ASIA TODAY Xi Jinping and Biden clash over Taiwan during a phone call

Other news of the day: in Japan, hospitals in emergency due to the peak of Covid-19 cases. A Syrian ship that has docked in a Lebanese port is carrying grain stolen from Ukrainian warehouses. House arrest for a Vietnamese academic who had called for reforms in the Party. Azerbaijan wants to enter the D8, the group of “major Islamic countries”.

CHINA-UNITED STATES

Taiwan was the subject of a crossroads of warnings between the leaders of the United States and China during a phone call that lasted more than two hours. Joe Biden said the United States firmly opposes any unilateral move to change the island’s status. Xi Jinping said the United States should stick to the one-China principle, warning that “whoever plays with fire gets burned.” During the conversations – “direct” and “honest” – climate change and global health policies were also discussed.

JAPAN

Japan registered 233,100 new cases of coronavirus, marking a new record for the second day in a row. The new wave of Covid-19 -the seventh- is worrying due to the pressure on the Japanese health system: in 19 prefectures, the occupation of hospital beds already exceeds 50%. According to the WHO, Japan is the country with the highest number of infections in the last week.

LEBANON-RUSSIA-UKRAINE

A Syrian freighter sanctioned by the United States docked at the port of Tripoli (Lebanon) with a shipment which, according to Ukraine, consists of stolen barley and flour. According to the allegations of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Beirut, the Russians would have removed the grain from the Ukrainian warehouses.

RUSSIA-IRAN

Russia reached an agreement with Iran for the supply of spare parts and equipment for Russian aircraft, as well as for maintenance and repairs on board. This was expressed by the representative of Iranian civil aviation Mirakbara Razawi, who also maintains that passenger traffic between the two countries will intensify.

VIETNAM

The former director of the Institute for Research and Technological Development in Southeast Asia and North Asia, Nguyen Son Lo, 74, was put under house arrest. The investigator is prohibited from leaving Vietnam and is being investigated for “abuse of democratic freedoms” for having made a series of recommendations aimed at improving the Communist Party of Vietnam, currently in government.

PAKISTAN

Manisha Ropeta, 26, is the first woman from Pakistan’s Hindu minority to become a deputy police officer. In the male-dominated Pakistani society and culture, it is difficult for women to enter professions considered “masculine”, such as the police.

TURKEY-AZERBAIJAN

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told the news agency apa Istanbul that Azerbaijan has applied to join the D-8, the organization that brings together the “great Islamic countries”: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.