Tag Archives: MY

World

The New Year rings in as Asia then Europe usher out 2022

Leave a comment

Dec 31 (Reuters) – With fireworks planned in Paris, hopes for an end to war in Kyiv, and a return to post-COVID normality in Australia and China, Europe and Asia bid farewell to 2022.

It was a year marked for many by the conflict in Ukraine, economic stresses and the effects of global warming. But it was also a year that saw a dramatic soccer World Cup, rapid technological change, and efforts to meet climate challenges.

For Ukraine, there seemed to be no end in sight to the fighting that began when Russia invaded in February. On Saturday alone, Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles, Ukrainian officials said, with explosions reported throughout the country.

Evening curfews remained in place nationwide, making the celebration of the beginning of 2023 impossible in many public spaces. Several regional governors posted messages on social media warning residents not to break restrictions on New Year’s Eve.

In Kyiv, though, people gathered near the city’s central Christmas tree as midnight approached.

“We are not giving up. They couldn’t ruin our celebrations,” said 36-year-old Yaryna, celebrating with her husband, tinsel and fairy lights wrapped around her.

Oksana Mozorenko, 35, said her family had tried to celebrate Christmas to make it “a real holiday” but added: “I would really like this year to be over.”

In a video message to mark the New Year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Time Magazine’s 2022 Person of the Year, said: “I want to wish all of us one thing – victory.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin devoted his New Year’s address to rallying the Russian people behind his troops fighting in Ukraine.

Festivities in Moscow were muted, without the usual fireworks on Red Square.

“One should not pretend that nothing is happening – our people are dying (in Ukraine),” said 68-year-old Yelena Popova. “A holiday is being celebrated, but there must be limits.” Many Muscovites said they hoped for peace in 2023.

Paris was set to stage its first New Year fireworks since 2019, with 500,000 people expected to gather on the Champs-Elysees avenue to watch.

Like many places, the Czech capital Prague was feeling the pinch economically and so did not hold a fireworks display.

“Holding celebrations did not seem appropriate,” said city hall spokesman Vit Hofman, citing “the unfavourable economic situation of many Prague households” and the need for the city to save money.

Heavy rain and high winds meant firework shows in the Netherlands’ main cities were cancelled.

But several European cities were experiencing record warmth for the time of year. The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said it was seeing the warmest New Year’s Eve on record, with the temperature in Prague’s centre, where records go back 247 years, reaching 17.7 Celsius (63.9 Fahrenheit).

It was also the warmest New Year’s Eve ever recorded in France, official weather forecaster Meteo France said.

[1/7] People gather on the Champs Elysees avenue during the New Year’s Eve celebrations near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, December 31, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

In Croatia, dozens of cities, including the capital Zagreb, cancelled fireworks displays after pet lovers warned about their damaging effects, calling for more environmentally aware celebrations.

The Adriatic town of Rovinj planned to replace fireworks with laser shows and Zagreb was putting on confetti, visual effects and music.

‘SYDNEY IS BACK’

Earlier, Australia kicked off the celebrations with its first restriction-free New Year’s Eve after two years of COVID disruptions.

Sydney welcomed the New Year with a typically dazzling fireworks display, which for the first time featured a rainbow waterfall off the Harbour Bridge.

“This New Year’s Eve we are saying Sydney is back as we kick off festivities around the world and bring in the New Year with a bang,” said Clover Moore, lord mayor of the city.

Pandemic-era curbs on celebrations were lifted this year after Australia, like many countries around the world, re-opened its borders and removed social distancing restrictions.

In China, rigorous COVID restrictions were lifted only in December as the government reversed its “zero-COVID” policy, a switch that has led to soaring infections and meant some people were in no mood to celebrate.

“This virus should just go and die, cannot believe this year I cannot even find a healthy friend that can go out with me and celebrate the passage into the New Year,” wrote one social media user based in eastern Shandong province.

But in the city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began three years ago, tens of thousands of people gathered to enjoy themselves despite a heavy security presence.

Barricades were erected and hundreds of police officers stood guard. Officers shuttled people away from at least one popular New Year’s Eve gathering point and used loudspeakers to blast out a message on a loop advising people not to gather. But the large crowds of revellers took no notice.

In Shanghai, many thronged the historic riverside walkway, the Bund.

