The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command recently conducted interservice combat readiness patrols in the air and waters near Taiwan in a response to collusion between the United States and the island, according to a spokesman for the command.
“The US has been frequently making provocative acts concerning the Taiwan question recently. Their moves are counter to the commitments they made to us. They openly and covertly support ‘Taiwan independence’ forces’,” Senior Colonel Shi Yi said in a statement released on Wednesday.
“What they have been doing will bring Taiwan to the edge of the cliff and subject themselves to serious consequences,” he said.
The PLA Eastern Theater Command will continue to hone its troops’ fighting skills and carry out combat exercises. It will thwart any foreign interference and “Taiwan independence” attempts, according to the colonel.
Last week, the command conducted interservice combat exercises near Taiwan to act as a warning to the US and Taiwan for their provocative moves.
Tan Kefei, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said last week that the exercises targeted “US-Taiwan collusion” and were necessary to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“China firmly opposes any form of official exchanges and military ties between the United States and Taiwan,” said Tan, stressing that “Taiwan independence” and any support for it is a road to nowhere.
By Zhao Lei
China Daily
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South Korea has dispatched the largest-scale naval fleet and a brigadier general to the US-led multinational maritime exercise to be held in and around the Hawaiian Islands next month.
Aflotilla of warships, maritime aircraft and troops left a naval base on the southern island of Jeju at noon Tuesday to participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise, South Korea’s Navy announced the same day.
This year marks South Korea’s 17th participation in the RIMPAC exercise since 1990. The US Navy-led multinational maritime exercise is scheduled to be conducted in waters off Hawaii for 37 days from June 29 to Aug. 4.
South Korea’s Navy also underscored that the flotilla sent this time is the largest ever in scale compared to the size of the Navy and Marine Corps forces that were previously dispatched for overseas military exercises.
A total of three warships — which consist of the 14,500-ton Marado amphibious assault ship, the 7,600-metric-ton Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyer equipped with SM-2 surface-to-air missiles and the 4,400-ton Munmu the Great destroyer — have been dispatched to Hawaii.
The 1,800-ton Shin Dol-seok attack submarine, one P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft, two Lynx multirole naval helicopters and nine Korean amphibious assault vehicles are set to participate in the 2022 RIMPAC exercise.
Around 1,000 military personnel, including one company of the Marine Corps’ amphibious force, four teams of Naval Special Warfare Flotilla, and the 59th Naval Mobile Construction Squadron have been sent as well.
In particular, it marks the first time that the landing platform helicopter ship Marado, which is the South Korean Navy’s largest vessel, the Shin Dol-seok submarine, indigenously developed Korea Amphibious Assault Vehicles, the 59th Naval Mobile Construction Squadron are participating.
South Korea also sent a one-star Navy official to the exercise for the first time since 1990.
During the naval drills, Rear Adm. An Sang-min on board the US amphibious assault ship USS Essex will command the Expeditionary Strike Group training which involves 13 warships from eight countries and around 1,000 Marine personnel from nine countries.
The RIMPAC exercise aims to enhance interoperability and operational capabilities of the combined forces, ensure the safety of sea lanes on the rim of the Pacific Ocean, and strengthen the common capabilities to respond to threats.
The participating countries will conduct various military drills such as anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine warfare exercises as well as expendable mobile anti-submarine warfare training target exercises, according to South Korea’s Navy.
RIMPAC is the world’s largest international maritime exercise and began in 1971 with the founding nations comprising Australia, Canada and the US. RIMPAC was held every year until 1974 when it turned into a biennial exercise due to its large scale.
A total of 26 countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan and the US expect to send 38 warships, four submarines, around 170 aircraft and some 25,000 military personnel to the 28th exercise this year, South Korea’s Navy said.
But China reportedly will not join the US-led naval drills this year amid the growing US-China rivalry. The People’s Liberation Army took part in RIMPAC in 2014 and 2016.
