Taiwan’s former leader Ma begins China visit

Taiwan’s former leader Ma begins China visit
Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou waves as Ma leaves for China, at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, northern Taiwan, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 27 March 2023

Taiwan’s former leader Ma begins China visit

Taiwan’s former leader Ma begins China visit
  • The ex-president is visiting in a private capacity

TAOYUAN: Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou departed for a 12-day tour of China Monday, a day after Taiwan lost another of its 14 diplomatic partners to China.
The ex-president is visiting in a private capacity, bringing a delegation of academics and college students for exchanges, as well as members of his family, but the trip is loaded with political meaning.
Ma’s policies brought Taiwan and Beijing to their closest relationship ever, but his exit from office was overshadowed by massive protests against a trade deal with the mainland and his successor has focused on defending the autonomy of the democratically-governed island that China claims as part of its own territory.
Ma’s visit comes amid rising tensions. Beijing has exerted a long-standing campaign of pressure against Taiwan, poaching its diplomatic allies while also sending military fighter jets flying toward the island on a near daily basis. On Sunday, Honduras established diplomatic relations with China, leaving Taiwan with only 13 countries that recognize it as a sovereign state.
Ma, a member of the opposition Nationalist Party (Kuomingtang), will land in Shanghai before starting his visit in nearby Nanjing. He is expected to tour the mainland from March 27 to April 7, stopping in Wuhan and Changsha, as well as other cities. He is bringing college students from Taiwan to meet with fellow students from Shanghai’s Fudan University and Changsha’s Hunan University.
Ma has framed the visit as a bid to lower the tensions in cross-strait relations through people to people exchange. “I hope through the enthusiasm of the youth and their interactions to improve the cross-strait mood, so bring peace faster, and earlier,” he said to reporters ahead of his departure on Monday afternoon. He also said it would be his first time visiting China.
His trip has not drawn much controversy in Taiwan, where the public is used to seeing Kuomingtang politicians visit China. However, it has been criticized by some political opponents and activists.
A former mainland student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen square protests called on Ma to cancel his trip. “If you have even a strand of affection for Taiwan ... you should announce the cancelation of your trip,” said Wang Dan, a Chinese dissident who previously lived in Taiwan, on his Facebook page.
A handful of protesters from a pro-independence group held a demonstration at the departures area at Taoyuan airport before Ma’s departure. “Ma Ying-jeou is humiliating our nation and forfeiting its sovereignty,” they shouted before police carried them out. “You are a stinky beggar.”
On the other side, a small group of people from the pro-unification camp also came to the airport to show their support. “Cross-strait relations are like flowers blossoming in spring and both sides are a family,” they shouted.
The trip is also a chance for him to honor his ancestors, ahead of Tomb Sweeping Day on April 5. During the festival, which is celebrated in Taiwan and China among other countries, families visit ancestral graves to maintain the burial grounds and remember the dead.
Ma will not go to Beijing, but may meet with Chinese officials.
Ma met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015, while he was still in office. The meeting was the first between the leaders of the two sides since Taiwan split from mainland China in 1949 during the Chinese civil war, but was considered more symbolic than substantive.
In 2016, the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party won national elections and Beijing cut off contact with Taiwan’s government, citing President Tsai Ing-wen’s refusal to endorse the idea that Taiwan and China are one country.


China says warship crossing in front of US destroyer was ‘safe’

China says warship crossing in front of US destroyer was ‘safe’
Updated 13 sec ago

China says warship crossing in front of US destroyer was ‘safe’

China says warship crossing in front of US destroyer was ‘safe’
BEIJING: The maneuver of a Chinese warship in the Taiwan Strait during an encounter with a US destroyer was completely reasonable, legal, professional and “safe,” a spokesperson at China’s foreign ministry said at a press conference on Monday.
The US Navy on Sunday released a video of what it called an “unsafe interaction” in the Taiwan Strait, in which a Chinese warship crossed in front of a US destroyer in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday.

Shootout between Pakistani troops and insurgents in border region kills 2 soldiers, 2 militants

Shootout between Pakistani troops and insurgents in border region kills 2 soldiers, 2 militants
Updated 23 min 40 sec ago

Shootout between Pakistani troops and insurgents in border region kills 2 soldiers, 2 militants

Shootout between Pakistani troops and insurgents in border region kills 2 soldiers, 2 militants
  • The shootout took place late Sunday in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

PESHAWAR: Pakistani troops and militants exchanged fire in a northwestern region along the border with Afghanistan in a shootout that killed two soldiers and two militants, the army said Monday.
The shootout took place late Sunday in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.
According to an army statement, two militants were also wounded and troops seized a cache of weapons at the site. A search operation was underway in the area, it said.
Although the Pakistani military claims it has cleared North Waziristan of militants, occasional attacks and shootouts continue, raising concerns that the Pakistani Taliban are regrouping in the area.
Though a separate group, the TTP remains a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seizing power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021, during the last weeks of the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from the country after two decades of war.
The takeover emboldened the TTP. They unilaterally ended a cease-fire agreement with the Pakistani government last November and have since stepped up their attacks in the country.

