US, Philippines launch war games a day after China’s Taiwan drills

US, Philippines launch war games a day after China’s Taiwan drills
A Philippine Marine salutes in front of US, Philippine, Australia, Japan and South Korea flags during the opening ceremony of the Kamandag 2024 joint military exercise in Manila on Oct. 15, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 15 October 2024
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US, Philippines launch war games a day after China’s Taiwan drills

US, Philippines launch war games a day after China’s Taiwan drills
  • The US and Philippines are fielding just over a thousand participants each
  • A smaller number of Australian, British, Japanese and South Korean forces are also taking part

MANILA: Thousands of US and Filipino marines launched 10 days of joint exercises in the northern and western Philippines on Tuesday, a day after China held huge drills around Taiwan.
The annual Kamandag, or Venom, exercises are focused on defending the north coast of the Philippine’s main island of Luzon, which lies about 800 kilometers from self-ruled Taiwan.
Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed it will never rule out using force to take it, calling Monday’s drills a “stern warning” to “separatist” forces on the island.
The joint US-Filipino exercises come amid a series of escalating confrontations between China and the Philippines over reefs and waters in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.
Philippine Marine Corps commandant Maj. Gen. Arturo Rojas stressed at Tuesday’s opening ceremony in Manila that Kamandag was long planned and had “nothing to do with whatever is happening in the region.”
The drills’ primary focus will be live-fire exercises along Luzon’s north coast, while other activities will be conducted on tiny Philippine islands between Luzon and Taiwan.
“It’s a coastal defense doctrine. The doctrine says that a would-be aggressor might be directed toward our territory,” Filipino exercise director Brig.-General Vicente Blanco told reporters.
“We are not exercising to join the fight (over Taiwan),” he added.
US Marines representative Col. Stuart Glenn said the exercises were aimed at helping the United States and its allies respond to “any crisis or contingencies.”
The western Philippine island of Palawan, facing the disputed South China Sea, will also host part of the drills.
The US and Philippines are fielding just over a thousand participants each, while smaller numbers of Australian, British, Japanese and South Korean forces are also taking part.
An amphibious landing and training on how to defend against chemical and biological warfare were also among the activities planned, according to a press kit.
As the war games began Tuesday, the Philippine government announced that one of its civilian patrol vessels had sustained minor damage on October 11 when it was “deliberately sideswiped” by a “Chinese Maritime Militia” vessel.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the collision, which dented the front right section of the BRP Datu Cabaylo, took place about 9.3 kilometers (5.8 miles) from Thitu, a Philippine-garrisoned island in the Spratly group.
The crew were unhurt and later sailed the vessel to Thitu and completed their routine maritime patrol mission, the statement said.
Beijing has for years sought to expand its presence in contested areas of the sea, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.
China has deployed military and coast guard vessels in recent months in a bid to eject the Philippines from a trio of other strategically important reefs and islands in the South China Sea.


Malaysian ex-PM Najib Razak ordered to enter defense in latest 1MDB trial

Malaysian ex-PM Najib Razak ordered to enter defense in latest 1MDB trial
Updated 9 sec ago
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Malaysian ex-PM Najib Razak ordered to enter defense in latest 1MDB trial

Malaysian ex-PM Najib Razak ordered to enter defense in latest 1MDB trial
  • The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the US, Switzerland and Singapore, whose financial systems were believed to have been used to launder the money
  • Former prime minister began serving a 12-year jail term in August 2022 for offenses linked to the misuse of public money from former 1MDB unit SRC International
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court ruled on Wednesday that jailed former prime minister Najib Razak will have to defend himself against charges of abuse of power and money laundering linked to the scandal-wracked 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.
Presiding judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said the prosecution had successfully established that Najib had a case to answer for on four counts of abuse of power linked to alleged bribes worth 2.27 billion ringgit ($517 million), as well as on 21 counts of money laundering.
“After a maximum evaluation of the evidence, I find that the prosecution has proven the ingredients of the charges,” Sequerah told the court.
Six years after first being charged, Najib was in court decked out in a navy blue suit on Wednesday, and appeared calm after hearing the decision.
The 71-year-old told the court he would take the stand in his defense at the trial, which is slated to get under way on December 2.
Each count of abuse of power is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and a fine up to five times the amount of the bribe.
Each money laundering count can incur a maximum fine of 5 million ringgit and imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
The hearing came just days after Najib issued an apology that the 1MDB scandal happened during his tenure, but maintained he had no knowledge of illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund.
“It pains me every day to know that the 1MDB debacle happened under my watch as minister of finance and prime minister,” Najib wrote in a statement read by his son Mohamad Nizar last Thursday.
“For that, I would like to apologize unreservedly to the Malaysian people.”
Allegations that billions of dollars were pilfered from investment vehicle 1MDB and used to buy everything from a super-yacht to artworks played a major role in prompting voters to oust Najib and the long-ruling United Malays National Organization party in 2018 elections.
The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, whose financial systems were believed to have been used to launder the money.
The current case is one of five brought against Najib in 2018, and involves Tanore Finance Corp, which US authorities have said was used to syphon money from 1MDB.
Najib began serving a 12-year jail term in August 2022 for offenses linked to the misuse of public money from former 1MDB unit SRC International. The sentence was later halved by Malaysia’s pardons board.
His 1MDB audit tampering trial ended with an acquittal at the High Court in 2023.
Najib, the UK-educated son of one of Malaysia’s founding fathers, still has a pending case of criminal breach of trust involving 6.6 billion ringgit, as well as a money laundering trial involving 27 million ringgit.
The US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by high-level officials at the fund and their associates.

