home from china to ash euro's welcome. friends and family were on hand that frank credential to greet womens gold medalist that he's heaven and her teammate bronze medalists, avoid germany for the 2nd in the metals count of the faith. vague games with that. 12 goals behind the news asia is next. i'll be back at the top of the i have a good ah, they've had no peace for for decades. people of iraq country is devastated and there's no end to the by how did it come to this group? this is revealed and unprecedented story. he

behaved exactly like the government and the poison spread and bear with me 3 new life the great documentary series, iraq destruction of the nation starts march 4th on d. w. a . this is did up there. near is asia coming up today. why europe is interested in the indoor pacific a forum and bad as will bring together e u. m. in the pacific ministers tomorrow. but what is the india pacific, and what are your office plans in the region, frances ambassador to the indoor pacific explains and the beijing went down a bit, sign off with a lavish closing set of money off the more than 2 weeks of competition control the seat and keeping coven, i debate?

ah. irish energy, welcome to d. w. news: asia ledger to join us. europe has always been involved with asia, and now it wants to be even more trade is the main area. it wants to do this in and improving technology. connectivity and security also form parts of its offering to the region. these are set to be discussed at a forum to be held tomorrow in paris. it will bring together foreign ministers of e u. member states. and some 30 countries in the area known as the in the pacific. it encompasses the countries located around the indian and pacific oceans. they account for 3 fifths of the world's population, are central to global value chains and produce almost 60 percent of global g d p. that and chinese assertiveness in the region has sped up the adoptions of interpret

civic strategies, but not just the e u, but also the netherlands, germany, and france. now ahead of the forum that begins in paris to model d w. so now follicle interviewed frances ambassador to the in the pacific, christoph panel. she began by asking him if frances into pacific strategy is more oriented toward security. and if that affects larger engagement in the region, it is not exactly true that the french strategy is very focused on defense. it's one important element when essential element that there was deception. i think it is widespread perception because our ministry of forces was the 1st to publish their into pacific strategy that the whole into pacific strategy addresses. many other issues which are as important for us

as, as the defense and security angle. take the example of climate change, but for instance, or the protection of biodiversity or protection of the oceans, health issues, but also economy issues, trade issues, connectivity issues. so our strategies clearly multi dimensional. we want to address all the challenges. security challenges are very serious and we not naive about them. but at the same time we want also to be able to develop cooperation actions, concrete actions with countries of the region on other issues such as the one i mentioned earlier. it is very important to understand that this multi dimensional approach, which is also the approach of the you, is not precisely not the same as the one developed by other countries who focus more on security and sometimes focus to exclusively on security. there are other

issues in the new pacific that we should address, how united is god, when it comes to its strategy in, in the pacific. some countries are more engaged than others. but what is important in my view, and what the adoption of the in the pacific strategy for cooperation demonstrated was that the e u, as a whole, recognizes that the new pacific is important. and that we collectively have strong interests in that region. if you take, for instance, the protection of commercial ceilings, if you take trade, if you take again climate change, biodiversity, the protection of oceans and health, these are major issues, major interests for us. and what happens in the new pacific clearly has a strong influence on our future, our prosperity and our security. so i think now there is a wide recognition among you members and this is reflected in the strategy of the

you that the indo pacific is very important. and this is something new. when we started the discussion in brussels and that was at the end of 2020, nobody would have predicted that we would adopt the you into a pacific strategy in september of $21.00. we thought it would take more time because there was some conviction. some advocacy to be made, we needed to discuss together what was what was good for us to, to have and vicious contents, but also to reflect the views of all members state. and he took less than a year, which by you standard, this is quite a performance. what does the you concretely offer people who live in the, in the pacific region? well, many thinks more stability for the promotion by the you of multilateralism of the rule of law in the economy and trade high

standards of science, theron c you know, strong, social and environmental standards. this would be beneficial to the people of every country in the new pacific on the global issue. as i mentioned earlier, climate change by diversity. you can support and really make a difference by sporting cooperation with the countries of the region. and this says, a direct impact on the livelihood of the people there because you know, they rely a lot on their environment. they rely a lot to him, the oceans, for this living conditions, but also for their sources of income. there are many examples of what we want to achieve with countries of the regions, such as, you know, digital partnerships with japan, korea, and singapore. but also an initiative on connectivity between the you nash. china

