence?” Lee said. 

“The government will repeal section 377A and decriminalise sex between men. I believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept.”

He added: “This will bring the law into line with current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans.”

However, the repeal of section 377A stops short of full marriage equality. 

Lee said the government recognises that “most Singaporeans do not want the repeal to trigger a drastic shift in our societal norms across the board”, including how marriage is defined and how it is taught in schools.

“Hence, even as we repeal section 377A, we will uphold and safeguard the institution of marriage,” he said.

He stressed that under the law, “only marriages between one man and one woman are recognised in Singapore”.

The government will also amend Singapore’s constitution to keep this definition of marriage from being challenged constitutionally in the courts, Lee added.

‘Long road to equality’

The first attempt to overturn the law was rejected in 2014. The Court of Appeals dismissed the second challenge last February.

Ahead of Lee’s speech, an alliance of Protestant churches in Singapore had warned Friday against removing the law, which it described as a “marker for many social and moral considerations”.

Repealing the law without safeguards “facilitates the progress of a brand of intolerant and aggressive LGBT activism which seeks to impose its ideology upon Singapore society,” the alliance said.

Expressing “relief” over the government’s decision after Lee’s speech Sunday, gay rights campaigners called the repeal of section 377A the “first step on a long road towards full equality for LGBTQ+ people in Singapore”.

But “the true impact of repeal will be determined by how the people of Singapore respond to it, and treat each other, in the days and months to come”, they said in joint statement signed by more than 20 groups.

They also took aim at the government’s plans to enshrine the definition of marriage between a man and a woman into Singapore’s constitution — heeding calls from the city-state’s religious conservatives. 

“Any move by the government to introduce further legislation or constitutional amendments that signal LGBTQ+ people as unequal citizens is disappointing,” they said. 

“Such a decision will undermine the secular character of our Constitution, codify further discrimination into supreme law, and tie the hands of future Parliaments.”

In 2018, India’s Supreme Court decriminalised gay sex by overturning legislation from its own period under British rule — a decision that spurred campaigners in Singapore to renew their efforts to challenge the law.

The following year, Taiwan took the unprecedented decision in May to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first place in Asia to do so.

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The National University of Singapore (NUS) stands accused of editing a death penalty protest placard from a student’s graduation photo and livestream. The school told HKFP that the event was “not a forum for advocacy.”

During his graduation ceremony earlier this month, Luke Levy, held up a sign saying “Abolish the death penalty. No to state murder. End poverty, not life. Blood on your hands.”

“I held that sign as I walked on stage, took my on-stage photo, and left the stage, sign in hand… NUS took down the live recording of my commencement ceremony, only to reupload it later with an edit,” Levy said in a tweet.

“In the official stage photograph (that I paid for, for my own private display), the photo studio actually took time to try and edit the words on my sign out,” the 25-year-old activist added.

It comes as Singapore executed its fifth prisoner since March, following a Covid-related pause. In April, the authorities killed a mentally impaired man, as last-ditch appeals for clemency were rejected by the court. The spate of hangings has prompted a fresh wave of criticism and protests.

Levy added that the death penalty “unjustly kills the poor. It is not an effective deterrent of ‘crime’. And there’s no acquittal for those found innocent after execution.”

In response to HKFP’s enquiries, a university spokesperson told HKFP: “The NUS Commencement is an important ceremony celebrating the achievements of our 13,975 graduates and the completion of their NUS journey. All graduates and guests are expected to conduct themselves appropriately during the occasion. It is not a forum for advocacy.”

According to Today Online, police are looking into the protest. It cited lawyers as saying the activist may be liable under the Public Order Act, which restricts even single-person protests in public.

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