US-born Chinese & lsquo;Frog Princess& rsquo; may reign in & lsquo;22 Winter Olympics
Shanghai---Born in California and representing the United States before switching to China, teenager Eileen Gu looks destined to be one of the faces of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics......»»
Silver lining in lightheavy debut
It’s a strange name for a Chinese as Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan, also known as Erbieke Tuoheta, traces his roots to Kazakhstan although he was born in Urumqi, China......»»
S. Korean migrant’s tale to open Asia’s biggest film festival
The world premiere of Jang Kun-jae's "Because I Hate Korea" will open Asia's largest film festival Wednesday night as it looks to rally from a year marked by scandal and budget cutbacks. The South Korean director's tale of a disillusioned young woman who relocates to New Zealand is among 209 official entries from 69 countries set to unspool at the Busan International Film Festival, which runs until 13 October. Eighty will be making their world premieres in the southern port city. This year's edition comes as organizers grapple with the fallout from former festival director Huh Moon-yung's resignation in May amid accusations of sexual misconduct. The scandal saw BIFF's 2023 budget reduced by about 10 percent as sponsors withdrew in the wake of the allegations, according to organizers. Kang Seung-ah, now serving as acting deputy director, acknowledged they had endured a "difficult phase" before assembling a lineup she said was "more substantial than ever before". Opening night director Jang, who noted he'd attended BIFF far more as an audience member than a filmmaker, told a late afternoon news conference he had sought to address serious questions with his film. "I believe it's necessary to pay attention to the fact that many young people are finding it difficult to navigate through Korean society. I started questioning whether our society is providing a fair and equitable foundation for young people to pursue their dreams," he told reporters after a preview screening. Based on the best-selling Chang Kang-myoung novel, "Because I Hate Korea" received support from BIFF's Asia Project Market back in 2016. South Korea has transformed itself into a cultural powerhouse since then thanks to the explosive success of the Oscar-winning "Parasite" and the Netflix series "Squid Game". "Many people are now showing great interest in Korean content such as K-pop, K-movies, and K-dramas. Living in such an era, they might develop a certain fantasy about South Korea, I think," Nam Dong-chul, the festival's acting interim director, told reporters. But "I thought it might be good to consider these views from the perspective of people living in Korea and especially the youth in South Korea", he said of the opening night choice. "They might have different thoughts and experiences." Frequent Bong Joon-ho collaborator Go Ah-sung, who delivered a memorable performance as the protagonist of "Because I Hate Korea", was unable to attend the festival due to a back injury. 'Dear Jinri' Despite Go's absence, the festival will still feature serious star power, with acclaimed Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat scheduled to receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award. Three of Chow's films -- "A Better Tomorrow" (1986), "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) and 2023's "One More Chance" -- will be screened in his honour. Other highly anticipated screenings include "Dear Jinri", a documentary that features late K-pop star Sulli's last and incomplete project. Sulli, born Choi Jin-ri, took her own life in 2019 after a long struggle with online bullying. The film includes her final media interview, which has not been disclosed previously. Korea's filmmaking diaspora will also be showcased with a special series of screenings that includes "Searching" (2018), starring John Cho, and director Celine Song's Sundance favorite "Past Lives". Netflix's highly anticipated "Yellow Door: 90s Lo-fi Film Club" will also have its world premiere at BIFF. The documentary spotlights South Korea's renowned cinephile generation of the 1990s, acclaimed "Parasite" director Bong among them. "The Movie Emperor", director Ning Hao's satirical take on the Chinese film industry starring Hong Kong actor Andy Lau, is set to close the festival. Ning's comedy "deftly captures the fine line between the film industries in Hong Kong and mainland China", as well as the "delicate relationship between Western film festivals and Asian filmmakers", according to the program notes. The post S. Korean migrant’s tale to open Asia’s biggest film festival appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Narcolepsy, cancer tipped as Medicine Prize opens Nobel week
Narcolepsy, cancer, or mRNA vaccine research could win the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday when a week of announcements kicks off, but experts see no clear frontrunner for the Peace Prize. The awards, first handed out in 1901, were created by Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel in his 1895 will to celebrate those who have "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." The Medicine Prize is first out and will be announced in Stockholm on Monday around 11:30 a.m. (0930 GMT), followed by the awards for physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, and literature on Thursday. The Peace Prize, the most highly-anticipated Nobel and the only one announced in Oslo, will follow on Friday, before the Economics Prize rounds things off on October 9. The Medicine Prize has over the years crowned groundbreaking discoveries like the X-ray, penicillin, insulin, and DNA -- as well as now-disgraced awards for lobotomy and the insecticide DDT. Several Nobel watchers have suggested this year's prize could go to research into narcolepsy and the discovery of orexin, a neuropeptide that helps regulate sleep. It could also go to Hungarian-born Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman of the United States for research that led directly to the first mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19, made by Pfizer and Moderna. Their discovery has already won a slew of major medicine prizes, but the Nobel committee nowadays often waits decades to bestow its laurels to ensure the research stands the test of time. "Maybe the Academy thinks it needs to look into it more, but someday they should win," predicted Annika Ostman, science reporter at Swedish public radio SR. Gene engineering and IceCube telescope But Ostman said her guess for this year was on Kevan Shokat, an American biologist who figured out how to block the KRAS cancer gene behind a third of cancers, including challenging-to-treat lung, colon, and pancreatic tumors. T-cell therapy for cancer treatment and work on the human microbiome could also be contenders, said David Pendlebury, head of the Clarivate Analytics group which identifies Nobel-worthy research. "There are more people deserving of a Nobel Prize than there are Nobels to go around," he told AFP. Lars Brostrom, Ostman's colleague at SR, singled out two American biologists, Stanislas Leibler, and Michael Elowitz, for their work on synthetic gene circuits which established the field of synthetic biology. It enables scientists to redesign organisms by engineering them to have new abilities. But Brostrom noted the field could be seen as controversial, raising "ethical questions about where to draw the line in creating life". For the Physics Prize, twisted graphene or the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica were seen as possible winners, as well as the development of high-density data storage in the field of spintronics. Peace Prize to Iranian women? For Wednesday's Chemistry Prize, Pendlebury suggested next-generation DNA sequencing could get the nod, or research into how to target and deliver drugs to genes. Brostrom said he would love to see it go to US-based chemist Omar Yaghi for his work into porous materials known as MOFs, which can absorb poisonous gases or harvest water from desert air, and is an "important field for the future" with enormous potential for the environment. Criticism over a lack of gender and geographical diversity has plagued the Nobels over the years. US-based men have dominated the science fields, while women account for just six percent of overall laureates -- something the various award committees insist they are addressing. Among the names making the rounds for Thursday's Literature Prize are Russian author and outspoken Putin critic Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Chinese avant-garde writer Can Xue, British author Salman Rushdie, Caribbean-American writer Jamaica Kincaid and Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse. But for the Peace Prize, experts have been scratching their heads over possible winners, as conflicts rage around the globe. Some have pointed to the Iranian women protesting since the death in custody a year ago of Mahsa Amini, arrested for violating Iran's strict dress code imposed on women. Others suggest organizations documenting war crimes in Ukraine, or the International Criminal Court, which could one day be called upon to judge them. "I think that climate change is a really good focus for the Peace Prize this year," Dan Smith, the head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told AFP after a year of extreme weather around the world. For the Economics Prize, research on income and wealth inequality could be honored. Recent winners of the Nobel Medicine Prize Here is a list of the winners of the Nobel Medicine Prize in the past 10 years: 2022: Swedish paleogeneticist Svante Paabo for his discoveries on the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution. 