“We’ve all travelled in from Chengdu to celebrate in Shanghai,” said Da Dai, a 28-year-old digital media executive who was visiting with two friends. “We’ve already had COVID, so now feel it’s safe to enjoy ourselves.”

In Hong Kong, days after limits were lifted on group gatherings, tens of thousands of people met near the city’s Victoria Harbour for a countdown to midnight. Lights beamed from some of the biggest harbour-front buildings.

It was the city’s biggest New Year’s Eve celebration in several years. The event was cancelled in 2019 due to often violent social unrest, then scaled down in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Malaysia’s government cancelled its New Year countdown and fireworks event at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur after flooding across the nation displaced tens of thousands of people and a landslide killed 31 people this month.

Celebrations at the capital’s Petronas Twin Towers were pared back with no performances or fireworks.

Reuters 2022 Year in Review

Reporting by Reuters bureaux around the world; Writing by Neil Fullick, Frances Kerry and Rosalba O’Brien; Editing by Hugh Lawson, David Holmes and Daniel Wallis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

Chinese jet came within 10 feet of U.S. military aircraft -U.S. military

Leave a comment

WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) – A Chinese military plane came within 10 feet (3 metres) of a U.S. air force aircraft in the contested South China Sea last week and forced it to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision in international airspace, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

The close encounter followed what the United States has called a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by Chinese military aircraft.

The incident, which involved a Chinese Navy J-11 fighter jet and a U.S. air force RC-135 aircraft, took place on Dec. 21, the U.S. military said in a statement.

“We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law,” it added.

A U.S. military spokesperson said the Chinese jet came within 10 feet of the plane’s wing, but 20 feet from its nose, which caused the U.S. aircraft to take evasive maneuvers.

The United States has raised the issue with the Chinese government, a separate U.S. official said.

The Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the past, China has said that the United States sending ships and aircraft into the South China Sea is not good for peace.

U.S. military planes and ships routinely carry out surveillance operations and travel through the region.

China claims vast swathes of the South China Sea that overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Trillions of dollars in trade flow every year through the waterway, which also contains rich fishing grounds and gas fields.

In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in November, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raised the need to improve crisis communications, and also noted what he called dangerous behavior by Chinese military planes.

Despite tensions between the United States and China, U.S. military officials have long sought to maintain open lines of communication with their Chinese counterparts to mitigate the risk of potential flare-ups or deal with any accidents.

Australia’s defence department said in June that a Chinese fighter aircraft dangerously intercepted an Australian military surveillance plane in the South China Sea region in May.

Australia said the Chinese jet flew close in front of the RAAF aircraft and released a “bundle of chaff” containing small pieces of aluminum that were ingested into the Australian aircraft’s engine.

In June, Canada’s military accused Chinese warplanes of harassing its patrol aircraft as they monitored North Korea sanction evasions, sometimes forcing Canadian planes to divert from their flight paths.

Relations between China and the United States have been tense, with friction between the world’s two largest economies over everything from Taiwan and China’s human rights record to its military activity in the South China Sea.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in August infuriated China, which saw it as a U.S. attempt to interfere in its internal affairs. China subsequently launched military drills near the island.

The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

Reporting by Idrees Ali and Doina Chiacu
Editing by Frances Kerry and Josie Kao

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Idrees Ali

Thomson Reuters

National security correspondent focusing on the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Reports on U.S. military activity and operations throughout the world and the impact that they have. Has reported from over two dozen countries to include Iraq, Afghanistan, and much of the Middle East, Asia and Europe. From Karachi, Pakistan.

Read original article here

World

Malaysia landslide kills 12 at campsite, more than 20 missing

Leave a comment

  • Landslide ripped through farm campsite around 3 am
  • Eight injured, at least 50 found safe
  • Almost 400 people involved in search and rescue – police

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 (Reuters) – A landslide killed at least 12 people while they slept at a campsite in Malaysia early on Friday, officials said, as search teams scoured thick mud and downed trees for more than 20 people still missing.

The landslide in Selangor state, on the outskirts of capital, Kuala Lumpur, occurred about 3 a.m. (1900 GMT), tearing down a hillside into an organic farm with camping facilities, the state fire and rescue department said in a statement.

Teh Lynn Xuan, 22, said she was camping with 40 others when the landslide struck. She said one of her brothers died, while another is in the hospital.

