Police remain silent on Ai Weiwei detention

BEIJING - POLICE in Beijing have refused to explain why they detained outspoken Chinese artist and social critic Ai Weiwei, his wife said on Monday, amid fears that authorities are expanding a crackdown on dissent.

The prominent artist - who helped design Beijing's famed 'Bird's Nest' Olympic stadium - was taken into custody on Sunday at Beijing's international airport as he prepared to board a flight, Lu Qing told AFP.

'As he was being detained, police came to the house with a search warrant and searched everywhere,' Ms Lu said by telephone.

'They took the computer, computer disks and other materials. They refused to say why the search warrant was issued or why Ai Weiwei was taken away.' Several of Ai's assistants were also detained for questioning on Sunday, but later released, said Ms Lu, adding that she was not under house arrest.

Beijing police refused to comment on Ai's detention when contacted by AFP on Monday. The artist's detention comes after scores of dissidents, activists, and right lawyers have been rounded up in recent weeks, with many placed under house arrest or disappearing into police custody.

The clampdown followed anonymous online calls which emerged in February for protests each Sunday around the country to demand political change in China - aimed at emulating those that have rocked the Arab world. -- AFP

China blocks well-known artist from boarding plane

Artist Ai Weiwei is an outspoken government critic and has been barred from going abroad before. -- PHOTO: AP

BEIJING - CHINA blocked one of its most famous contemporary artists from taking a flight to Hong Kong on Sunday, and police later raided his Beijing studio, the man's assistan said.

Artist Ai Weiwei is an outspoken government critic and has been barred from going abroad before.

China has launched a massive crackdown on lawyers, writers and activists, arresting and detaining dozens since February when online calls for protests similar to those in the Middle East and North Africa began to circulate. Mr Ai has been keeping an informal tally of those detentions on Twitter, where he has more than 70,000 followers.

The studio assistant, who asked not to be named, said Mr Ai was going through customs at the Beijing Capital International Airport early Sunday when two officials escorted him away, leaving a travelling companion to board the flight alone.

It was not clear whether the 53-year-old artist and architectural designer had been detained or why he was barred from taking the flight, the assistant said. Mr Ai's cellphone could not be reached and airport police refused to comment.

Police later arrived at Mr Au's studio with a search warrant and took several staff members to a police station for questioning, said the assistant, who was among the group. A man who answered the phone at the police station said he would check on the case, then hung up the phone. Subsequent calls to the number rang unanswered. -- AP

Asian population soars in US: Census

WASHINGTON - THE Asian population in the United States has grown by nearly half over the past 10 years as the country looks increasingly diverse, the US Census Bureau said on Thursday.

The Asian American population totalled 14,674,252 as of last year, a rise of 43 per cent from a decade earlier, the Census said in a study on race. Asians who identify with only one race now make up 4.8 per cent of the US population.

The only other group rising at the same pace was Hispanics, whose ranks also jumped 43 per cent over the past decade.

Growth has been much more tepid among non-Hispanic white people, whose numbers rose by just one percent in the past decade. They now make up 69 per cent of the US population.

The minority population is not evenly spread among the United States.

California, the most populous state and a major Asian American hub, is 'majority minority' with 53.3 per cent belonging to minority groups. -- AFP

Nepalese police break up Tibetan protest

KATMANDU - NEPALESE police have broken up a protest of more than 1,000 Tibetan exiles demanding an end to the Chinese rule in their homeland.

The protesters chanting anti-Chinese slogans gathered at a Buddhist shrine in the north-eastern edge of Katmandu on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the March 10, 1959, riots in Tibet that led to the Chinese crackdown and the Dalai Lama's dramatic flight across the Himalayas.

Police in riot gear told the crowd to disperse then pushed them back with bamboo batons. No serious injuries have been reported.

One protester who identified himself as Tashi said at least eight Tibetans have been detained. -- AP

S.Korea's Shanghai consulate hit by sex scandal

SEOUL - SOUTH KOREA'S government said on Wednesday it has launched an investigation into an alleged steamy sex-for-favours scandal that has rocked its consulate in Shanghai.

