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Airports and trains
Over breakfast some years back, in one of those times I had the opportunity to sit down with tycoon Ramon S. Ang or RSA, together with a small group of fellow journalists, he talked about the importance of having an airport express similar to Hong Kong’s much-touted MTR which connects the airport to the rest of the city. .....»»
After Ayungin harassment, China tells PH: Prepare ‘to bear all potential consequences’
The Philippines, meanwhile, says it 'will not be deterred – by veiled threats or hostility – from exercising our legal rights'.....»»
GCash sets sights on further international expansion
With GCash Overseas, Filipinos in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia can now download and use the GCash app, whether they have Philippine SIMs or local mobile phone numbers in the countries or territories where they live......»»
Elijah Woods on first-ever Asia tour, ‘loving’ Filipino fans
Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Elijah Woods (stylized as elijah woods) is bringing to Asia his ilu 24/7, 365 tour. The series of shows will commence on May 13 in Singapore and travel through Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Tokyo and Taipei......»»
Hong Kong, Philippines work to enhance relations
Filipinos are slowly beginning to travel back to Hong Kong following continued efforts by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office to woo tourists from the Philippines, as well as renew and improve trade and economic ties between the two nations following the COVID-19 pandemic......»»
China, Not Russia, Still Tops List of Threats to US
WASHINGTON - Russia's war in Ukraine - portrayed by top U.S. officials as posing a danger to the United States itself - still trails China when it comes to long-term threats to America's security, according to a top Pentagon official.The warning from Ely Ratner, the Defense Department's assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, comes in testimony prepared for a hearing Wednesday by the House Armed S.....»»
Typhoon Koinu brings record winds, knocks out power in Taiwan
Typhoon Koinu grazed the southern edge of Taiwan on Thursday, lashing the island with the strongest winds it has ever recorded and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes. Koinu made landfall in the island's southernmost Cape Eluanbi Thursday morning and was weakening as it moved 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the coast by 1:00 pm local time (0500 GMT), according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration. Pan Huang Kui-chun, a 68-year-old temple keeper in southern Pingtung county, said it was "terrifying" watching powerful winds bring down power poles in his neighborhood. "It nearly dismantled my house. I had to move all my deities to the side," he told AFP. "This time the typhoon was especially big. Really big. The wind was really strong. And it blew for a very long time. It took a long time for it to pass." Overnight, the eastern volcanic islet of Orchid Island -- home mostly to fishermen and farmers -- experienced wind gusts overnight equivalent to 342.72 kilometers per hour (212 mph) as Koinu moved west towards Taiwan's southern tip, according to the Central Weather Administration. "The maximum wind gusts of 95.2 meters per second measured in Orchid Island last night is a new record in Taiwan," a forecaster told AFP. Local media said some 2,400 homes on Orchid Island were without power, while the classrooms of an elementary school were damaged by the powerful gales. Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from May to November. Authorities had closed schools and offices on Thursday in anticipation of Koinu's impact. Experts say climate change has made the paths of tropical storms harder to forecast while increasing their intensity -- leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong gusts. Downed power lines Rain-drenched streets were deserted Thursday in Taiwan's southern Taitung and Pingtung counties, with strong winds knocking over street signs and tearing off metal roofing. Around 190 people were injured, the government said without providing any further details. Local media said some injuries were caused by falling trees. Across Taiwan, more than 300,000 homes temporarily lost power, with authorities still working to restore electricity to about 80,000 households. Downed electricity lines littered the roadside in Pingtung as work crews attempted to bring in fresh poles by truck. A supervisor told AFP it would take at least two days to restore the power. More than 200 international and domestic flights were cancelled, while nearly 3,000 people in mostly mountainous regions were evacuated as a precaution. Koinu comes about a month after Taiwan suffered a direct hit from Typhoon Haiku, the first in four years and which forced nearly 8,000 people to evacuate from their homes. It is expected to weaken as it moves towards the coastal waters of China's eastern Guangdong province, according to the weather observatory in nearby Hong Kong. The Chinese territory, which was skirted by a typhoon last month before being flooded by the heaviest rainfall in 140 years days later, issued its lowest typhoon signal on Wednesday night. The post Typhoon Koinu brings record winds, knocks out power in Taiwan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Hong Kong flooded by heaviest rainfall in 140 years