“I heard a loud sound like thunder, but it was the rocks falling,” she told Malay-language daily Berita Haria. “We felt the tents becoming unstable and soil was falling around us. Luckily, I was able to leave the tent and go to someplace safer. My mother and I managed to crawl out and save ourselves.”

More than 90 people were caught in the landslide and 59 have been found safe, with 22 still missing, according to the fire and rescue department.

In addition to the 12 dead, eight were hospitalised, it said.

One of those taken to the hospital was pregnant, while others had injuries ranging from minor cuts to a suspected spinal injury, health minister Zaliha Mustafa told a news conference.

District police chief Suffian Abdullah said the dead were all Malaysians and included a child about 5 years old.

Almost 400 people from several agencies had been deployed, with search-and-rescue efforts ongoing, he told a news conference.

The landslide came down from an estimated height of 30 metres (100 ft) above the campsite, and covered an area of about one acre (0.4 hectare), according to the fire and rescue department’s state director.

Footage from local television showed the aftermath of a large landslide through a steep, forested area beside a road, while other images on social media showed rescue workers clambering over thick mud, large trees and other debris.

Reuters Graphics

“I pray that the missing victims can be found safely soon,” Malaysia’s minister of natural resources, environment and climate change, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, tweeted on Friday morning, one of several ministers who were heading to the scene. “The rescue team has been working since early. I’m going down there today.”

The disaster struck about 50km (30 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur in Batang Kali town, just outside the popular hilltop area of Genting Highlands, an area known for its resorts, waterfalls and natural beauty.

News agency Bernama tweeted that all campsites and water recreation areas around Batang Kali had been ordered to close immediately until further notice, citing the minister of home affairs.

Pictures posted on the Father’s Organic Farm Facebook page show a farmhouse in a small valley, with a large area where tents can be set up.

Selangor is the country’s most affluent state and has suffered landslides before, often attributed to forest and land clearance.

The region is in its rainy season but no heavy rain or earthquakes were recorded overnight.

A year ago, about 21,000 people were displaced by flooding from torrential rain in seven states across the country.

Reporting by Rozanna Latiff, Angie Teo, Yantoultra Ngui and Hasnoor Hussein; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Ed Davies and Gerry Doyle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

Explainer: What to expect as Malaysia’s split election leaves scramble to form govt

Leave a comment

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Malaysia’s political leaders were scrambling to form a coalition government on Sunday after an election produced an unprecedented hung parliament, with no group able to claim a majority.

Longtime opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin each said they could form a government with support from other parties, whom they did not identify. Muhyiddin said he hoped to conclude talks by Sunday afternoon, although negotiations could take days.

Here is what is happening and what to expect:

WHAT HAPPENED?

Anwar’s multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition won 82 seats in the lower house, short of the 112 needed for a majority but ahead of Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional alliance with 73 and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Barisan Nasional with 30.

Muhyiddin’s alliance, which includes an Islamist party that has touted sharia Islamic law for the Southeast Asian nation, emerged as a third major bloc, dividing votes more than had been expected.

It made inroads in strongholds of Barisan, whose United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) – long Malaysia’s dominant political force – made its worst showing ever.

WHAT NEXT?

Analysts say the most likely government will again be a coalition of Muhyiddin’s bloc, Barisan and another group. But a minority government is possible if neither Anwar nor Muhyiddin can cobble together a majority.

Muhyiddin, who said he is open to working with any party but Anwar’s, said on Sunday he would discuss partnerships with regional parties in Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo island.

Anwar did not say whom he would work with. In an interview with Reuters this month, he ruled out partnering with Muhyiddin’s and Ismail’s coalitions, citing fundamental differences.

Muhyiddin and Ismail’s coalition prioritise interests of the ethnic-Malay majority, while Anwar’s is multicultural. Race and religion are divisive issues in Malaysia, where the mostly Muslim Malays comprise the majority, with minorities of ethnic Chinese and Indians.

KING’S ROLE

King Al-Sultan Abdullah could potentially pick the next prime minister.

The monarch has a largely ceremonial role, but the constitution empowers him to appoint as prime minister a lawmaker who he thinks can command a majority in parliament.

Malaysian kings – the post rotates among the sultans of the states – have rarely exercised that power, but they have become more influential in recent years amid the political wrangling.