2021: US duo David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for discoveries on human receptors responsible for our ability to sense temperature and touch. 2020: Americans Harvey Alter and Charles Rice, together with Briton Michael Houghton, for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, leading to the development of sensitive blood tests and antiviral drugs. 2019: William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza of the US and Britain's Peter Ratcliffe for establishing the basis of our understanding of how cells react and adapt to different oxygen levels. 2018: Immunologists James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, for figuring out how to release the immune system's brakes to allow it to attack cancer cells more efficiently. 2017: US geneticists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young for their discoveries on the internal biological clock that governs the wake-sleep cycles of most living things. 2016: Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan for his work on autophagy -- a process whereby cells "eat themselves" -- which when disrupted can cause Parkinson's and diabetes. 2015: William Campbell, an Irish-US citizen, Satoshi Omura of Japan, and Tu Youyou of China for unlocking treatments for malaria and roundworm. 2014: American-born Briton John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard I. Moser of Norway for discovering how the brain navigates with an "inner GPS". 2013: Thomas C. Sudhof, a US citizen born in Germany, and James E. Rothman and Randy W. Schekman of the US for work on how the cell organizes its transport system. The post Narcolepsy, cancer tipped as Medicine Prize opens Nobel week appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Mediatrix controversy
Author’s note: In the last column, I wrote that the 1951 Pius XII decree that said the Mediatrix apparitions had “no supernatural character or origin” is not binding because it was never promulgated officially. Pope Francis recently appointed a new Prefect of the Dicastery, Cardinal-to-be Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, SJ. Like his predecessor, Fernandez is a Jesuit and an Argentinian. He is the “theological alter ego” of Pope Francis. How will controversial Archbishop Fernandez handle the 70-year-old Mediatrix issue? Will the current Dicastery, which is vehemently anti-Mediatrix, under the helm of Archbishop Fernandez tone down its stance? As a background, there was a decree of the Dicastery but not of Pope Pius XII. The Dicastery of 1951, whose members have died, claimed Pope Pius XII directly approved its decision (not to recognize the Mediatrix apparitions), but it was never formally entered into the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, the official Vatican publication, a requirement of Canon Law for it to take effect. What are the implications if the 1951 Pius XII decree is in truth non-existent? Under the domino principle, this implies that technically all subsequent declarations and orders of the Dicastery for 70 long years are also not binding, including the latest, wherein Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera was ordered by the Dicastery to ban all celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Mediatrix apparitions. However, the Dicastery never authenticated the Mediatrix apparitions, so the apparition celebrations are rightfully banned. But there is a contradiction that must be resolved — since the original 1951 Pius XII decree is in question. The members of the Dicastery in 1951 were caught in a lie because then apostolic administrator Bishop Rufino Santos stated in his decree of 12 April 1951 that he was still awaiting the Vatican decision regarding Lipa — when the Dicastery reported in its Protocol 226/1949 that a decision had been made, contradicting Bishop Santos. Archbishop Fernandez has to resolve this issue because the evangelization of Asia, which is the focus of Pope Francis, is at stake. Pope Francis looks to the Philippines, the only Christian nation in Asia, as the launch pad for the evangelization of Asia and the “conversion” of China. Conversion means stopping the persecution and massacre of Christians in China, permitting churches there to open, reuniting the Underground Church (who are the target of assassinations) and the Vatican-led Church, and finally, changing China’s belligerence to benevolence in the South China Sea to prevent a full-blown US-China confrontation. The Virgin can bring peace to Asia better than any military solutions. A well-publicized message of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace was a warning about China: “Pray hard for China’s dream is to invade the whole world. The Philippines is one of its favorites.” (17 October 1949). There is a Mediatrix shrine in a chapel in a small village near Nanjing that was built by Metropolitan Bank when it was commissioned by the Chinese government to develop two villages. This “foothold” in China is evidence the Virgin Mediatrix is fulfilling her mission of evangelization and conversion. Archbishop Fernandez and Pope Francis must be informed of the history of the Mediatrix to sharpen their perspectives on its geopolitical ramifications. The continued suppression of Mediatrix devotion and of the entire Philippine Church may hamper the Church’s efforts to evangelize Asia. In truth, Satan is scared of the Mediatrix, that is why, in his panic, he tortured Mediatrix visionary Sr. Teresing Castillo, as she wrote in her second diary that the Vatican failed to destroy but which is now available on the Internet. Is Satan behind the suppression of the Mediatrix by using Cardinals in the Vatican without them knowing it? For centuries, Satan has been penetrating the sacred halls of the Vatican and using the Cardinals without their being aware of it. That Satan works in the Vatican is nothing new. Historically, the Spanish Inquisition in the Middle Ages beheaded on mere suspicion about a thousand “heretics.” The ongoing “apostasy” (civil war) within the Vatican, which Fatima prophesied, is another sign of Satan’s works. It is thus in the interest of the Vatican to consider the Marian evangelization that it is suppressing — to have a change of heart. In the end, the Virgin will triumph over the Vatican, if need be, as revealed in the Bible. The Lord said, “I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the Woman (Mary), and between your offspring (demons) and hers (Jesus). Her offspring will crush your head and you will bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15. “A huge red dragon stood before the Woman about to give birth, to devour her Child. She gave birth to a Son destined to rule all nations. In utter rage, the serpent waged war against the rest of her offspring, those bearing witness to the Son born of Her womb.” Revelation 11:1-17 (excerpts). *** eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com The post Mediatrix controversy appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DonBelle’s first primetime series ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ opens this October
