21/08/2026

FRIDAY | AUG 21, 2026

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Vietnam proposes ending death penalty for six offences

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s government yesterday proposed an 18% rise in defence spending for next year, including for drones and missiles, taking it above NT$1 trillion (RM127 billion) for the first time as Taipei bolsters its military to ward off China. The budget details come as Beijing, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military and political pressure over the past few years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects. Taiwan also faces calls from Washington to spend more on its own defence, mirroring US pressure on Europe, something Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has embraced. The government said in a statement following a Cabinet meeting to approve the 2027 general budget that defence spending in 2027 would reach NT$1.12 trillion, exceeding 3% of GDP. Defence Ministry comptroller bureau head Hsieh Chi-hsien told reporters that the ministry’s plans include supplementary spending on drones and missiles, for which the government had previously been unable to get parliamentary approval. Lai faces a challenge from Taiwan’s opposition-dominated Parliament, which only passed this year’s budget late last Friday after months of delays. The two main opposition parties say they will not write blank cheques for the government, though they have repeatedly stressed that they support defence spending. In May, Parliament approved extra defence spending of US$25 billion (RM101 billion), or only around two-thirds of what the government had wanted and excluding money for domestic programmes such as drones. The budget includes funds for veterans and the coast guard, which has an auxiliary role to the navy in protecting Taiwan’s maritime areas. Lai had already announced the defence spending number earlier this week. Taiwan’s government has made military modernisation a key policy platform and has repeatedly pledged to spend more on its defences, including developing made-in-Taiwan submarines, given the rising threat from China. Beijing’s military operates almost daily in the waters and skies around Taiwan, and it has also been honing new tactics, such as coastguard “law enforcement” patrols off the island’s east coast in the Pacific Ocean. Taiwan finished its annual Han Kuang military drills last week, simulating a range of battle scenarios, including how to break a potential Chinese maritime blockade. China’s Defence Ministry called the drills a “wasteful charade” that “stoked war panic”. – Reuters Plan to boost Taiwan defence spending Four killed in Japan train mishap TOKYO: Four people died in Japan yesterday after being hit by a train, authorities said, in a country renowned for its normally excellent rail safety record. The incident involving four workers took place at Shin-Kanuma Station, north of Tokyo, the Fire Department said. “The four were confirmed dead,“ a department official told AFP. Another official had said earlier when emergency services arrived, three workers were still trapped under the train, while one was on the platform. “Before being taken to hospital, all four of them were unconscious.“ Emergency services were first called at 10.47am (0147 GMT). Nippon TV reported that the workers were removing weeds from around the train track. Japanese railways have one of the best safety records in the world, with fatal incidents extremely rare due to high levels of maintenance and training, and use of advanced technology. Famously there has never been a passenger fatality from a derailment or a collision on Japan’s network of “shinkansen” bullet trains. – AFP

Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said: “It is not about legitimacy, it is about reality.” However, campaign group Special Advisory Council for Myanmar said this week “by embracing a warlord, Thailand has torched its credibility”. The decision to also allow a visit from Ye Win Oo was “adding to its ignominy”, the statement added. Last week, investigators from the United Nations said the military that Ye Win Oo leads is escalating its aerial attacks on civilian targets. The United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar’s annual report also documented a pattern of arbitrary detentions, torture and sexual violence committed by the military. Myanmar’s government called the publication “one-sided allegations against Myanmar’s security forces based on unverifiable and inaccurate information”. – AFP SHIJIAZHUANG: Eight people were killed and three others injured in a fire at a ground-floor commercial outlet in north China’s Hebei Province yesterday, local authorities said, reported Xinhua. The fire broke out at 3.40am at the outlet in Haigang District of Qinhuangdao City, the district government said. Firefighters, police officers, emergency management personnel and medical workers quickly arrived at the site for rescue operations, and the fire was extinguished at 4.30am, it added. The three injured individuals were sent to hospital for treatment and are in stable condition. Further investigation into the fire is underway. – Bernama-Xinhua subjects of wanted notices, and for crimes committed against the state, according to the Public Security Ministry. Human Rights Watch raised concerns about other proposed changes that would increase penalties for acts deemed to “infringe upon the interests of the state” and “oppose the Communist Party of Vietnam”. “Vietnam’s criminal laws need to be revised to become more protective of people’s rights, not to facilitate greater abuse by police,” said the group’s Asia director Elaine Pearson. The National Assembly is expected to debate the Bill in the coming weeks before bringing it to a vote at its next session, which begins in October. If approved, the revised criminal code would take effect in March 2027, newspaper Tuoi Tre reported. Capital punishment data is a state secret in Vietnam and it is not known how many people are on death row in the country. Lethal injection is the only method of execution after the abolition of firing squads in 2011. – Reuters Eight dead in China commercial outlet fire

