Malaysia farms must adapt to extreme weather, changing taste to compete for slice of China's durian pie, industry experts say - CNA

The durian consultant Mr Lim said: “From our surveys, the new flavour that the China markets is favouring is Black Thorn, which has a sweeter taste compared to Musang King which is slightly bitter.” 

“To be relevant and compete for China’s growing demand, we must be nimble to these changes in tastes and adapt quickly,” he added.

Mr Chong noted that based on data published by the agricultural ministry, Black Thorn only accounts for one per cent of Malaysia’s total durian production market while Musang King makes up 36 per cent. 

Meanwhile, kampung durians, which are mostly consumed locally, account for 38 per cent of production while D24 varieties make up 11 per cent. The rest are hybrid durian clones, which make up 14 per cent of durians produced in the country. 

However, Mr Chong predicted that this is likely to change since there is a change in trend in China, even though the Black Thorn varieties cost significantly more than the Musang King varieties.  

At the premium grade, Black Thorns typically cost RM80 per kg in Malaysia while Musang Kings cost RM50 per kg. 

“In China, the rarer the durian variety, the more attention it gets and the consumers will want a taste of it,” said Mr Chong. 

However, he maintained that Malaysia must first ensure its farms are immune to extreme weather, which will likely be exacerbated in the following years due to the impact of climate change. 

“Irregardless of which variety, if you cannot protect the crops from the weather, a Grade A premium fruit will only be a grade B or C, and you will not achieve the price and quality you desire,” said Mr Chong. 

“The physiology of fruit you desire you will not get, and the aroma you want will not be there as well,” he added. 

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2024-05-18 22:00:00Z
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Israeli leaders split over post-war Gaza governance - CNA

US PRESSURE

Gallant said in a televised address on Wednesday (May 15): "I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a decision and declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza strip."

The premier's war planning also came under recent attack by army chief Herzi Halevi as well as top Shin Bet security agency officials, according to Israeli media reports.

Netanyahu is also under pressure from Washington to swiftly bring an end to the conflict and avoid being mired in a long counterinsurgency campaign.

Washington has previously called for a "revitalised" form of the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the war.

But Netanyahu has rejected any role for the PA in post-war Gaza, saying Thursday that it "supports terror, educates terror, finances terror".

Instead, Netanyahu has clung to his steadfast aim of "eliminating" Hamas, asserting that "there's no alternative to military victory".

Experts say confidence in Netanyahu is running thin.

"With Gallant's criticism of Netanyahu's failure to plan for the day after in terms of governing Gaza, some real fissures are beginning to emerge in the Israeli war cabinet," Colin P. Clarke, director of policy and research at the Soufan Group think tank, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"I'm not sure I know of many people, including the most ardent Israel supporters, who have confidence in Bibi," he said, using Netanyahu's nickname.

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2024-05-18 14:00:11Z
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Ukraine struggles to hold eastern front as Russians advance on cities - CNA

CITIES BRACE FOR RUSSIAN ADVANCE

Russian forces are gradually making inroads that could come to threaten several big cities in the east including Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which serve as key military hubs for Kyiv's war effort.

Some gains are striking fear in the heart of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians living in those Donetsk region cities as the enemy grinds ever closer.

"We live only for today," said 31-year-old school teacher Nina Shyshymarieva, standing with her young daughter outside a church in Kostiantynivka as artillery thundered in the distance.

"We don't know what will happen tomorrow."

Russian cannons are now easily within range of Kostiantynivka; the closest Russian position at the start of 2024 was about 20km away, according to open-source maps that show shifting positions along the frontline. Now it is 14km.

Shyshymarieva and the fighters on the frontline were among more than a dozen soldiers, commanders, residents and evacuation volunteers interviewed by Reuters in eastern Ukraine over the last two weeks. They painted a picture of deep uncertainty.

Much of the Donetsk region, which along with Luhansk makes up the greater Donbas area, is under daily bombardment, typically targeted at least a dozen times a day by Russian artillery or air strikes, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin.

Ruins of homes, apartment blocks and administrative buildings are common sights in towns and cities.

Oleksandr Stasenko, a volunteer rescuer, said his team was receiving more evacuation requests, particularly from Kostiantynivka and Kurakhove, another town further south, among other settlements.

Russian forces have encroached toward Kurakhove, too, advancing 2km to 3km along the road running east from the town so far this year.