As the multinational naval drills are set to be staged amid growing cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan on North Korea issues, eyes are riveted on whether the countries will conduct combined military exercises as in the past.
In 2016, the three countries staged the first Pacific Dragon ballistic missile defence exercise in Hawaii on the sidelines of the exercise with the goal of enhancing interoperability and coordination over detecting, tracking and assessing ballistic targets.
Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of the US Missile Defense Agency, in June 2021, said the US will participate in Pacific Dragon-22 with South Korea, Australia and Japan this August at the Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands in Hawaii.
The 2022 RIMPAC exercise will also kick off after the defence chiefs of South Korea, the US and Japan are highly likely to have their first in-person trilateral meeting in around 2 1/2 years on the occasion of the Shangri-La Dialogue to be held in Singapore between June 10 and 12.
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The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has filed a diplomatic protest against China’s unilateral imposition of a three-and-half-month fishing ban in the South China Sea, saying the prohibition encroaches into parts of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
In a diplomatic note dated May 30, the DFA conveyed its protest to the moratorium, which runs from May 1 to Aug. 16, and covers areas in the West Philippine Sea over which the Philippines has “sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.”
It said the ban did not exempt areas within the Philippines’ EEZ or limit it to Chinese vessels.
China’s annual summer fishing prohibition covers waters down to the 12th parallel of the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands near Vietnam and Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal near the Philippines. Both areas have become disputed waters because of China’s territory-grabbing activities.
Manila filed and won a case against Beijing at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands after China seized control of Panatag Shoal in 2012 following a standoff with the Philippine Navy. The area is a traditional Philippine fishing ground.
The July 2016 arbitral award invalidated China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea and affirmed the traditional and legitimate fishing rights of Filipino fishermen within the country’s EEZ.
The DFA said in a statement that China’s imposition of the fishing moratorium “has no basis and undermines the mutual trust, confidence and respect that should underpin bilateral relations,” stressing that this was affirmed most recently by President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In a telephone summit initiated by the Chinese government in April, the two leaders stressed the need “to exert all efforts to maintain peace, security and stability in the South China Sea by exercising restraint, dissipating tensions and working on a mutually agreeable framework for functional cooperation.”
‘Harassment’
Meanwhile, the DFA said it had also summoned a senior official of the Chinese Embassy in Manila to protest the alleged “harassment” by the China Coast Guard (CCG) of a Taiwanese research vessel with Filipino scientists inside the Philippines EEZ.
The Chinese official was called on April 13, the DFA said in a statement, adding that it was reviewing other reported incidents in the disputed waters for possible filing of appropriate diplomatic action.
The DFA issued the statement after it was asked to comment on a report by Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (Amti) regarding several incidents of alleged harassment over the last two months by CCG against Philippine ships in the West Philippine Sea.
The report included an incident in March where a CCG vessel was seen shadowing RV Legend, which was then conducting an authorized marine scientific research activity.
The offshore survey is a project of the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences) and the National Central University in Taiwan aimed at mapping offshore faults and other geologic features that could set off future earthquakes, tsunamis and other potentially catastrophic hazards in the region.
Ayungin incidents
On April 21, CCG ships also interfered with Philippine research activity, this time conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, according to Amti.
Several hours later, also at Ayungin, Chinese ships harassed the Philippine Coast Guard’s Parola-class patrol vessel BRP Cape Engaño, it added.
Ayungin Shoal is a low-tide elevation located 194 kilometres (105 nautical miles) off Palawan and is within the Philippines’ EEZ.
It is occupied by a small military contingent on the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II landing ship tank intentionally grounded there by the Philippine Navy in 1999 to serve as a military outpost.
The new incidents at the shoal came five months after the Philippine government protested CCG vessels’ blocking and blasting of water cannons on Philippine boats on a resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre.
‘Clear violations’
According to Amti director and Southeast Asia expert Gregory Poling, the long-term plan for China “seems to be to make it so dangerous and costly that the Philippines abandons the Sierra Madre.”