Hong Kong was flooded by the heaviest rainfall in nearly 140 years on Friday, leaving the city's streets and some subway stations under water and forcing its schools to close. Just across the border, authorities in China's tech hub Shenzhen recorded the heaviest rains since records began in 1952. Climate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, experts say, with more rain and stronger gusts leading to flash floods and coastal damage. The heavy rains in Hong Kong started on Thursday and in the hour leading up to midnight, the city's weather observatory recorded hourly rainfall of 158.1 millimeters at its headquarters, the highest since records began in 1884. On Friday afternoon, the Hospital Authority said at least 110 people were hospitalized due to injuries, with four in serious condition. A man was found unconscious off the shore of western Hong Kong Island and declared dead at the hospital, though authorities were still investigating if the death was flood-related. The city's highest rainstorm warning level, "black", was hoisted for a record-breaking 16 hours before being lowered at 3:40 pm Friday, with rainfall mostly easing by late afternoon. "It's absolutely shocking," said Jacky, 52, who lives in the Wong Tai Sin district with his elderly parents. "I don't remember floods ever being this bad in our district." "The bottom floor of the mall is completely flooded, the water level is higher than the storefronts... it's turned our day into chaos," he added. Authorities issued flash flood warnings, with emergency services conducting rescue operations in parts of the territory. "Residents living in close proximity to rivers should stay alert to weather conditions and should consider evacuation" if their homes are flooded, the observatory said. It also warned of potential landslips, telling motorists to "keep away from steep slopes or retaining walls". Hong Kong's stock exchange cancelled all trading sessions on Friday. 'Once in a century' Hong Kong Chief Secretary Eric Chan described the deluge as "a once-in-a-century heavy rainstorm", adding that extreme conditions would continue until midnight local time (1600 GMT). "It's like putting four bathtubs of water into one bathtub... it will spill," Chan said at a press conference, when asked if the government had done enough to prevent flooding. The Hong Kong Observatory said it recorded more than 600 millimeters of rainfall at its headquarters over 24 hours -- roughly a quarter of the city's annual average. Earlier in the day, taxis struggled through flooded roads as commuters attempted to make their way to work, with some cars stranded in the deluge. "It felt like the whole neighborhood was isolated by the floodwater. One of the underground car parks is totally under water," Olivia Lam, who lives on the eastern side of Hong Kong Island, told AFP. "The water was almost waist-deep outside my building, and that's not the worst (case) in the neighborhood." An AFP reporter saw boulders and mud from a landslide block off a two-lane road in the Shau Kei Wan district, with mud also spilling over into a nearby basketball court. Residents of a public housing block just 30 meters from the landslide lined up with buckets to collect fresh water after the building's supply was disrupted. Roads were also flooded on the island of Lantau, where rivers swelled over their banks. Southern China was hit the previous weekend by two typhoons in quick succession -- Saola and Haikui -- though Hong Kong avoided a feared direct hit. Tens of millions of people in the densely populated coastal areas of southern China had sheltered indoors ahead of those storms. Hong Kong's weather observatory said the latest torrential rain was brought by the "trough of low pressure associated with (the) remnant of Haikui". Authorities suspended schools and cargo clearance services on the city's border with Shenzhen were paused. The border disruption came hours after Hong Kong authorities announced that Shenzhen was preparing to discharge water from its reservoir, which they said could lead to flooding in northern parts of the city. Hong Kong's subway operator said there was a service disruption on one of its lines after a station in the Wong Tai Sin district was flooded. A handful of other stations were also affected by the rain. Footage posted on social media showed a subway train not stopping at Wong Tai Sin station, which had floodwater on its platform. The flooding could cost Hong Kong at least $100 million, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence estimate, compared to $470 million in damage when the city was hit by typhoon Mangkhut in 2018. The post Hong Kong flooded by heaviest rainfall in 140 years appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Storm ‘Haikui’ heads to China
