19/12/2025

FRIDAY | DEC 19, 2025 7 US$11b weapons sales approved, says Taiwan TAIPEI: Taipei said yesterday United States President Donald Trump’s administration has given its approval to sell US$11 billion (RM44.95 billion) of weapons to Taiwan, the second batch of such sales since the the president returned to office. The Taiwan Foreign Ministry said the package includes Himars rocket systems, howitzers, anti-tank missiles, drones and parts for other equipment. The potential size of the deal rivals the US$18 billion (RM73.55 billion) of military sales to Taiwan agreed by then-US President George W. Bush in 2001, although that was downsized after commercial negotiations. The US does not recognise Taiwan as a country but is the self-ruled island’s biggest security backer. Its arms supplies are a key deterrent against a potential attack from China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control. The Taiwan Defence Ministry said the sale is expected to take effect in about one month. Even though the deal still needs approval from the US Congress, it is unlikely to fail given the cross-party consensus on Taiwan’s defence. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s government has vowed to ramp up defence spending as China maintains military pressure around the island. Taiwan has its own defence industry but the island’s military would be massively outgunned in a conflict with China, and so remains heavily reliant on US arms. – AFP ‘Gunmen not trained in Philippines’ MANILA: Philippines National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said on Wednesday there is no evidence indicating that the two suspects involved in the Bondi Beach attack received any form of military training while in the Philippines. He said a visit to the country does not substantiate allegations of terrorist training, adding that the duration of their stay would not have permitted any meaningful or structured training. The alleged father-and-son gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 15 in an attack that shocked Australia and heightened fears of antisemitism and violent extremism. Ano said the government was investigating the two men’s travel from Nov 1 to Nov 28 and coordinating with Australian authorities to determine the purpose of the visit, dismissing reports portraying the southern Philippines as a hotspot for violent extremism as “outdated” and “misleading”. Immigration records show the pair landed in Manila and travelled to Davao City in Mindanao, a region long-plagued by Islamist militancy, before the attack that Australian police say appeared to have been inspired by Islamic State. Local media outlet MindaNews reported the men stayed mostly in their rooms for nearly a month at a budget hotel in Davao. A hotel staffer said the duo checked in at noon on Nov 1 and rarely went out for more than an hour. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Calls to a hotel officer and Davao police went unanswered. Ano said since the 2017 Marawi siege, a five-month battle in which the Islamic State-inspired Maute group seized the southern city and fought government forces, Philippine troops have significantly degraded Isis-affiliated groups. “The remnants of these groups have been fragmented, deprived of leadership and operationally degraded.” – Reuters

Cambodia claims Thai army bombed casino town

o Bangkok yet to confirm airstrike on Poipet hub

accusations of attacks on civilians. Thailand said on Tuesday between 5,000 and 6,000 nationals remained stranded in Poipet after Cambodia closed its land border crossings. The Cambodian Interior Ministry said border closures were a “necessary measure” to reduce risks to civilians amid the ongoing combat, adding that air travel remained an option for those seeking to leave. It also said at least four casinos in Cambodia have been damaged by Thai strikes this week. Five days of fighting between both countries in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China and Malaysia, and then broken within months. US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly intervened in the conflict this year, claimed last week that the two countries had agreed to a new ceasefire. However, Bangkok denied any truce had been agreed, adding that fighting with artillery, tanks, drones and jets has continued daily since a border skirmish earlier this month sparked the latest round of conflict. China said it was sending its special envoy for Asian affairs to Cambodia and Thailand

yesterday for a “shuttle-diplomacy trip” to help bridge the gaps and “rebuild peace”. “Through its own way, China has been working for de-escalation,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Foreign ministers from the Asean nations are due to meet on Monday in Malaysia for emergency talks aimed at finding a diplomatic solution. “Our duty is to present the facts, but more importantly, to press that it is imperative for them to secure peace,” Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told journalists on Wednesday. “We are appealing to them to immediately stop this frontline offensive and if possible, (enforce) an immediate ceasefire,” Anwar said at his official residence in Putrajaya, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the talks. European Commission vice-president Kaja Kallas said she had spoken with the foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand on Wednesday, offering the European Union’s support for ceasefire monitoring with satellite imagery. “The conflict must not be allowed to spiral further. That’s why the ceasefire needs to be immediately restored.” – AFP

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia said Thailand’s military yesterday bombed the casino town of Poipet, a major crossing between the two countries, as foreign powers pressure them to halt reignited border clashes. Its Defence Ministry said Thai forces “dropped two bombs in the area of Poipet Municipality, Banteay Meanchey Province” at about 11am (0400 GMT) yesterday. Thailand has not yet confirmed any strike on Poipet, which is a bustling casino hub popular with Thai gamblers. Officials said the renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours this month has killed at least 21 individuals in Thailand and 17 in Cambodia, while displacing about 800,000. The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800km border and collection of ancient temple ruins situated on the frontier. Each side has blamed the other for instigating the fresh fighting and traded

Plaintiffs and their lawyers walk along the sidewalk in front of the Tokyo District Court after filing a lawsuit against the government. – AFPPIC

Japanese government sued over climate inaction

TOKYO: Hundreds of people across Japan sued the central government yesterday seeking damages for “unconstitutional” inaction on climate change, the country’s first such litigation. The landmark lawsuit criticises Japan’s “grossly inadequate” fight against the climate crisis, saying it jeopardises the health and livelihoods of the approximately 450 plaintiffs. “We just submitted our complaint and evidence to the court and our lawsuit has been accepted,” lead lawyer Akihiro Shima told AFP.

Plaintiff Kiichi Akiyama, a construction worker, said relentless heat forced his team to work slower, causing “huge losses” to his business. He added that there have also been cases in which “people collapse out in the field or have dropped dead after they return home”. Kyoto University assistant professor Masako Ichihara said in the past, five climate-related lawsuits have been filed with Japanese courts, including against coal-fired power plants. He added that this is the first compensation

claim against the state over climate change. This year, Japan sweltered through its hottest summer since records began in 1898 and the plaintiffs argue such heatwaves cause economic losses and put many at risk of crippling heatstroke. Akiyama said it now takes his team triple the estimated time to finish their projects. “I can barely dig with a shovel for 10 minutes without sitting down to rest. We wouldn’t be in this situation if the government had taken more initiative.” – AFP country’s opening-up into a new era,” an editorial by the state news agency Xinhua said. “It is also expected to provide a boost for free trade that has been impacted by rising protectionism and unilateralism.” “The benchmark is similar to Hong Kong,” said Consumer Economy at the China-Britain Business Council director Ran Guo. “In addition to boosting Hainan’s tourism, the plan should also encourage more foreign investment and manufacturing.” – Reuters

China launches US$113 billion free-trade zone BEIJING: China yesterday split off its southern province of Hainan from the mainland for customs processing, in part of a bid to join a major trans-Pacific trade deal and establish a new Hong Kong-style commercial hub. service sectors that are restricted on the mainland. China is also seeking to boost its free-trade credentials to convince members of one of the world’s largest free-trade deals, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, that it is able to meet standards for trade and investment openness through pilot projects such as the Hainan Free Trade Port. Officials expressed hope that turning Hainan into a duty-free zone would spur foreign investment, with goods that achieve at least 30% local value add able to move on into the world’s second-largest economy tariff-free. Foreign firms would also be able to operate in “China aims to build the Hainan Free Trade Port into an important gateway that leads the