Two pilots die in Chinese fighter jet crash

BEIJING: A Chinese navy fighter jet crashed during training on the southern island province of Hainan on Tuesday, killing two pilots, the defence ministry said.

There were “no casualties on the ground,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the cause of the accident was under investigation.

China’s military, which is undergoing a well-funded TOKYO: Japan said yesterday it will not submit a motion against North Korea’s human rights record at a UN panel for the first time in more than a decade.

The decision comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe explores ways to engage North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in an effort to resolve a row over past kidnappings of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang agents.

Abe, who rose to national political fame with his hardline stance against North Korea, has toned down his rhetoric against Pyongyang as US President Donald Trump actively courts Kim, holding their second meeting earlier this month in Vietnam.

Abe is now putting more effort into meeting Kim to resolve the abduction issue.

“Having reviewed the outcome of the US-North Korea summit meeting as well as various conditions surrounding the abduction and other issues, we have decided not to submit a draft resolution on the situation of human rights in the DPRK at the current Human Rights Council being held in Geneva,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular briefing.

For the past 11 years, Japan has joined the European Union to jointly issue a motion to condemn human rights conditions in North Korea.

Tokyo believes North Korean agents kidnapped at least 17 Japanese nationals to train its spies in language and customs in the 1970s and 80s.

After years of denial, North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had taken 13 Japanese civilians. modernisation drive, has had other accidents in recent years.

An air force plane crashed in Guizhou province during a training exercise in January 2018, killing crew members onboard, the air force said, without revealing the number.

State media reported the crash of an aircraft carrier-based J15 fighter in April 2018 during training, resulting in the death of the pilot. In 2015, two pilots died during a training session when their plane engine caught fire shortly after take off, state media reported at the time.

Beijing announced last week a 7.5 percent increase in military spending to 1.19 trillion yuan (US$177.6 billion) in 2019, a lower rise than last year as the country faces an economic slowdown. — AFP

Japan won’t submit new UN rights motion against N. Korea