The much-anticipated debut of the New Gen phenomenal love team of Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano (“DonBelle”) in their very first primetime series is just around the corner. The teaser for their show Can’t Buy Me Love, opening this October, has set the hearts of fans aflutter. In the one-minute clip, Mariano’s character Caroline, a Chinese-Filipino born into a very wealthy and traditional family, meets Pangilinan’s character Bingo, a diligent man whose aim is to provide for his underprivileged family. “This October, magbibida na sa kanilang unang primetime series ang New Gen Phenomenal Love Team,” the video teaser announced. Following their successful team-up in Star Cinema’s romantic comedy film An Inconvenient Love, which paved the way for the film outfit’s comeback to theaters after the pandemic, Mariano and Pangilinan’s next series, Can’t Buy Me Love, represents the latest professional milestone for the love duo. Mae Cruz Alviar is directing the TV series, which Mariano described as “always been a dream of mine. Growing up, I used to watch primetime series, and to be able to do one with Direk Mae and him (Donny), grabe! I am so excited. I cannot wait.” Alviar, in turn, has been all praises for her stars. “They want to make this work even more,” she said. “Napaka-hardworking na couple nila, na love team (They are a very hardworking couple, their loveteam). And, together I know that they will go very, very far.” DonBelle earned their “phenomenal” moniker in 2021, their breakout year as a record-breaking pair when their collaboration in the iWantTFC limited series He’s Into Her and the digital release of their debut movie Love Is Color Blind took the digital entertainment industry by storm. Love Is Color Blind became the highest-grossing movie and the biggest digital premiere on KTX.ph. The post DonBelle’s first primetime series ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ opens this October appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Martial arts superstar Bruce Lee’s legacy endures 50 years on
Hong Kong businessman W. Wong still remembers the day in 1972 when he first heard neighborhood kids rave about a figure who seemed larger than life: Bruce Lee. Lee, a consummate martial artist whose films spawned a kung fu craze around the world, was one of the first Asian men to achieve Hollywood superstardom before his death at 32. His influence can still be felt in Hong Kong, where he spent his childhood and final years, as fans this week hold exhibitions and martial arts workshops to mark the 50th anniversary of Lee's death. "Every child needs some kind of role model, and I chose Bruce Lee," said Wong, 54, who has led the city's largest fan club devoted to the star for nearly three decades. "I had hoped my life would resemble the Bruce Lee I saw: handsome, strong, with great martial arts skills and a heroic image." At a studio for Wing Chun -- a style of martial arts Lee practiced before inventing his own Jeet Kune Do method -- the martial arts master is revered as something akin to a patron saint. Studio owner Cheng Chi-ping, 69, told AFP his cohort began their training under the shadow of Lee's cultural influence but "we could never match his speed, strength or physique". Lee's appeal had not diminished for the next generation, said Mic Leung, 45, who trained at the same studio and, as a teenager, sought out Lee's movies on old videotapes. "When we talk about the 'god of martial arts', we could only be talking about Bruce Lee. There is no one else," he said. Smashing barriers Born in San Francisco in 1940, Lee was raised in Hong Kong and had an early brush with fame as a child actor, supported by his father, who was a famous Cantonese opera singer. At 18, he continued his studies in the United States and over the next decade taught martial arts and scored minor parts in Hollywood, before landing the role of Kato in the television series "The Green Hornet". But it was not until Lee returned to Hong Kong that he landed his first lead role in the martial arts film "The Big Boss", which made him a household name in Asia after its 1971 release. The next year saw two more box office hits -- "Fist of Fury" and "The Way of the Dragon" -- cementing Lee's persona as a relentless, lightning-fast fighter. Lee had completed filming his fourth star vehicle, "Enter the Dragon", and was halfway through his fifth when he died on July 20, 1973 from swelling of the brain, attributed to an adverse reaction to painkillers. Film scholar Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park, who taught Lee's movies at the University of Hong Kong, said Lee expressed a kind of Chinese identity that transcended national borders. "I would call Bruce Lee a paragon of Sinophone soft power success with Hong Kong characteristics," he told AFP. In Hollywood, Lee represented a rebuke to racist stereotypes, showing that Asian men were more than just servants and villains. The scenes where he bares his torso and flexes his muscles -- what Magnan-Park called the "kung fu striptease" -- were essential because they show how ripped bodies can belong to Asian heroes as well. "He made Asian men sexy, and that is something I don't think we talk about enough," he said. Preserving legacy Despite Lee's enduring fame, preserving his legacy in Hong Kong was no easy task, fan club chairman Wong told AFP. Government support was intermittent at best, he said. Fans in 2004 successfully petitioned to set up a bronze statue of Lee on Hong Kong's famed waterfront, but a campaign to revitalise his former mansion could not save it from demolition in 2019. At a government-run museum exhibit commemorating Lee's life, a woman surnamed Yip told AFP she wanted to share "a symbol of the old Hong Kong" with her two children. Wong, who had organised a smaller exhibit in Sham Shui Po district, acknowledged a decline of interest among young people but said Lee's philosophy always has the potential to become relevant again. He pointed to how protesters in Hong Kong's 2019 democracy movement cited the martial artist's mantra -- "Be water, my friend" -- as a reminder to adopt flexible tactics of resistance. That discussion has largely tapered off after authorities cracked down on dissent, but Wong remembers the public at the time wondering why young protesters were so taken by Lee. "As long as everyone still remembers (Lee), once your interest is piqued, you will have a chance to rediscover him," he said. The post Martial arts superstar Bruce Lee’s legacy endures 50 years on appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
South Korea welcomes birth of first giant panda twins
A South Korean zoo has announced the birth of two giant panda twins -- the first to be born in the country -- triggering an outpouring of excitement online. The female twins were born at the Everland theme park near the capital Seoul on Friday, the zoo revealed in a video posted on its YouTube channel. The video, uploaded Tuesday, shows the mother, Ai Bao, in labor, rolling around her cage before giving birth to two tiny panda cubs. The first twin weighed 180 grams and the second 140 grams, the zoo said. "Both the mother and the twin pandas are in good health," a representative from the zoo said in a statement. "Ai Bao is taking good care of her cubs, putting her experience with Fu Bao to use." Fu Bao, born in July 2020, is the twins' older sister and the first giant panda born in South Korea through natural breeding. The YouTube video of the twins' birth has garnered 640,000 views since it was uploaded, with viewers gushing about the arrival of the cubs. "Welcome to the world, sweet babies! Congrats to the Bao family and thanks to the grandpas and all the staff taking care of them," wrote one viewer. Another commented: "Tears keep on running from my eyes because I'm so proud of Ai Bao! Well done, Ai Bao!" Ai Bao and Le Bao, the father, arrived in South Korea in 2016 as a state gift from Chinese President Xi Jinping. China has long deployed "panda diplomacy", gifting the animals to various countries, often to further its foreign policy aims. Beijing only loans pandas to foreign zoos, which must usually return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country's breeding program. sh/ceb/cwl © Agence France-Presse The post South Korea welcomes birth of first giant panda twins appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Rubbing vaginal fluid on C-section babies boosts development: study
