Asian Insider: Japanese mull where to flee if war comes | Asia’s most pristine lake

Deputy Foreign Editor

Updated

Published

Nov 02, 2023, 08:10 PM

Dear ST reader,

This week, we explore an issue of crucial importance to people bracing themselves for war - where to flee, and how. Residents in Japan’s outlying islands preparing for possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait are planning their escape routes, while in Gaza, hundreds of people have evacuated the area as the Rafah crossing to Egypt opened to civilians for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

For those left behind, global affairs correspondent Jonathan Eyal looks into how far international law, which governs the conduct of war, will protect them. Israel has a right to self-defence, but there have been mounting calls for it to refrain from collective punishment of the people in Gaza.

At the Beijing Xiangshan security forum, Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen noted that the most critical task for military leaders in this coming decade is to avoid physical conflict in Asia. China’s top general Zhang Youxia said the world must guard against the resurgence of a “Cold War mentality”.

Meanwhile, China bade farewell to former premier Li Keqiang, who was cremated on Thursday. While allowing for some public expressions of grief over his death, Beijing has been swift to take steps to prevent the mourning from developing into criticism of the current government.

Also this week, we kicked off our Extreme Asia series, which takes an intimate look into what goes on behind the scenes in the making of some of Asia's most fascinating extremes. Philippines correspondent Mara Cepeda explores what goes into keeping the waters of the region's cleanest lake ever so pristine.