Typhoon “Haikui” toppled hundreds of trees, damaged coastal roads and dumped torrential rains across Taiwan Monday before it weakened into a severe storm and headed for southern China. “Haikui” had initially appeared to depart the island but made a second landfall early Monday in southwest Kaohsiung, before it was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it moved out into the Taiwan Strait. There were no reports of deaths, but destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated eastern Taiwan where the storm directly hit the day before. “I’ve lived here for so long and I have never seen such wind gusts,” said Chen Hai-feng, 55, a village chief in Taitung’s Donghe township, where he was with an early-morning work crew removing trees from a road. Although “Haikui” is considered to be less severe than previous storms, Chen said it felt more powerful. “It came straight through us.” Workers carefully maneuvered diggers to move downed tree branches and electrical wiring that had snapped and splayed across the rain-drenched road. Further north in coastal Changbin township, workers ferried massive concrete blocks to a coastal highway that had partially collapsed from the force of waves slamming into it, hoping they would absorb the impact. Heavy orange-colored barriers were placed near the edge to prevent cars from skidding over on the slippery roads. “Haikui” — the first typhoon landfall in Taiwan in four years — forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 people across the island, particularly from landslide-prone mountainous regions. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and businesses were closed. More than 217,000 households temporarily lost power through Sunday and overnight. By midday Monday, 11,000 homes still had no electricity, while schools and businesses remained closed in 14 cities as torrential rain bucketed down. A forecaster with Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said “Haikui” initially appeared to track away from the island and out to sea but made a second landfall in Kaohsiung at around 4 a.m. During the night “the center of the typhoon was almost circling” the port city, but as it moved along the coastline “the structure of the typhoon is damaged by the terrain and gradually weakens,” she said. with afp The post Storm ‘Haikui’ heads to China appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Storm Haikui heads to China after double landfall in Taiwan
Typhoon Haikui toppled hundreds of trees, damaged coastal roads and dumped torrential rains across Taiwan Monday before it weakened into a severe storm and headed for southern China. Haikui had initially appeared to depart the island but made a second landfall early Monday in southwest Kaohsiung, before it was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it moved out into the Taiwan Strait. There were no reports of deaths, but destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated eastern Taiwan where the storm directly hit the day before. "I've lived here for so long and I have never seen such wind gusts," said Chen Hai-feng, 55, a village chief in Taitung's Donghe township, where he was with an early-morning work crew removing trees from a road. Although Haikui is considered to be less severe than previous storms, Chen said it felt more powerful. "It came straight through us." Workers carefully maneuvered diggers to move downed tree branches and electrical wiring that had snapped and splayed across the rain-drenched road. Further north in coastal Changbin township, workers ferried massive concrete blocks to a coastal highway that had partially collapsed from the force of waves slamming into it, hoping they would absorb the impact. Heavy orange-colored barriers were placed near the edge to prevent cars from skidding over on the slippery roads. Haikui -- the first typhoon landfall in Taiwan in four years -- forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 people across the island, particularly from landslide-prone mountainous regions. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and businesses were closed. More than 217,000 households temporarily lost power through Sunday and overnight. By midday Monday, 11,000 homes still had no electricity, while schools and businesses remained closed in 14 cities as torrential rain bucketed down. A forecaster with Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said Haikui initially appeared to track away from the island and out to sea but made a second landfall in Kaohsiung at around 4:00 am (2000 GMT Sunday). During the night "the center of the typhoon was almost circling" the port city, but as it moved along the coastline "the structure of the typhoon is damaged by the terrain and gradually weakens", she said. By mid-day, the storm had moved southwest of Taiwan's outlying island of Penghu, but was still bringing torrential rain and strong winds to the south and northeast. In picturesque Hualien county, waterfalls cascaded down the lush cliffs along Taiwan's east coast, while market vendors in Keelung -- a northern port city surrounded by mountains -- braved the rain to sell fruit to raincoat-clad shoppers. In Kaohsiung, the local government reported hundreds of toppled trees and flooding in dozens of locations, although the situation was easing as the storm departed and the weather conditions improved. Nearly 80 people suffered injuries during the typhoon, according to authorities, though they were minor -- mostly due to fallen trees and car accidents. The post Storm Haikui heads to China after double landfall in Taiwan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Super Typhoon Saola sweeps towards southern China megacities
Hong Kong (AFP) - Super Typhoon Saola threatened southern China Friday with some of the strongest winds the region has endured, forcing the megacities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen to effectively shut down.Tens of millions of people sheltered indoors as hundreds of flights were cancelled, the stock market suspended trading and the start of Hong Kong's school year was delayed.With a direct hit on Hong Kong pos.....»»
