TAIPEI: Hundreds of people rallied in Taiwan's capital on Sunday (Oct 25) to call for China to release 12 Hong Kong people arrested at sea by mainland authorities in part of a global campaign to support the protest movement in the financial hub.
The 12 were arrested on Aug 23 for alleged illegal entry into mainland China after setting off from Hong Kong in a boat bound for democratic Taiwan, amid a crackdown by Beijing on activists in the former British colony.
Hong Kong's Security Bureau has said all 12 were suspected of committing crimes including manufacturing or possessing explosives, arson and rioting in Hong Kong.
Many demonstrators wore black shirts, with some holding signs demanding "immediate release" for the 12 and others waving yellow umbrellas, a symbol of Hong Kong's protest movement.
"We want the Chinese Communist Party to know the entire world is paying attention to the 12 people so that they can't act unjustly," said Roger, a frontline protester in Hong Kong's sometimes violent rallies who fled to Taiwan last year. He asked that his full name not be used.
"The attention for Hong Kong is waning. We need to come out and support Hong Kongers," he told Reuters at the Taipei rally, part of a campaign for the 12 people in 35 cities around the world. An online rally is scheduled in Hong Kong on Sunday evening.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has said the 12 will have to face justice in the mainland and that her government will provide them with "needed and feasible" assistance.
Ten of them were on bail and not allowed to leave Hong Kong, authorities have said.
Taiwan shares with the Hong Kong protesters a deep antipathy for Beijing, which considers Taiwan its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in May became the first government leader globally to pledge measures to help Hong Kong people who leave due to what they see as tightening Chinese controls.
The flight of protesters, however, has piled pressure on the Taiwan government and strained its already poor ties with Beijing, which has ramped up military activities near Taiwan.
At least a dozen more activists have reached Taiwan by boat, Reuters reported in September, citing several sources with knowledge of the matter.
SINGAPORE: Singapore leaders on Saturday (Oct 24) extended their condolences to the Sultan of Brunei following the death of his son Prince ‘Abdul ‘Azim at the age of 38.
"It was with profound sadness that I learnt of the passing of your beloved son ... He will be remembered for his passion for the arts and kindness to the needy, and will be greatly missed by the people of Brunei Darussalam,” President Halimah Yacob said in her letter to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
"On behalf of the people of Singapore, I convey my deepest sympathies to Your Majesty for your loss."
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Prince ‘Azim was known for his “kind and generous spirit”, and for his dedication to charitable, educational and youth causes.
“It was Singapore’s privilege to have had the opportunity to host him in our schools for his primary and secondary education. I recall him from my interactions with him over the years, as a person with great character. He will be dearly missed,” said Mr Lee.
The late prince was a former student at Raffles Institution.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said he was “deeply saddened” by the news and conveyed his sincere condolences.
“Through his compassion and empathy, Prince ‘Azim had endeared himself to Bruneians and all who knew him,” said Dr Balakrishnan.
Prince ‘Azim, the second born prince of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, died on Saturday; the cause of his death was not disclosed.
A seven-day period of mourning was declared on Saturday, according to a statement from the Brunei Sultan's office.
Prince ‘Azim was laid to rest at the Royal Mausoleum in Bandar Seri Begawan on Saturday.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: President Donald Trump will go on the offensive against Democratic rival Joe Biden on Sunday (Oct 25) with a campaign trip to New Hampshire, a state he narrowly lost in 2016 but is trying to reclaim in this year's White House race.
With nine days left until the Nov 3 US elections, the Republican president is storming his way through top battleground states in a late push to make up ground against Biden, who leads in national opinion polls.
Opinion polls in many of the most vital swing states that will decide the election show a closer race. New Hampshire, which Trump lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 3,000 votes in 2016, has not been considered a top-tier battleground, and most polls show Biden with a comfortable edge in the New England state.
But Trump is running out of time and opportunities to change minds and shift the race in his favor.
More than 56.5 million Americans have already voted in person or by mail, a pace of early voting that could lead to the highest voter turnout rate in more than a century, according to data from the US Elections Project.
