Japanese PM highlights security concerns on trip to Europe, US

Japanese PM highlights security concerns on trip to Europe, US
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during his New Year’s news conference in Ise, central Japan on Jan. 4, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 08 January 2023

Japanese PM highlights security concerns on trip to Europe, US

Japanese PM highlights security concerns on trip to Europe, US
  • Japan says the current deployment of missile interceptors is insufficient to defend it from rapid weapons advancement in China and North Korea

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida begins a weeklong trip Monday to strengthen military ties with Europe and Britain and bring into focus the Japan-US alliance at a summit in Washington, as Japan breaks from its postwar restraint to take on more offensive roles with an eye toward China.
Kishida’s talks with US President Joe Biden on Friday will highlight his five-nation tour that also takes him to France, Italy, Britain and Canada — some of Group of Seven nations Japan has stepped up defense ties with in recent years. His first stop is Paris on Monday evening.
Kishida said his summit with Biden will underscore the strength of the Japan-US alliance and how the two countries can work more closely under Japan’s new security and defense strategies.
Japan in December adopted key security and defense reforms, including a counterstrike capability that makes a break from the country’s exclusively self-defense-only postwar principle. Japan says the current deployment of missile interceptors is insufficient to defend it from rapid weapons advancement in China and North Korea.
Kishida said he will explain to Biden the new strategy, under which Japan is also reinforcing defenses on its southwestern islands close to Taiwan, including Yonaguni and Ishigaki, where new bases are being constructed.
“Will will discuss further strengthening of the Japan-US alliance, and how we work together to achieve a fee and open Indo-Pacific,” Kishida told a NHK national television talk show Sunday, referring to a vision of national and economic security cooperation the two countries promote to counter China’s growing military and economic influence.
Under the new strategies, Japan plans to start deploying in 2026 long-range cruise missiles that can reach potential targets in China, nearly double its defense budget within five years to a NATO standard of about 2 percent of GDP from the current 1 percent, and improve cyberspace and intelligence capabilities.
The idea is to do as much as possible in a short time as some experts see growing risks that Chinese President Xi Jingpin may take action against self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.
Japan’s new strategy has been well received by the Biden administration and some members of the Congress. Experts say it would also widen cooperation with their main regional partners Australia and possibly South Korea.
“This is an opportunity to rethink and update the structure and the mechanisms of the alliance to reflect a much more capable partner that’s coming,” said Christopher Johnstone, senior adviser and Japan chair for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He said, however, that Japan’s focus on the strike capability and budget is a welcome but “a daunting agenda” that will require a lot of cooperation with the United States.
Paving the way for the summit, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will fly to Washington to meet their American counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken, on Wednesday, followed by separate defense ministers’ talks Thursday.
The Biden administration, which also adopted its security strategy in October, expects Japan to assist in the supply and storage of fuel and munitions in case of a Taiwan emergency, experts say. Japan and the United States are also reportedly considering establishing a joint command.
During the talks at the White House, the two leaders are also expected to discuss China, North Korea’s nuclear and missile development as well as Russia’s war on Ukraine, Japanese officials said.
Cooperation in the area of supply chain and economic security will be also on the table. Last week, Japanese Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo disussed in Washington the importance to work together to promote and protect critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors, and export controls to address competitiveness and security concerns.
During his trip, Kishida will seek to further strengthen bilateral military ties with four other countries, Japanese officials say.
Japan’s joint development and production of its F-X next generation fighter jet with Britain and Italy for a planned deployment in 2035 will be a top agenda item during his visits in Rome and London on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Japan and Britain have also been discussing a Reciprocal Access Agreement that would remove obstacles to holding joint military exercises in either country. Besides the Japan-US security treaty that allows US troops to station in Japan, Tokyo has a similar agreement only with Australia, and Britain would be second.
During his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Kishida is expected to share concern over China’s growing activity in the South Pacific and confirm stepping up joint military exercise between the two sides.


Russia says it seeking third suspect over war blogger killing

Updated 8 sec ago

Russia says it seeking third suspect over war blogger killing

Russia says it seeking third suspect over war blogger killing
MOSCOW: Russian investigators said on Thursday they were seeking a third suspect over the April 2 killing of popular pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg.
In a statement posted on the Telegram messenger app, the Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said that Roman Popkov, a Ukraine-based Russian journalist who was previously a leader of Russia’s banned ultranationalist National Bolshevik Party, was wanted on terrorism and explosives charges.
Tatarsky, a native of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had been addressing an event in the cafe when the blast occurred. Russian officials later said a bomb had been hidden inside a statuette given to him as a gift during the event.
Russian officials have previously named Russian citizen Darya Trepova and Ukrainian national Yury Denisov as suspects in the killing.
Trepova, an anti-war and feminist activist, was arrested on April 3, while Denisov is believed to be still in Ukraine. Trepova is accused of giving Tatarsky the explosive statuete and has been charged with terrorist offenses.
Trepova’s husband told independent Russian media outlets he believed she had been framed and had not known the statuette she had been told to deliver contained explosives.
In its statement, the Investigative Committee said Popkov had exchanged messages with Trepova over social media and had given her “instructions regarding the preparation of the terrorist act.”

