News

Chinese fury continues against South China Sea judgement China   continues to resolutely oppose the Permanent   Court   of Arbitration's (PCA) landmark decision handed down on July 12 against its maritime claims in the South China Sea. Indeed,   Beijing   has redoubled its months-long campaign to invalidate the 2013 case that The Philippines   brought against it. The PCA gave a comprehensive verdict in Manila's favour. In its 501-page report the tribunal found Beijing violated no fewer than 14 United Nations Convention on the   Law   of the Sea (UNCLOS) provisions, six international regulations preventing collisions at sea and one general rule of international law. China's recalcitrance was highly visible during the Public International Law Colloquium on Maritime Disputes Settlement held in   Hong Kong   on July 15 and 16, jointly organised by the Chinese Society of International Law (CSIL).   Read More

AirAsia eyes Hong Kong listing as it expands in North Asia AirAsia   is studying a dual listing in Hong Kong, part of plans to become a pan-Asian low-cost airline player as it also moves towards setting up a joint venture in China, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The Malaysia-based group is simultaneously looking for more   aircraft   to meet strong demand in North Asia and elsewhere, the people said on the eve of Britain's Farnborough Airshow. Asia's largest low-cost airline group, which already has affiliates across Southeast Asia, aims to form the venture with the backing of a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) to help capture traffic from fast-growing secondary and tertiary cities. Co-founder and Chief Executive Tony Fernandes referred to the potential dual listing without naming a location and hinted at a potential new aircraft order in remarks posted on his   Twitter   account on Sunday. "Looking at more ancillary (rev...

Samsung profit rises on new smartphone technology Six months after it warned that 2016 would be a tough year,   Samsung   Electronics is showing that new technology and new phones are beginning to pay off. The South Korean technology conglomerate said on Thursday that its operating profit for the three months that ended in June rose 17 per cent over the same period a year ago. The jump in growth beat analysts' expectations and led to the company's best quarterly profit figure in two years. At the heart of the recovery is the sustained popularity of Samsung's flagship S7 phone, which analysts say has sold well despite the competitive pressures from Apple. Bolstering that success are steady sales of the company's lower-end phones. If Samsung's profit growth in the first half of 2016 comes from weathering difficult conditions in the global   smartphone   markets, analysts say the rest of the year will be more dependent on its lesser-known products: memory c...

China pulls up chief negotiator for limited global support for anti-India position at NSG The Chinese leadership has pulled up Wang Qun, its lead negotiator and Director General of the Arms Control Division at the Foreign Ministry, for failing to drum up significant global support for China's position in Seoul which blocked India's entry into the   NSG . Highly placed Western and Chinese sources said that Wang Qun had told   Beijing   that at least one third of the NSG nations would endorse China's position. However, the position was totally in the reverse, with as many as 44 nations backing   India   and   China   only having the support of four nations. Beijing now fears that the fallout of the NSG outcome could have an impact on a crucial verdict expected soon from the Permanent Court   of Arbitration in The Hague in a case brought by the   Philippines   concerning China's territorial reclamation activities in the South Chin...