08/01/2026

THURSDAY | JAN 8, 2026

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China bans two Taiwan ministers

o Taipei calls action ‘intimidation’

was to “fundamentally safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity”, and that the moves were not aimed at Taiwanese citizens in general. Taipei has complained about Beijing’s “long-arm jurisdiction” to pressure the Taiwanese people and said Chinese laws do not apply in Taiwan, which has its own judicial system. China fired dozens of rockets towards Taiwan and deployed a large number of warships and aircraft near the island last week in massive war games around the island, causing dozens of domestic flights in Taiwan to be cancelled and drawing concern from regional allies and the West. – Reuters

war games around the island. The list already includes Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, head of the island’s National Security Council Joseph Wu and Defence Minister Wellington Koo. A third person, Chen Shu-Yi, a prosecutor from Taiwan’s High Prosecutors Office, was accused of being an accomplice in alleged separatist activities and will be held “accountable for life”. The spokesperson called on the public to submit evidence and leads on the prosecutor’s activities based on which China would impose “severe punishment”. Chen said the purpose of the actions against a small number of “Taiwan independence die-hards”

claim jurisdiction over Taiwan by treating such cases as “domestic criminal offences”, the council said in a statement, calling the efforts clumsy and ineffective. “Threats and intimidation will never shake the resolve of the Taiwanese to uphold democracy and freedom,” it said. “All serious consequences arising from the Chinese authorities’ actions that provoke instability in cross-strait relations must be borne entirely by the Chinese side.” China has now listed 14 people as “secessionists”, the office’s spokesperson Chen Binhua told reporters at a weekly news briefing, in an announcement that comes a week after the Chinese military carried out

ban also extends to Hong Kong and Macau. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island. Taipei objects to Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan’s citizens can decide their future. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council issued a strong protest, saying the move gravely undermined cross strait relations and would only provoke anger among the public. It accused Beijing of seeking to create a “chilling effect beyond the named individuals, to coerce Taiwanese into abandoning their determination to uphold the status quo and their democratic freedoms”. China was also attempting to

BEIJING: two Taiwanese ministers from entering the country for alleged separatist activities related to “Taiwan independence”, prompting an angry response from Taipei, which said it would not bow to “threats and intimidation”. The office described Taiwanese Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang and Education Minister Cheng Ying-yao as “die-hard Taiwan independence secessionists” and banned them as well as their relatives, from entry. The China banned

Vietnamese workers caught in Japan crackdown TOKYO: For a decade, Vietnamese worker Minh did tough jobs like sandblasting ships and welding steel, helping address rapidly ageing Japan’s dire labour needs.

Philippines begins talks with Myanmar

But now, having overstayed his visa, he is in the crosshairs of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s promised crackdown on illegal workers. Minh, a pseudonym used to protect his identity, came to Japan in 2015 under its Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP), which is billed as a way for foreign workers to learn skills to take back to developing countries. But critics say it also helps Japan get cheap workers who are vulnerable to debt and exploitation, with some of them deserting their jobs and falling into crime. “Many look only at the surface ... that foreigners committed crimes,” said Minh, a former TITP intern living near Tokyo. “They don’t think about the root cause: how and why.” Of the estimated 450,000 technical interns in Japan as of June, just under half were from Vietnam and worked in the agriculture, construction and food processing sectors. Many arrive indebted with recruitment and brokerage fees, including Minh, who intended to work to pay off the US$7,500 (RM30,434) he owed and send money to his family. But with scarce work opportunities back home at the end of his three years, finding a welding job as an undocumented labourer proved simpler. “Without foreign workers like us, there is no way Japan’s economy can function,” the 30-year-old said. Immigration levels in Japan remain low compared with other rich economies. But with an ageing population, one of the world’s lowest birth rates and labour shortages across industries, the number of foreign workers has hit record levels. That, along with dwindling salaries in real terms and higher living costs, has seen resentment towards foreign workers swell. “Anger at (Japanese people’s) own financial struggles is taken out on foreigners,” said Jiho Yoshimizu, head of a Tokyo-based non-profit supporting Vietnamese nationals. Since taking office, Takaichi has