o Bill w​ ould retain use of punishment only for treason, murder, terrorism and production of illegal narcotics: Minister

HANOI: has proposed abolishing the death penalty for six offences, including drug trafficking and the rape of minors, as part of a revision of the country’s criminal code presented to Parliament yesterday, state media reported. Public Security Minister Luong Tam Quang told the National Assembly that the draft code would retain the use of capital punishment for only four crimes, including treason, murder, terrorism and the illegal production of narcotics. “The narrowing of the scope institutionalises the (Communist) Party’s policy, aligns with progressive legislative trends, and enhances Vietnam’s standing in criminal judicial cooperation, extradition and mutual legal assistance,” the ministry said in a statement earlier this week. The proposal follows amendments that Vietnam’s government

took effect in July 2025, which removed the death penalty for eight offences, including embezzlement and activities aimed at overthrowing the government. The changes spared property tycoon Truong My Lan from execution after she was convicted in a US$12 billion (RM48.5 billion) fraud case. Under the draft law, other offences that would no longer be punishable by death include rioting, crimes against humanity and war crimes, according to online newspaper VnExpress. While proposing a reduction in the number of offences punishable by death, the draft would also introduce tougher sentencing provisions. The amendments would enable prosecutors to take aggravating factors into account for offenders who flee and become

CYBORG CANINE ... A mechanical dog dressed in a lion dance costume interacting with a visitor at the Soartecn Inc booth during the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show in Taipei yesterday. – AFPPIC

Thai, Myanmar military chiefs meet for talks BANGKOK: Thailand’s top general welcomed Myanmar’s military chief for talks yesterday, the latter’s first foreign trip in office as his coup-staging armed forces shake off their pariah status. nations’ 2,400km border, where the war has seeded instability.

A former spymaster for Myanmar’s ruling junta, Ye Win Oo has been sanctioned by nations including the United States for his role in the coup. The ensuing civil war is estimated to have claimed 100,000 lives. The international community is divided over how to deal with Myanmar since the elections. Democracy watchdogs have derided the vote as a charade to rebrand military rule while excluding the popular Suu Kyi, sidelining her party and punishing dissenters with prison time. But Thailand is among a band of neighbouring nations, sharing unavoidable border issues with Myanmar, which have used the polls as a cue to reset relations. This month, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul granted Min Aung Hlaing a red-carpet welcome in Bangkok. Defending the decision to host, Thai

Myanmar’s military ousted an elected government in a 2021 putsch, detaining its leader Aung San Suu Kyi and sparking a civil war in which it is accused of rampant rights abuses. The post-coup leadership was isolated for five years but has started a diplomatic offensive, touting deeply restricted polls that it staged around the start of this year as a return to normality. After the elections, Min Aung Hlaing – who led the coup as armed forces chief – took over as civilian president, handing the office of military leader to staunch loyalist Ye Win Oo. Thai military chief Ukris Boontanondha yesterday greeted Ye Win Oo at a hotel in the capital Bangkok. Their talks are expected to focus on the