In 2020, when the government of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad collapsed, King Al-Sultan chose Muhyiddin as premier after interviewing all 222 lawmakers to decide who had majority support. When Muhyiddin’s bloc also collapsed, he chose Ismail.

Muhyiddin said on Sunday he had received instructions from the palace on forming a government but did not disclose what they were. Anwar said he would submit a letter to the king detailing his support.

IMPLICATIONS?

Political instability is expected to continue for Malaysia, which has seen three prime ministers in as many years due to power struggles.

The country is adapting to the diminishing power of the UMNO and the Barisan coalition, which had ruled uninterrupted for 60 years from independence until 2018.

The next coalition will not have a convincing majority and could be plagued with more infighting, hurting the economy.

Voters, frustrated with the instability, may bristle at a new government if it includes the losing parties.

Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by A. Ananthalakshmi and William Mallard

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

Dutch court sentences three to life in prison for 2014 downing of MH17 over Ukraine

Leave a comment

  • Crash killed 298 passengers and crew
  • Court finds Russian missile downed the plane
  • Convicted men are fugitives, believed in Russia

AMSTERDAM, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Dutch judges convicted two Russian men and a Ukrainian man in absentia of murder for their role in the shooting down of Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 with the loss of 298 passengers and crew, and handed them life sentences.

Ukraine welcomed the ruling, which will have implications for other court cases Kyiv has filed against Russia, while Moscow called the ruling “scandalous” and said it would not extradite its citizens.

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam and was bound for Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, the precursor of this year’s conflict.

The ruling came as a relief to victims’ family members, more than 200 of whom attended the court in person, wiping away tears as the judgement was read.

“Only the most severe punishment is fitting to retaliate for what the suspects have done, which has caused so much suffering to so many victims and so many surviving relatives,” Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

The three men convicted were former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader.

The three were all found to have helped to arrange the transport into Ukraine of the Russian military BUK missile system that was used to shoot down the plane, though they were not the ones that physically pulled the trigger.

They are fugitives and believed to be in Russia. A fourth former suspect, Russian Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted on all charges.

The incident in 2014 left the plane’s wreckage and victims’ remains scattered across fields of corn and sunflowers.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February and claims to have annexed the Donetsk province where the plane was shot down.

“The families of victims wanted the truth and they wanted justice to be done and those responsible to be punished and that is what happened. I am pretty satisfied,” Piet Ploeg, who heads a foundation representing victims, told Reuters. Ploeg’s brother, his brother’s wife and his nephew died on MH17.

Meryn O’Brien of Australia, who lost her 25-year old son Jack, said she felt relieved. “Everyone was relieved the process has come to an end, and it is very fair, and it has been meticulous.”

“There’s no celebration,” said Jordan Withers of Britain, whose uncle Glenn Thomas died. “Nothing is going to bring any of the victims back.” They came from 10 different countries.

The judgment included a 16 million euro damages award.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the first sentences handed down over MH17 as an “important decision” by the court in The Hague.

[1/6] Lawyers attend the judges’ inspection of the reconstruction of the MH17 wreckage, as part of the murder trial ahead of the beginning of a critical stage, in Reijen, Netherlands, May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool

“But it is necessary that those who ordered it also end up in the dock because the feeling of impunity leads to new crimes,” he wrote on Twitter. “We have to dispel this illusion. Punishment for all Russian atrocities – both then and now – will be inevitable.”

The ruling found that Russia had “overall control” over the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic in Eastern Ukraine from mid May 2014.

“This is groundbreaking,” said Marieke de Hoon, assistant professor of international law at Amsterdam University. The ruling was “authoritative” and would likely boost Ukraine’s other international cases against Russia relating to the 2014 conflict.

‘NO REASONABLE DOUBT’

Judge Steenhuis said there was ample evidence from eyewitness testimony and photographs which tracked the missile system’s movements into and back out of Ukraine to Russia.

“There is no reasonable doubt” that MH17 was shot down by a Russian missile system, Steenhuis said.

Moscow denies any involvement or responsibility for MH17’s downing and in 2014 it also denied any presence in Ukraine.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said “throughout the trial the court was under unprecedented pressure from Dutch politicians, prosecutors and the media to impose a politically motivated outcome”.

“We deeply regret that the District Court in The Hague disregarded the principles of impartial justice in favour of the current political situation, thus causing a serious reputational blow to the entire judicial system in the Netherlands,” it added.

