Hong Kong: Arrests and convictions, the Democratic Party votes to dissolve itself

Today's news: Israeli army says DNA of the third body does not match mother of  twins who died in Hamas captivity; Just 17% of Japanese people have a passport; South Korean police open another case against President Yoon, already under impeachment; Islamabad aims for 60 billion in exports.

HONG KONG

The Democratic Party, once the main opposition party in Hong Kong, met yesterday to discuss its dissolution as a party, due to the increasing repression of dissent linked to the National Security Law imposed by Beijing. Chairman Lo Kin-hei said the issue will be discussed and the move is ‘inevitable’. Recently a court sentenced 45 democratic politicians and activists to prison terms of up to 10 years for ‘subversion’.

ISRAEL - PALESTINE

The Israeli army said today that one of the bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any of the hostages held in Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the terms of the already fragile ceasefire, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge. Two of the four bodies have been identified as Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, while a third body that should have been their mother, Shiri, is not believed to be her. Finally, the family of Oded Lifshitz has confirmed the identification. So far there has been no reaction from Hamas.

JAPAN

Only one in six Japanese people have valid passports on them, with the number of residents travelling abroad slowly recovering but still below pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels. In December 2024, there were 21.6 million valid passports in circulation, equal to about 17.5% of the total population, as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

INDONESIA

In Indonesia, student demonstrations continue to take place under the slogan ‘Dark Indonesia’, to protest against budget cuts and the economic policies of President Prabowo Subianto. The measures being targeted risk undermining the social support systems and the future of young people. Another popular slogan is ‘Just Escape First’, with advice on how to escape in order to work and live abroad.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korean police have opened a new case file against President Yoon Suk Yeol - already under impeachment: the new charge is that he obstructed the execution of an arrest warrant. The reference is to the arrest warrant issued by the court on 31st December last year in relation to the imposition of martial law, which was only executed on 15th January after days of obstruction. The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison.

PAKISTAN

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced that the ‘development of a global strategy’ is being studied to increase exports from Pakistan, setting a target of 60 billion dollars over the next five years. At yesterday's cabinet meeting, the prime minister emphasised the need to prioritise key sectors including services, information technology and agriculture, to drive growth.

RUSSIA - USA - SAUDI ARABIA

According to diplomatic sources from The Moscow Times, one of the main topics of the negotiations between the Russians and Americans in Riyadh was the unfreezing of the Russian Central Bank's assets invested in American shares. A package valued at around six billion dollars, in addition to the restitution of the diplomats' villas in Maryland and New York, seized in 2016 by Barack Obama.

UZBEKISTAN - CHINA

In 2024, China overtook Russia for the first time in terms of the number of foreign-owned companies operating in Uzbekistan. According to data provided by the official statistics agency, out of 15,163 foreign companies, 3,467 are Chinese, over a thousand more than in 2023, compared to 2,973 Russian companies, a decrease compared to the previous year when there were 3,049.

• Asia
• Today