Four men, including two who tried to flee to Taiwan by speedboat in 2019, have been remanded in custody after pleading guilty in a protest-related case. Li Wai-lung became the fourth defendant to enter a guilty plea over possession of items with intent to destroy or damage property in front of Judge Douglas Yau at the District Court on Wednesday. Cheng Chun, Cheng Tsz-ho and Liu Tsz-man had already pleaded guilty to the same charge. The defendants stood accused of conspiring to commit arson with intent to endanger life in September 2019, while Hong Kong was in the midst of months-long protests… Read more about 4 remanded in custody over 2019 protest case linked to Hong Kong activists who tried to flee to Taiwan …

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese island chain of Okinawa marked the 50th anniversary on Sunday of the end of U.S. occupation and its return to Japan with calls for more economic growth and fewer U.S. bases despite growing worries over its proximity to an increasingly assertive China. Okinawa, a string of tropical islands off far southwest Japan much closer to Taiwan than Tokyo, suffered massive devastation in World War Two. Two months of bloody battles between U.S. and Japanese forces left as many as a third of its people dead. Nearly 30 years of U.S. rule followed. On May 15, 197… Read more about Japan’s Okinawa marks half century since U.S. handover as regional tensions grow …

SHANGHAI/TAIPEI (Reuters) – China’s military said on Wednesday that it had monitored and warned a U.S. warship that had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that happened shortly after China carried out drills near the island. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal conducted a “routine” Taiwan Strait transit through international waters “in accordance with international law” on Tuesday, the second such mission in two weeks. The United States has been carrying out such voyages about once a month, angering China, which views them as a sign of su… Read more about China says warned U.S. warship as it transited Taiwan Strait …

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s armed forces carried out another round of drills near Taiwan last week to improve joint combat operations, the People’s Liberation Army said on Monday, after the Chinese-claimed island reported a spike in activity. Taiwan has complained for the past two years about frequent Chinese military activity nearby it, mostly concentrated in the southern and southwestern part of the island’s air defence identification zone, or ADIZ. Taiwan’s air force scrambled on Friday to warn away 18 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, and reported further incursions on S… Read more about China says carried out drills near Taiwan …

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Quanta Shanghai Manufacturing City would seem like an ideal site to implement China’s “closed-loop” management system to prevent the spread of COVID that requires staff to live and work on-site in a secure bubble. Sprawled over land the size of 20 football fields, the campus houses factories, living quarters for 40,000 workers, some living 12 per room, and even a supermarket. But as COVID-19 breeched Quanta’s defences, the system broke down into chaos on Thursday. Videos posted online showed more than a hundred Quanta workers physically overwhelming security guards in hazm… Read more about Chaos at Apple supplier Quanta shows strains of Shanghai COVID lockdown …