Media reports say three Korean diplomats based in China's biggest city were suspected of having affairs with the same Chinese woman, who allegedly used her influence over them in seeking visas for Chinese workers.

She was also said to have received confidential information such as mobile phone numbers for leading members of South Korea's ruling party and other high-profile figures. The case of what one paper described as the 'sexy Shanghai siren' hit the headlines this week.

'Acting on tip-offs, we investigated the incident and gave the results to government agencies concerned last month,' an official of the Prime Minister's Office told AFP.

The three agencies that sent the diplomats to Shanghai - the foreign, knowledge economy and justice ministries - are now conducting their own investigations, he said on condition of anonymity. Reports say the tip-off came from the Korean husband of the Chinese woman, who wrote to the Seoul government to complain about the diplomats' allegedly intimate relations with his wife.

He presented pictures of her taken with each of the diplomats, which have now been splashed across front pages in Seoul.The three - who were summoned back to Seoul - have denied they had affairs with the woman, who reportedly acted as a conduit to senior Chinese officials and arranged meetings with visitors from Seoul. -- AFP

US backs Asean efforts to heal Thai-Cambodia spat

WASHINGTON - THE US has welcomed Asean's efforts to resolve a deadly border dispute between member states Cambodia and Thailand.

Forty observers from Indonesia will monitor a cease-fire after violence broke out this month near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, scene of a long-running territorial dispute. Indonesia is current chair of the South-east Asian grouping.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Wednesday the US also supports the Asean foreign ministers' call for Cambodia and Thailand to resume bilateral negotiations 'at the earliest opportunity.'

The 10-nation group, long criticised as ineffectual, is trying to take a more active role in regional affairs.

At least eight people have died in the recent fighting, and thousands have been displaced. -- AP

Thailand to reject UN help over Cambodia

Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that Thailand was confident that it could make a strong case at the closed door meeting in New York. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

BANGKOK - THAILAND will tell the UN Security Council there is no need for outside mediation to resolve a deadly border conflict with Cambodia, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday.

He said Thailand was confident that it could make a strong case at the closed-door meeting in New York on Monday to show that Phnom Penh sparked the standoff over disputed territory, which has left eight people dead.

'We're confident that we can explain that (Cambodia's claims) are wrong,' he said in his weekly television address.

'Cambodia is calling for (intervention by) a third country, the UN and peacekeeping forces. Thailand will call for a return to bilateral talks on demarcation,' he said.

Thailand will present evidence including pictures and media reports to support its case and show that Cambodia used an ancient temple at the centre of the dispute as a military base, he added.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya is due to attend Monday's Security Council meeting, along with his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong. Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for the clashes around the ancient temple of Preah Vihear, which sparked four days of fighting earlier this month. -- AFP

Myanmar 'yearns' to join global community: Suu Kyi

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is pictured on a giant screen as she speaks in an audio address to the World Economic Forum, in Davos. -- PHOTO: AFP

DAVOS (Switzerland) - MYANMAR democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi told a gathering of the world business elite at the Swiss resort of Davos that her countrymen 'yearn to be a part of the global community.'

'I would like to speak on behalf of the 55 million people of Burma who have for the most part been left behind,' she said, in an audio address to the World Economic Forum, the world's most influential annual networking event.

'We yearn to be a part of the global community: not only to be economically and socially connected, but also to achieve the domestic political stability and national reconciliation that would enable us to fully address the needs of our people,' she added.

Ms Suu Kyi said her isolated, junta-ruled country has already 'missed so many opportunities because of political conflicts' over the last five decades. But she acknowledged that without political stability and national reconciliation, the country could not be integrated in the global community.

She urged potential investors to respect the environment and human rights, saying: 'I look forward to the day when there will be a political and social environment that is favourable to a wide range of investments in Burma.'

