Australia and Oceania

New Australia PM, Indonesia president ride bikes as diplomatic wheels turn

Australia’s new prime minister and Indonesia’s president rode bamboo bicycles together on Monday as they held talks to boost ties, as Canberra embarks on a diplomatic charm offensive aimed at countering China’s growing assertiveness in the region. Anthony Albanese hailed relations with Indonesia and vowed to strengthen them on his first bilateral trip since being elected last month, heading to Southeast Asia’s biggest economy in what has become a traditional tour for new Australian premiers. […]

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China warns Australia risks ‘serious consequences’ after jet interception

  Beijing on Monday warned Australia to “act prudently” or face “serious consequences” after Canberra accused a Chinese fighter jet of dangerously intercepting one of its spy planes over the South China Sea. Australia has argued it is not unusual for it to undertake surveillance flights in the South China Sea — a region Beijing insists comes under its domain despite a 2016 Hague ruling that dismissed its claims. China’s stance has heightened tensions with […]

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China’s diplomatic gambit heralds new ‘Battle for the Pacific’

by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A 10-day South Pacific island-hopping tour by China’s top diplomat focused world attention on a usually overlooked region, opened a new front in Beijing’s quest for global influence and challenged decades of Western primacy. On the face of it, Wang Yi’s trip was a failure. His centerpiece proposal — a regional pact to turbocharge China’s role in Pacific island security — was leaked to the press […]

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Papua New Guinea’s Ulawun volcano erupts

KOKOPO, Papua New Guinea (AFP) — The Mount Ulawun volcano in northeastern Papua New Guinea erupted early Thursday, spewing ash high into the air before easing with no injuries reported. The country’s Geohazards Management Division reported “continuous forceful emissions of thick grey ash clouds” from the volcano for about 15 minutes. Mount Ulawun is one of the world’s most hazardous volcanoes, featuring on a list of 16 “decade volcanoes” targeted for research by volcanologists because […]

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China fails to ink security pact with Pacific nations

Talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and 10 Pacific Island nations failed to reach an agreement on a wide-ranging security deal Monday, after sharp warnings the proposal would push the region into “Beijing’s orbit”. A virtual summit of leaders and foreign ministers was expected to discuss proposals to radically increase China’s involvement in the security, economy and politics of the South Pacific. But the effort appeared to have fallen short after some regional leaders […]

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More than 200 cases of monkeypox worldwide: EU disease agency

The number of confirmed cases of monkeypox worldwide has reached 219 outside of countries where it is endemic, according to an update released by the European Union’s disease agency. More than a dozen countries where monkeypox is unusual, mostly in Europe, have reported at least one confirmed case, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in an epidemiological note released Wednesday night. “This is the first time that chains of transmission are […]

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Western powers sound alarm on China plan for South Pacific

Western powers sounded the alarm Thursday over leaked plans to dramatically expand China’s security and economic reach in the South Pacific, in what one regional leader called a thinly veiled effort to lock island states into “Beijing’s orbit”. If approved by Pacific island nations, the wide-ranging draft agreement and a five-year plan, both obtained by AFP, would give China a larger security footprint in a region seen as crucial to the interests of the United […]

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Australia bidding to host UN climate summit, set new emissions target

Australia will present a more ambitious UN emissions target “very soon” and is bidding to co-host a COP summit with Pacific island neighbours, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Thursday, signalling a ground shift in climate policy. During a first solo overseas visit since her centre-left government was sworn in, Wong admitted that on the climate, “Australia has neglected its responsibility” under past administrations. She told hosts in Fiji’s capital Suva that there would be no […]

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WHO says monkeypox outbreak can still be contained

https://youtu.be/fGsCY5xwt2U   The monkeypox outbreak that has been reported in 16 countries and several regions of the world can still be contained and the overall risk of transmission is low, the UN health agency said on Tuesday (24 May). “What we know from this virus and these modes of transmission, this outbreak can still be contained, it is the objective of the World Health Organization and Member States to contain this outbreak and to stop […]

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Australia urges China to drop trade tariffs

Sydney, AUSTRALIA (AFP) — Australia’s economy minister called on China Wednesday to drop punishing trade tariffs if it wants to thaw frozen relations, after Beijing sent a message signalling it is ready to improve ties. China — Australia’s biggest trading partner — imposed tariffs and disrupted more than a dozen key industries, including wine, barley and coal, as relations deteriorated sharply in the past two years. Canberra had irked Beijing by calling for an independent […]

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China congratulates Australia’s Albanese in hint at thawing ties

  Beijing, CHINA (AFP) — Chinese premier Li Keqiang has sent a congratulatory note to newly elected Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, Beijing’s state media reported, ending a year-long freeze in diplomatic contact between the two countries. China cut off diplomatic and trade channels with Australia in a largely symbolic act of fury last May, following clashes over issues including human rights, espionage and the origins of Covid-19. “The Chinese side is ready to work with the […]

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Australia’s new leader overcame crash, party coup rumblings

  by Maddison Connaughton © Agence France-Presse Sydney, AUSTRALIA (AFP) — Anthony Albanese, Australia’s 31st prime minister, was rushed to hospital a year ago, after a four-wheel-drive slammed into his car. “I thought that was it,” he told a local radio station of the accident. At the time, his Labor Party trailed the country’s ruling conservative government in opinion polls, struggling to cut through during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the near-death experience changed his life, […]

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