01/02/2026

WORLD 7 theSun on Sunday FEB 1, 2026 Starmer resets China ties

Narita relaxes licence rules CHIBA: A programme allowing foreign workers without Japanese driver’s licences to operate freight transport vehicles on aircraft parking aprons has begun at Narita Airport to address a severe labour shortage, Kyodo News reported. The first such programme in Japan shortens the time required for workers to begin operating cargo vehicles by eliminating the need to convert a foreign licence to a Japanese one, a process that usually takes around six months. Two employees from JAL Ground Service Co, a Japan Airlines Group company responsible for handling airport ground operations, received permission to drive last month following the start of the programme in December. – Bernama Baloch separatists launch attacks QUETTA: Ethnic Baloch separatists launched attacks across Pakistan’s Balochistan province yesterday in the latest violence in insurgency-hit southwest region, killing at least four policemen, officials said. Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, in which gunmen target state forces, foreign nationals and non-locals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran. “The coordinated gun and suicide attacks are being carried out across Balochistan, mainly in Quetta, Pasni, Mastung, Nushki and Gwadar districts,” said a senior security official based in the provincial capital of Quetta. “At least four policemen were killed in Quetta,” he said. A senior military official based in Islamabad confirmed the attacks, adding they were “coordinated but poorly executed”. The attacks “failed due to poor planning and rapid collapse under effective security response”, the official said. At least four police officials in as many districts said the situation was not completely under control yet. Mobile phone services have been jammed and traffic disrupted in the affected districts while train services have been suspended across the province. The Baloch Liberation Army, the most active separatist group in the province, claimed responsibility for the attacks. – AFP

Panama Ports’ assets, as a victory because it put operations at the canal under a majority US ownership. After the ruling, China’s Foreign Ministry said it would take “all necessary measures” to defend the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, while and Hong Kong’s government criticised what it described as coercive interference by foreign governments in international trade relations. – Reuters Alarm over disputed shoal MANILA: China conducted naval and air patrols around the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea yesterday, said the China Southern Theatre Command. The shoal is in the Philippine exclusive economic zone but China also claims it as part of its territory. The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China stepped up combat readiness patrols in the area last month, “resolutely countering the infringement provocations of individual countries within the region”, the Southern Theatre Command said in a post. The militaries of the Philippines and the United States carried out joint exercises in the Scarborough Shoal area earlier this week, in the 11th such drill since November 2023, Manila’s armed forces said on Tuesday. – Reuters Japan, and follows a similar agreement made between China and Canada this month. – AFP Uyghur minority. “President Xi said to me that that means all parliamentarians are welcome”, Starmer said in the interview. He travelled from Beijing to economic powerhouse Shanghai, where he spoke with Chinese students at the Shanghai International College of Fashion and Innovation, a joint institute between Donghua University and the University of Edinburgh. Starmer yesterday visited a design institute and met performing arts students alongside British actress Rosamund Pike, who spoke of her children’s experience learning Mandarin. The visa deal could bring Britain in line with about 50 other countries granted visa free travel, including France, Germany, Australia and

and China on Friday that both sides had “warmly engaged” and “made some real progress”. “The UK has got a huge amount to offer,” he said in a short speech at the UK-China Business Forum at the Bank of China. He signed a series of agreements on Thursday, with Downing Street announcing Beijing had agreed to visa-free travel for British citizens visiting China for under 30 days, although Starmer acknowledged there was no start date for the arrangement yet. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said only that it was “actively considering” the visa deal and would “make it public at an appropriate time upon completing the necessary procedures”. Starmer also said Beijing had lifted sanctions on UK lawmakers targeted since 2021 for their criticism of alleged human rights abuses against China’s Muslim

Starmer brushed off those comments on Friday, noting that Trump was also expected to visit China in the months ahead. “The US and the UK are very close allies, and that’s why we discussed the visit with his team before we came,” Starmer said in an interview with UK television. “I don’t think it is wise for the UK to stick its head in the sand. China is the second largest economy in the world.” Asked about Trump’s comments on Friday, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said “China is willing to strengthen cooperation with all countries in the spirit of mutual benefit and win-win results”. Starmer met top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday, with both sides highlighting the need for closer ties. He told business representatives from Britain

SHANGHAI: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrapped up a four-day trip to China yesterday, after his bid to forge closer ties prompted warnings from US President Donald Trump. Starmer’s visit was the first to China by a British prime minister in eight years, following in the footsteps of other Western leaders looking to counter an increasingly volatile United States. Leaders from France, Canada and Finland have flocked to Beijing in recent weeks, recoiling from Trump’s bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats against Nato allies. Trump warned on Thursday it was “very dangerous” for Britain to be dealing with China. Beijing lifts sanctions on UK lawmakers

GRASSROOTS SUPPORT ... Thai Prime Minister and Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul shaking hands with supporters at Lumpini Park in Bangkok while campaigning ahead of the general election on Feb 8. – AFPPIC

‘HK port operator contract violated Panama constitution’ PANAMA CITY: A contract held by a Hong Kong company to operate ports at the Panama Canal violated the Panama constitution and did not serve the interest of the public, the country’s Supreme Court said in a decision that voided a deal made in the 1990s. Reuters and confirmed by a court official. The ruling gave Washington a victory amid the intensifying US-China rivalry over trade routes and President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert dominance in Latin America. “It places in private hands decisions that should be in the public interest ... prioritising private interests over the general welfare of society.” The decision could complicate CK Hutchison’s proposed

The contract also lacked a requirement for environmental impact assessments and said the government had to seek Panama Ports’ approval before granting other concessions, the court said. “Disproportionate rights and prerogatives are granted to PPC, creating conditions that effectively eliminate competition and result in a monopoly in practice, even though no monopoly is formally declared,” the nine-member court said in a unanimous decision.

US$23 billion (RM90.6 billion) sale of dozens of ports to a consortium led by BlackRock and the Mediterranean Shipping Company. Trump had championed the proposed sale, particularly of

The court said the contract held by Panama Ports Company (PPC), a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison, violated Panama’s constitution by giving the company exclusive privileges and tax exemptions.

The court issued its decision on Thursday but did not release its ruling or explain its rationale. Local television station TVN first reported on the decision, which has been reviewed by