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Don hosts Portugal’s foreign minister for talks to strengthen ties

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2023

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai hosted his Portuguese counterpart João Gomes Cravinho for talks in Bangkok on Tuesday, as Thailand and its oldest European partner sought to strengthen ties.

Don and Cravinho, who was on a two-day visit to Thailand, discussed bilateral ties in economy, culture, tourism, and other sectors, according to a Thai Foreign Ministry press release. Their talks covered trade and investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor under the Thailand 4.0 policy, labour, culture, language, gastronomy and tourism.

Both foreign ministers also exchanged views on global developments such as the crises in Myanmar and Ukraine.

Cravinho also hosted Thai businesspeople who are investing in Portugal at the Portuguese Embassy, and visited the capital’s Kudi Chin neighbourhood, which grew from the historic settlement of Portuguese in Bangkok.

This year marks the 512th anniversary of the first Portuguese diplomatic mission to Siam. Portuguese envoy Duarte Fernandes travelled to Ayutthaya in 1511 and had an audience with King Ramathibodi II.

Don paid a state visit to Portugal in December 2019, the first Thai foreign minister to have done so in almost 30 years.

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Former Wagner commander seeks asylum in Norway after fleeing Russia

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2023

A former commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who fought in Ukraine said he has fled to Norway and is seeking asylum in fear for his life after witnessing the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners brought to the frontline.

Norwegian police said a foreign citizen had been arrested on the night of Thursday to Friday after illegally crossing the Russian-Norwegian border in the Arctic and was seeking asylum.

“During the night to Friday at approximately 01:58 a person was arrested in Pasvikdalen on suspicion of illegally crossing the Norwegian-Russian border, in the area of Skroeytnes. There was a person who came over and contacted the civilian population in the area. He was ungrammatically arrested by a joint border patrol between the defence and the police,” said Tarjei Sirma-Tellefsen, from the Finnmark Police District.

Andrei Medvedev, who joined the group on July 6, 2022, on a four-month contract, said in a video posted by the Gulagu.net rights group that he had crossed the border into Norway before being detained by Norwegian police.

Medvedev, an orphan who joined the Russian army and served time in prison before joining Wagner, said he had slipped away from the group after witnessing the killing of captured deserters from Wagner.

He said he crossed the border, climbing through barbed-wire fences and evading a border patrol with dogs, and heard guards firing shots as he ran through a forest and over thin and breaking ice into Norway.

His Norwegian lawyer said Medvedev was now in the “Oslo area” but did not give details.

Brynjulf Risnes, who declined to say where Medvedev was fighting in Ukraine, said Medvedev said the escape was dramatic.

“He was chased and they both fired shots and dogs were sent after him. The way he tells the story, it’s like a spy thriller, where you escape just at the last minute. He saw a light in a house on the other side and ran there, and a woman came out. There he said that he wanted to talk to the police. They called the police who arrived at the quite quickly. They were dramatic minutes and hours”.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who founded Wagner, said that Medvedev had worked in a Norwegian unit of Wagner but had “mistreated prisoners”.

In interviews with Gulagu, Medvedev said he grew disaffected after his contract was repeatedly extended by Wagner without his consent. He said he had witnessed the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners who were brought to the front by Wagner.

Russia sent forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls a “special military operation” to “denazify” its neighbour and protect Russian security.

Reuters

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India set to overtake China as world’s most populous nation

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2023

India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country this year even though its population growth has been slowing down, the United Nations says.

China’s population fell last year for the first time in six decades, a historic turn that is expected to mark the start of a long period of decline in its citizen numbers with profound implications for its economy and the world.

India estimates its population at 1.38 billion, compared to China’s 1.4 billion.

At a children’s hospital in the Indian capital New Delhi, newborn babies were being kept under observation at its neonatal intensive care unit.

Doctor Rinku Sengupta Dhar, a senior consultant at Rainbow Children’s Hospital, said that although a high population has its advantages such as a young workforce, it also presented a challenge to economic growth and resources.

For Nikita Bhola, mother to a one-day-old son, however, giving her three-year-old daughter a sibling was important. Bhola said she was elated at the birth of her baby boy.

“I always wanted to have one of each,” she said.

On the streets of the Indian capital, people felt that the government needed to take steps to tame its population growth, which is actually slowing down.

The South Asian nation’s annual population growth has averaged 1.2% since 2011, down from 1.7% in the previous 10 years.