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Bangladesh power cuts may last two more weeks on fuel shortages

Bangladesh power cuts may last two more weeks on fuel shortages
Updated 05 June 2023

Bangladesh power cuts may last two more weeks on fuel shortages

Bangladesh power cuts may last two more weeks on fuel shortages
  • Bangladesh has suffered under severe power shortages since April as a searing heatwave spiked demand for electricity
  • The power losses threaten Bangladesh’s crucial apparel sector that accounts for more than 80 percent of its exports and supplies retailers

DHAKA: Bangladesh could face power cuts for two more weeks, its power minister said late on Sunday, as higher electricity consumption because of rising temperatures has caused a fuel shortfall for generation plants.
Bangladesh has suffered under severe power shortages since April as a searing heatwave spiked demand for electricity and then a deadly cyclone cut off supplies of natural gas to fuel plants. The country has also curtailed imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), its main power generation fuel, after record high prices in the second half of 2022 made the fuel too expensive.
“This condition may remain for another two weeks,” Nasrul Hamid, minister of state for power, energy and mineral resources told reporters.
“This problem is happening because we are not able to ensure an adequate supply of coal and gas,” Hamid said.
The power losses threaten Bangladesh’s crucial apparel sector that accounts for more than 80 percent of its exports and supplies retailers such as Walmart, Gap Inc, H&M , VF Corp, Zara and American Eagle Outfitters .
The loss of those exports will exacerbate issues around its dollar reserves, which have plunged by nearly a third in the 12 months to end of April to a seven-year low, and limited its ability to pay for fuel imports.
Hamid said the country’s power sector officials had been working to avert fuel shortfalls over the last two months, but higher consumption was making the task harder.
An impending shutdown of a key coal-fired power unit from Tuesday because of a fuel shortage over the next few days could further worsen the situation, a senior official from the power ministry said.
“Only rain can give us some relief as power demand decreases when it rains,” said the official, who declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The frequent power cuts have also drawn criticism from opposition parties.”“The entire country is almost without electricity. People are getting sick in extreme heat,” said Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a senior leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party


Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi calls on US audience to stand up for ‘modern India’

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi calls on US audience to stand up for ‘modern India’
Updated 05 June 2023

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi calls on US audience to stand up for ‘modern India’

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi calls on US audience to stand up for ‘modern India’
  • The Congress Party defeated the BJP in recent state elections in the Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka states, wins that came after a series of state elections defeats after Modi became India’s prime minister in 2014

NEW YORK: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi pressed his criticism of the country’s leadership in a speech Sunday, calling for Indians in the US and back home to stand up for democracy and the Indian constitution.
Gandhi, a sharp critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was expelled from Parliament, accused Modi and his Bharativa Janata Party (BJP) of dividing the country and failing to focus on important issues such as unemployment and education.
“To be nasty to people, to be arrogant, to be violent, these are not Indian values,” Gandhi, 52, told a crowd of about 700 at the Indian Overseas Congress USA event at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. He spoke just after a minute of silence recognizing a massive train derailment in eastern India that killed 275 people and injured hundreds more.
Gandhi has been on a three-city tour of the United States, including speaking engagements at Stanford University in California and the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, US congressional leaders have invited Modi to address a joint meeting of Congress later this month. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other leaders announced the address as an “opportunity to share your vision for India’s future and speak to the global challenges our countries both face.”
Grandson of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Indian National Congress party. He is considered to be Modi’s main challenger in the upcoming 2024 elections.
“Modern India cannot exist without our constitution and our democracy,” he said Sunday. He also urged a stronger partnership between India and the US to offset China’s influence.
“One of the things we have to think about is the bridge between India and the United States,” he said. “How do we compete with the challenge the Chinese have placed on the table,” he asked, specifically citing issues of mobility and the world’s energy supply.
The Congress Party defeated the BJP in recent state elections in the Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka states, wins that came after a series of state elections defeats after Modi became India’s prime minister in 2014. Gandhi now holds no official position in his party. He gave up the post of party president after his severe defeats by Modi’s Hindu nationalist party in 2019 national elections, though his supporters hope the more recent results will impact the country’s 2024 national elections, which are likely to be held before May.
Gandhi suffered a serious setback in March when a court convicted him in a criminal defamation case for mocking Modi’s surname, a decision that led to him being expelled from parliament. He could lose his eligibility to run for a parliamentary seat for the next eight years if an appeals court doesn’t overturn his conviction. The conviction came in connection with a speech he gave in 2019.
Gandhi, who is not related to Mahatma Gandhi, also invoked the assassinated Indian leader’s name several times during his speech, praising his model of non-violence.

 

 


Russia says shoots down Ukraine-launched drones over Crimea, Kursk

Russia says shoots down Ukraine-launched drones over Crimea, Kursk
Updated 05 June 2023

Russia says shoots down Ukraine-launched drones over Crimea, Kursk

Russia says shoots down Ukraine-launched drones over Crimea, Kursk
  • The strikes came after multiple attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod and oil infrastructure inside the country, as well as a drone strike on wealthy districts of Moscow earlier in the week

MOSCOW: Russia said on Sunday it intercepted nine drones over the Crimean Peninsula and one over the small town of Sudzha in the southern region of Kursk, in what have been nearly daily attacks inside the country or on Moscow-held territories.
Five drones were shot down and four were jammed and did not hit their targets in Dzhankoi in Crimea, said a Russian-installed official in the peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
A Ukrainian-launched drone was downed over Sudzha later in the day, the governor of the Kursk region that borders with Ukraine said on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
The strikes came after multiple attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod and oil infrastructure inside the country, as well as a drone strike on wealthy districts of Moscow earlier in the week.
Kyiv denied attacking Moscow and Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks elsewhere inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
There were no casualties in the Sunday drone attacks, officials said. In Dzhankoi, windows were broken in several houses, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-backed head of Crimea’s administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
He added that one unexploded drone was found on the territory of a residential house, forcing the temporary evacuation of about 50 people in the area.
Russia has a military air base near Dzhankoi. Ukrainian officials have long said the city and surrounding areas have been turned into Moscow’s largest military base in Crimea.