NATO presses Turkiye to drop objections to Sweden’s membership as summit looms

NATO presses Turkiye to drop objections to Sweden’s membership as summit looms
Updated 01 June 2023

NATO presses Turkiye to drop objections to Sweden’s membership as summit looms

NATO presses Turkiye to drop objections to Sweden’s membership as summit looms
  • The military organization wants to bring Sweden into the fold in time for the summit in Lithuania next month
  • Turkiye’s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient on terrorist organizations and security threats, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt

OSLO: NATO on Thursday ramped up pressure on its member Turkiye to drop its objections to Sweden’s membership as the military organization seeks to deal with the issue by the time US President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet next month.
Fearing that they might be targeted after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATO’s security umbrella. Finland became NATO’s 31st member country in April.
NATO must agree unanimously for countries to join. Turkiye’s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient on terrorist organizations and security threats, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt.
Hungary has also delayed its approval, but the reasons why have not been made publicly clear.
“It’s time for Sweden to join now,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt told reporters in Oslo, where she was hosting a meeting with her counterparts to prepare for NATO’s July 11-12 summit in Lithuania.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that he would travel to Ankara “in the near future to continue to address how we can ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden.” He was unable to provide a precise date for his trip.
“I’m confident that also Hungary will ratify the accession protocol,” Stoltenberg said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that “it is essential that we can finally welcome Sweden as the 32nd member.” She stressed that the Swedish government has Berlin’s “full support.”
Sweden’s foreign minister, Tobias Billström, said that “it is time for Turkiye and Hungary to start the ratification of the Swedish membership to NATO.” He said that “everything (that) bars Sweden joining NATO will be seen as wine for (Russian president Vladimir) Putin.”
For months Sweden, Finland and Turkiye have been holding talks to try to address Ankara’s concerns. Billström said that he expects things to be made clear at a new meeting of this “permanent joint mechanism” in coming weeks.
He noted that as of Thursday Sweden had tightened its antiterrorism laws. It is now it illegal to finance, recruit for or publicly encourage “a terrorist organization,” or to travel abroad with the intention of joining such groups.
The time may be ripe for movement. Sweden’s membership became embroiled in campaigning for elections in Turkiye, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won on Sunday. Erdogan has also been seeking upgraded US fighter jets, and Washington signaled this week that they might be delivered.
“I spoke to Erdogan and he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden. So let’s get that done,” Biden said Monday.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the issues of Sweden’s membership and the fighter jets were distinct. However, he stressed that the completion of both would dramatically strengthen European security.
“Both of these are vital, in our judgment, to European security,” Blinken told reporters. “We believe that both should go forward as quickly as possible; that is to say Sweden’s accession and moving forward on the F-16 package more broadly.”


NATO’s Stoltenberg: Russia cannot veto Ukraine’s accession in military alliance

NATO’s Stoltenberg: Russia cannot veto Ukraine’s accession in military alliance
Updated 01 June 2023

NATO’s Stoltenberg: Russia cannot veto Ukraine’s accession in military alliance

NATO’s Stoltenberg: Russia cannot veto Ukraine’s accession in military alliance
  • NATO secretary general: All allies agree that Moscow does not have a veto against NATO enlargement

OSLO: All NATO allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.
“All allies agree that Moscow does not have a veto against NATO enlargement,” Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of an informal meeting of NATO Foreign Affairs ministers.
“We are moving, allies agree that Ukraine will become a member.”


Former Australian SAS veteran loses defamation case over media reports of execution in Afghanistan

Former Australian SAS veteran loses defamation case over media reports of execution in Afghanistan
Updated 01 June 2023

Former Australian SAS veteran loses defamation case over media reports of execution in Afghanistan

Former Australian SAS veteran loses defamation case over media reports of execution in Afghanistan
  • Newspapers successfully established that their reports that former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith was involved in execution and murder in Afghanistan were true

SYDNEY: One of Australia’s most decorated living soldiers on Thursday lost a defamation lawsuit against three newspapers which accused him of involvement in the murder of six Afghans during deployment to Afghanistan.
The newspapers successfully established that their reports that former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith was involved in execution and murder in Afghanistan were true, said Federal Court judge Anthony Besanko in Sydney.
The case against Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, has put a spotlight on the secretive wartime conduct of Australia’s elite SAS troops.
The papers proved their allegations in relation to four of the murders they accused Roberts-Smith of, but “in light of my conclusions, each (defamation) proceeding must be dismissed,” Besanko said in a summary of his findings.
Publication of his full reasons was delayed until Monday due to national security concerns.
Former special forces corporal Roberts-Smith, 44, had sued the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times for portraying him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” in Afghanistan where he served from 2006 to 2012.
Roberts-Smith won several top Australian military honors, including the Victoria Cross, for his actions during six tours of Afghanistan before carving out a post-military career as an in-demand public speaker and media executive.
But articles by the newspapers from 2018 suggested he went beyond the bounds of acceptable military engagement.
The articles, citing other soldiers who said they were there, said Roberts-Smith had shot dead an unarmed Afghan teenage spotter, and kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff before ordering him to be shot dead.
Roberts-Smith’s lawsuit called the media reports false and based on the claims of failed soldiers who were jealous of his accolades, and sought unspecified damages.
The newspapers sought to defend their reports by proving the claims were true, and presented other soldiers and former soldiers as witnesses in court who corroborated them.
The judgment comes at a time of heightened sensitivity around Australia’s military after a 2020 report said there was credible evidence members of the special forces killed dozens of unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan.
No soldiers were named in the redacted report but about two dozen current and former Australian soldiers were referred for potential criminal prosecution.
Judge Besanko said he would give reasons for his decision on Monday after the federal government applied to delay the proceedings to give government lawyers time to check for national security information being inadvertently divulged.