Prosecutors had charged the four men with shooting down an airplane and with murder in a trial held under Dutch law, as more than half of the victims were Dutch. Phone call intercepts that formed a key part of the evidence suggested the men believed they were targeting a Ukrainian fighter jet.

Steenhuis said that, while that counted for something in terms of lessening the severity of their criminal responsibility, they still had a murderous intent and the consequences of their actions were huge.

Of the suspects, only Pulatov had pleaded not guilty via lawyers he hired to represent him. The others were tried in absentia and none attended the trial.

The police investigation was led by the Netherlands, with participation from Ukraine, Malaysia, Australia and Belgium.

Thursday’s ruling is not the final word on holding people accountable for MH17, Dutch and Australian authorities said.

Andy Kraag, the head of the police investigation, said research was continuing into possible suspects higher in the chain of command. Investigators are also looking at the crew of the missile system which launched the fatal rocket.

The Dutch and Australian governments, which hold Russia responsible, have started a proceeding against the Russian Federation at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Reporting by Toby Sterling, Stephanie van den Berg and Bart Meijer; Editing by Jon Boyle, Alex Richardson, Toby Chopra, Alexandra Hudson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

Biden and Xi to meet ahead of G20

Leave a comment

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping will arrive on the Indonesian island of Bali on Monday for a long-awaited meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, ahead of a Group of 20 (G20) summit set to be fraught with tension over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The two leaders are expected to discuss Taiwan, Ukraine and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, issues that will also loom over the G20 that opens on Tuesday without Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance.

Billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Twitter Inc, addressed a business forum that is part of the summit and said he had “too much work” on his plate.

Speaking by videolink, he appeared lit by candles, wearing a batik shirt sent by the organisers. He said he was speaking from a place that had just lost power.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent the Russian president at the G20 summit – the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February – after the Kremlin said Putin was too busy to attend.

On the eve of Monday’s meeting with Xi, Biden told Asian leaders in Cambodia that U.S. communication lines with China would stay open to prevent conflict, with tough talks almost certain in the days ahead.

The United States would “compete vigorously” with China while “ensuring competition does not veer into conflict”, said Biden, stressing the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait during an address to the East Asia Summit in Cambodia. He arrived in Bali on Sunday night.

Relations between the superpowers have sunk to their lowest in decades, marred by growing tensions in recent years over a host of issues ranging from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the South China Sea, trade practices and U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology.

But U.S. officials said there have been quiet efforts by both Beijing and Washington over the past two months to repair ties.

“These meetings do not take place in isolation, they are part of a very sustained process,” said one Biden administration official. “We have engaged in serious, sustained – dozens and dozens of hours – of quiet diplomacy behind the scenes.

“I think we are satisfied with the seriousness that both sides have brought to that process.”

Biden and Xi, who have held five phone or video calls since Biden became president in January 2021, last met in person during the Obama administration when Biden was vice president.

Monday’s face-to-face meeting will be at The Mulia, a luxury beachside hotel on Nusa Dua bay in Bali. It is unlikely to produce a joint statement, the White House has said, but it could help stabilise the bilateral relationship.

Both leaders will attend the opening of the G20 summit on Tuesday.

‘SOME DISCOMFORT’

One of the main topics at the G20 will be Russia’s war in Ukraine and Biden will be “unapologetic” in his defence of the European nation, U.S. officials said last week.

Xi and Putin have grown increasingly close in recent years, bound by their shared distrust of the West, and reaffirmed their partnership just days before Russia invaded Ukraine. But China has been careful not to provide any direct material support that could trigger Western sanctions against it.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang emphasised the “irresponsibility” of nuclear threats during the summit in Cambodia, suggesting China was uncomfortable with strategic partner Russia’s nuclear rhetoric, the Biden administration official said.

The West has accused Russia of making irresponsible statements on the possible use of nuclear weapons since its February invasion of Ukraine. Russia has in turn accused the West of “provocative” nuclear rhetoric.

“There have been areas where China and Russia have worked together to deepen and broaden their relationship economically,” said the U.S. official. “But on some of these big issues, I think there is undeniably some discomfort in Beijing about what we’ve seen in terms of reckless rhetoric and activity on the part of Russia.”

