CHINA
Beijing irked by Modi visit
China summoned India’s ambassador over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to a disputed border region in the Himalayas, a long-festering irritant in relations between the Asian giants. On Friday, Modi visited the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, an immense territory of nearly 84,000km2 that China claims as part of its Tibet region. Modi marked the 28th anniversary of Arunachal Pradesh being declared a state, opened a train line and called for hydropower projects to spur regional growth. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late on Saturday that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin (劉振民) had called in Indian Ambassador Ashok Kantha to express “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to the visit, saying it undermined China’s territorial sovereignty. Liu said China places importance on developing relations with India. It called for New Delhi not to take any action that might complicate the issue and stick to resolving it through bilateral negotiations. China and India fought a brief but bloody frontier war in 1962. They agreed to a line of actual control in 1996 and began talks on settling the dispute.
CHINA
Man kills three in care home
A nursing home worker in central China accused of killing three elderly residents with a brick and injuring 15 other people had argued with his boss over unpaid wages, according to a local government and state-run media. Luo Renchu (羅仁初), 64, attacked elderly residents and staff at the privately run home in Hunan Province at about 2am on Thursday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Shuangfeng County government said in a statement. Luo fled and police said they apprehended him on a mountain on Saturday afternoon. The Xinhua news agency, citing police, reported on Saturday that the attack happened shortly after Luo argued with the nursing home’s owner over unpaid wages of 40,000 yuan (US$6,394). Luo and his wife, who also works at the Aixin Nursing Home, had been promised 10,000 yuan before the Lunar New Year, but owner Fang Hongchun (房鴻春) gave them only 6,000 yuan, Xinhua said. Xinhua said the 15 injured were residents and included Fang’s mother and brother. Most suffered head injuries and six were in life-threatening condition. The home has more than 90 residents, mostly in their 70s and 80s.
THAILAND
Police arrest gathering
Thai police plucked at least three people off the streets of the capital yesterday after they held a small gathering to “exchange views” with the country’s military junta. Thailand’s military has severely restricted public gatherings since seizing power in a coup in May last year. Taking a hard line on dissent, it has detained more than 300 people, including activists, journalists and politicians. The leader of a group of four people, Akkarakit Noonchan, was dragged away by plainclothes officers shortly after the beginning of the event at Bangkok’s downtown Victory Monument, according to a witness. Akkarakit told reporters the event by the group, calling itself Serichon Thailand 58, was not intended as a protest. At least two other people were seen being detained. They had earlier displayed t-shirts depicting a bird with its beak and claws bound, as dozens of uniformed police stood by. One person has been questioned by police, Phayathai police station head of investigations Lieutenant Colonel Thepitak Saengla said. He did not give any further details.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Monday met virtually with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) and raised concerns about “malicious cyber activity” carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement. The department last month reported that an unspecified number of its computers had been compromised by Chinese hackers in what it called a “major incident” following a breach at contractor BeyondTrust, which provides cybersecurity services. US Congressional aides said no date had been set yet for a requested briefing on the breach, the latest in a serious of cyberattacks
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