The DFA stressed that “illegal activities around Ayungin Shoal are subject of diplomatic protests in the exercise of the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Ayungin Shoal, which forms part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines as affirmed by the 2016 Award on the SCS arbitration.”
Regarding the presence of foreign coast guard vessels around Recto (Reed) Bank, the DFA said these were “not consistent with innocent passage and are clear violations of Philippine maritime jurisdiction where only the Philippine government has the mandate of enforcement.”
“The detailed reports of these activities are being reviewed for the filing of appropriate diplomatic action,” it added.
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Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday said Pakistan would be open to buying Russian oil at cheaper rates if it was offered and if no sanctions were to be levied over such a deal.
When questioned in an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson if Pakistan was open to procuring cheap Russian oil just as India was doing, the finance minister said he would “surely consider” it.
However, Ismail remarked that he did not think it was possible for Pakistani banks to make arrangements to buy Russian oil, also claiming that Moscow had not offered any such discounted deals to Pakistan anyway.
“The previous government talked about buying oil from Russia but I think Russia is under sanctions and they haven’t responded to the letter written by the previous government,” he told the CNN anchor.
Ismail said that with Russia being under sanctions, it was “very difficult” for him to imagine buying oil from there.
It is pertinent to mention that according to a Reuters report, current US sanctions against Russia do not prevent other countries from buying Russian oil, although Biden administration officials have considered secondary sanctions that could restrict those purchases in future.
PTI leader Shireen Mazari disagreed with Ismail’s remarks, labelling him “ignorant” and saying: “There are no sanctions on purchasing oil from Russia. Ask India. So what’s actually stopping him from buying other than fear of US.”
Meanwhile, on the subject of imported wheat, Ismail, in the CNN interview, said Pakistan had asked both Ukraine and Russia and would be “happy to buy” from whichever country was ready to sell.
Pakistan’s oil industry is facing challenges in arranging international finances for the import of crude and oil products.
Informed sources told Dawn that the Petroleum Division had told the prime minister and finance minister that arrangements for oil imports were getting tough by the day as foreign banks were not providing financing against letters of credit opened by oil marketing companies (OMCs) and refineries with the local banks.
A senior official told Dawn that except for two large corporations — Pakistan State Oil and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited — all OMCs and refineries were struggling to arrange the import of petroleum products and crude.
Meanwhile, India has received 34 million barrels of discounted Russian oil since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, more than trebling the value of total imports from Russia, including other products, compared with the same period of 2021.
India’s oil imports from Russia have been rising since February, as Asia’s third-largest economy and the world’s third-biggest oil importer, turned to deeply discounted Russian oil, mostly Urals crude, to cut its imports bill.
The country received more than 24m barrels of Russian crude this month, up from 7.2m barrels in April and about 3m in March, and is set to receive about 28m barrels in June, according to Refinitiv Eikon oil flows.
Dawn
Asia News Network
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Manufacturers in Penang only have two-thirds of their workforce available and are at risk of failing to fulfil their orders on time.
The “missing” one-third of the workforce, or about 60,000 workers in total, is due to the vacuum left behind by unskilled foreign labour, said Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Penang chairman Datuk Lee Teong Li.
As manufacturers resume normal operations in line with Malaysia’s transition to the endemic phase, he said the shortage of unskilled foreign labour still exists.
Lee said the affected companies submitted applications to authorities for permits to bring in workers, but obstacles including cross-border red tape and some travel restrictions had hobbled their efforts.
“The four main countries from which workers come from are Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal.
“It has been many months since the companies applied for their permits but only a few have received the supply of workers, while many are still waiting,” he added.
He said if the labour shortage persisted, companies would miss their order timetable and face an increase in operating costs.
“The labour shortage is hindering manufacturers from accepting more orders while the existing workers must work overtime.
