Day: March 10, 2022

Taiwan’s intelligence service confirmed Thursday that a Chinese military aircraft crashed in the South China Sea in early March before the area was sealed off for a search and rescue mission.

News of the crash was first reported on Twitter on March 6 by Vietnamese journalist Duan Dang, citing unnamed sources. The crash allegedly involved a Chinese Y-8 maritime patrol aircraft and occurred off the coast of Sanya, a city on China’s Hainan Island that lies parallel to northern Vietnam.

In a separate Twitter post, the reporter said China had used military drills to conceal search and rescue efforts between March 4 and 15 off the coast of Vietnam, again citing unnamed sources.

On Thursday, Chen Ming-tong, director of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, confirmed the crash in a report to the Legislative Yuan’s National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee. Shortly after the crash, Chen said the People’s Liberation Army imposed navigation restrictions in an area corresponding to the crash site and carried out search and rescue drills.

Beijing has yet to confirm the plane crash.

Chen said the crash was just one example of how China uses its coast guard and military to enforce its territorial claims to almost all of the South China Sea, although Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Taiwan also have claims.

Additionally, the South China Sea is a globally important shipping route, with one-third of global shipping passing through its waters, according to the United Nations.

Chen said China has been taking advantage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to further extend its claims over the South China Sea, as many countries like the United States are distracted by conflict.

China regularly sends aircraft over the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait in routine demonstrations of force. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that in 2021, China sent more than 1,000 aircraft into Taipei’s Air Defense Identification Zone — a wide area of land and sea that is monitored by its military and intelligence services.

Source: Voice of America

North Korea’s last two missile launches were tests of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system, U.S. officials said Thursday, as they announced fresh sanctions on Pyongyang and warned of a “serious escalation” in tensions.

The launches on Feb. 26 and March 4 did not demonstrate ICBM range but were likely meant to evaluate the new system before conducting a future test at full range, potentially disguised as a space launch, according to a statement from Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.

North Korea had not given many details about the tests other than to say they were in preparation for the launch of a military spy satellite.

On Friday, state media reported North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the country’s Sohae Satellite Launching Ground. Pictures showed Kim, wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses, speaking with top defense officials as they stood in front of a launch tower.

Kim announced plans to “build a number of new elements in the launching ground so as to launch the military reconnaissance satellite and other multipurpose satellites by diverse carrier rockets in the future,” said a report by the Korean Central News Agency.

A day earlier, Kim said the spy satellite would provide “real-time information” on the movements of “the aggression troops of the U.S. imperialism and its vassal forces” in the region. None of the reports said when such a launch would occur.

North Korea had not conducted an ICBM launch since 2017, during the height of tensions between Kim and former U.S. President Donald Trump. A year earlier, North Korea had attempted to launch a satellite. The United States and its allies view North Korean satellite launches as thinly disguised tests of long-range missile technology banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions.

A satellite launch would dramatically raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula. On Thursday, conservative former prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol was declared the winner of South Korea’s presidential election. Yoon has promised a much more forceful approach to North Korea.

In his first press conference Thursday as president-elect, Yoon promised to “sternly” address North Korean provocations but insisted he is open to dialogue with Pyongyang.

‘Monster missile’

That dialogue will not happen anytime soon, it appears. So far this year, North Korea has launched 13 missiles during nine rounds of launches. The tests are seen as part of an effort to systematically work through a wish list of strategic weapons laid out by Kim last year.

On Kim’s wish list is an ICBM large enough to carry multiple warheads — a capacity that would make it much harder for U.S. missile defenses to intercept. North Korea unveiled such an ICBM, the Hwasong-17, during a parade in October 2020. Experts dubbed it the “monster missile.”

According to U.S. officials, North Korea’s last two launches involved the Hwasong-17, although only in some limited capacity. The tests likely only involved the first stage of the two-stage rocket, said Joshua Pollack, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries had reported the missiles only flew for about 300 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of 550-600 kilometers. The Hwasong-17 is estimated to have a maximum range of about 13,000 kilometers.

