Long-sought high seas treaty a landmark win for oceans, biodiversity - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON - United Nations member states have agreed to the text of a landmark international treaty to protect the high seas beyond individual countries’ jurisdictions – the planet’s largest reservoir of biodiversity, of which only 1 per cent is currently protected.

“The ship has reached the shore,” conference president Rena Lee announced on Saturday night, to wide relief and applause from delegates after a gruelling, almost 40-hour session capping two weeks of negotiations at the UN headquarters in New York.

The agreement will be formally adopted after vetting by lawyers and translation into the UN’s six official languages. 

“There will be no reopening or discussions of substance,” Mrs Lee told negotiators.

The treaty on the “Conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction”, among other things, obliges countries to conduct environmental impact assessments of proposed activities on the high seas. No longer will the waters beyond countries’ jurisdictions be a free-for-all.

A sensitive chapter on the sharing of potential benefits of newly discovered marine resources was one of the points of contention, with developing countries fighting against exclusion from potential commercialisation of discoveries.

“This new agreement on biodiversity of the high seas and deep seabed is the culmination of the dedicated efforts of countless persons committed to strengthening the protections of the biodiversity of our high seas and deep seabed. It represents a hopeful pathway for us to better govern our use of such precious resources,” said Mrs Lee, who is Singapore’s Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

“Much more hard work lies ahead to achieve our objective, and I hope that the agreement gives a boost to such efforts. But more than this, the conclusion of this agreement represents a strong affirmation that when nations come together, there is so much more that we can achieve collectively for the betterment of our world.”

Mrs Lee, who has been chairing the talks since 2018, is the second Singaporean to chair a UN conference on the law of the sea.

The first was Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh, who chaired the conference that came up with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) in 1982.

“This is very good news,” Professor Koh told The Straits Times. “Given how fragmented the world has become, we were not sure whether Rena would be able to find consensus.”

He added: “What this shows is that multilateralism and international cooperation are still alive.

“The question is whether biodiversity is the common heritage of mankind. If so, how should the benefits be shared with all mankind, especially developing countries? The conference has managed to find consensus on all these important issues.”

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post on Sunday: “Oceans are critical to island states like us. Happy to see Singaporeans contribute and lead in this arena. It is a step forward for our planet and for all who share the habitat together.”

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2023-03-05 15:43:18Z
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China earmarks 2 per cent budget boost for science and technology - South China Morning Post

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1. China earmarks 2 per cent budget boost for science and technology  South China Morning Post
2. China sets lowest growth target in years as parliament kicks off; defence spending to rise  CNA
3. China Markets Set for Weak Showing as Growth Target Disappoints  Bloomberg
4. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang bows out with appeal for economic recovery  South China Morning Post
5. Of omissions, accidental or otherwise: Parsing the Premier's references to China's Taiwan policy  The Straits Times
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-03-05 15:13:08Z
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Malaysian government to expedite flood mitigation projects: Anwar - CNA

SEGAMAT, Johor: After visiting a flood relief centre in Malaysia's worst-hit state, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Sunday (Mar 5) that flood mitigation projects, especially in Johor, will be expedited and need to start from June.

The tendering process for the projects needs to be done as soon as possible, as the floods are a recurring problem, he said.

“If we don’t do anything serious to address this (flood) issue, it will happen again. This is not the first time, and it has been going on for years and sometimes twice a year," he told reporters.

“As such, we decided that expensive flood mitigation projects worth RM600 million (US$134 million) and more will be expedited.”

Mr Anwar said the postponement of six flood mitigation projects before this was to avoid leakages in allocations to assist the people.

Even as thousands take shelter in relief centres, Mr Anwar maintained his government's stance on not declaring a disaster emergency in Johor.

“The government’s decision to not declare a state of emergency is because rain has started to taper off and floodwaters have begun to recede in several places," he said.

“Although there are also some places where the floodwaters remain stagnant, there is no need for a (disaster) emergency (to be declared) for now,” he told reporters after visiting a relief centre at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) Kampung Tengah.

A Cabinet meeting on Friday had decided that there was no need for a flood emergency to be declared in Johor.

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2023-03-05 10:31:05Z
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Woman stabs passengers on South Korea train after being called 'ajumma' - The Straits Times

SEOUL - A 37-year-old woman accused of stabbing three people with a knife on a South Korea subway train said she did so because someone called her “ajumma”, police said on Saturday.