PHNOM PENH: New Asean chair the Philippines has initiated diplomatic engagement with Myanmar’s top leadership to promote political stability in the country. Foreign Secretary Theresa P. Lazaro, who is the special envoy of the Asean chair on Myanmar, held talks with Myanmar’s leadership on the regional and bilateral diplomatic issues on Tuesday. “As chair of Asean, the Philippines will continue to build on the efforts of previous special envoys of the Asean chair on Myanmar in advancing the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus,” Lazaro said in Nay Pyi Taw. Her statement was published on the Department of Foreign Affairs website yesterday. Lazaro held discussions with Myanmar’s State Security and Peace Commission Chairman Min Aung Hlaing. Asean’s Five-Point Consensus consists of the immediate cessation of violence; constructive dialogue among all parties; a special envoy of the Asean chair to facilitate mediation; Asean to provide humanitarian assistance; and a visit by the special envoy and delegation to Myanmar to meet all parties. The Global New Light of Myanmar published an article on its front page yesterday emphasising the intention of both nations to engage with the 11-member grouping to strengthen regional diplomacy. “The two sides discussed Myanmar’s efforts to optimise cooperation within Asean, the good diplomatic relations between Myanmar and the Philippines,” the newspaper said. Myanmar held the first phase of its national elections on Dec 28 after nearly five years. The second phase will take place on Jan 11 and the final is scheduled for Jan 25. Before she visited Myanmar, Lazaro met Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow on Monday. “They discussed the situation in Myanmar, the Thai-Cambodia border situation and other geopolitical developments,” said the Foreign Affairs Department. – Bernama

Vietnamese nun Thich Tam Tri runs a temple north of Tokyo which offers shelter to her compatriots. – AFPPIC

vowed action, promising a policy package later this month that will reportedly include stricter visa management. The proportion of crimes committed by non-Japanese is low; 5.5% of the roughly 190,000 people arrested in 2024 for penal code offences were foreigners, according to police. Separate police data shows that among foreigners arrested in 2024 – excluding those with permanent residency and others – Vietnamese topped the list at over 30%, including for theft. The figures are partly explained by surging numbers of Vietnamese, up ninefold from a decade ago, who now make up a quarter of Japan’s 2.3-million-strong foreign workforce and are the biggest contingent. Overstaying his visa aside, Minh says he has never been involved in crime. He considers his internship a success, despite his “extremely dirty” task of sandblasting rust off ships, a job he says few Japanese on site were saddled with. Yoshimizu said that “some

the programme will continue to attract high-quality candidates. The yen’s weakness has devalued remittances sent home and there is increasing competition from labour markets such as South Korea, denting Japan’s reputation among Vietnamese, said immigration expert Jotaro Kato. Japan’s programme is increasingly reliant on Vietnamese applicants “with less motivation and educational qualifications than before”, the Meiji Gakuin University associate professor said. Vietnamese nun Thich Tam Tri, whose temple north of Tokyo offers shelter to her compatriots in trouble, said some interns make poor choices, falling into debt through gambling or ill-advised ventures into Bitcoin. But “technical interns contribute greatly to Japanese society”, she said. It “pains me to see how one bad headline can easily prejudice Japanese people against them”. “We have to normalise this image and regain the trust of Japanese people.” – AFP

technical interns are stuck in conditions that they just have to flee”. She said though most employers are conscientious, common complaints include low wages, sub par housing and sexual harassment. Under the rules of the scheme, interns are usually forced to stay with their employers, even if they are unhappy. Japan’s immigration agency says around 6,500 trainees disappeared from their workplaces last year. Absconders may turn to Facebook communities dubbed “Bodoi”, a vernacular term for “soldiers”, to look for black market jobs, or sometimes they are illegally hired through brokers by labour hungry businesses, Yoshimizu said. “Those who find these unofficial gigs can get by, but those who don’t can be driven into committing crimes like selling drugs,” she said. The government plans to transition TITP into a new system next year, with more flexibility for job transfers but imposing stricter requirements on language skills. Still, it remains unclear whether