Philippines orders strengthened military presence after ‘Chinese activities’ near islands

China claims most of the South China Sea, overlapping with those claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Above, anti-China activists during a protest at a park in Manila in 2019. (AFP file photo)

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Updated 22 December 2022

Reuters

December 22, 2022 08:12

Philippines orders strengthened military presence after ‘Chinese activities’ near islands

Earlier report claims of Chinese construction on four uninhabited features in the disputed Spratly islands

Updated 22 December 2022

Reuters

December 22, 2022 08:12

MANILA: The Philippines’ defense ministry on Thursday ordered the military to strengthen its presence in the South China Sea after monitoring “Chinese activities” in disputed waters close to a strategic Philippine-held island.
The ministry did not specify what activities those were and its statement follows a report this week of Chinese construction on four uninhabited features in the disputed Spratly islands, news that Beijing has dismissed as “unfounded.”
Any encroachment or reclamation on features within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone “is a threat to the security of Pagasa island, which is part of Philippine sovereign territory,” the ministry said in a statement, using the Filipino name for Thitu island.
“We strongly urge China to uphold the prevailing rules-based international order and refrain from acts that will exacerbate tensions,” it added.
The Chinese embassy in Manila reiterated that China strictly abides by a consensus reached among claimants that included not developing uninhabited reefs and islands.
Asked to respond to the defense ministry’s statement, it said both countries would “properly handle maritime issues through friendly consultations.”
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which billions of dollars worth of goods pass each year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have overlapping claims to various islands and features.
Thitu is the most strategically important of nine features the Philippines occupies in the Spratlys, located close to Subi Reef, one of seven artificial islands that China has built on submerged reefs, some with surface-to-air missiles, aircraft hangars and runways.

Ukraine’s Zelensky arrives in Canada on unannounced visit

Updated 8 sec ago

September 22, 2023 03:52

Ukraine’s Zelensky arrives in Canada on unannounced visit

Updated 8 sec ago

September 22, 2023 03:52

OTTAWA: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Canada Thursday night from the United States on an unannounced visit to rally support for his country as it fights the Russian invasion.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeted Zelensky as he stepped off his plane in Ottawa, as seen on Canadian TV, traveling from Washington for his first visit here since the war started in February 2022.
In Washington, Zelensky met with President Joe Biden and leaders of Congress.
Canada is home to a large Ukrainian community and Trudeau’s government has pledged firm and lasting support for Ukraine as it battles Russian forces.
On Friday, Zelensky will hold formal talks with Trudeau and give a speech to the Canadian parliament.
He and Trudeau will also travel to Toronto to meet with business leaders and members of the community of Canadians of Ukrainian origin.

Canada calls on India to cooperate in murder probe of Sikh leader, declines to share evidence

Updated 22 September 2023

Reuters

September 22, 2023 06:27

Canada calls on India to cooperate in murder probe of Sikh leader, declines to share evidence

Canada has said it has credible allegations linking Indian agents to murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June
Nijjar supported an independent Khalistani state for Sikhs, was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020

Updated 22 September 2023

Reuters

September 22, 2023 06:27

NEW YORK: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday called on India to cooperate with an investigation into the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia and said Canada would not release its evidence.

Trudeau said on Monday that Ottawa had credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, prompting an angry reaction from New Delhi. Nijjar, 45, was a Canadian citizen.

The Canadian government has amassed both human and signals intelligence in a months-long investigation into the Sikh separatist leader’s murder, CBC News separately reported on Thursday citing sources.

Traditional Canadian allies have so far taken a relatively cautious approach to the matter. Political analysts said this was partly because the United States and other major players see India as a counterweight to the growing influence of China.

“There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with ... and we’re not looking to provoke or cause problems,” Trudeau said in a press conference in New York on the sidelines of the annual high-level United Nations General Assembly. “But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians.”

“That’s why we call upon the government of India to work with us to establish processes to discover and to uncover the truth of the matter.”

The CBC report said, citing Canadian sources, that no Indian official, when pressed behind closed doors has denied the allegation that there is evidence suggesting Indian government involvement in Nijjar’s death.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the CBC report.