Babies born by cesarean section don't acquire the same healthy bacteria as those delivered vaginally, a setback to the development of their immune system thought to increase their risk of certain diseases later in life. But a new study, published Thursday in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, finds that exposing C-section babies to their mother's vaginal fluids after birth successfully restores this microbial balance, and has neurodevelopment benefits, too. The study used rigorous methods but was small, involving just 68 infants. Coauthor Jose Clemente of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai told AFP that if the findings are confirmed in bigger clinical trials, the technique could be used as a low-cost way to ensure C-section newborns start life on the same footing as vaginally delivered infants. "If the results can be generalizable to a larger population, then ideally we would like to see that this becomes a part of standard of care," he said. It comes as C-section rates are on the rise globally, now accounting for around one in every three births in the United States, though the World Health Organization estimates only 10-15 percent are medically necessary. Past research has shown infants born by C-section have vastly different gut bacteria composition compared to those born vaginally. The latter receive their early gut bacteria from their mother's birth canal, while C-section babies receive theirs mainly from their mothers' skin, breast milk and the environment. These differences tend to disappear by around the age of one, but even so, they can have certain lasting impacts, raising the risk for asthma, allergies and diabetes. 'Vaginal seeding' In the new study, Clemente, an expert on the role of the microbiome in human health, collaborated with colleagues at the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China to test out a technique known as "vaginal seeding," or smearing newborns with vaginal fluid. Chinese colleagues, led by researcher Yan He, rubbed 32 newborns delivered by C-section with a gauze soaked with their mother's vaginal fluids, and another 36 newborns with a gauze soaked with saline as a control. The gauze was placed inside the mothers' vaginas about an hour before C-section. Applying it to babies took about 30 seconds, starting with the mouth and face and moving to the rest of the body. Mothers were tested in advance to make sure they did not have sexually transmitted diseases or group B streptococcus. No infants experienced severe adverse events as a result of the experiment. At six-weeks-old, the group exposed to vaginal fluid had gut bacteria that was more "mature" and more characteristic of vaginally delivered babies than the group given the saline placebo. The team also looked at the babies' neurodevelopment at three months and six months using a standard questionnaire to ask their mothers about milestones, such as whether the babies were able to make simple sounds or had begun rolling or getting in the crawl position. The infants who received the vaginal seeding scored significantly higher at both three and six months. "We think this is partially because of how microbes are producing certain chemical compounds that might impact brain function," said Clemente, an expanding field of study that is backed by animal research. Crucially, he stressed, the experiment was "triple blinded," meaning nobody involved (mothers, healthcare providers or researchers) knew beforehand which babies belonged to which group, in order to eliminate any temptation to make the results match expectations. Dorothy Bishop, a developmental neuropsychology expert at the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the study, praised the "clever design," and said the team had laid the groundwork for bigger trials by establishing the safety and feasibility of the technique. However, she stressed that they had not yet proven developmental benefit and that the test scores from the placebo group "seem pretty average" rather than suggesting impairment. Next, Clemente is looking to expand the study with his Chinese collaborators to move the procedure closer to clinical practice, while he has another ongoing study assessing whether it reduces the risk of food allergies. In the meantime, he says, families should not try to replicate the procedure outside of clinical research settings. The post Rubbing vaginal fluid on C-section babies boosts development: study appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
China jails US citizen for life on espionage charges
China has sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison for espionage, a court said Monday, but revealed few details about the previously unreported case. Such heavy terms are relatively rare for foreign citizens in China, and the jailing of American passport holder John Shing-wan Leung is likely to further strain already-damaged ties between Beijing and Washington. Leung, who is also a Hong Kong permanent resident, "was found guilty of espionage, sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life", said a statement from the Intermediate People's Court in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou. Suzhou authorities "took compulsory measures according to the law" against Leung in April 2021, it said, without specifying when he had been taken into custody. It was unclear where Leung had been living at the time of his arrest. A spokesperson for the US embassy in Beijing said they were aware of reports that a US citizen had been recently convicted and sentenced in Suzhou. "The Department of State has no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas," the spokesperson said. "Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment." The court statement provided no further details on the charges, and closed-door trials are routine in China for sensitive cases. Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin declined to comment further on the case at a regular press briefing on Monday. In Hong Kong, security minister Chris Tang told a news conference Monday the city's authorities were notified of Leung's arrest in 2021. "The Hong Kong police have carried out follow-up action according to the notification," Tang said, refusing to elaborate further. Rights activist jailed The jailing is likely to further damage relations with Washington, which are already severely strained over issues such as trade, human rights and Taiwan. Washington and Beijing have just ended an unofficial pause in high-level contacts over the United States' shooting down in February of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi held eight hours of talks in Vienna in an apparent breakthrough last week, with both sides describing the meeting as "candid, substantive and constructive". On Friday, Washington issued a statement condemning the reported sentencing of a Chinese human rights activist for "inciting subversion of state power". Guo Feixiong, also known as Yang Maodong, was jailed for eight years, according to rights groups. There has been no official confirmation of the sentencing from China. The US State Department said in its statement its diplomats had been barred from attending the trial in southern China. "We urge the PRC to live up to its international commitments, give its citizens due process, respect their human rights and fundamental freedoms including freedom of speech, and end the use of arbitrary detentions and exit bans," said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday the country's "judicial authorities act in accordance with the law, and their actions brook no interference". US President Joe Biden is due to head to Hiroshima for a meeting of leaders of the G7 group of major developed economies. The G7's relationship with China is expected to be high on the agenda at the May 19-21 summit. Other high-profile espionage cases in recent years include the arrest in 2019 of Chinese-born Australian writer Yang Jun. Australia called last week for another of its nationals, jailed journalist Cheng Lei, to be reunited with her family after 1,000 days in detention over "supplying state secrets overseas". In April, authorities formally charged a prominent Chinese journalist with spying, more than a year after he was detained while having lunch at a Beijing restaurant with a Japanese diplomat, a media rights group said. Revised anti-espionage law Also in April, China approved an amendment to its anti-espionage law, broadening its scope by widening the definition of spying and banning the transfer of any data related to what the authorities define as national security. The changes to the law will come into force on July 1. "Chinese authorities have long had an essentially free hand in addressing national security concerns," Chinese law expert Jeremy Daum wrote. "The laws involved are sometimes amorphous and vague, leading to selective, or even arbitrary, enforcement," he said, adding that the definition of "espionage" was already so broad "it isn't immediately clear what the impact of the expanded definition will be". The post China jails US citizen for life on espionage charges appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Aging
For the first time in 60 years, in 2022, China’s population stopped growing. More Chinese died, 10 million, than the number of Chinese born, 9.02 million......»»