Support sinks for Japan coalition after election blow

Support sinks for Japan coalition after election blow
Updated 14 min 4 sec ago
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Support sinks for Japan coalition after election blow

Support sinks for Japan coalition after election blow
  • Sunday’s snap election left the ruling coalition short of a majority for the first time since 2009
  • Shigeru Ishiba has already indicated he will seek to govern a minority administration

TOKYO: Support has sunk further for Japan’s embattled ruling coalition, a new poll showed Wednesday, after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s party suffered its worst election result in 15 years.
Backing for the government nosedived to 34 percent, while its disapproval rating came to 51 percent, according to the survey by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily.
In Ishiba’s short honeymoon period after taking office on October 1, the same survey found 51 percent supported his cabinet against 32 percent who didn’t.
A separate poll by Kyodo News released Tuesday had 53 percent saying they did not want the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito to stay in power.
Sunday’s snap election left the coalition short of a majority for the first time since 2009 — when it was booted out of power for three years — 18 seats short of the 233 needed.
Ishiba has already indicated he will seek to govern a minority administration and seek approval from other parties to get legislation through parliament.
That expectation was reinforced late Tuesday when the head of potential kingmaker the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), which has 28 seats, ruled out joining the LDP in a coalition government.
“We will give all of our strength to achieve our policies and we will not join the coalition,” DPP chief Yuichiro Tamaki said at a press conference.
However, Ishiba is still courting other parties including the centrist DPP to secure parliamentary approval to remain prime minister in a vote reportedly slated for November 11.
To win their support, analysts said that Ishiba may agree to tax cuts and stimulus spending that the DPP campaigned on in the snap election.
Also likely seeking to become premier will be Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), whose seat tally rose from 96 in the last election to 148.
In a likely run-off vote, unseen in the past three decades, whoever wins the most votes will become the next leader, even if the person does not have a majority.
“The DPP is in an extremely strong position and holds a ‘casting vote’ that can decide the direction of political momentum,” Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute, said in a memo.


China, asked about Trump comments, says Taiwan could become a ‘discarded child’

China, asked about Trump comments, says Taiwan could become a ‘discarded child’
Updated 25 min 25 sec ago
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China, asked about Trump comments, says Taiwan could become a ‘discarded child’

China, asked about Trump comments, says Taiwan could become a ‘discarded child’

BEIJING: China’s government on Wednesday implied that if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election he could ‘discard’ Taiwan given the United States has always pursued an “America first” policy.
Trump, the Republican candidate who is neck and neck in the polls with Vice President Kamala Harris, has made several comments on the campaign trail saying Chinese-claimed Taiwan should pay to be protected and accusing the island of stealing American semiconductor business.
Asked about Trump’s remarks earlier this month where said he would impose additional, massive tariffs on China if China were to “go into Taiwan” and remarks on Taiwan having to pay for protection, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Taiwan’s people had a clear understanding of US policy.
“Whether the United States is trying to protect or harm Taiwan, I believe most of our Taiwan compatriots have already made a rational judgment and know very clearly that what the United States pursues is always America first,” Zhu Fenglian told a regular news briefing, referring to a common expression Trump uses about prioritising US interests.
Taiwan’s people know that “Taiwan at any time may turn from a pawn to a discarded child,” she added, without directly using Trump’s name.
The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei.
Trump, in a weekend interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, repeated his claims about Taiwan “stealing” US chip business and needing to pay to be protected.
Taiwan Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters in Taipei on Wednesday he would not be commenting given the US election campaign was ongoing.
“I wish the United States well for a successful democratic election,” he added.
Taiwan received strong backing from Trump’s 2017-2021 administration, including arms sales, which have continued under the government of President Joe Biden.
The US government on Friday announced a news arms package for Taiwan worth almost $2 billion for missile systems, which, like all weapons sales to Taipei, angered Beijing.
“I sternly warn the Lai Ching-te administration that buying weapons won’t buy security,” Zhu said, referring to Taiwan’s president who China detests as a “separatist.”
Taiwan’s democratically elected government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.