The report said the intelligence included communications involving Indian officials, among them Indian diplomats present in Canada, adding that some of the intelligence was provided by an unidentified ally in the Five Eyes alliance.

Five Eyes is an intelligence-sharing network that includes the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The United States is in touch with both Canada and India over Ottawa’s allegations, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday, confirming for the first time that Washington was talking to New Delhi about the matter.

“There’s not some special exemption you get for actions like this,” Sullivan told reporters when asked about Trudeau’s statement about possible Indian involvement. “It is a matter of concern for us, it is something we take seriously.”

US President Joe Biden and several members of the Five Eyes raised the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they met at the G20 this month, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The Indian foreign ministry said Canada had not shared any specific information about the murder. Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020.

“As a country with a strong and independent justice system, we allow those justice processes to unfold themselves with the utmost integrity,” Trudeau replied when asked when Canada would release the evidence it had.

India on Thursday suspended new visas for Canadians and asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country. Trudeau did not respond when asked about these measures.

Speaking separately, an Indian trade official said there was no reason for Canadian pension funds to back out of investing in the country.

Topics: Canada India Hardeep Singh Nijjar Sikh activist

US, UK signal support for EU windfall tax plan on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine reconstruction

Updated 22 September 2023

Reuters

September 22, 2023 05:53

US, UK signal support for EU windfall tax plan on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine reconstruction

Per EU estimates, windfall profit from Russia’s frozen assets in Europe could provide $3.27 billion a year to rebuild Ukraine
British FM says Russia must be made to bear the costs of reconstruction of Ukraine as a consequence of its invasion

Updated 22 September 2023

Reuters

September 22, 2023 05:53

WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt signaled support on Thursday for a European Union plan to impose a windfall tax on profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets to help finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.

A Treasury spokesperson said Yellen called the EU plan a “sensible” proposal.

Yellen, who discussed frozen Russian assets with Ukrainian officials during her visit to Kyiv in February, told Bloomberg News reporters and editors that Washington was discussing the idea with the EU, the spokesperson said.
Hunt told Reuters in a telephone interview from Los Angeles that he supported the EU’s idea of diverting interest earnings from the assets to Ukraine’s reconstruction.
“We have to find a way that doesn’t have unintended consequences,” Hunt said. “And I think the most interesting discussions are really about how to use the interest income generated by (frozen) assets to go toward that reconstruction without actually seizing the assets themselves.”
But Hunt said it was important to ultimately force Russia to bear the costs of reconstruction of Ukraine as a consequence of its invasion and “to make it clear to Russia that those assets are frozen until there’s a fair settlement made with the reconstruction costs.”
Yellen has repeatedly voiced support for Ukrainian demands that Russia should pay for the damage it has done to Ukraine, but has also pointed to significant legal obstacles halting moves to fully seize the $300 billion in Russian central bank assets frozen by sanctions.
EU officials have estimated that the windfall profit from Russia’s frozen assets in Europe could provide 3 billion euro ($3.27 billion) a year to rebuild Ukraine.

British FM says it was important to ultimately force Russia to bear the costs of reconstruction of Ukraine as a consequence of its invasion

Topics: Russian invasion in Ukraine Janet Yellen Jeremy Hunt

China, at UN, presents itself as a member of the Global South as alternative to a Western model

Updated 22 September 2023

September 22, 2023 05:03

China, at UN, presents itself as a member of the Global South as alternative to a Western model

“Global South” is loosely defined as referring to nations around the world that are less developed and less rich than what have typically been called “first-world nations”
China was not included in the list of 125 nations, led by Brazil and India, that have identified themselves part of the Global South