'We are certainly in need of innovation and diversification if our country is to fulfil the aspirations of its people and catch up with the rest of the world,' she said. -- AFP

Obama warned Hu to pressure N.Korea

WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama warned Chinese President Hu Jintao he may be forced to redeploy US forces in Asia, as he pressed for a stronger Chinese stance on North Korea, an official said on Friday.

Mr Obama told Mr Hu that North Korea's long-range missile work, nuclear programme and 'belligerent behaviour' had convinced Washington that Pyongyang was now a threat to the US mainland, as well as its allies in Asia, the official said.

North Korea was a key issue in Oval Office talks on Wednesday between Mr Hu and Mr Obama during the Chinese President's state visit, and American officials said the US warnings contributed to a sterner Chinese line on North Korea.

The New York Times reported earlier that the US warning was first made in a phone call between Mr Obama and Mr Hu last month and was repeated over a private dinner at the White House on Tuesday.

White House officials said the discussions between Mr Hu and Mr Obama contributed to North Korea's offer this week to resume a high-level military dialogue with South Korea to ease tensions, an offer Seoul has accepted.

The talks will be the first such contact between the Koreas since a deadly North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island in November. The strike lurched the peninsula seemingly to the brink of war. -- AFP

Beijing welcomes inter-Korean talks

BEIJING - BEIJING has welcomed proposed talks between military officers from North and South Korea, the first since a deadly artillery attack sent relations on the peninsula into a tailspin.

'We welcome and support the move by North Korea and South Korea to improve their relations through dialogue, moving towards reconciliation and cooperation,' said foreign affairs spokesman Hong Lei, according to a posting on the ministry's website.

'We hope this dialogue will bring about a positive result.' Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang became increasingly fraught during 2010, marked by the sinking of a South Korean warship with the loss of 46 sailors in March and the deadly shelling of a border island in November.

But since the beginning of the year, North Korea has made a series of overtures to the South, and on Thursday Seoul said it would accept an offer of high level military talks.

Seoul's unification ministry, however, stuck to its terms for dialogue - that the North accept responsibility for the two attacks, promise no repetition and show sincerity about nuclear disarmament.

Washington has repeatedly demanded that Beijing put pressure on its recalcitrant ally - something China has publicly appeared unwilling to do. -- AFP

Myanmar's Suu Kyi gets web access

Suu Kyi has expressed an interest in using the micro-blogging site Twitter or the social network Facebook to reach young people. -- PHOTO: AFP

YANGON - MYANMAR democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has finally had Internet access installed at home after her years of isolation were brought to an end two months ago, an aide said on Friday.

Her security chief Win Htein told AFP that the opposition leader was 'glad' to be able to go online at her lakeside mansion in Yangon and would use the technology to contact her network of supporters.

'But she cannot use the Internet now as she is not feeling well and is coughing,' he said. It is believed that the Nobel laureate has never before surfed the web.

Suu Kyi, who was locked up for seven straight years with no telephone or Internet until November, has expressed an interest in using the micro-blogging site Twitter or the social network Facebook to reach young people.

She applied to a private company for Internet access soon after she was released, but the request was transferred to Yatanarpon Teleport, a firm run by the country's military authorities.

Citizens of Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, must obtain the authorities' permission to be able to go online at home and there is a thriving black market for facilities under assumed identities. -- AFP

S-E Asian immigrants face 'most discrimination' in Korea

Passengers wait in line at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. A poll shows that one in four South-east Asians living in South Korea has experienced discrimination. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

ONE in four South-east Asians living in South Korea has experienced discrimination, more than triple the corresponding figure for foreigners from OECD countries, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

According to the survey conducted by the Seoul Development Institute (SDI) on 333 foreign nationals living in the capital, 25.9 per cent of South-east Asian immigrants have faced discrimination, compared to 8.2 per cent of foreigners from OECD nations, including the US, Japan and countries in Europe.

Twenty per cent of immigrants from North-east Asian nations, such as China and Taiwan, were also treated differently, the survey said.

Out of the total respondents, 32.7 per cent have been treated with discrimination during the job search or while earning money, followed by 7.2 per cent in using public administration services and 6.9 per cent in finding housing here.