"Wherever the front line is approaching, people in those places are trying to leave as soon as possible," said Stasenko, adding that his group, East SOS, evacuates around two dozen a week, many of them elderly or infirm.

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2024-05-18 10:45:27Z
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US relations with Taiwan likely to be factor in upcoming presidential elections - CNA

US LIKELY TO STICK TO STATUS QUO

Analysts told CNA that the US will likely stick to the status quo, given that its presidential candidates would not want to contend with a crisis as they try to rally support.

Biden and former president Donald Trump are gunning to re-enter the White House, with the election set to be held on Nov 5.

Containing China tends to be one of the few areas of bipartisan policy agreement in Washington DC, meaning that US support for Taiwan is likely to continue no matter who wins the presidency, the experts noted.

Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at American think-tank The Brookings Institution, said he thinks “things are okay” because the incoming Taiwan president understands where things lie.

“I think that Vice-President (William) Lai, soon-to-be President Lai, understands that wherever his heart may be and wherever his past may have been on the issue of Taiwan independence, it's a non-starter for the United States – in the sense that if it were simply declared or actively promoted, it would lead to a crisis that we just don't need,” O’Hanlon added.

He also said that the issue is not likely to appeal to American voters, if it is explained to them that promoting Taiwan independence would increase the risks of war.

“I don't really feel like the American people are in a bloodthirsty mode,” he added.

The people in Taiwan would also want to avoid such a situation, Einar Tangen, senior fellow at Beijing-based non-profit organisation Taihe Institute told CNA's East Asia Tonight.

"I don't think anybody in Taiwan wants to risk kinetic warfare. They've seen what's happened in Ukraine. They've seen what the US and Europe pushed Russia into doing and they don't want to see that happening to them," he said.  

Taiwan’s top diplomat in the US, Alexander Yui Tah-Ray, has said it is “under constant challenge from mainland China” and that international support is vital for its survival.

The representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States added: “We are well aware that we need to increase our security preparations against any eventual or possible Chinese aggression, but also, it's important to be integrated economically in the world.

“And to us, the more integration we do with the world, the better we are protected against mainland Chinese aggression."

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2024-05-18 07:53:00Z
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IN FOCUS: China is set to wield bigger 'carrots and sticks' over Taiwan. Here's how it may impact ASEAN states - CNA

SINGAPORE: Five days before Mr William Lai Ching-te’s inauguration as Taiwan’s president, its defence ministry detected 45 Chinese military aircraft around Taiwan, the highest single-day number this year. Twenty-six of the planes on Wednesday crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which once served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides. 

In a friendlier gesture, when lawmakers from Taiwan’s China-friendly opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) visited the mainland last month, China said it would restart the travel of Fujian residents to Taiwan’s Matsu islands and later allow group tours to other parts of the territory. 

China also said it would approve the import of pomelo and other agricultural and fishery products from Taiwan.

Such a “carrot and stick” approach is likely to continue and intensify as China’s preferred way of dealing with Taiwan under Mr Lai, who takes over from Ms Tsai Ing-wen on May 20, say observers, as Taipei becomes more important to Beijing’s calculations amid a tussle for influence with the West and economic challenges at home.

Mr Lai won a historic third successive presidential term for the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in January’s elections, beating the KMT’s Mr Hou Yu-ih and Mr Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).

Beijing’s message to Mr Lai is clear, observers say: Taiwan will reap benefits if it plays ball in forging deeper cross-strait integration but face reprisal should it try pushing further away from China, which sees the self-governing island as part of its territory to be reunified with the mainland.

Amid growing pressure from China, analysts say Taiwan will look increasingly towards other states for economic and diplomatic mileage as Mr Lai attempts to maintain the cross-strait status quo of not declaring independence.

But there are limits on what Taipei can do, with the lack of a legislative majority potentially stonewalling efforts. There are also clear constraints on how far Mr Lai can expand or deepen Ms Tsai’s New Southbound Policy of closer economic and people-to-people links with South and Southeast Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

“China is basically the primary economic lifeline for all the countries in the region,” Dr Hoo Tiang Boon, associate professor at the School of Social Sciences at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), told CNA.

“(Southeast Asian nations) will be very cautious to be seen as forging closer linkages with Taiwan … they have to be very mindful of and indeed sensitive to Chinese considerations.”