Updated 22 September 2023

September 22, 2023 05:03

UNITED NATIONS: China told assembled world leaders Thursday that it considers itself part of the Global South, saying it identifies with the goals and challenges of less-developed nations and offering them an alternative to what it has long called “Western hegemony.” The message came from a second-tier official after the country’s powerful president, Xi Jinping, skipped the annual UN meeting again.
Xi sent Vice President Han Zheng to deliver a policy statement at the General Assembly’s leaders’ meeting that covered the government’s usual positions with familiar language but appeared to focus on building coalitions around its approach to development and international relations.
“As the largest developing country, China is a natural member of the Global South. It breathes the same breath with other developing countries and shares the same future with them,” Han said. He also said China supports those nations’ development path “in keeping with their national conditions.”
The loosely defined term “Global South,” which has come up frequently at the United Nations this year, identifies nations around the world that are less developed and less rich than what have typically been called “first-world nations.” They’re not necessarily in the Southern Hemisphere; many, in fact, are not.
Leaders of a number of larger developing nations, including Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and India’s Narendra Modi, have of late pitched themselves as leaders around whom the Global South could coalesce. Just Tuesday, Lula told leaders at the UN meeting that “Brazil is back” in a speech widely received as Global South-focused maneuvering. And Modi in January hosted a “Voice of the Global South” virtual summit.
China, too, has loosely cast itself in a similar role for more than a decade — and more so since Xi launched the “Belt and Road Initiative” to drive Chinese development, infrastructure and influence in other nations, particularly developing ones. The sprawling project has been widely touted but has encountered bumps along the way.
“China,” Han promised, “will remain a member of the big family of developing countries.”
That statement is in keeping with Beijing’s attempts to balance — often adeptly — the benefits of continuing to be a developing nation with the advantages of being a major global economic and diplomatic power and counterbalance to the West.
For decades, since the start of the “reform and opening up” launched by Deng Xiaoping after Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, China has positioned its approach to both domestic and international affairs as an alternative to “Western hegemony.” That counternarrative is a frequent cornerstone of its international identity. Han’s “Global South” statements Thursday match that longtime sensibility.
And China benefits from association with the Global South, which allows it to style statements as if it speaks for many nations — nations that may not be strong enough to object if such a powerful government mischaracterizes them.
Whether China and its $18 trillion GDP should actually be considered part of the Global South is a frequently debated matter. In January, at Modi’s summit, 125 countries were included but China wasn’t one of them. That may have had more to do with China’s often-tense relations with India than with its attitude toward the concept in general.
Xi was one of four leaders of permanent UN Security Council members who did not show at the United Nations this week. France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Rishi Sunak and Russia’s Vladimir Putin also skipped it; US President Joe Biden, leader of the host nation, was the only permanent Security Council member to deliver a speech.
Han Zheng’s presence at the United Nations came at a time when China’s diplomatic operation appears to be in a bit of disarray.
Many expected Foreign Minister Wang Yi to come to the General Assembly and possibly pave the way for a Xi-Biden meeting. Wang attended and delivered the speech last year. In the months since, a newly appointed foreign minister came and went with some mystery, and Wang took the role on again.
Han, in his speech, covered China’s usual topics in such meetings. Among them:

He reiterated that Taiwan, the island off China’s coast that has its own independent government, is historically a part of China and always will be — a frequent message to the United States and the world. The island and the mainland split in 1949 after a civil war.
He said China supported human rights “suited to our national conditions in response to the needs of our people.” Beijing’s repressive policies toward ethnic Uyghurs in the western region of Xinjiang and its policies toward dissent, including in the special administrative region of Hong Kong, come under frequent Western scrutiny.
He said, as China has many times before, that a cease-fire and peace talks are the only path to ending war in Ukraine. China has tread a delicate line in the 18 months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Topics: UNGA78 Global South China China Vice President Han Zheng

Surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada led to allegations around Sikh killing, official says

Updated 22 September 2023

September 22, 2023 00:29

Surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada led to allegations around Sikh killing, official says