People from OECD nations said they have faced the most discrimination when using financial services, while South-east Asian immigrants picked housing and North-east Asians chose medical service, the survey said. Asked whether they feel a sense of attachment to Seoul, 29.7 per cent agreed somewhat, while 21.9 per cent disagreed somewhat and 13.8 per cent totally disagreed, it noted.

More than 250,000 expatriates from 166 nations were living in Seoul, with 66.8 per cent ethnic Chinese, 10.3 per cent Chinese and 5.3 per cent Americans, according to Justice Ministry data from 2009. -- KOREA HERALD/ANN

Indonesia announces dates for Asean summits

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia would work to make 'significant progress in achieving the Asean Community'. -- PHOTO: AFP

JAKARTA - INDONESIA'S foreign minister said on Friday his country will host two summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) during its chairmanship of the 10-nation bloc this year.

Asean's 18th and 19th summits will be held in the capital, Jakarta, on May 7-8 and on the popular resort island of Bali, probably in October.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia, which took over the bloc's annual chairmanship from Vietnam, would work to make 'significant progress in achieving the Asean Community'.

Asean, which is headquartered in Jakarta, includes the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand, nations with a combined population of approximately 600 million people.

'Indonesia hopes that in 2011, the Asean Human Rights Commission will be more effective in fulfilling its mandate, reflecting the commitment of Asean countries to respect human rights,' Mr Natalegawa said.

Asean has been widely criticised for being timid in dealing with human rights abuses particularly by military-run Myanmar. -- AFP

Al-Qaeda wants revenge over jailed Pakistani

DUBAI - AL-QAEDA repeated on Wednesday calls to avenge Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who was sentenced by the United States to 86 years in jail for trying to kill US personnel in Afghanistan.

In a video published by US-based monitoring group SITE Intelligence Group, Abu Yahya al-Libi called upon Pakistanis to strike American aircraft, centres, and convoys in revenge for the imprisonment of Siddiqui.

Last month, Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri also called for vengeance, and there have been numerous demonstrations in Pakistan calling for the liberation of Siddiqui, 38.

Shortly after she was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 on charges of links to Al-Qaeda, she was visited by US military officers and agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

She seized a gun and fired two shots, without hitting anyone. One of the officers returned fire, wounding her in the stomach. -- AFP

Philippine court orders return of Marcos mansion

MANILA (Philippines) - FORMER Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos has welcomed as a Christmas gift a court decision to return one of the sprawling mansions the government seized from her after her husband was deposed.

The Supreme Court said the government agency created to recover billions of dollars allegedly looted by former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife failed to prove that the beachfront, 42-hectare estate was acquired improperly.

Monday's ruling came 24 years after a 'people power' uprising ousted Marcos and the new government sequestered most of their property.

Despite hundreds of civil and criminal cases Imelda Marcos has faced in Philippine courts since returning in 1991, she has emerged relatively unscathed and never served prison time. -- AP

Foreign TV, media sites blocked in China

BEIJING - CHINESE government censors have apparently begun blocking reports on foreign television networks about Chinese Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo in the run-up to Friday's award ceremony in Oslo.

Both CNN and BBC were intermittently blacked out on Friday, after access to the websites of both networks and Norwegian public broadcaster NRK was interrupted on the mainland on Thursday.

When Mr Liu was named the peace prize winner two months ago, reports of the news were blacked out on CNN, BBC and French satellite channel TV5, while the state network China Central Television did not report on the prize.

Mr Liu, 54, was jailed in December 2009 for 11 years on subversion charges after co-authoring Charter 08, a petition calling for political reform in one-party Communist Party-ruled China.

China, which is furious over the award, has ignored any positive take on the Nobel prize given to Mr Liu, only reporting the news in state media accounts of Beijing's opposition to the Nobel committee's choice.

'CNN.com is completely blocked ... Every time our reports are broadcast about the Nobel Prize winner, the television screens black out,' CNN Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz said in comments posted on the network's website. -- AFP