Hi,
In today's bulletin: Ongoing fires in Australia are threatening to pull the plug on the country's annual New Year's Eve celebrations; a Chinese scientist who claims to have created the first genetically-edited babies gets sentenced to jail; Hong Kong is set to greet the new year with more unrest; and more.
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SHOULD AUSTRALIA'S FIREWORKS GO AHEAD?
As historic wildfires continue to burn in parts of Australia, there have been growing calls for the country to abandon much of its New Year's Eve fireworks. Fireworks in the capital of Canberra have already been scrapped and the debate now centres very much on the Australia's iconic New Year's Eve display - the extravaganza in Sydney. Hundreds of thousands have signed a petition calling for the show to be stopped and the money to be spent supporting firefighters. But officials say a cancellation this close to the event, when the budget is largely spent, has little practical benefit to affected communities while hurting Sydney businesses. For now, it appears the show will go on tomorrow.
See also: 'Too late to leave': Official warns tourists who won't evacuate as southeastern Australia burns
HONG KONG GEARS UP FOR BIG MARCHES OVER THE NEW YEAR
Protesters in Hong Kong intend to make their presence felt over the New Year holidays with a series of events, including a massive march on the first day of the year. The aim of the protests is ostensibly to disrupt festivities and shopping in the city, while demonstrating that the prolonged protests - which have been going on since March - still enjoy broad support. There had been hopes that protests were starting to fade after a relatively quiet December but clashes have picked up again since Christmas.
Key developments:
Hong Kong economy to shrink in Q4 following months of protests, says financial chief
Hong Kong police paid $23 million in meal and other allowances related to protests
CHINESE SCIENTIST WHO CLAIMED TO HAVE GENETICALLY EDITED BABIES SENTENCED TO PRISON
He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who shocked the world in 2018 by claiming he had created the world's first gene-edited babies, has been sentenced to three years in jail by a Chinese court for his trouble. The court said he and two other people working on the project did not have proper certification to practice medicine, and violated national regulations in scientific research and medical treatment. His claims, which have not been proven, caused a backlash in China and around the world and today's sentence amounts to China starting to draw boundaries even as it pushes to become a major force in global research.
See also: Why are scientists so upset about the first gene-edited Crispr babies?
TAIWAN'S PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS SPAR OVER CROSS-STRAIT TIES
In case there was any lingering doubt over what the key issue is in the upcoming Taiwanese presidential elections, the final televised debate made it clear: This Taiwanese election is about China. All three candidates presented themselves as the best person to protect Taiwans's rights while accusing opponents of pushing policies that betray those rights. Still, recent polling has shown that perceptions of the opposition Kuomintang as a pro-Beijing party have been hard to shake, with incumbent Tsai Ing-wen now holding a big lead over the KMT's Han Kuo-yu and People First Party's James Soong.
See also: China offers new pre-election inducement to Taiwan with revised law
NORTH KOREA HINTS AGAIN ABOUT A MISSILE TEST
North Korea has hinted at but thus far not delivered a "Christmas gift" to the US even as both sides now are certain to miss the year-end deadline for denuclearisation talks Kim Jong Un had demanded. On Sunday, at a ruling party in Pyongyang, the North Korean leader issued another thinly-veiled threat, saying the country needs to take "positive and offensive measures" to ensure sovereignty and security. Most assume such "measures" can only mean some sort of provocation.
See also: US promises action on any North Korea missile test
IN OTHER NEWS
Tragic accident in Singapore: Early celebrations ahead of the new year were cut short tragically on Sunday (Dec 29) when a car crashed through a pavement railing and plunged several metres, before landing on the exit lane of the shopping mall carpark, killing two women and injuring four others - all of them migrant workers.
Trump's tweetstorm: United States President Donald Trump faced calls from his own party to show more restraint on Twitter amid a storm of outrage on Sunday (Dec 29) over him revealing the name of a man widely thought to be the whistle-blower who triggered his impeachment.
US strikes on Iraq, Syria: United States officials said on Sunday (Dec 29) that air strikes in Iraq and Syria against an Iran-backed militia group were successful, but warned that "additional actions" may still be taken in the region to defend US interests.
That's it for today. Asian Insider will be back on Jan 2. Here's wishing all readers a very happy 2020! See you next year!
-Jeremy
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