US President Barack Obama yesterday held three-way talks with the leaders of Japan and Australia, a day after stressing that US engagement in the Asia-Pacific region is here to stay as China rises.
Obama met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the margins of the G20 summit in Brisbane, which has been shadowed by rows with Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
Before reporters were ushered out of the room, Abbott said at the beginning of the meeting: “It’s good to be here with two such economic and strategic partners.”
Obama has denied that the US is bent on thwarting China’s economic and political emergence, but on Saturday stressed that Beijing must be a responsible actor on the world stage.
The prospect of a stronger tripartite alliance will stoke fears in Beijing that Japan, the US and Australia are ganging up to limit its increasingly assertive expansion in the region.
China has repeatedly warned of what it says is the danger of Japan “remilitarizing” under Abe, and regularly lambasts Tokyo for its apparent lack of repentance for misdeeds before and during World War II.
Abe signaled his eagerness to lift defense ties with Washington and Canberra in an opinion piece for the Australian Financial Review published on Friday, calling for “a peaceful, secure and prosperous future for the Asia-Pacific region.”
For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told the Financial Review that Beijing is ready to increase defense cooperation with Australia, which has long profited from China’s voracious demand for its natural resources.
Ahead of the trilateral talks, a senior US administration official said the partners were looking well beyond the Asia-Pacific region.
“The trilat is a new and unique way to leverage the capabilities of key Asian partners to improve our security posture in the region, for example on maritime security and missile defense, and to partner on global issues, including ISIL [the Islamic State], Ukraine [and] Ebola,” the official said.
Meanwhile, China was announced as the G20 host for 2016.
Turkey takes over the presidency from Australia and will host the event in Antalya next year. In a communique, the group of the world’s biggest economies said China would be home to the G20 in 2016.
“Australia looks forward to working with Turkey over the next year and it is my very great pleasure to announce that China will be the G20 host in 2016,” Abbott told a press conference yesterday.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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