“They should bring out some rules and regulations that help in controlling our country’s population,” New Delhi resident Azhar Khan said.

“When the country’s population is in control, then only we can develop further.”

The use of family planning methods in India increased to 66.67% in 2019-21, up from 53.5% in 2015-16.

India’s total fertility rate – the number of children per woman – fell to 2 in 2019-2021, down from 3.4 in 1992-93.

With 27.3% of its population aged between 15 and 29 years, India is among the youngest countries in the world.

Reuters

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Vietnam President resigns amid anti-corruption drive

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2023

The Party Central Committee noted that during his term as the Prime Minister in 2016-21, Nguyen Xuan Phuc must bear the “political responsibility of the leader” as many officials had committed violations and shortcomings, causing very serious consequences.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc, 68 years old, has stepped down as President of Vietnam after a number of senior officials were found to have committed violations in connection with Covid-19 test kits and repatriation flights.

The 13th-tenure Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam convened on Tuesday and decided to relieve Nguyen Xuan Phuc of all duties, including the Presidency, Politburo and Party Central Committee membership, and Chairman of the National Defence and Security Council for the 2021-26 term.

Delegates voted at the meeting of the Party Central Committee on Tuesday in Hanoi. — VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung

According to the announcement from the Party Central Committee, Nguyen Xuan Phuc is a key leader of the Vietnamese Party and State, born to a family with rich revolutionary history, and matured politically from the grassroots level.

He was entrusted by the Party Central Committee and the Politburo to hold many important Party and State leadership roles.

In 2016-21, as he served as the Prime Minister of Vietnam, the Party recognised that Phuc had made many efforts in leading the national Covid-19 response and achieved important accomplishments.

However, the Party Central Committee noted that during his term, Phuc must bear the “political responsibility of the leader” as many officials, including two Deputy Prime Ministers and three ministers, had committed violations and shortcomings, causing very serious consequences.

Two former Deputy Prime Ministers, Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam, have resigned from their positions, while two former ministers – former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long and former Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh – and many officials have been criminally handled, in connection with the Covid-19 test kits and repatriation flights scandals.

“Fully aware of his responsibilities before the Party and people, Comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc has submitted an application to resign from his assigned positions, and retire,” the announcement from the Party Central Committee reads.

Based on the current regulations of the Party and State and considering the wishes of Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Party Central Committee has agreed to let him resign from the positions of a member of the Politburo, member of the 13th-tenure Party Central Committee, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and Chairman of the National Defence and Security Council for the 2021-26 term.

The Party Central Committee assigned the Politburo to direct relevant agencies to implement the procedures in line with regulations. 

Viet Nam News

Asia News Network

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Tuesday, January 17, 2023

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2023

Check out what’s hot in the region as The Nation puts together headlines from members of Asia News Network (ANN). Click to read more:

ANN news highlights: Tue, Jan 17, 2023
Bringing Asia Closer

Changing Asia
Multimedia: New Normal – Jakarta Post/Daily Star/Gogo Mongolia/The Nation/Kathmandu Post/China Daily – Asia News Network

Davos
Philippines
Marcos seeks global investor interest for PH in Davos | Inquirer

China
Vice-Premier Liu He to meet US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday – China Daily

India
Hyderabad to get WEF global centre for healthcare and life science – The Statesman

Business 
Most CEOs expect bleak economic outlook for 2023: PwC survey – Xinhua for The Star

Travel China
China eases visa rules for S. Korea, Japan amid spat – Korea Herald

Riot Indonesia
Indonesia deploys security forces after smelter protest and riot turns deadly | Reuters for The Star

Military Japan-India
Japan, India start first joint fighter jet drill | AFP for The Daily Star

Myanmar Crisis I
Myanmar shadow government raises $132m to oppose junta – Bloomberg for Straits Times

Myanmar Crisis II
Myanmar arms industry growing after army takeover, says report – AP for The Star

CNY Thailand
Bangkok lights up China Town to celebrate New Year of the Rabbit | China Daily

Decoupling China
Japanese, U.S. Companies Rushing to Pull Production Out of China – The Japan News

Decoupling World
IMF: Fragmentation could cost global economy 7% of GDP | Reuters for China Daily

Business Korea-UAE
SK, UAE sovereign wealth fund to create carbon credit market – Korea Herald

Transport Malaysia-Singapore
Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link on track to be operational by end-2026 – Straits Times