APD | Weekly top 10 hot news (July 06- Aug 12)

APD NEWS

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Every weekend, Asia Pacific Daily will provide you with a run-down of the latest hot news.

This week, the following hot news you should know:


Top 1 | Wang Yi points out three U.S. mistakes in Pelosi's Taiwan visit

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The United States grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, supported the "Taiwan independence" forces and deliberately sabotaged peace across the Taiwan Straits, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday, pointing out the three mistakes the U.S. had made by allowing U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit China's Taiwan region.

"The U.S., in disregard of China's repeated notifications and warnings, was bent on arranging for the so-called visit of the number three figure in the U.S. government to China's Taiwan region," said Wang, who was on a visit to Bangladesh.

It must be understood that Taiwan is not a part of the United States, but a part of Chinese territory, and the U.S. side has made a public commitment about this, said Wang, adding that the U.S. side's action is therefore a serious infringement on China's sovereignty.

The Chinese foreign minister said the U.S.'s acts also condone and support "Taiwan independence" forces. "Any country must safeguard national unity and will not allow secessionist forces to behave recklessly."


**Top 2 |**Foreign friendship organizations with China strongly condemn Pelosi's visit to Taiwan

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By August 5, through the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, a total of 34 foreign friendship organizations from 30 countries and regions had expressed strong condemnation of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, saying it violates the one-China principle and three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, and supporting China to take necessary countermeasures to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Sri Lanka-China Society condemned Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan region. President of the Sri-Lanka China Society R. Jinith De Silva said the organization believes the move is a provocation against the Chinese side, which not only gravely violates the United Nations (UN) Charter and related UN agreements as well as the one-China principle, which is widely recognized and accepted by the international community, but also undermines regional peace and stability.

The Italian-China Friendship Association grossly denounced Pelosi's visit as well. Pino Arlacchi, an Italian sociologist and former UN undersecretary general, said it was an open provocation toward China. "Everyone is familiar with the situation in China's Taiwan region and the fact that the United States, from tens of thousands of miles away, must interfere in it is a flagrant violation of international law," he said.


Top 3 | U.S. government declares monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency

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The U.S. government on Thursday declared monkeypox a public health emergency more than a week after the World Health Organization qualified the outbreak as a global emergency.

"We are prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously," Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told reporters during a briefing.

As of Thursday, the United States had confirmed more than 6,600 cases of monkeypox, nearly 25 percent of the global total of 25,800 so far.


Top 4 | Vital grain supplies leave Ukraine ports in four ships after deal agreed

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Four ships carrying vital grain left from Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Sunday as part of a deal to ensure their safe passage, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said.

The four bulk carriers were loaded with almost 170,000 tons of corn and other foodstuffs, Ukraine's sea ports authority said on Facebook.

The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN personnel are working.

The United Nations and Türkiye brokered the deal last month after UN warnings of possible outbreaks of famine in parts of the world due to a halt in grain shipments from Ukraine that had squeezed supplies and sent prices soaring.

On Saturday, a foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine for the first time since the war started in February to be loaded with grain, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.


Top 5 | China's economy becomes the world economy engine: survey

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About 78.34 percent of respondents from 22 countries believe the Chinese economy has injected vitality into the global economy in a decade and has become the engine of the world economy, according to a joint survey conducted by CGTN and Renmin University of China.

The survey has interviewed respondents who are 38.64 years old on average from developed countries such as the U.S., the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, as well as developing countries like Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Thailand, India, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.

Over half respondents have higher education, with 54.71 percent having a bachelor's degree or above, of which 15.22 percent are masters and doctors.


Top 6 | Japanese PM shakes up LDP leadership, shuffles cabinet

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shuffled his cabinet on Wednesday, after forming a new executive lineup of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

This is the first time the prime minister has shuffled key ministers in his tenure. The move came a month earlier than expected, with analysts initially predicting a cabinet shuffle in early September.

In the 19-member cabinet, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno remained in their posts.


Top 7 | Only 6% believe U.S. will continue to dominate the world: survey

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Around 6 percent of people around the globe believe the world would be unipolar in the future – dominated either by the U.S. or China – while 34 percent, the largest group, think a multipolar world is the most likely prospect, according to a recent poll.

The global study was conducted by CGTN Think Tank and the Chinese Institute of Public Opinion at Renmin University of China and surveyed people from 22 countries including the United States, New Zealand, Japan, India, Egypt and Nigeria.

A majority approved of China's approach to human rights even as Western nations blast the country's record, according to the survey.


Top 8 | FBI seizes cell phone of Trump ally Scott Perry

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U.S. Republican Congressman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, an ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, told Fox News on Tuesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had seized his cell phone while he was traveling with his family earlier in the day.

Perry did not say why his phone was confiscated but said he was "outraged."

A supporter of former President Donald Trump, Perry has been the subject of a congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.


Top 9 | Wang Yi calls for stable development of China-ROK strategic partnership

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The mutual respect and support for development between China and South Korea (ROK) have not only brought important benefits to the two countries but also provided stability to the peace, development and prosperity of the region, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province.

He made the remarks when meeting with visiting South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin.

Noting that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the ROK, Wang said that the two countries are neighbors with common security and partners in mutual need.


Top 10 | PLA Eastern Theater Command successfully completes military drills around Taiwan

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The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has accomplished all tasks in the series of joint military operations carried out recently in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island, a spokesperson with the Command said Wednesday.

The operations involving troops of multiple services effectively tested the armed forces' integrated combat ability, said Shi Yi, a spokesperson with the Command.

The Command will closely follow the development of the situation across the Taiwan Straits, continue to carry out military training for war preparedness, and organize normalized combat-readiness security patrols in the Taiwan Straits to defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Shi said.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)