Updated 22 September 2023

September 22, 2023 00:29

TORONTO: The allegation of India’s involvement in the killing of a Sikh Canadian is based on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, including intelligence provided by a major ally, a Canadian official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The official said the communications involved Indian officials and Indian diplomats in Canada and that some of the intelligence was provided by a member of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, in addition to Canada.
The official did not say which ally provided intelligence or give specific details of what was contained in the communications or how they were obtained. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation first reported the intelligence.
Earlier Thursday, India stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens and told Canada to reduce its diplomatic staff as the rift widened between the once-close allies over Ottawa’s allegation that New Delhi may have been involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh separatist, in a Vancouver suburb in June.
Ties between the two countries have plunged to their lowest point in years since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the assassination.
Nijjar, a plumber who was born in India and became a Canadian citizen in 2007, had been wanted by India for years before he was gunned down outside the temple he led in the city of Surrey.
Speaking Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Trudeau acknowledged the complicated diplomatic situation he faces.
“The decision to share these allegations on the floor of the House of Commons was not done lightly,” he said. “There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with.”
“We are not looking to provoke or cause problems but we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians.”
The bombshell allegation set off an international tit-for-tat, with each country expelling a diplomat. India called the allegations “absurd.”
Canada has yet to provide public evidence to back Trudeau’s allegations, and Canada’s UN ambassador, Bob Rae, indicated that might not come soon.
“This is very early days,” Rae told reporters Thursday, insisting that while facts will emerge, they must “come out in the course of the pursuit of justice.”
“That’s what we call the rule of law in Canada,” he said.
On Thursday, the company that processes Indian visas in Canada announced that visa services had been suspended until further notice.
The suspension means Canadians who don’t already have visas cannot travel to India. Canadians are among the top travelers to India: In 2021, 80,000 Canadian tourists visited the country, according to India’s Bureau of Immigration.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi blamed the visa suspension, which includes visas issued in third countries, on safety issues.
“Security threats being faced by our High Commission and consulates in Canada have disrupted their normal functioning. Accordingly, they are temporarily unable to process visa applications,” Bagchi told reporters. He gave no details on the alleged threats.
The announcement quickly rippled across Canada, especially among people with ties to India.
Sukhwinder Dhillon, a 56-year-old grocery store owner in Montreal, said he had a trip planned to India to see family and sort out his deceased father’s estate. Dhillon, who came to Canada in 1998, said he makes the trip every two or three years and has lost two immediate family members since he was last home.
“My father passed, and my brother passed,” Dhillon said. “I want to go now. ... Now I don’t know when we’ll go.”
Bagchi, the Indian foreign ministry spokesman, also called for a reduction in Canadian diplomats in India, saying they outnumbered Indian diplomats in Canada.
The Canadian High Commission in New Delhi said Thursday that its consulates in India are open and continue to serve clients. It said some of its diplomats had received threats on social media, adding that Canada expects India to provide security for its diplomats and consular officers working there.
On Wednesday, India warned its citizens to be careful when traveling to Canada because of “growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate-crimes.”
India’s security and intelligence branches have long been active in South Asia and are suspected in a number of killings in Pakistan. But arranging the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada, home to nearly 2 million people of Indian descent, would be unprecedented.
India has criticized Canada for years over giving free rein to Sikh separatists, including Nijjar. New Delhi had accused him of links to terrorism, which he denied.
Nijjar was a local leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan. A bloody Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s until it was crushed in a government crackdown in which thousands of people were killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
While the active insurgency ended decades ago, the Indian government has warned that Sikh separatists are trying to stage a comeback and pressed countries like Canada, where Sikhs comprise over 2 percent of the population, to do more to stop them.
At the time of his killing, Nijjar was working to organize an unofficial Sikh diaspora referendum on independence from India.
New Delhi’s anxieties about Sikh separatist groups in Canada have long been a strain on the relationship, but the two have maintained strong defense and trade ties and share strategic interests over China’s global ambitions.
In March, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government summoned the Canadian high commissioner in New Delhi, its top diplomat in the country, to complain about Sikh independence protests in Canada.
Signs of a broader diplomatic rift emerged at the summit of the Group of 20 leading world economies hosted by India earlier this month. Trudeau had frosty encounters with Modi, and a few days later Canada canceled a trade mission to India planned for the fall. A trade deal between the two is now on pause.
On Wednesday, India’s National Investigation Agency said it has intensified its crackdown on Sikh insurgents operating in India.
It announced rewards of up to 1 million rupees ($12,000) for information leading to the arrest of five insurgents, one of whom is believed to be based in neighboring Pakistan. It accused them of extorting money from businesses for a banned Sikh organization, the Babbar Khalsa International, and of targeted killings in India.

Topics: Canada India

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Philippines orders strengthened military presence after ‘Chinese activities’ near islands

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