At the time, North Korea said one of the launches was meant to test “attitude control devices” on the rocket, suggesting it was experimenting with a system that could control a camera on a spy satellite. But “the attitude control system used to point the camera is likely the same system one would use to aim multiple warheads,” tweeted Jeffrey Lewis, an expert in nuclear nonproliferation with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

“Drop a warhead, turn around, drop another, and so on,” Lewis said.

Missile defense complications

Such a system, known as a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle, or MIRV, would be much harder for U.S. missile defenses to intercept, according to Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“If the North Koreans were to launch 10 ICBMs with a single warhead each, the U.S. technically, although our interceptors don’t work very well, has the number of interceptors necessary to deal with that scenario,” Panda said. “If the North Koreans placed two, three, four, or more warheads on a single missile, the arithmetic for U.S. ballistic missile defense begins to look incredibly unfavorable.”

Another reason North Korea is developing MIRVs is their shortage of mobile launch systems, known as transporter erector launchers, or TELs.

“The North Koreans have had a difficult time building very large trucks that are reliable and capable of carrying and launching these missiles,” Panda said.

Putting multiple warheads on a single missile reduces the need for mobile launchers.

“Not only are MIRVs more cost effective, they’re actually a necessity If the North Koreans want to enhance their ability to deal damage to the United States with their nuclear weapons, which is what they need for nuclear deterrence to actually work,” Panda added.

In its previous two tests, North Korea apparently used a mobile launch system placed at an airport near Pyongyang. But Kim’s visit to the Sohae satellite launch facility suggests the upcoming satellite launch will use the facilities there.

‘Serious escalation’

Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, a U.S. official described the tests as a “serious escalation” in North Korea’s missile program. The U.S. Treasury on Friday will announce new sanctions meant to prevent North Korea from “accessing foreign items and technology that enable it to advance its weapons programs,” the official added.

Early Friday, South Korea’s military also released an assessment saying it believed North Korea had tested an ICBM.

“Our government strongly condemns North Korea’s launch of such ballistic missiles, which are in violation of many United Nations Security Council resolutions, and urges North Korea to immediately stop acts that create security anxiety on the Korean Peninsula and in the region and heighten tensions,” it said.

Source: Voice of America

Thousands of refugees in Indonesia are finding themselves shut out of public services including travel and shopping because of a bureaucratic glitch that prevents them from proving they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Indonesia is a transit country for 13,175 refugees, more than half of whom are from Afghanistan. Unlike some countries where refugees are kept In camps, refugees in Indonesia can roam freely and use public facilities. Most live around the Jakarta greater metropolitan area.

In 2020, the country launched “Peduli Lindungi,” a digital COVID-19 contact-tracing app giving vaccinated residents access to public facilities and mass transit. The program, however, requires people to upload their 16-digit government-issued civil registry number before they are vaccinated. Only citizens, permanent residents and foreigners with work visas have the number; refugees – more than 56% of whom have been vaccinated — do not.

The U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR, with the support of Indonesian state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma, developed a system to generate a different registration number to allow refugees to register in the app. However, the Jakarta Health Agency, which oversees the public plan, does not have the authority to generate the new numbers. The issue is now under discussion among the Health and Foreign ministries and the UNHCR.

Therefore, the refugees who received their vaccinations at local health clinics under the public vaccination plan did not receive an electronic vaccine certificate that would otherwise be uploaded to the Peduli Lindungi app. They also have no proof of vaccination other than a handwritten slip.

Somali refugee Ahmed Sheikh described the problem he faced when stopped by security guards asking for proof of vaccination at public transportation facilities or shopping malls.

“When we show them a handwritten slip issued by health workers at the public health clinic, they don’t believe it. …. It’s hard to explain to them when they don’t speak English too,” he told VOA.

