JAKARTA: Chinese Presi-dent Xi Jinping showed no sign of bending to Southeast Asian pressure to resolve increasingly irascible territorial disputes over the South China Sea yesterday, simply repeating calls for dialogue. Xi, in the first address by a foreign leader to Indonesian MPs, made no reference to regional demands, echoed in Washington, that Beijing deal with the rival claims through multilateral talks rather than with individual negotiations.
“As for the disagreements and disputes between China and certain Southeast Asian nations on territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, both sides must always uphold the use of peaceful methods ...to maintain the broad picture of bilateral relations and regional stability,” he told MPs on the second and last day of his visit here. Last month, the Philippines accused China of violating an informal code of conduct in the South China Sea, home to some of the world’s most vital trade routes, by planning new structures on a disputed shoals. The disputes have centred on concerns that China’s use of its growing naval might to back claims to much of the oil- and gas-rich sea could spark a military clash.
Top judge held
in Indonesia
JAKARTA: Indonesian anti-corruption investigators have arrested the constitutional court’s top judge for allegedly accepting a bribe of more than $250,000, in the country’s latest high-profile graft case, an official said yesterday. The detention of Chief Justice Akil Mochtar follows the arrest of the country’s top energy regulator in August and a string of corruption cases linked to President Susilo Bambang Yudohoyono’s ruling Democratic Party. After the latest arrest, Yudhoyono made a rare public statement on the issue, saying: “I can feel the anger and shock shared by the Indonesian people.” Mochtar, 52, was detained on Wednesday at his Jakarta home as a businessman and lawmaker were allegedly about to hand him around 3bn rupiah, said officials from the Corruption Eradication Commission. “The bribery was allegedly linked to a disputed election in Gunung Mas district on Borneo island,” said KPK spokesman Johan Budi. The election was held on September 4.
Hornets kill 42 in northwest China
BEIJING: Swarms of hornets have killed 42 people in northwestern China in recent months, state media said yesterday, as temperatures rise and development drives the stinging insects into cities. The terrifying attacks started in July, the official Xinhua news agency said yesterday, with 1,640 people having been stung. Of those, 206 are being treated in hospital. Hornets are sensitive to bright colours, the smell of human sweat, perfume, any specially scented articles and things that are sweet. The attacks were centred on the cities of Ankang, Hanzhong and Shangluo.
Elephant tusks worth $1m seized
HONG KONG: Elephant tusks worth more than $1m were seized by Hong Kong customs after being discovered hidden under bags of soya in shipments from West Africa, officials said yesterday. The southern Chinese city’s border control found 189 tusks in three containers. The three six-metre (20-foot) containers arrived at the city’s maritime port from Cote d’Ivoire in separate shipments, according to customs officials.
Agencies