Yeoh, Quan together again in ‘American Born Chinese’ series
The upcoming action-comedy series "American Born Chinese", whose cast includes "Everything Everywhere All at Once" co-stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, is set to premiere on Disney+ on 24 May 2023. Based on the 2006 graphic novel of Gene Luen Yang, the TV series tells the story of Jin Wang (played by Ben Wang), a struggling high school who met a new friend in school and got unwittingly involved in a battle of Chinese mythological gods. "The opportunity to adapt this graphic novel was a challenge both daunting and irresistible. Luckily, I had help every step of the way, from experienced producers to feature film directors to brilliant writers to the incredible cast and crew," executive producer Kelvin Yu told People magazine. The series also features Yeo Yann Yann (as Christine Wang), Chin Han (as Simon Wang), Daniel Wu (as Sun Wukong), and Jim Liu (as Wei-Chen). The post Yeoh, Quan together again in ‘American Born Chinese’ series appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Philippines ex-foreign minister who stood up to China dies at 83
Albert del Rosario, the Philippines' former foreign minister who stood up to Beijing in the South China Sea, has died at the age of 83, Manila said Tuesday. Del Rosario, who served under Philippine president Benigno Aquino from 2011 to 2016, died while en route to the United States, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that did not specify the cause of death. Born in Manila in 1939, he went on to graduate with a degree in economics from New York University and later became a fierce critic of China. Del Rosario was "a staunch advocate of protecting and advancing national security and promoting the rights and welfare of Filipinos", the foreign ministry said. "He was a consummate diplomat and an inspiring leader who led the DFA with integrity and unwavering commitment to public service," Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo tweeted. Relations with Beijing soured during his tenure, which was marked by a fierce standoff in 2012 in Scarborough Shoal, a chain of reefs and rocks 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. He was behind two prominent legal cases against Beijing, including a 2013 case at an international tribunal that eventually struck down China's claims to most of the resource-rich South China Sea waterway. Del Rosario continued his criticism of China after leaving office by holding public forums organized by his think tank and writing opinion columns in local newspapers. In March 2019, del Rosario filed a complaint against Chinese officials at the International Criminal Court, alleging "crimes against humanity" over the supposed environmental fallout of Beijing's activities in the South China Sea. The complaint was eventually dismissed because China is not a state party to the Rome Statute that established the court. Months after filing the ICC case, he was denied entry to Hong Kong in what critics called retaliation for his criticism of Beijing. The post Philippines ex-foreign minister who stood up to China dies at 83 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Alfonso Yuchengco: Longer than a century
100 years ago, on February 6, 1923, Alfonso T. Yuchengco was born the only boy to a household that had been waiting for his arrival. His father, Enrique Yuchengco, had established himself as one of the most successful Chinese- Filipino businessmen of his time, and in the tradition of their time, he had been hoping for a male heir that would take on the family enterprise......»»
Fil-Chinese Ramona Pascual looking to bounce back in UFC Fight Night
Although Ramona was born in Hong Kong to Chinese-Filipino parents, she lived in Manila for quite some time before going to Great Britain's former Crown Colony then to the United States......»»
Chloe Zhao makes Oscars history as first Asian woman best director
LOS ANGELES — Chinese-born filmmaker Chloe Zhao, who told the story of financially stretched van dwellers in U.S. recession-era tale “Nomadland,” on Sunday became the first Asian woman and second woman ever to win best director at the Academy Awards. It was the first Oscar for Zhao, 39, who featured real-life nomads alongside actress Frances […] The post Chloe Zhao makes Oscars history as first Asian woman best director appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
US-born Chinese & lsquo;Frog Princess& rsquo; may reign in & lsquo;22 Winter Olympics
Shanghai---Born in California and representing the United States before switching to China, teenager Eileen Gu looks destined to be one of the faces of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics......»»
Dutch police arrest alleged Asian drug syndicate kingpin
AMSTERDAM/SYDNEY — Dutch police have arrested the alleged leader of a large Asian drug syndicate who is listed as one of the world’s most-wanted fugitives and has been compared to Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Tse Chi Lop, a Chinese-born Canadian national, was detained on Friday at the request of Australian police, who […] The post Dutch police arrest alleged Asian drug syndicate kingpin appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
FIBA: Mighty Jimmy and the shot that introduced Gilas to the World
This story was originally published on Feb. 24, 2019 It’s Saturday night at Mall of Asia and the arena is absolutely rocking. Eternal basketball rivals in the Philippines and South Korea are delivering another classic. Gilas Pilipinas is down to the final minute of regulation against its longtime tormentor in the second of two semifinal games. The national team is up by two, 81-79. The Philippines is hosting the 2013 FIBA-Asia Championships where three tickets to the 2014 World Cup are at stake and the winner of this particular game gets one of those tickets. Given the rich history of both teams and what it would mean to the winner, this pivotal game has gone down the wire as everyone pretty much expected. Also knowing the history of both teams in international play, Gilas’ precarious two-point lead was not safe at all. A ghost was lurking in the background and a dreaded curse felt almost inevitable. Down to the final minute of the crucial grudge match between the Philippines and South Korea, guard Jimmy Alapag has the ball and a two-point lead. What he will do will help define not only his career but the legacy of the Gilas name as a national team. WAKE-UP CALL Even before the Philippines-Korea game, Gilas Pilipinas already had to go through one emotional game early in its homestand for the Asian Championships. In a preliminary round showdown against Chinese Taipei, the Filipinos collapsed in the fourth quarter, allowing the Taiwanese to steal a morale-boosting 84-79 win. In 2013, the relationship between the two countries hit a rough patch over the death of one Taiwanese fisherman. In an updated May 17 report by CNN’s Jethro Mullen, “Taiwan has reacted angrily after one of its fishermen was killed by a Philippine coast guard vessel.” Taiwan had frozen applications from OFWs seeking jobs in its territory and the government of then President Ma Ying-jeou demanded an apology, among other things, from the Philippines. While the national basketball teams of both countries never really had any prior animosity with each other, tension was naturally present as both teams squared off in Group A action. Gilas Pilipinas and Chinese-Taipei both entered the showdown with identical 2-0 records and the winner would take control of solo Group A lead heading into round 2. Taking a good lead into the fourth quarter, the Philippines was outscored by 18 in the last 10 minutes and the national team took its worst home loss in quite some time. “At the time, it was a huge game for us. We understood what was happening in Taipei during that particular time. We really wanted to win for what our kababayans were going through at that time,” guard Jimmy Alapag said on that first home loss in