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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan said Wednesday it would exercise its right to self-defence and “counter-attack” if Chinese fighters and warships were to enter its territorial space, in the wake of Beijing’s huge military drills around the island. The self-ruled, democratic island lives under constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims it as part of its territory to be seized one day — by force if necessary. Tensions in the Taiwan Strait […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taipei and Beijing have traded barbs over a recent string of drone sorties that have flown from the Chinese mainland to an outlying Taiwanese island, some surveilling military outposts. Photos and video taken by Chinese drones of the Kinmen islands have been circulating on both Taiwan and Chinese social media, with one video showing Taiwanese soldiers hurling rocks at one to drive it off. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said […]
by Amber WANG Agence France-Presse TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — US Senator Marsha Blackburn landed in Taiwan late Thursday, the fourth visit by an American politician this month and a move bound to rile Beijing, which has staged huge military drills to protest such trips. Tensions between China and the United States have soared to their highest level in decades since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit triggered Beijing’s unprecedented show of force around the island earlier […]
Taipei, Taiwan (AFP) Taiwan announced plans for a record increase to its defence budget on Thursday after huge military drills by China earlier this month sent tensions between the two to their highest in decades. Taipei has proposed a defence budget of Tw$415.1 billion ($13.7 billion) for next year, up 13 percent year-on-year, pending parliamentary approval. An additional special budget will also be created specifically to acquire new fighter jets and other projects to boost […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s military chief said Friday the junta is open to negotiations with ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end the crisis sparked by its coup after her trials in a junta-run court have concluded. Suu Kyi, 77, has been detained since the generals toppled her government in a coup on February 1 last year and plunged the Southeast Asian nation into chaos. She has been jailed for 17 years for […]
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | An Australian economist detained by Myanmar’s junta has pleaded not guilty to breaching the colonial-era official secrets act, a source close to the case said on Friday. Sean Turnell was working as an adviser to Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he was detained shortly after the coup that ousted her government in February last year. On trial in a secretive junta court that journalists cannot access, he […]
Foreign policy & security analyst Lucio Blanco Pitlo weighs in on the recent visit of US Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan and its impact on ASEAN, specifically the Philippines. Factors like the Philippines’ proximity to Taiwan, our large OFW population, our trade & investment relations with China, our mutual defense agreements with the US entangle us in this potential diplomatic & geopolitical powderkeg.
by By Sebastien Ricci with Beiyi Seow in Beijing and Amber Wang in Taipei Agence France-Presse PINGTAN, China (AFP) — China was set to press ahead Friday with its largest-ever military exercises encircling Taiwan despite firm statements of condemnation by the United States, Japan and the European Union. Beijing’s decision to fire ballistic missiles and deploy fighter jets around Taiwan saw Washington lambast what it said was a gross overreaction to a visit to the […]
Beijing, China | AFP by Poornima WEERASEKARA Chinese military exercises around Taiwan are set to disrupt one of the world’s busiest shipping zones, analysts told AFP, highlighting the island’s critical position in already stretched global supply chains. The drills — China’s largest-ever around Taiwan — are a major show of strength after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi infuriated Beijing by visiting the island. The manoeuvres kicked off Thursday and will take place along some of […]
Pingtan, China | AFP by Sebastien Ricci, with Beiyi Seow in Beijing and Amber Wang in Taipei China fired ballistic missiles and deployed fighter jets and warships on Thursday as it held its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, a show of force sparked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island. Pelosi was the highest-profile US official to visit Taiwan in years, defying a series of stark threats from Beijing, which views the […]
Keelung, Taiwan | AFP by Sean Chang and Amber Wang In Taiwan’s Keelung port dispatchers spent much of Thursday broadcasting warnings to fishing boats heading north, reminding them that China’s military was conducting live-fire drills nearby. “This is the Keelung radio station,” the radio system crackled. “China’s People’s Liberation Army will conduct military exercises from August 4th at noon…” The warnings, at the top of every hour, were a stark reminder that Taiwan’s 23 […]
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP A Japanese journalist detained in Myanmar has been charged with breaching immigration law and encouraging dissent against the military, the ruling junta said Thursday. Myanmar’s military has clamped down on press freedoms since its coup last year, arresting reporters and photographers as well as revoking broadcasting licences as the country plunged into chaos. Toru Kubota, who was held while covering a protest in Yangon last week, “has been charged under section […]