Russia’s Lavrov said on Sunday the West was “militarising” Southeast Asia in a bid to contain Russian and Chinese interests, setting the stage for more confrontation with Western leaders at the G20.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he will address the G20 gathering by videolink on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to meet Lavrov at the summit, a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement. He is also likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Biden.

The G20 bloc, which includes a broad array of countries ranging from Brazil to India and Germany, accounts for more than 80% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 60% of its population.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to join Indonesian President Joko Widodo to address the parallel B20 business forum taking place on Monday ahead of the G20 summit.

Reporting by Nandita Bose, Fransiska Nangoy, Leika Kihara and Simon Lewis in Nusa Dua; Writing by Kay Johnson and Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Ed Davies and Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

G7 urges China to abstain from threats, use of force

Leave a comment

MUENSTER, Germany, Nov 4 (Reuters) – The Group of Seven on Friday urged China to abstain from “threats, coercion, intimidation, or the use of force,” while expressing their aim for cooperation where possible to tackle global challenges including security, global health and climate.

The mildly-worded communique, wrapping up two days of meetings by the foreign ministers of the world’s seven wealthiest democracies, also reiterated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

The G7 increasingly agrees on the need for a coordinated response to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitions following a congress of the ruling Communist party, a senior U.S. State Department official said earlier, but the communique did not make a reference to a common goal.

The gathering coincided with a one-day visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to China, which fuelled concern that Germany would continue to prioritize economic relations with its largest trading partner over security and strategic considerations.

This could risk divisions among Western allies that have sought to adopt a tougher stance towards China in recent years.

“We remind China of the need… to abstain from threats, coercion, intimidation, or the use of force,” the G7 communique said. “We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.”

The G7 said it remained “seriously concerned about the situation in and around the East and South China Seas” after China earlier this year staged war games near Taiwan.

China claims the self-governed island as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

Moreover the G7 said they would continue to raise concerns with China on its reported human rights violations and abuses, including in Xinjiang and Tibet, and on the “continued erosion of Hong Kong’s rights, freedoms and autonomy”.

The U.S. State Department official told reporters there was had been an “increasing convergence of the views on what China’s ultimate strategy, both domestically but also globally, is” over the last 1-1/2 years.

“Coming out of the party congress, I think there’s an increasing recognition of ultimately what President Xi’s ambitions are and the need for a coordinated response to that,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“That’s something that I think will be a focus of this group as we head into Japan’s presidency next year,” he noted, referring to Japan taking over the G7’s rotating presidency from Germany at the start of next year.

Sino-Japanese relations have long been plagued by a dispute over a group of tiny uninhabited East China Sea islets, a legacy of Japan’s World War Two aggression and regional rivalry.

On Friday Japan’s Sankei newspaper reported that the Japanese and Chinese governments had started planning a meeting between Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for mid-November.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell cautioned earlier in the day that China should not be put in the same category as Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February.

“It is clear that China is… becoming much more assertive, much more on a self-reliant course,” Borrell told reporters.

“But for the time being, many member states have a strong economic relationship with China, and I don’t think we can put China and Russia on the same level.”

The G7 said in their statement that they aimed for “constructive cooperation with China, where possible and in our interest” on global issues such as health and climate change.

Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Sarah Marsh and Sabine Siebold; additional reporting by Sarah Marsh; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

U.S. calls China’s military action over Taiwan unjustified, Beijing sanctioning Pelosi

Leave a comment

  • Taiwan plays down concerns
  • China staging unprecedented military drills around Taiwan
  • Follows visit by U.S. House Speaker Pelosi to Taipei
  • China says it will sanction Pelosi over ‘vicious’ actions
  • Pelosi, in Japan, joins PM Kishida in condemning China

TAIPEI, Aug 5 (Reuters) – China’s firing of missiles during military drills around Taiwan was an unjustified escalation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as Beijing said it would impose sanctions on House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting the island.

Diplomatic relations spiralled further downward on Friday, as China’s foreign ministry followed up by saying it would cancel dialogues between U.S. and Chinese military leaders, and suspend bilateral talks on climate and maritime safety. read more

Blinken said Washington has made it repeatedly clear to Beijing it does not seek a crisis, as diplomatic ructions continued over Pelosi’s visit this week to the self-governed island that Beijing regards as its sovereign territory.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

“There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response,” Blinken said, speaking at a news conference during the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Cambodia. He added, “now, they’ve taken dangerous acts to a new level”.