Albania’s opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet

Albania’s opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet
Updated 35 min 16 sec ago
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Albania’s opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet

Albania’s opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet
  • The conservative Democrats led by former Prime Minister Sali Berisha have long accused Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialists of corruption

TIRANA, Albania: Albanian opposition activists blocked major roads for several hours Tuesday in a nationwide rally demanding that the government be replaced by a technocratic caretaker Cabinet before the 2025 parliamentary election.
Lawmakers led hundreds of opposition supporters in rallies that blocked traffic at a main highway into the capital, Tirana, and at five other major roads around the country.
“Civil blockade, today or never!” was the motto of the protest on the website of the main opposition Democratic Party. In Tirana, opposition lawmakers parked their cars to block traffic for three hours. In other places, opposition supporters staged sit-ins at the roadside or burned tires.
The conservative Democrats led by former Prime Minister Sali Berisha have long accused Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialists of corruption, manipulating earlier elections and usurping the powers of the judiciary.
Thousands of police were deployed to protect government buildings, traffic and the rule of law, and there were sporadic clashes between officers and activists before the rallies ended in the late evening.
The opposition activists lifted their blockades when their leaders pledged to take unspecified anti-government action later.
Democrats and their supporters in an opposition coalition have been holding protests over the arrests of Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. Another Democratic lawmaker, Ervin Salianji, has also been convicted of slander and imprisoned.
The Democrats have staged violent protests against the government since 2013, when they left power.
Albania holds parliamentary elections next spring, which Rama’s Socialists are poised to win, partly because the opposition is divided.
The United States and the European Union have urged the opposition to resume dialogue with the government, saying violence won’t help the country integrate into the 27-nation EU bloc.
In 2020, the EU decided to launch full membership negotiations with Albania. Earlier in October, Tirana started discussions with the bloc on how the country aligns with EU stances on the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and the fight against corruption.


Australia launches plan to build long-range guided missiles

Australia launches plan to build long-range guided missiles
Updated 36 min 33 sec ago
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Australia launches plan to build long-range guided missiles

Australia launches plan to build long-range guided missiles
  • Australia will partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make “guided multiple launch rocket systems (GMLRS),”

Sydney: Australia will ramp up missile manufacturing under a plan unveiled Wednesday by a top defense official, who said bolstering weapons stockpiles would help keep would-be foes at bay.
Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said Australia would establish a homegrown industry to produce long-range guided missiles and other much-needed munitions.
“Why do we need more missiles? Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” he said in a speech.
“That competition is at its sharpest in our region, the Indo-Pacific.”
Australia will partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make “guided multiple launch rocket systems (GMLRS),” Conroy said, one of the first such facilities outside the United States.
The $200 million “advanced weapons manufacturing complex” would eventually produce up to 4,000 missiles each year.
“This equates to more than a quarter of current global GMLRS production and more than 10 times current Australian Defense Force demand,” Conroy said.
Australia had also contracted French weapons maker Thales to domestically manufacture M795 artillery rounds, which are commonly used in howitzer batteries.
“We all wish that acquiring new weapons and munitions was not necessary,” Conroy said.
“But in a world marked by crisis and disorder, a well-equipped military is an essential part of national defense.
“In this environment, Australia needs credible military capability to support a strategy of deterrence by denial.”
The announcement follows China’s recent test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific, the first such test in four decades.
Concerns about China’s massive defense spending and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have led many US allies to voice concern about a shortfall in munitions manufacturing capabilities.
Australia is among several Asia-Pacific nations dramatically increasing defense spending.
In April, Australia unveiled a defense strategy that envisaged a sharp rise in spending to counter its vulnerability to foes interrupting trade or preventing access to vital air and sea routes.
Besides rapidly developing its surface fleet, Australia plans to deploy stealthy nuclear-powered submarines in a tripartite agreement with the United States and Britain known as AUKUS.