Asia in 3 minutes: Chinese bags and Israeli puddings cause a stir in Japan
Censorship prompts walkout at Phnom Penh Post; Koreans recreate Kim-Moon handshake
Japan’s airports have a problem with bags and they’re blaming Chinese
Japan airports are struggling to keep up with the number of suitcases discarded by travellers. An estimated 15.5 million foreign travellers transited through Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo, last year, with authorities collecting 250 suitcases. Osaka’s Kansai International Airport officials found 258 abandoned suitcases while another 287 were left at Chubu Airport and 100 were dumped at Shin-Chitose Airport. A spokeswoman for Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport said: “From the labels or what is in the bags, it seems that most of the suitcases are being abandoned by Chinese passengers”. “And we are a little worried because the Olympics are only two years away.”
What next: By law, the suitcases – many of them empty – must be treated as lost property and stored at the airport for a week before being handed to police. Chubu Airport is paying passengers 1,080 yen (US$10) to hand over an unwanted suitcase though few have taken advantage of the scheme so far. Other airports are warning of punishable offences under the Waste Management Law.
Staff walkout at Phnom Penh Post over new owner’s censorship
As many as 13 foreign journalists quit Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Post newspaper this week in protest at what they called editorial interference following its sale to a Malaysian businessman. The resignations on Monday and Tuesday followed the announcement of the sale of the paper by Australian mining magnate Bill Clough to Malaysian investor Sivakumar Ganapathy, whose public relations firm lists Prime Minister Hun Sen as a client. The resignations leave no foreign journalists at the paper. Representatives of Ganapathy ordered the removal of an article critical of the sale, several reporters said, leading to the firing of the editor-in-chief.
What next: The Post’s sale came amid increasing concern about a crackdown by long-serving Hun Sen against his critics ahead of a general election set for July 29. Another English-language paper, The Cambodia Daily, shut down last year after the government gave it a month to settle a $6.3 million tax bill. International rights groups and journalism bodies have said they fear the sale signals the end of independent media in Cambodia.
South Koreans rush to recreate Kim and Moon’s peace handshake
South Koreans have hurried to an old film set outside Seoul to recreate the iconic image of smiling North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shaking hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at last month’s summit. Since the April 27 encounter, families, couples and even pet dogs have lined up to mimic the photo at the KOFIC Namyangju Studio about an hour’s drive from the real truce village of Panmunjom, where the leaders met. For many visitors, including older ones who lived through the war, the summit raised hopes for peace on the divided peninsula.