Blinken urges open lines of communication with China
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Wednesday for open lines of communication as he spoke with China's foreign minister, ahead of planned face-to-face discussions in Beijing. Relations between the world's two largest economies have tanked in recent years over Taiwan, trade and human rights, among a litany of other issues. Blinken is due in Beijing on Sunday for talks aimed at calming nerves, after a previous planned visit was abruptly cancelled in February. In his call with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, which took place Wednesday Beijing time, Blinken said they "discussed ongoing efforts to maintain open channels of communication as well as bilateral and global issues". State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also said Blinken had stressed "the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage the US-PRC relationship to avoid miscalculation and conflict". Blinken "made clear the US would continue to use diplomatic engagements to raise areas of concern as well as areas of potential cooperation", Miller said. A Beijing readout of the call struck a more confrontational tone, reporting that Qin had warned that relations between the two countries had faced "new difficulties and challenges" since the beginning of the year. "It's clear who is responsible," Qin said, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. "China has always viewed and managed China-US relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation put forward by President Xi Jinping," he added. - Blinken in Beijing - Blinken's planned visit to Beijing would be the first trip by a top US diplomat to China since his predecessor Mike Pompeo in October 2018. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi met in Bali in November and agreed to try to prevent tensions from soaring out of control, including by sending Blinken to Beijing. But Blinken abruptly cancelled a trip scheduled in early February after the United States said it detected -- and later shot down -- a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the US mainland. The two sides have more recently looked again to keep tensions in check, including with an extensive, closed-door meeting between Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, and senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna last month. Biden has sought limited areas for cooperation with China, such as climate change, in contrast with the more fully adversarial position adopted at the end of the administration of his predecessor Donald Trump. But two countries remain at deeply at odds over many issues. The White House last week accused China of operating an intelligence unit in Cuba for years and upgraded it in 2019 in an effort to enhance its presence on the Caribbean island. A base in Cuba, which lies 90 miles (150 kilometers) off Florida's southern tip, would be viewed in Washington as a direct challenge to the continental United States. Asked about the base at a regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said he was "unaware of the situation" before criticising US policy on Cuba. bur-oho-ehl/je/kma © Agence France-Presse The post Blinken urges open lines of communication with China appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
PNR annuls P921-m contract with CRRC Zhuzhou of China
State-run Philippine National Railways cancelled a P921-million contract with CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co. Ltd. of China to acquire new trains after the Commission on Audit questioned the procurement process conducted by the state railway company......»»
Cavite cancels award for China firm’s $10 billion Sangley project
The province of Cavite has cancelled its award of a $10-billion airport deal in Sangley Point, among the biggest projects involving a Chinese firm under President Duterte, who has pursued warmer ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016......»»
PGA Tour Series-China cancelled due to virus
Beijing---Golf’s PGA Tour Series-China season has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic and related travel restrictions, officials said Wednesday......»»
Beijing halts flights, shutters schools
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing’s airports cancelled more than 1,200 flights and schools in the Chinese capital were closed again on Wednesday as authorities rushed to contain a new coronavirus outbreak linked to a wholesale food market. The city reported 31 new cases on Wednesday while officials urged residents not to leave Beijing, with fears […] The post Beijing halts flights, shutters schools appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Marcos: Philippines won’t be ‘cowed into silence, submission’ by China
“We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends but we will not be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience. Filipinos do not yield,” Marcos said. .....»»
Survey shows Cha-cha still unpopular with Filipinos — Senate leaders
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that the findings of the survey by private pollster Pulse Asia, which was released on Wednesday, show that Charter change is an "unpopular move.".....»»
Pentagon chief reaffirms support after latest China aggression in WPS
Austin emphasized US support for the Philippines in defending its sovereign rights and jurisdiction in a phone call with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Wednesday. .....»»
Dela Rosa considers war with China but admits: ‘Hindi naman natin kaya’
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa is already fed up with China’s persistent harassments in the West Philippine Sea, prompting thoughts of engaging in war with Beijing. But he knows, war is not an option. “Naubos na ang sasabihin ko dapat dyan. Short of declaring war na tayo dyan against sa kanila e,.....»»