The accused woman, whose identity was withheld, was charged with injuring two women in her 60s and a man in his 50s inside a train headed to Jukjeon Station in the city of Yongin, Gyeonggi province.

Although the word “ajumma” is a casual way of referring to a middle-aged woman, originating from the more polite “ajumeoni”, it has grown to be associated with negative connotations among Koreans.

Women’s studies experts said ajumma is strongly associated with the stereotypical behaviour patterns that are widely mocked in Korean society, including being seen as aggressive and self-centred, or even a perceived lack of femininity. Experts say this is exacerbated by society’s lack of respect for the labour involved in housework and child care.

According to South Korea’s subway police, the accused was speaking on the phone when one of the two women asked her to lower her voice, calling her ajumma, which she said offended her.

One of the victims required surgery, although none of the injuries were fatal.

Officials are looking to charge the accused with inflicting “special violence” on another person. Similar to aggravated assault, this charge can be made when an injury has been inflicted via a deadly weapon or collective force, and is punishable by one to 10 years in prison.

Carrying a weapon also violates Article 42 of the Railroad Safety Act, although the officials did not request charges for this specific offence.

Public use of the word ajumma has led to controversies in the past.

In 2021, then Seoul mayoral candidate Ahn Cheol-soo – of the now-disbanded People’s Party – came under fire when referring to his opponent Park Young-sun of the Democratic Party of Korea as an “ajumma who has an apartment in Tokyo”.

Separately in 2019, a local court upheld the Korean military’s decision to suspend a colonel, saying that his references to female subordinates as “ajumma” had derogatory implications.

Also in 2019, Korea Yakult officially dropped calling its female sales employees “Yakult ajumma”, referring to them as “Fresh managers” instead.

“Whether or not you’re married and have children, it doesn’t really matter. Being called an ajumma means your life as agassi (a young woman) has ended and you are in the territory of unattractive middle-aged women,” said Ms Min Yu-ri, a 47-year-old mother living in Seoul. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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2023-03-05 08:00:46Z
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Why China's GDP Growth Target in 2023 Needs Less Stimulus - Bloomberg

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1. Why China's GDP Growth Target in 2023 Needs Less Stimulus  Bloomberg
2. China sets lowest growth target in years as parliament kicks off; defence spending to rise  CNA
3. China sets modest GDP growth target of around 5% for 2023; defence spending to rise  The Straits Times
4. China Markets Set for Weak Showing as Growth Target Disappoints  Bloomberg
5. China sets lowest growth target in years as parliament kicks off  CNA
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2023-03-05 06:00:00Z
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China sets lowest growth target in years as parliament kicks off - CNA

BEIJING: China announced one of its lowest economic growth targets in years on Sunday (Mar 5), as the National People's Congress (NPC) kicked off its annual parliamentary session.

In an opening report, the Chinese government said it would aim for economic growth of "around 5 per cent" for the coming year - one of its lowest in decades.

China posted just 3 per cent growth last year, missing its stated target of around 5.5 per cent by a wide margin as the economy strained under the impact of strict COVID-19 containment policies and a real estate crisis.

This year's target around 5 per cent was at the low end of expectations, as policy sources had recently told Reuters a range as high as 6 per cent could be set.

"Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, we carried out COVID-19 response and pursued economic and social development in an effective and well-coordinated way," said the government report, delivered by outgoing Premier Li Keqiang.

"Overcoming great difficulties and challenges, we succeeded in maintaining overall stable economic performance," it added.

Li set a government budget deficit target at 3 per cent of GDP, according to the report, widening from a goal of around 2.8 per cent last year. Li also said it was essential to prioritise economic stability, setting a goal to create about 12 million urban jobs this year, up from last year's target of at least 11 million.

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2023-03-05 02:20:40Z
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China’s Li Keqiang renews call for economic reform in last days in office - South China Morning Post

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1. China’s Li Keqiang renews call for economic reform in last days in office  South China Morning Post
2. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to bow out of politics, as loyalist from President Xi Jinping's inner circle takes over  CNA
3. The two Li's and their roles in China's present and future  The Straits Times
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2023-03-04 08:34:56Z
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