TOKYO: Three Chinese government ships sailed into waters around disputed islands controlled by Tokyo yesterday, for the first time since late May, Japan’s coastguard said. The maritime surveillance vessels stayed in the waters for about four hours, sailing out shortly before 2 pm. They were spotted inside the 12-nautical-mile zone off the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea shortly before 9.30 am.
Singapore fines British editor
SINGAPORE: A British magazine editor has been fined $8,000 for spitting at a Singapore police officer after an alcohol-fuelled Christmas party last year, his lawyer said yesterday. Forgan Duncan, editor of Tiger Airways’ inflight magazine, was fined by a district judge on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to the offence. “He has paid the fine. There will be no follow-up unless the prosecution decides to appeal the decision,” the lawyer said.
Appeal by Nobel winner’s wife
BEIJING: The wife of jailed Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo yesterday appealed to President Xi Jinping to choose “justice” over “merciless oppression”, in a rare public statement since being placed under house arrest three years ago. Liu Xia warned in a letter posted on her lawyer’s Twitter account — days after her brother was sentenced to 11 years in prison — that rights violations jeopardised Xi Jinping’s recent calls for a national renaissance.
Vietnam police arrest blogger
HANOI: Vietnamese police have arrested an author and blogger for posting anti-government comments online, the latest in a crackdown on critics of the country’s Communist rulers. Pham Viet Dao, 61, was arrested on Thursday at his Hanoi home and accused of breaching a law prohibiting “abuse of democratic freedom” and “infringements against the state”, according to the Ministry of Public Security. If the case goes to trial and Dao is found guilty, he could face seven years in prison.
K Rouge victims sue politician
PHNOM PENH: Four survivors of a notorious Khmer Rouge torture prison yesterday took a key Cambodian opposition member to court for allegedly saying the jail was a Vietnamese fabrication, the victims’ lawyer said. Kem Sokha, deputy head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, will face a civil law claim of public defamation after he purportedly said Tuol Sleng prison was staged by the Vietnamese, who ousted the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
Film-maker given warning
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s attorney-general yesterday issued a stern warning to an independent film-maker over online videos in which two Chinese bus drivers accused police in the city-state of assaulting them. The two were among four Chinese nationals sentenced to jail terms of up to seven weeks for organising Singapore’s first industrial strike in nearly three decades. Lee Seng Lynn’s conduct amounted to contempt of court, the Attorney General’s Chambers said in a statement.
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