the 2013 Asian Championships. “We didn’t get the job done, and it was tough especially to lose a game like that, it was a very emotional and it was a game that we knew we needed,” he added. The crushing loss meant that the Philippines had little room for error in round 2. While Gilas didn’t have any world beaters lined up in the second round, anything less than a perfect run would have meant an early clash with Asia’s established powerhouse teams in the knockout stages. On the other side of the bracket, defending champion China, Iran, and South Korea were battling for position and were expected to finish in the top-3. That means if Gilas Pilipinas failed to finish no. 1 in its group, the national team would have faced one of those teams in the quarterfinals. Gilas picked up a crucial win over Qatar in the 6th of August and the day after, the Philippines got some help from those same Qataris as they beat Taipei in a close decision. At the end of round 2, all teams finished with identical win-loss records but Gilas Pilipinas would take over first place after all tiebreaks were considered, barely edging out Taipei. The Philippines ended up avoiding defending champion China, Iran, and South Korea and instead got Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. No. 2 Taipei drew China and the third-running Qataris were matched up with the South Koreans. “I think that was the moment we grew up and grew closer. I think that was the lowest of the lows, just because of the atmosphere and what was going on between both countries. It kind of felt that we let our end of the bargain down, you know what I mean? We’re on our home soil and we didn’t take care of business. I think that was one of those moments where we had to really check ourselves and find a way to make it right,” forward Gabe Norwood said of the Taipei loss. “But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. In tournaments like FIBA-Asia it’s important that you have short-term memory whether it was a win or a loss. We needed to let go of that game and continue to stay the course, keep our focus in the tournament,” Alapag added. On August 7, four days after Gilas lost to Taipei, the rift between the Philippines and Taiwan would reach a resolution and the latter country lifted its freeze hiring and other sanctions on the former. The Philippines also did issue on official apology over the death of the Taiwanese fisherman a couple of months prior and the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila recommended the pressing of homicide charges to erring members of the Philippine Coast Guard. DARK HISTORY If the word “rival” is to be defined as a, “person or group that tries to defeat or be more successful than another person or group” then sure, the Philippines and South Korea are rivals. Both countries are rivals in the Asian basketball scene and they have been going at it for a very long time. But if the word rival can also mean “equal” or “peer,” is the Philippines really a worthy basketball rival to South Korea? The Philippines’ history with South Korea in terms of basketball is dark. Very dark. Consider the most high-profile matches between the two countries and you’ll see that the Philippine national team is just not at the level of South Korea. Or at the very least, Koreans always seem to reach 120 percent of their potential when they play Filipinos and we barely bring out 80 percent of our abilities when matched up against our East Asian neighbors. The 1998 PBA Centennial team, arguably the greatest Philippine team ever assembled, was demolished by South Korea in the Asian Games. A national team set up for gold only settled for bronze. Speaking of a bronze medal game, the original Gilas Pilipinas team lost a podium finish to South Korea in the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championships. That team squandered a double-digit lead and collapsed late. Of course, who can forget the semifinals of the 2002 Asian Games in Busan when Olsen Racela had the chance to put the Philippines up four but missed two free throws. South Korea would win with a booming triple at the buzzer off a broken play and would later take down China to capture the gold medal. South Korea is the Philippines’ basketball nemesis for all intents and purposes. A worthy adversary that always seem to emerge victorious at our expense. Still, all that previous disappointment didn’t seem to bother Gilas Pilipinas six years ago. The team was not scared and instead, they were excited even. One factor to greatly consider was that fact that the game was in Manila. It makes all the difference to play at home. “We understood the bad history that we had with Korea. We haven’t been very successful with them in quite some time but we knew from Day 1 that if ever we got an opportunity to play them at home, then we have a great chance,” Alapag said. “Man, pre-game, it was just the focus. Everybody was up for the challenge, I don’t think anybody was really nervous, I think it was just the anxiety... we wanted to get out there and do it already,” Norwood added. Playing at home had its perks for sure, but it also had its drawbacks. For all the painful losses the Philippines suffered at the hands of South Korea, it would have been devastating if Gilas actually took a beating in Manila. Stakes were extra high in this particular chapter of this long, ongoing saga. “There was always pressure, it was something that we acknowledged early. Playing at home, it’s great having that support but at the same time, there is some added pressure because you wanna make sure that you make our home crowd proud of the team that they watch and ultimately, win games,” Alapag said, making sure to note that the national team knew of the disadvantages of playing at home even before the Korea game. “It was there but it was something that we acknowledged and we wanted to make sure that we took advantage of the opportunity playing at home,” he added. ALL FILIPINO, ALL HEART Once it was go time, the Philippines-South Korea game went about pretty normal, as you would expect any game from these two national teams. But even before halftime, an injury to Gilas center Marcus Douthit changed the complexion of the semifinals showdown. All of a sudden, the Philippines was without its anchor, without its best player. Sure, there were players on the Gilas bench that can come in and replace Douthit’s size but there was simply no one on the Gilas bench that can come in and replace his talent, production, and just overall presence. June Mar Fajardo was in that Gilas bench but it 2013, the would-be five-time PBA Most Valuable Player was just not at that level yet. It would have been easy for Gilas Pilipinas to fold like cheap furniture and succumb to the overwhelming pressure of trying to overcome South Korea to reach a stage very few Filipinos have reached before. Gilas didn’t fold and instead, the Douthit injury rallied the team even further. “Alam mo sa totoo lang, puso na lang yun eh. Nung nawala si Marcus talaga, sabi ni coach kailangan doble kayod tayo. Dahil sobrang dehado tayo kumbaga, wala na tayong import, wala tayong malaki,” forward Marc Pingris said. With Douthit gone, Ping ate up all of his minutes and worked by committee with guys like Ranidel De Ocampo and Japeth Aguilar to fill in the gaps. “As a player naman, kami nagusap-usap kami na kahit anong mangyari, lalaban kami. Yung time na yun, talagang patay kung patay,” Ping added. Despite losing its best player to an untimely injury, Gilas Pilipinas’ confidence in winning never wavered. With their collective backs against the wall, the Philippine national team played even better. Unlike the later iterations of Gilas Pilipinas, the 2013 team, aptly called Gilas 2.0, had the luxury of having actual preparation before the FIBA-Asia Championships. The amount of work that came before the tournament and the Korea game, the bond built over countless hours of training, all of that helped the national team avoid a monumental meltdown in front