has not been invited to the in the pacific fordham in paris. do you think any real engagement in the inter pacific is possible without china being at the table? we have a 3 way approach to china. we consider china as a partner. we consider china as a competitor and we consider china also as a systemic rival, which does not pursue the same vision of the international order. and i think old 27 member states are comfortable with that. and this is why we adopted the c u. china outlook in 2019 and the indoor pacific strategy is perfectly aligned with these 2019 document and perfectly aligned with the china policy of the european union. the you into pacific forum is different because for us it was essential after the adoption of the strategy to discuss with the countries of the

region of our bilateral corporation. it is all about partnership. and we, we feel that it was important after the adoption of the strategy to establish kind of dedicate to dialogue with the older countries of the pacific. we have one which i now already, we need one with the others as well as streaming husband, invited to the in the pacific forum, to the surprise of many last few can be canceled a major submarine deal with france and joined the new security lines with the u. s . and the u. k. at the time, there was a lot of outrage here in paris and it led to a real diplomatic crisis. can you give us a sense of where things stand white now between australia and france, there are 2 different things there. again, one is the bilateral relationship between france and the radio, which was badly damage by the circumstances of the orchestra, non cement. and the other thing is that australia is

a key player in the indoor pacific. everyone recognized that including of course, france and australia is, is a partner for the european union. we have corporations together. so as a key player and as a partner of the european union, it is natural that we should have invited australia. there is nothing special in it, but it does not mean that our bilateral relationship has improved. it is an invitation that was made by the french minister and the high representative in doesn't mean for us, that the conditions are ripe now to restore the food trust that we had we. those failure before the orcas announcement, and i must tell you that progress has been a bit slow. we swayed on this, but of course we hoping that one day we are able to restore

a normal relationship. but there was no reason not to invite them to the forum. there were a key actor in the, in the pacific christopher nor there frances and buster to the in the pacific. and other key actor in the, in the pacific is of course japan. in fact, the country was the key driver of the into pacific concept august being to japan's ambassador to the eager to morrow for his country's views on how the region is evolving. ah, the bigger winter olympics came to an end on sunday with the colorful closing ceremony and the symbolic, hemmed over to the winter games is next venue. the italian city of milan in 2026. beijing organizers kept out the covered mountain pandemic from the games, but only by practically cutting off access to the general public. but that didn't seem to bother beijing residence. ha ha, ha. lindsey lympics were great. we watch replays of the matches. and i think it was

very exciting. give it to you. it was much better to watch than the olympic games in 2000 the date. i had the one who quoted of her oh, i think we've controlled the corona virus. well, because you see, when the foreign athletes came, some of them had to go through the quarantine if they tested positive. so i think we've been very strict and very thorough in pandemic control, with our young woman that embodying in 2008, when her dad and i were not yet married. we went to the birds nest stadium and watch to paralympics game. now our daughters could witness the winter olympics. they said we're passing these down to the next generation. here, you're her, you know, when hallmark and the delux jonathan crane has been reporting from the beijing olympics here. he gives us his take on covering more than 2 weeks of competitions and controversies. well, just over 2 weeks, of course,

conversation and that way the facing when to have come to an end. they started with questions. i've been trying to a human rights record on the question, how is tongue, why they've ended with a familiar topic that a rush. i don't think camilla go. i will not just fall criticism over the values and integrity of competition with me relieve attention away from some of the more issues concerning china really pick from now move on to like the less controversial crime, harrison. she is time after that. well, the 2nd start throwing on the repression, millions of people suffering on the chinese rule. the weakest people in hong kong keep in tibet. well, that continues and that's it for today is of course more on our website, d. deborah dot com forward slash asia will leave your now with images from the closing ceremony of the beijing rent olympics. one of the most controversial olympics today in see you tomorrow or by

ah the program is controversial. political, surprising to 2022 barely narly with great cinema, just slight corona, different cinema because of corona will show you all the things that caught her eye are to 21. next on d, w with these places in europe are smashing all the records,

stepped into a bold adventure. it's the treasure map for modern globetrotters. discover some of you are to record breaking sites on google maps, youtube and now also in book form. it was nice job. you couldn't us the voice. georgie bush. no disagreeing and please don't defy. taught and crashed via ish oh cinema makes us feel better makes us happy with.