Japan declines to join US and others in condemning China for Hong Kong law
Japan has decided not join the United States, Britain and others in issuing a statement scolding China for imposing a new security law, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, citing officials from countries involved.
The United Kingdom, the US, Australia and Canada condemned China on May 28 for imposing a law that they said would threaten freedom and breach a 1984 Sino-British agreement on the autonomy of the former colony.
There was no immediate response from Japan’s foreign ministry and the US embassy in Tokyo. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tokyo separately issued a statement May 28, the day China’s parliament approved the national security legislation, saying the nation was “seriously concerned” about the move, which observers fear could endanger Hong Kong’s special autonomy and freedoms.
Daily Update
Head of South Korea ‘comfort women’ shelter found dead amid probe
A woman running a shelter for South Korean victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery has been found dead in her home, police said Sunday, amid a corruption probe involving the facility.
Prosecutors are investigating claims that the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance activist group misused funds meant for the so-called “comfort women” – a euphemism for the country’s Second World War sex slaves.
The woman, 60, was believed to have taken her own life, police said.
“She came home by herself and the door was locked,” police said, without giving the woman’s name.
Officers said they did not believe anyone else was involved in her death.
The reason for her death was not known, but the activist group said she had been struggling with the ongoing investigation and a raid of the shelter by prosecutors last month.
“She said she felt as if her entire life was being denied,” it said in a statement.
Clashes at London’s Black Lives Matter protests
Mounted police clash with protesters in London
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India and China seek to ‘peacefully resolve’ border face-off
India and China have agreed to “peacefully resolve” the latest border flare-up that has heightened tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours, New Delhi said on Sunday, after a high-level meeting between army commanders.
Tension has flared in recent weeks between the two regional powers over their 3,500-kilometre frontier, which has never been properly demarcated.
Thousands of troops from both countries are involved in the face-off concentrated in India’s Ladakh region, opposite Tibet.
“Both sides agreed to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with various bilateral agreements,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that the commanders agreed an “early resolution” was “essential” for bilateral relations between the world’s two most populous nations.
“Accordingly, the two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” the statement said.
Israelis protest West Bank annexation plan
Israelis protest against West Bank annexation
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10-foot shark kills surfer off Australia’s east coast
A surfer was attacked and killed by a three-metre shark off the coast of northern New South Wales state on Sunday, Australian police said.
Several people tried to help the man, aged 60, and fought off the shark before taking him to shore at Salt Beach in South Kingscliff, police said.
He was given first aid for serious injuries to his left leg but died at the scene.
Nearby beaches were cleared of swimmers and surfers and will remain closed for 24 hours.
Kingscliff resident Stuart Gonsal had just arrived at the beach ready for a surf, when he found out about the fatal attack.
“We came down and we hadn’t got in the water and police were immediately hauling people in,” Mr Gonsal told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. “We found out there was a fatal shark attack on the south side of the rock wall. We were going to get in – we’re not going to now, for sure.”