China launched its largest ever military drills in the seas and skies around Taiwan on Thursday, a day after Pelosi enraged Beijing by making a solidarity trip to the island, the highest-level U.S. visitor to Taiwan in 25 years. The live-fire drills are scheduled to continue until noon on Sunday.

On Friday, China’s military conducted air and sea drills to the north, southwest and east of Taiwan “to test the troops’ joint combat capabilities”, the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement on its official Weibo account.

Blinken emphasised that the United States would not take actions to provoke a crisis, but it would continue to support regional allies and conduct standard air and maritime transit through the Taiwan Strait.

“We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” he said.

The White House summoned Chinese ambassador Qin Gang on Thursday to condemn escalating actions against Taiwan, the Washington Post reported.

Representatives for the State Department did not immediately reply for a request for comment on China’s halting of talks or the report that Washington had summoned Beijing’s ambassador

China’s foreign ministry announced on Friday that it would impose sanctions on Pelosi and her immediate family in response to her “vicious” and “provocative” actions. read more

“Despite China’s serious concerns and firm opposition, Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan, seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs, undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, trampling on the one-China policy, and threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement. read more

The foreign ministry said it was also suspending co-operation on cross-border crime prevention and counter-narcotics, and cooperation on repatriation of illegal migrants.

Speaking in Japan, Pelosi said her trip to Asia was never about changing the regional status quo. read more

‘EVIL NEIGHBOUR’

About 10 Chinese navy ships and 20 military aircraft briefly crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Friday morning, a Taiwan source briefed on the matter told Reuters. read more

Earlier, Taiwan’s defence ministry said the island’s military had dispatched aircraft and ships and deployed land-based missile systems to monitor the situation there.

On Thursday, China fired multiple missiles into waters surrounding Taiwan in an unprecedented escalation during live-fire exercises.

Japan’s defence ministry, which is tracking the exercises, first reported that as many as four of the missiles flew over Taiwan’s capital. It also said that five of nine missiles fired toward its territory landed in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), also a first, prompting a diplomatic protest by Tokyo.

Later, Taiwan’s defence ministry said the missiles were high in the atmosphere and constituted no threat. It gave no details of their flight paths, citing intelligence concerns.

Some Taipei residents, including Mayor Ko Wen-je, criticised the government for not putting out a missile alert, but one security expert said that could have been done to avoid stoking panic and playing into China’s hands.

“It counteracted the effect of the Chinese Communist Party’s psychological warfare,” said Mei Fu-shin, a U.S.-based analyst. “The shock and fear were not as great as they could have been.”

Asked to comment on the missiles, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang did not directly respond, but referred to China as the “evil neighbour showing off her power at our door.” read more

“In my view, the larger threat is that China is doing a rehearsal for a blockade, demonstrating it can block Taiwan’s ports and airports, and prevent shipping,” said Bonnie Glaser, a Washington-based Asia security specialist at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

JAPAN’S WORRIES

Responding to the Chinese drills, President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not provoke conflicts but would firmly defend its sovereignty and national security.

Taiwan has been self-ruled since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s communists took power in Beijing after defeating Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists in a civil war, prompting the KMT-led government to retreat to the island.

Beijing has said its relations with Taiwan are an internal matter. It says it reserves the right to bring Taiwan under Chinese control, by force if necessary.

In Tokyo, Pelosi addressed the diplomatic furore caused by the congressional delegation’s week-long trip to Asia, and most specifically to Taiwan.

“We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region,” she told a news conference after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“I have informed speaker Pelosi that the fact China’s ballistic missiles had landed near Japanese waters including EEZ threaten our national safety and security and that Japan had strongly condemned such actions,” Kishida said.

China’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the ambassador for Japan and a Canadian diplomat in Beijing on Thursday over an “erroneous” Group of Seven (G7) nations statement on Taiwan, and also made complaints to EU envoys.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu in Taipei
Additional reporting by Elaine Lies and Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Greg Torode in Hong Kong, Ann Wang in Liuqiu Island; Susan Heavey in Washington;
Writing by Tony Munroe, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Simon Cameron-Moore and Frances Kerry
Editing by Mark Heinrich, Frances Kerry and Toby Chopra

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

China says it ‘drove’ away U.S. destroyer that sailed near disputed isles

Leave a comment

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65), forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations, conducts underway operations in the South China Sea, in this handout picture released on July 13, 2022. U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

BEIJING, July 13 (Reuters) – A U.S. destroyer sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Wednesday, drawing an angry reaction from Beijing, which said its military had “driven away” the ship after it illegally entering territorial waters.