“With the new minimum wage now at RM1,500, many companies are also facing financial burden.”
He said attempts to fill the vacancies with Malaysian workers had generally failed.
“If we could choose, we would prefer locals. It’s costly to hire foreigners as we have to bring them over and find them accommodation … a lot of work is needed to hire them.
“There aren’t enough locals taking up our offers,” he said.
Lee said some manufacturers had changed to automation to reduce labour.
But there’s a shortage of adept engineers to study the production process and build specialised machines to carry out the jobs.
“Automation is economically viable only for high-volume production. There are limits to what computers and machinery can do.
“There are a lot of changeovers in the manufacturing processes which require human hands unless the products are of such high value or volume to justify the need for a robotic arm or conveyor belt system,” he said.
Separately, nasi kandar restaurant operators here are in desperate need of foreign workers to help in their daily operations.
Hameediyah Restaurant director Muhammad Riyaaz Syed Ibrahim said the restaurant was not only having trouble recruiting Bangladeshi workers but also those from Nepal and India.
“Before the pandemic, we had more than 30 foreign workers in our restaurant chains in George Town, Sungai Ara and Bukit Mertajam.
“But now, we have only about 20 workers covering these three restaurants. Ten of them are from India and Nepal.
“I did apply for workers during the rehiring process through an online system but it was only open for three months.
“We did offer jobs to Malaysians, especially school leavers, but there were no takers.
Muhammad Riyaaz said his restaurant offered a basic salary as advised by the government, which is RM1,500, and even implemented it earlier this year before the Federal Government announced the minimum wage requirement.
“But the locals are not interested,” he said.
When asked why there was a delay in hiring foreign workers, Muhammad Riyaaz said he had no idea, claiming that there was no clear explanation from the Federal Government.
However, nasi kandar restaurant owner Noor Mohamed SBK Mohd Abdullah said there was no problem in hiring foreign workers, except for those from Bangladesh.
“We have no problem hiring other nationalities, but it takes time and the maximum quota given for one restaurant is 15 foreign workers.
“The application can be made online and every applicant must have all the requirements needed for approval, including a licence from the local council.
“The reason why some restaurants were not able to have their approval is probably because they did not fulfil the requirements needed in the hiring process.
“The only country that is not sending its citizens to work in Malaysia is Bangladesh,” he said.
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The Management Board of the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the All-Russian Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (VILAR) reviewed their 30-year partnership in ensuring the preservation and safety of the body of President Ho Chi Minh at a conference in Moscow on Monday.
Addressing the event, Major General Bui Hai Son, the Acting Head of the Mausoleum Management Board, noted that the two sides had directly cooperated in the preservation of the Vietnamese national leader’s body since 1992 and were implementing a collaboration agreement for the 2021-25 period.
Over the past 30 years, their partnership has been fruitful, ensuring that the body of President Ho Chi Minh is preserved with absolute safety, according to the officer.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi highlighted the friendship between Vietnam and Russia and lauded the effective support that Russian experts have given to Vietnam in many areas, including the preservation of President Ho Chi Minh’s body.
The VILAR director, Academician Nikolai Sidelnikov said that over the years, the institute had coordinated closely with the Mausoleum Management Board to set up Vietnam-Russia medical and scientific councils at a national level to evaluate the state of President Ho Chi Minh’s body.
In 2019, the council, comprising Vietnamese and Russian experts, assessed that the body was in a good condition with no changes compared to examination data recorded in previous evaluations.
Participants at the event underlined that the successful cooperation between the board and the VILAR was a symbol of the sound traditional friendship and partnership between the two sides and countries in general.
One collective and three individuals were also honoured with a third-class Labour Order, while six Russian officials and experts who have shown outstanding performance during the 30-year direct cooperation between the board and the VILAR were presented with the Friendship Order.
VIRLA has sent some 200 experts to Vietnam to take part in the preservation of President Ho Chi Minh’s body and received 100 officials from Vietnam’s Mausoleum Management Board for study and research courses.