of a rabid Manila crowd. “We were such a close-knit team in terms of our chemistry, in terms of the talent that we had, so we felt confident even when Marcus went down early in the game. If you looked at our huddle, you had 11 more very confident guys, not just in themselves but more importantly, in each other,” Alapag said. “That just boiled down to the chemistry that we had. I don’t think any of us panicked, we were all confident in each other. We’ve all been into that situation with our PBA teams, having the ball in our hands and making a play. Knowing that we had five weapons on the floor that could make the winning play, I think it made us very confident and we were able to sustain our composure,” the former Gilas captain added. THE GHOST AND ITS CURSE Shin Dong Pa, Hur Jae, Lee Sang-min, Oh Se-Keun, TJ Moon, and Cho Sung-min are just some players from the South Korean national team that inflicted incredible damage to the Philippines over the course of decades. The dreaded Ghost of South Korea takes form in these players and its curse is to give Filipinos the most heart-crushing loss possible. In 2013, the Ghost was Kim Min-goo and his curse was to beat Gilas Pilipinas in Manila. Despite losing Marcus Douthit and trailing by three points at the break, the Philippines started to turn the tables in the second half. Gilas Pilipinas unleashed Jayson Castro and the Blur led a blazing offense in the third quarter, finding a way to take a 10-point lead over South Korea, the Philippines’ largest of the night. But as the dust settled and Gilas holding a 65-56 lead entering the final period, an ominous figure would make his presence felt. The Korean Ghost has arrived and his name was Kim Min-goo. His curse? Beat Gilas Pilipinas in Manila. Kim was 22 and a senior in college when he made the South Korean national basketball team as a backup shooter in 2013. In nine games in Manila, Kim would play well enough to make the tournament’s All-Star team, averaging 12.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. He led Asian Championships with 25 three-point field goals, 10 came in the last two games and five came against Gilas Pilipinas. Kim drilled back-to-back triples to open the fourth quarter against the Philippines. Later, his fifth triple — a four-point play at that — pushed the Koreans to within a point, 72-73. South Korea would take over soon after as Lee Seung-jun dunked the basketball on a fastbreak. The Ghost has arrived and his curse is in effect. “Ako pumasok sa isip ko yun nung lumamang Korea, na putek ito na naman,” Pingris said. “Pero ang sabi ko, sayang yung opportunity, kaya naman eh. So sabi ni Jimmy samin, no matter what happens wag kami gi-give up. Pinaghirapan natin to at may goal tayo, this year aalis tayo,” he added, noting the team’s goal to get into Spain and compete with the world’s best national teams. Faced with the possibility of dealing with a devastating defeat, Gilas had enough mental fortitude to keep things going. Trust your system, trust your preparation, trust your crowd, trust your teammates, and more importantly, trust yourselves. “You’re never out of the game if you’re playing at home,” Norwood said as they stared a deficit late against their destined rivals. “I think that was our mindset, keep it close and just find a way,” he added. Jimmy Alapag found a way. BORN READY Down 73-75, Jimmy Alapag was under heavy duress when he let go of a three-pointer from the left wing just in front of his bench. It was good to go. The Philippines was back on top by one as Alapag somehow managed to get his team to snap out of an initial shock following Korea’s strong fourth-quarter rally. The stage is now set for a wild finish and Jimmy will star in the final act of what has been an incredible show by Gilas and South Korea. “In situations like that, as an athlete and as a pro, that’s the situations that you dream about,” Alapag said. “Those are shots that you practice when you were a kid. When the shot clock is winding down, to have an opportunity to knock down a shot. It’s a shot that I practiced thousands of times,” he added. After the Philippines and South Korea traded baskets for the lead, Alapag made perhaps the most underrated play in this crazy and emotional encounter between two basketball rivals. Tasked with inbounding the ball just near underneath his own basket, Alapag found his Talk ‘N Text teammate Ranidel De Ocampo for an open look at three. Swish. Gilas leads, 81-77, with 91 seconds to go. “Ranidel was my favorite target for a very, very long time in my career,” Alapag said on the play that most people probably don’t even remember. “Once I saw that he got open, I wanted to make sure that I gave him as great a pass as possible and Ranidel has been known for a long time to take care of the rest,” he added. THE EXORCIST “Yeah, I was right under the basket,” Gabe Norwood says with a laugh when asked if he remembers the shot that changed the course of Gilas Pilipinas as a national team. Late in the fourth quarter of what was essentially a heavyweight bout, the Philippines just landed two strong haymakers but South Korea would refuse to go down without a fight, beating the count of 10 each time. Down to the final minute of a crucial grudge match with a World Cup berth on the line, Jimmy Alapag had his hands on the basketball as Gilas would go to its halfcourt set. Jimmy will never let go of said basketball. Up two, Jimmy did what Olsen wished he could 11 years prior. Up two against South Korea in a pivotal semifinal game, Alapag received a screen from Marc Pingris, which was enough to momentarily shake off Kim Tae-sul. With some room, Alapag drifted to his left and let a three-point shot fly. Boom. Gilas leads, 84-79, with 54 seconds to go. The shot would later be remembered as the one that ended the Korean Curse, the one that finally exorcised the Ghost. “The first thought that came to my mind was don’t miss,” Jimmy said of the clutch jumper. “That last one, Ping sets a good screen and I got a clean look. It’s a shot that myself, and Jayson [Castro], and Larry [Fonacier], and Gary [David], and Jeff [Chan], all of us, we practice that shot time and time again after practice. So you know, it was a shot that I was confident in but in that moment, all you’re thinking about was don’t miss,” he added. It’s one thing to be confident in yourself and to be confidednt in your preparation. It’s a different thing to actually perform under such pressure. As soon as Alapag managed to shoot his shot, Gabe Norwood did what any other good teammate would do and got in position to get the offensive rebound. You know, just in case. Gabe got the ball alright, but he got it after it swished through the rim. “When he put the shot up, I tried to crash for the rebound but I basically knew that it was going in,” he said. “I had probably the best view, I was right under the basket. I think caught it after it went through too,” Norwood added. Alapag checked out moments later as the Philippines went to its defensive lineup in order to stop another Korean comeback. South Korea turned to its most effective shooter in Kim and as he rose up to try and answer Alapag’s triple, Norwood met him at the apex for the game’s most dramatic stop. Gabe blocked Kim and Gilas would finish things off with a final Marc Pingris basket on the other end. A historic 86-79 win was complete. “I still get chills thinking about it, to look up and see grown men just breaking down. My wife was trying to hold my kids and she was holding back tears. It was just an awesome moment, the bond that we had on that team, the stuff that we did to get prepare, I think we poured it all out in that game,” Norwood said on the monumental victory. “I think it probably didn’t hit me until the final buzzer sounded. Not just for me but for the entire team, when that final buzzer sounded, it was such a special group of guys and the fact that we could share that moment with not just with each other but the entire