After voting early in his home state of Florida on Saturday, Trump raced through rallies in three states - North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin - where he promised the end of the coronavirus pandemic was in sight and said Biden would threaten jobs by pushing for more COVID-19 restrictions.
In Ohio, Trump said his campaign was doing well and he was not worried about the public opinion polls. "We have 10 days, and nothing worries me," he said.
On his visit to New Hampshire, Trump will hold a rally in Manchester. He has suggested he might hold five rallies a day down the final stretch before the election.
Biden, who made two campaign stops in Pennsylvania on Saturday, has no public schedule for Sunday, although the former vice president often makes a trip to church.
During his swing through Pennsylvania, Biden renewed his criticism of Trump for not taking the health crisis seriously enough and warned of a resurgence during the winter months of the virus, which has killed more than 224,000 Americans and is on the rise in several battleground states.
"It's going to be a dark winter ahead unless we change our ways," he said of Trump's attempts to contain the coronavirus.
The United States set a single-day record of more than 84,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, with the spike in infections hitting election swing states Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Late on Saturday a spokesman for Vice President Mike Pence disclosed that Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff, had tested positive for the new coronavirus. Pence and his wife tested negative earlier in the day and the vice president will not alter his schedule, the spokesman said.
Concern about the health risks of voting in crowded polling places on Election Day has helped drive the stampede to vote, as many states have increased early voting and vote-by-mail opportunities.
In New York state, voters jammed polling places and stood in line for hours to cast ballots on the state's first day of early voting on Saturday. Long lines formed before polls opened across New York City and Long Island, videos on social media showed.
The King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, called for the special meeting with the Malay rulers at Istana Negara to discuss and refine suggestions proposed by Tan Sri Muhyiddin, who wants to call a national state of emergency.
The Star daily reported that the meeting, which is scheduled to start at 2.30pm, will be an informal one and attended only by the rulers, with no politicians present.
It also said that the King will deliver the decision to the Prime Minister after the meeting.
Police advised the public not to gather near the palace. Members of the media had begun waiting outside as early as 10am.
The decision might not be an easy one to make.
The proposal to call a state of emergency has attracted widespread condemnation, with the move being described as unconstitutional, undemocratic and a bid by the Premier to retain political power.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has described the proposal as "nothing more than the descent into dictatorship and authoritarianism".
Democratic Action Party veteran Lim Kit Siang said: "Malaysia must not be put into a state of emergency just to provide life support for Muhyiddin's political survival. No proposal from a prime minister as the present one to declare a state of emergency and suspend Parliament to fight the Covid-19 pandemic had received such universal rejection from all quarters in Malaysia since the country achieved Merdeka in 1957."
Some Perikatan Nasional politicians are also against the proposal.
Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan warned that it "could adversely affect the economy, and put the nation as well as the rakyat (people) in a more difficult situation".
Mr Lim also criticised the government's silence on the matter.
"Until today, Muhyiddin has not shared with Malaysians his plan to suspend Parliament and put Malaysia into a state of emergency, and Malaysians have to rely on the rumour mills, which have worked overtime since Friday," he said.
"Most unusual and uncharacteristically, Malaysians are getting more information from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong than from the Prime Minister on the Prime Minister's proposal," he added.
The plan to declare a state of emergency comes as Mr Muhyiddin faces the risk of a no-confidence vote when Parliament convenes on Nov 6 to discuss the national budget.
Datuk Seri Anwar claimed a month ago that he had the numbers to wrest control of Parliament from the Premier.
There are fears that the Prime Minister, who only had a wafer-thin majority of two in the previous parliamentary sitting, could lose the confidence vote, leaving the budget in limbo. Furthermore, this could trigger a new general election in the middle of a worsening pandemic, an option both sides of the political divide are keen to avoid.
Malaysia reported a record 1,228 Covid-19 cases on Saturday.
A special Cabinet meeting on Friday morning had agreed that the government should advise the King to declare a state of emergency, which would allow for the suspension of Parliament, pre-empting any attempts to undermine the PN government.
It remains to be seen what powers the government will exercise, but the "economic emergency" that Mr Muhyiddin is seeking is expected to be different from previous national emergencies. If this is true, there would be no military on the streets and people can go about their business as usual.
CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio: United States President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden gave starkly contrasting messages on Saturday (Oct 24) about the COVID-19 pandemic, taking their campaigns for the White House on the road to swing states where COVID-19 cases are surging again.
Trump addressed a few thousand supporters at a tightly packed, in-person, outdoor rally in North Carolina, one of the battleground states in the Nov 3 election. He again said America was turning the corner in the fight against COVID-19 and mocked Biden's more cautious campaigning style.
Biden, a former vice president, addressed supporters in vehicles at two drive-in rallies in Pennsylvania and warned of a grim winter ahead unless the Trump administration did a better job of halting the disease, which has killed 224,000 Americans.
Opinion polls show Biden leading Trump nationally, but the race is much closer in the battleground states that will decide the election.
Supporters of US President Donald Trump attend a campaign rally at The Villages Polo Club in Florida on Oct 23, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Tom Brenner)
In Lumberton, North Carolina, he told supporters he was offering a fast recovery from the economic damage wrought by virus lockdowns, which have devastated small businesses and put millions out of work.
"It's a choice between a Trump super boom and a Biden lockdown," the Republican president said. "We are rounding the turn," he said, repeating a claim he has been making for months that America is close to getting the better of the virus.
By contrast, Biden warned that the cold months ahead could be even harsher due to a resurgence of the virus, which has killed more people in the United States than anywhere else and is on the rise in several battleground states.
"It's going to be a dark winter ahead unless we change our ways," he said of Trump's attempts to contain the coronavirus.
US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks about his plan to beat COVID-19 in Wilmington, Delaware, Oct 23, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
Biden was addressing supporters in the town of Bristol who had gathered in pickup trucks or cars, many with their windows or sunroofs down, to avoid possible coronavirus infection. Biden's campaign limited each vehicle to a maximum of four passengers.
At one point, Biden called out a group of Trump supporters who were shouting into microphones nearby. "We don’t do things like those chumps out there with the microphone are doing. The Trump guys. It's about decency."
At his event in Lumberton, Trump made fun of the Biden rally, which he said he had seen on television.
"There were so few cars. I've never seen an audience like that," he said. "It was a tiny, tiny little crowd. You could hear the cars: Honk honk."
COVID-19 SURGING
The United States set a single-day record of more than 84,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, with the spike in infections hitting election swing states Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
North Carolina reported 2,584 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, down from a record high of 2,716 the day before.
Many states have expanded in-person early voting and mail-in ballots as a safer way to vote during the pandemic.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Pensacola International Airport in Pensacola, Florida, US, Oct 23, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Tom Brenner)
Trump voted in his adopted home of Florida on Saturday, joining more than 56 million Americans who have cast early ballots at a record-setting pace.
Trump cast his ballot at a library in West Palm Beach, near his Mar-a-Lago resort, after switching his permanent residence and voter registration last year from New York to Florida, a must-win battleground for his re-election bid.
In New York state, voters jammed polling places and stood in line for hours to cast ballots on the state's first day of early voting on Saturday. Long lines formed before polls opened across New York City and Long Island, videos on social media showed.
With 10 days to go in the campaign, the pace of early voting could lead to the highest voter turnout rate in more than a century, according to data from the US Elections Project.
Trump has regularly condemned mail-in voting without evidence as prone to fraud, even though experts say it is as safe as any other method.
The large number of early voters is a sign of the intense interest in this year's election, as well as concerns about avoiding crowded polling places on Election Day and reducing the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
In Pennsylvania, polls show Biden narrowly leading. A Reuters/Ipsos survey released earlier this week showed Biden with a four-percentage point advantage over Trump in the state, down from seven points the week before.
People wearing protective masks wait for Grammy-winning R&B star Lizzo to speak during a volunteer canvass launch on behalf of US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, in Detroit, Michigan, Oct 23, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Emily Elconin)
Apart from the coronavirus, the candidates sparred over energy policy, an important issue in Pennsylvania which is the nation's second-largest producer of natural gas after Texas.
Biden denied Trump accusations that he plans to ban fracking, a process to extract natural gas from shale.