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The government of Pakistan and the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have agreed to extend the ceasefire, this time indefinitely, and continue negotiations to find an end to the nearly two decades of militancy in the tribal border region, it has been reliably learnt.
The extension of ceasefire, which was to come to an end on Monday night, indicates significant progress in talks between the two sides in the Afghan capital Kabul, sources familiar with the development said.
Sources told Dawn that the two sides had agreed to extend the ceasefire and continue peace talks following separate meetings with Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, acting prime minister of the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [IEA]’ at his office the other day.
The sources said that in his meetings with the two sides, the soft-spoken septuagenarian leader expressed his desire that the talks and ceasefire should be allowed to continue without any cut-off date.
In a subsequent joint meeting, the two sides agreed to extend the ceasefire indefinitely and pursue negotiations to end the conflict that has seen mass dislocation and killings of thousands of people in Pakistan’s tribal region and the country at large.
IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid and TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani had issued statements early this month, announcing extension of the ceasefire till May 30.
No official statement has been issued so far regarding the indefinite extension in ceasefire but Dawn has been able to get confirmation of this significant development.
The development follows days of “intense and extensive negotiations” in the Afghan capital attended by senior level delegations from the two sides that at one point seemed close to breakdown.
IEA’s Acting Minister for Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is the central mediator, helped bring the talks back on track, sources said.
The Pakistani government, sources said, had demonstrated its seriousness by acceding to some of the TTP’s demands and after the IEA suggested it would be important for confidence-building to move from preliminaries to formal and structured negotiations.
The release of prisoners and presidential pardon to two key militant commanders, including TTP Swat spokesman Muslim Khan, was one such demand.
Compensation for the dead and wounded, enforcement of Shariah regulation in Malakand, withdrawal of military from the borders and reversal of Fata merger into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were key demands from the TTP side, the sources said.
The Shariah Nizam-i-Adl Regulation, 2009 is still operational in Malakand division. The law was enacted following marathon negotiations with the late Maulana Sufi Muhammad.
The Pakistani government had no issue with some of the TTP’s demands, but two major issues remained challenging: the reversal of Fata merger and the disbandment of the TTP as an armed militant group, the sources said.
The government delegates made it clear that the merger brought about through a constitutional amendment was not up for discussion and that tribal people were the main, important stakeholders.
The TTP on its part had brought documents containing the commitment made by Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah with the tribal people guaranteeing their autonomy in an independent Pakistan.
They were told that the reversal of the merger would mean return to the Frontier Crimes Regulation, which was a relic of the British Empire and did not contain anything that could be considered Islamic. They were asked to identify laws that had been enacted post-merger which they deemed to be in contravention of their customs.
Besides, the 25th Constitutional Amendment that brought about Fata’s merger into KP is pending before a larger bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since March, 2022 on a petition filed by some tribal elders opposed to it.
The disbandment of the TTP is another make-or-break issue, these sources said. The government delegation has made it plain that no armed group would be allowed to enter Pakistan territory or operate as such. Options are being discussed and the IEA is fully on-board in this regard.
The next round of negotiations is expected to take place in the second week of June, sources said, with a tribal jirga holding direct talks with the TTP in Kabul.
Dawn
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The World Bank will disburse nearly US$700 million to Sri Lanka within the next few months, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister announced.
This pledge was made when the World Bank’s country manager in Colombo, Chiyo Kanda spoke to Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
During the meeting, the minister sought assistance from the World Bank until long-term assistance materialises through the International Monetary Fund, other international institutions and donor countries.
The minister said that short-term financial assistance from the World Bank would be appreciated until sustainable solutions are found.
The World Bank country manager said her office is also working with other organisations such as the Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the UN office, encouraging them to “re-purpose” their already committed projects to help the people of Sri Lanka at this difficult time.
Sri Lanka is facing a severe foreign currency shortage which has created problems in importing essential items.
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