country, it’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Alapag added, savoring the moment of a Philippine win over Korea 28 years in the making. THE INTRODUCTION Gilas Pilipinas would lose to Iran the next day in the Finals of the 2013 FIBA-Asia Championships. The Philippines put up a fight but Hamed Haddadi would prove to be too powerful to stop. It would take another two years for Gilas to beat Iran but that didn’t really matter in the moment. The Philippines is headed to the World Championships for the first time in three decades. The Philippines has beaten South Korea and one singular shot has allowed the Gilas name to be known around the world. Jimmy wouldn’t say that though. At least not directly in that way. “For me, that shot was the biggest for my career. But really, it was our entire team. We’ve gone through so much and that was just one particular play that really culminated the entire game and all the contributions from other guys from Gabe’s defense, to Ping’s rebounding, to Japeth’s rim protecting, to Jayson and LA doing a lot of the legwork,” Alapag said. “Everybody had their part in contribution to the game. After the shot, after the buzzer sounded, it was just a very special moment for us as a team and for Philippine basketball to show that all of the sacrifices, all of the hard work, now it’s given an opportunity to re-introduce ourselves to the world,” he added. Jimmy wouldn’t say it, but his teammates would. That shot of his that beat South Korea in the 2013 FIBA-Asia Championships introduced the Gilas name to the world. It announced that the Philippines has finally arrived. Gilas’ breakthrough overtime win a year later in Spain against Senegal — a game Jimmy pretty much decided late as well — made it known that Filipinos are here to stay on the World stage. “I would say so, it got us to where we wanted to be in the World Cup. I think we shocked some people there as well. But just the work that went in, I think it showed the country that we can get back to where we want to be as long as you work together,” Norwood said. “Yung puso ni Jimmy, grabe naman. Makikita mo maliit pero gusto lang niya talaga manalo. Ang liit pero parang lion pag nagalit eh, nandoon yung tiwala namin sa kanya. Ano pa ba masasabi mo, Jimmy is Jimmy Alapag,” Pingris would add. [NOTES: At the time of original publishing, Gilas Pilipinas was fighting to make a return trip to the FIBA World Cup, this time in China in 2019. To secure its slot, the the Philippine national team needed to beat Kazakhstan in Astana plus a loss from Japan, Jordan, and/or Lebanon. One of the teams that can help Gilas is South Korea... ironically. Jimmy Alapag retired from national team play in 2014 and retired playing for good in 2016. He has since made himself a champion basketball coach in the ABL. Marc Pingris suffered an ACL injury in 2018 and is in the process of returning for his PBA team in the current 2019 season. Gabe Norwood is still in Gilas. He’s still an effective two-way weapon. He can still dunk and will stop your best player too.] [Updated Notes: The Philippines beat Kazakhstan to make the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. Gilas got help from... South Korea. The Koreans beat Lebanon on the road, allowing Gilas to advance to the World Championships outright with a victory over Kazakhstan.] — Follow this writer on Twitter, @paullintag8.....»»
Meet Onassis Parungao, the first Filipino to compete in the UFC
Most Filipino mixed martial arts fans know of Mark Muñoz and Brandon Vera, arguably the two most popular Pinoy-blooded fighters to compete in the UFC. More avid fans will know of the likes of Dave Galera, Roldan Sangcha-an, and Mark Eddiva, a trio of Team Lakay standouts who all made it onto the Octagon. More recently, local stars like Rolando Dy, Jenel Lausa, and CJ De Tomas all proudly wore the Philippines’ colors on their UFC kits. The distinction of being the first-ever Filipino blooded fighter to compete in the UFC however, belongs to one Onassis Parungao. Born in Spain to a father from Baliuag, Bulacan and a mother from Spain, Parungao grew up in the United States and competed at UFC 7 back in 1995, defeating Francesco Maturi by strikes in the first round. Speaking on The Hitlist vodcast, Parungao shed some light on how he got on to the UFC during the early days of MMA. Parungao, who was 24 years old at the time, studied Tung Kung Kalan or Arnis de Mano before taking up Judo, wrestling, and Kung Fu. “I was watching it and you know back then, because of the rules and no weight classes, no gloves, I was doing- you know got in a lot of street fights being a Navy kid,” Parungao explained. “So I have that sill here (motions to chest), I wanna get out and I wanna do it, and then I realized ‘Hey maybe I can try that.’” Parungao also admitted that he was hoping that his heritage could somehow help him earn a spot in the tournament. “To tell you the truth, I knew that there wasn’t a Filipino guy there so I was banking on that they would let me in there, and just all the stars aligned and they just worked. It wasn’t like I had all this fame, they didn’t just have one to apply, so I saw an opportunity, we wrote a letter and I took it.” In his lone UFC appearance, Parungao took to the Octagon wearing a white shirt that had “Philippines” on the back. Back then, when the UFC was still starting, one of the things that they did to hype up the competitors was to “exaggerate” their records and accomplishments, so to speak. Parungao was billed as a “Pintakasi champion”. “I’m not a Pintakasi champion, my teacher was,” Parungao clarified. “But I think they said certain things to hype the fighters up. I wanna get that on record, that I never claimed to be that.” Following his UFC win, Parungao went on to compete two more times, before retiring quite early in his career. Parungao explained that he had received offers to compete in Japan for the legendary Pancrase promotion, but the distractions outside of competition ultimately dissuaded him from doing so. “I just got married and then there was this guy named Takeya Oitate, the guy was offering me contracts and money to come and fight in Pancrase and all that stuff, and I’m like I kinda wanna do it, but in Japan, you have bathhouses, there’s girls there and I’ll be fighting and stuff like that, and in my early 20s, all these testosterone, I just got married you know, you’re gonna put me around other fighters and girls and all this other stuff? Like, no way. I didn’t wanna do that.” Parungao continued to compete in kickboxing tournaments, but admits to having regrets over calling it a career after just three professional MMA bouts. “Yes, I have some regrets, I do,” he said. “I’m 50 now, but I still feel really strong, you know. I mean, put me in a match against another 50-year-old, that would be fair.” “But to answer your question, I’ve done all these Filipino martial arts, I’ve done all this fighting, I’ve done all this sparring, I was a fighter first and then my Sifu for Chinese martial arts turned me into a martial artist. I don’t wanna say that made me lesser, it just turned me into someone that didn’t need to prove it as much. But I do have some regrets like I feel like I could, you know I never stop training, I still will go to a gym and spar and roll with guys and just like MMA has evolved and improved, so have I,” Parungao added. Parungao remains a martial artist to this day, as he owns and operates the Cheng Yee Kung Fu School in Southeastern Connecticut......»»
China urges ROK to stay prudent on South China Sea issue: Chinese FM
BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China urges the Republic of Korea (ROK) to stay prudent when it comes to the South China Sea issue, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday. Lin made the remarks at a regular press briefing when responding to a media query about ROK Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's biased and unfactual comments on the South China Sea issue over the past few days. "China.....»»