“CARROT AND STICK” APPROACH

Cross-strait relations have ebbed and flowed depending on the person and party that governs Taiwan. 

Ties were strained from 2000 to 2008 when the DPP’s Chen Shui-bian was president. They improved considerably under his KMT successor Mr Ma Ying-jeou – including a landmark meeting in 2015 with Chinese President Xi Jinping – before deteriorating again when the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.

Troubles surfaced during her inaugural speech, which Beijing criticised as an “incomplete test answer” for not explicitly recognising the 1992 consensus.

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2024-05-17 22:00:00Z
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Ukraine ramps up domestic arms production as troops face weapons shortage on battlefield - CNA

SCRAMBLING TO PRODUCE MORE WEAPONS

Ukraine has no choice but to pump out more weapons, and faster than ever before, with big factories and even homes being used in the country’s fast-expanding military industrial complex. 

When CNA visited one factory in an undisclosed location in the Kyiv region, armoured infantry vehicles were getting their final touches on the assembly line.

Ukrainian Armor, the defence industry company operating it, said production has increased significantly since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The firm is behind the multi-purpose armoured vehicle Novator, built to protect troops from shrapnel and small arms fire.

“For vehicles, we expanded more than 10 times,” said Ukrainian Armor director-general Vladislav Belbas. 

“In 2023, we started to produce each month the same quantity as we produced in (the whole of) 2022. So it’s quite significant. And this year, compared to 2023, we plan to expand approximately three times.”

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2024-05-17 08:33:20Z
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2 cops dead after attack on Johor police station, Jemaah Islamiyah suspect shot dead - The Straits Times

Johor police chief M. Kumar (second from left) said the suspect was shot dead at the scene. PHOTO: BERNAMA

Police investigations revealed that the suspect has no criminal records. PHOTO: BERNAMA

An assailant came to the Ulu Tiram police station with a weapon at about 2.30am on May 17. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS

JOHOR BAHRU – Three people – two constables and a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) suspect – died in an attack at a police station in Johor early on May 17. Another policeman suffered injuries.

It is learnt the man came to the Ulu Tiram police station at about 2.30am. A constable manning a counter was slashed and died on the spot, said sources.

The suspect then used the constable’s gun to shoot dead a policeman who came to check on the commotion.

Johor police chief M. Kumar said the suspect was shot dead at the scene.

Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said the man is believed to be a member of the JI extremist group. Seven people, including two students and a 62-year-old believed to be a JI member, have been arrested. Five of them are the suspect’s family members, including the 62-year-old who is his father.

“I have instructed our Special Branch to arrest all JI members in Johor to be investigated,” Mr Razarudin added, noting that there are about 20 identified members in Johor.

He said the incident began when the two students, a 22-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, came to the police station at 2.30am on May 17.

“The duo came to seek advice from the police regarding a sexual assault case that happened two years ago,” he told local media.

A 21-year-old man on a motorbike then turned up and went to the back of the police station. A policeman, who checked on him, was slashed in the neck.

“The suspect then took the victim’s gun. At the same time, another two mobile patrol vehicle (MPV) policemen, who had just finished their patrol, returned to the police station.

“One of our men was shot in his cheek and the bullet went through his head, while another was shot in the shoulder and waist,” Mr Razarudin said.

Police investigations revealed that the suspect, who has no criminal records, made preparations to confront the police – based on items found in his bag which he used as a shield. There were zinc sheets and paper inside.

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“Investigations at the suspect’s house found texts pasted on the walls,” Mr Razarudin added, noting that family members are aged between 19 and 62.

He said the suspect’s likely motive was to steal weapons from the police station for an unknown agenda. Of the students arrested, he noted that the sexual assault case happened two years ago and they sought police advice only in the wee hours.

Mr Kumar said the bodies of the deceased were sent to a hospital for a post-mortem. The injured policeman, who is reported to be in stable condition, has been moved to a regular ward at Hospital Sultan Ismail.

“The officers were assaulted and shot. Further investigation is being carried out,” he added at the scene of the incident.

Apart from determining the motive, the police are checking if the attacker was of unsound mind.

The two policemen killed in the attack served with the force for less than two years, said Malaysian police.

They were in the Ulu Tiram station’s crime prevention patrol unit.

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Malaysia’s King, has expressed his condolences to their families. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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