Three killed in Russian strike on Kyiv

Three killed in Russian strike on Kyiv
Updated 01 June 2023

Three killed in Russian strike on Kyiv

Three killed in Russian strike on Kyiv
  • Moscow’s forces have recently launched a series of aerial assaults on the Ukrainian capital, including an unusual daytime attack on Monday

KYIV: Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least three people including a child and bringing fresh terror to the city after a week of strikes.
Moscow’s forces have recently launched a series of aerial assaults on the Ukrainian capital, including an unusual daytime attack on Monday that sent residents running for shelter.
Thursday’s attack began around 3:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) when cruise and ballistic missiles were fired on the city, killing three people and injuring 12 others, officials said.
“In the Desnyanskyi district: three people died, including one child (born in 2012) and 10 people were injured, including one child,” the Kyiv City Military Administration wrote on Telegram.
“In the Dniprovskyi district: two people were injured.”
Previous official reports had said two children were killed in the strikes.
In Russia’s western Belgorod region, at least two people were wounded Thursday morning in an attack on the town of Shebekino blamed on Ukrainian troops, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
“This night is tense for Shebekino again. Ukrainian troops were shelling the city for an hour,” he said.
Gladkov previously reported shelling in the same town that injured four people.
On Tuesday, one person was killed and two others were wounded in a strike on a center for displaced people in the region. Several oil depots have also been hit in recent weeks.
The attacks have come as Kyiv says it is preparing for a major offensive against Moscow’s forces.
More than a year since its Ukraine invasion, Russia has suffered stepped-up attacks on its soil, including a drone attack on Moscow Tuesday.
“The situation is quite alarming,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia said Wednesday it was evacuating hundreds of children from villages due to the intensifying attacks.
The first 300 evacuated children would be taken to Voronezh, a city about 250 kilometers further into Russia, Governor Gladkov said. Over 1,000 more children would be moved to other provinces in the coming days, he added.
A correspondent for state-run agency RIA Novosti working near Voronezh said buses had arrived with about 150 people on board.
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine — and its Western backers — of being behind the increasing number of reported attacks.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministry said the West was “pushing the Ukrainian leadership toward increasingly reckless acts” after a drone attack on residential areas of Moscow.
At least three buildings were lightly damaged, including two high-rise residential buildings in Moscow’s affluent southwest.
Ukraine, which has seen almost nightly attacks on its capital, denied any “direct involvement.”
Tensions between Russia and the West escalated further Wednesday, when Germany announced it would drastically reduce Moscow’s diplomatic presence on its soil in reply to a similar move from the Kremlin.
Berlin said it had ordered four of Russia’s five consulates in Germany to close.
The move comes after Moscow put a limit of 350 on the number of German government personnel allowed in Russia, a decision that Berlin says would force hundreds of civil servants and local employees to leave the country.
Moscow called Germany’s decision “ill-thought-out” and vowed a response.
And in the United States, the Pentagon announced a new $300 million arms package for Ukraine, including air defense systems and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition.
The United States said it did not support any attack inside Russia, instead providing Kyiv with equipment and training to reclaim its territory.
The fresh aid shipments would bring the total value of US security assistance to Ukraine to $37.6 billion since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, the Defense Department said.
Last week saw the biggest armed incursion into Russia from Ukraine since the offensive began, with two days of fighting in the Belgorod region.
AFP journalists went to the regional capital city, which is also called Belgorod, over the weekend.
Residents confessed a certain amount of worry, but a sense of fatalism prevailed.
“What can we do? We just shout ‘Oh! and ‘Ah!’. What will that change?” said 84-year-old Rimma Malieva, a retired teacher.
Most people AFP spoke to said they trusted the authorities to fix the weaknesses laid bare by the latest raid.
Evgeny Sheikin, a 41-year-old builder, still said “it should not have happened.”
At least five people were killed and 19 wounded in a nighttime bombardment in Ukraine’s Lugansk region, Russia-installed officials said Wednesday.
The Russian army also said it destroyed a Ukrainian navy warship, the Yuri Olefirenko, in Odesa, a claim AFP could not independently confirm.