"I will not ban fracking, period," he said in Dallas, Pennsylvania at his second rally of the day. "I don't think big oil companies need a handout from the federal government. We're gonna get rid of the US$40 billion fossil fuel subsidies, and we're going to invest it in clean energy and carbon capture," Biden said.
At an outdoor, in-person Trump rally in Circleville, Ohio, the crowd booed at a video Trump played showing various times when Biden said he would like to move away from fossil fuels.
Biden got some help from former President Barack Obama, who held a drive-in rally in Miami and delivered a blistering attack on Trump's leadership.
"This pandemic would've been tough for any president because we haven't seen something like this in 100 years, but the idea that somehow this White House has done anything but completely screw this up is nonsense," Obama said.
BANGKOK: Thailand’s government and the country’s pro-democracy movement appeared no closer to resolving their differences on Saturday (Oct 24), as the protesters' evening deadline for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to step down came and went with no new action from either side, and no backing down.
After the 10pm deadline passed, protesters called another rally for central Bangkok on Sunday, at a major intersection in the capital's main shopping district where they have gathered before.
Prayuth told supporters Saturday evening as he left a Buddhist temple where a prayer session was held for national peace and prosperity that he would not quit.
“The government is sincere in solving the problem and committed to following the law in doing so,” he told reporters.
Prayut’s office issued a statement earlier in the day repeating his plea to resolve differences through Parliament, which will discuss the political situation in a special session starting Monday.
“Although the ongoing political situation comprises many opposing views among different groups, we should rather take this as an opportunity for Thais to consult each other on what is best for the nation,” said the statement.
Prayut this past week issued a call to allow Parliament to seek a solution to the crisis, and in a gesture to appease the protesters, revoked a state of emergency for Bangkok he had imposed a week earlier that made protest rallies illegal.
“If all parties are committed to exercise full restraint and flexibility, the circumstances would be more conducive to de-escalating the current tense political conflict and reaching an outcome that is acceptable to all stakeholders,” said Saturday’s statement, quoting government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri.
Thailand’s government and the country’s pro-democracy movement appeared no closer to resolving their differences as the protesters' evening deadline for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to step down approached.
The protesters, however, said they were sticking to a deadline of 10pm Saturday for Prayuth to meet their demands that he resign, and that their arrested comrades be released from jail.
One of the protest leaders, Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattararaksa, told a crowd outside Bangkok Remand Prison that protesters should gather there Saturday and consider their next step as they wait for a response from Prayut.
Protesters had rallied outside the prison on Friday to press for their comrades’ release. They welcomed the release of Jatupat, who called for seven others still imprisoned to be freed.
However, three prominent protest leaders were denied release on bail Saturday morning.
In addition to calling for Prayut's resignation, the protesters’ core demands also include a more democratic constitution and reforms to the monarchy.
The protesters charge that Prayut, who as then-army commander led a 2014 coup, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s general election because laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party. The protesters also say that a constitution written and passed under military rule is undemocratic.
The implicit criticism of the monarchy, which protesters believe wields too much power, has irked conservative Thais because it traditionally has been treated as sacrosanct and a pillar of national identity.
There is concern that the situation may become more volatile, because in the past week there has been a mobilisation of forces who claim to be defenders of the monarchy.
Royalists held rallies in several cities, in many cases led by local civil servants. On Wednesday, a small counter-protest held in Bangkok turned violent when a few attendees attacked anti-government students.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn made a rare appearance Friday night as he and Queen Suthida and other members of the royal family walked through a crowd of ardent royalists who had gathered on a street to cheer him as he passed by.
The king, in an unusually informal manner, was seen on a widely circulated video giving thanks to an onlooker who earlier in the week had held up a sign supporting the monarchy in the midst of anti-government supporters. The video showed the queen pointing out the man to the king.
Vajiralongkorn also spoke briefly with Suwit Thongprasert, a royalist activist who had been part of a group whose violent protests in 2014 put pressure on an elected government that helped trigger the coup led by Prayuth. Suwit was a Buddhist monk known as Buddha Issara when he was a leader of the right-wing People’s Democratic Reform Committee during the 2014 protests.