The United States regularly carries out what it calls Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea challenging what it says are restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China and other claimants.

The U.S. Navy said the USS Benfold “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law”.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

China says it does not impede freedom of navigation or overflight, accusing the United States of deliberately provoking tensions.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command said the U.S. ship’s actions seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security by illegally entering China’s territorial waters around the Paracels, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

“The PLA’s Southern Theatre Command organised sea and air forces to follow, monitor, warn and drive away” the ship, it added, showing pictures of the Benfold taken from the deck of the Chinese frigate the Xianning.

“The facts once again show that the United States is nothing short of a ‘security risk maker in the South China Sea’ and a ‘destroyer of regional peace and stability.'”

The U.S. Navy said the Chinese statement on the mission was “false” and the latest in a long string of Chinese actions to “misrepresent lawful U.S. maritime operations and assert its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims at the expense of its Southeastern Asian neighbours in the South China Sea”.

The United States is defending every country’s right to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, and nothing China “says otherwise will deter us”, it added.

China seized control of the Paracel Islands from the then-South Vietnamese government in 1974.

Monday marked the sixth anniversary of a ruling by an international tribunal that invalidated China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea, a conduit for about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade each year.

China has never accepted the ruling.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei all have competing and often overlapping claims.

China has built artificial islands on some of its South China Sea holdings, including airports, raising regional concerns about Beijing’s intentions.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Tapei; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Kim Coghill

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

U.S., Chinese foreign ministers hold first in person talks since October

Leave a comment

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, July 9 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on Saturday for the first in-person talks since October after attending a G20 summit where the top U.S. diplomat led efforts to pressure Russia over its war in Ukraine.

U.S. officials say Blinken’s meeting with Wang in Bali, Indonesia, including a morning session of talks and a working lunch, is aimed at keeping the difficult U.S. relationship with China stable and preventing it from veering inadvertently into conflict. read more

“There is no substitute for face to face … diplomacy, and in a relationship as complex and consequential as the one between the United States and China there is a lot to talk about,” Blinken told reporters at the beginning of the meeting.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

“We very much look forward to a productive and constructive conversation,” he said.

Blinken is expected to repeat warnings to China not to support Russia’s war in Ukraine and the two sides will address contentious issues that include Taiwan, China’s extensive South China Sea claims, its expansion of influence in the Pacific, human rights, and trade tariffs.

However, both sides share an interest in keeping the relationship stable and Blinken and U.S. officials say President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to speak again in coming weeks, something Saturday’s meeting is likely to address.

“China and the United States are two major countries, so it is necessary for the two countries to maintain normal exchanges,” Wang told reporters.

“At the same time, we do need to talk together to ensure that this relationship will continue to move forward along the right track,” Wang said.

Daniel Russel, a top U.S. diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama who has close contact with Biden administration officials, said he believed a key aim for the meeting would be to explore the possibility of an in-person meeting between Biden and Xi, their first as leaders, possibly on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Bali in November.

The United States calls China its main strategic rival and is concerned it might one day attempt to take over the self-ruled democratic island of Taiwan, just as Russia attacked Ukraine.

The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, said on Tuesday he expected a “candid” exchange with Wang and said it would be another opportunity “to convey our expectations about what we would expect China to do and not to do in the context of Ukraine”.

Shortly before Russia’s Feb. 24 Ukraine invasion, Beijing and Moscow announced a “no limits” partnership. But U.S. officials have said they have not seen China evade tough U.S.-led sanctions on Russia or provide it with military equipment.

However, China has declined to condemn Russia’s actions and it has criticized the sweeping sanctions.

U.S. officials have warned of consequences, including sanctions, should China start offering material support for Russia’s war effort, which it calls a “special military operation” to degrade the Ukrainian military though Kyiv counters that it is an imperial-style land grab.

Despite their strategic rivalry, the world’s two largest economies remain major trading partners and Biden has been considering scrapping tariffs on a range of Chinese goods to curb surging U.S. inflation before the November midterm elections, with control of Congress in focus. read more

(This story has been refiled to edit headline to show first in person talks)

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here