Send-off ceremonies held as UAE, Kazakhstan teams head for 9th Asian Winter Games

Athletes who will represent the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kazakhstan at the 9th Asian Winter Games were given a warm send-off in their respective countries on Monday as they now head for the host city of Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The week-long Games, which are due to get underway in northeast China's "ice city" of Harbin on Friday, will see 1,270 competitors from 34 countries and regions taking part, making this the largest ever edition of the event in terms of overall participation.

The UAE is also sending its biggest ever delegation, with seven athletes set to compete in Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding.

While the team has largely been training in indoor facilities in Dubai, prior to the Games, they also completed a six-day overseas training camp in Georgia to prepare for the challenges ahead.

"I just want to try my best give it all I got and represent the UAE in the best way as possible. There is some quite tough competition going and it's exciting to see all of them," said athlete Alexander Astridge.

His teammate Amenah Almuhairi expressed her goals for the event, saying she is hopeful to gain valuable experience from the competition.

"My expectation is to land my full run that I have planned and to hopefully go and meet some new friends and new people and just enjoy the whole event," she said.

Abdallah Albalushi, also participating in his first big international competition, said he is setting out to simply deliver his best performance and make his country proud.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Consulate-General in Almaty organized a special ceremony for Kazakhstan's national Alpine ski team on Monday as they get ready to make their way to China.

The event also coincided with the tail end of celebrations for the Chinese New Year, and athletes were presented with symbolic snake dolls, representing the recently-arrived Year of the Snake.

The team, comprising eight athletes, expressed their excitement and readiness for the upcoming Games.

"Athletes are ready to compete for medals. I hope we can perform well and achieve good results at this year's Asian Winter Games," said head coach Alexander Kostrov.

"I believe I can achieve good results in this competition. I will try my best. Thank you very much for the invitation. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in the Harbin Asian Winter Games!" said athlete Alexey Kulakov.

Mariya Shkabarova, another athlete, says she is confident of a good result given her recent form.

"I think I will show my best. My performance in the previous season was pretty good. I will go all out in this competition,"said Shkabarova.

Send-off ceremonies held as UAE, Kazakhstan teams head for 9th Asian Winter Games

A Japanese lawmaker has raised concerns over Japan's push to expand its military and its nuclear policy.

Responding to some politicians' dangerous tendency towards possessing nuclear weapons, Takara Sachika, a member of Japan's House of Councilors, said that Japan's push to strengthen its military, combined with what she called a misguided nuclear policy, not only heightens regional tensions but also directly threatens regional security.

"I think this is completely unacceptable. Japan is a country that has suffered atomic bombings and is one of the nations most aware of the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Yet such a country is openly discussing the issue of possessing nuclear weapons and even attempting to revise the principle of not allowing the introduction of nuclear weapons, one of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. This is an extremely serious problem," Takara said.

Takara said the Japanese government's tendency to expand its military capabilities is completely contrary to the Constitution.

"From the perspective of Japan's Constitution, Japan should never have adopted a policy of ensuring security by strengthening military capabilities. Yet today, enormous effort is being poured into military expansion, and that in itself is a serious problem," said the lawmaker.

At a Diet meeting in early November 2025, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that what she described as the Chinese central authorities' "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, and suggested the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait, drawing strong criticism worldwide.

Takara urged Takaichi to retract her erroneous remarks as soon as possible.

"I think there is a very big problem with making such remarks that provoke other countries. It is necessary to thoroughly examine the facts as soon as possible and withdraw the relevant remarks," she said.

Japanese lawmaker criticizes nuclear weapons remarks as threat to regional security