Dr. Ngabila Salama, the head of the Jakarta Health Agency acknowledged the administrative hurdle, telling VOA the agency is limited by legal uncertainty; it does not have the legal authority to generate a useable civil registration number.

“We need to be accountable for every vaccine that we give out. It’s a shame if we cannot register all the vaccine recipients onto the Peduli Lindungi app. Imagine if we give out over 5,000 vaccines to refugees that are not registered on the Peduli Lindungi app. How can we be accountable for every vaccine, when we must undergo an audit by the Financial Audit Board? They may think we wasted a lot of the vaccines.” she said.

Some refugees are considering postponing getting their first vaccinations or second doses until this administrative problem is solved.

Although Sheikh is already vaccinated, he doubts he will let his wife be vaccinated soon, considering the circumstances.

“I don’t think I’m going to bring my wife to a Puskesmas [local health clinic] to get vaccinated because even if they give her the vaccine, they won’t enable the Peduli Lindungi app for her and can’t give her the electronic vaccine certificate she needs. I don’t want her to get the vaccine if we can’t get an [electronic] vaccine certificate. That’s what all refugees want.”

The UNHCR and nongovernmental organizations are trying to draw attention to the issue.

Zico Pestalozzi, campaign and advocacy coordinator at Suaka, an NGO that handles refugee issues, said “the Refugee Task Force under the Ministry of Political, Security and Legal Affairs should better coordinate [with relevant stakeholders] and ensure inclusive access to the Peduli Lindungi App.

“The UNHCR and NGOs are nongovernmental bodies, so it is up to the government to take charge of this issue and not simply divert responsibility back to the UNHCR,” he said.

Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian epidemiologist at Griffith University in Australia warns that “If we don’t protect this vulnerable population fast enough. We will be keeping a possible ‘pocket of infection.’ It will become a big problem because then it could produce a new variant or at least a new cluster among the refugee community.”

Pestalozzi agreed with Budiman, saying that if this problem lingers, it could turn into a public health risk and set back all the positive initiatives from the Indonesian government to improve refugees’ lives, including providing free vaccines, establishing learning centers and access to vocational learning.

Source: Voice of America

HONG KONG– An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1, jolted 36 km SW of Meulaboh, Indonesia, at 04:26:53 GMT early this morning, the U.S. Geological Survey, said.

The epicentre, with a depth of 50.44 km, was initially determined to be at 3.8882 degrees north latitude, and 95.9188 degrees east longitude.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PYONGYANG– Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), said, his country will launch multiple military reconnaissance satellites to space, it was reported today.

Kim made the remarks, during a recent inspection of the National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA). The top leader expressed great satisfaction over the major test results by NADA, which conducted two reconnaissance satellite development tests on Feb 27 and Mar 5.

Deeming the development of reconnaissance satellites a work for the protection of the sovereignty and national interests, and the exercise of the legitimate rights to self-defence, Kim said, the urgent project for perfecting the country’s war preparedness capacity by improving the state’s war deterrent “is the supreme revolutionary task, a political and military priority task, to which our Party and government attach the most importance.”

The purpose of developing and operating military reconnaissance satellites is to provide the armed forces with real-time information on military actions against it, according to Kim.

“The Party Central Committee fully supports the decision of the National Aerospace Development Administration, on diversely putting a lot of military reconnaissance satellites into sun-synchronous polar orbit, in the period of the five-year plan (2021-2025), so as to possess the strong capability for gathering intelligence by satellites,” he added.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PASAY CITY– The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Daniel R. Espiritu affirmed the Philippines’ commitment to work with the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) during his official working visit to the institution on 01 March 2022.

During the visit, Assistant Secretary Espiritu met with ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim and ACB officials to discuss major initiatives and projects of the ACB across the region and with external partners including the European Union.

The Assistant Secretary said that the Centre is well-placed to foster international cooperation within and outside the Southeast Asian region and noted the increasing importance of biodiversity conservation as an issue of public concern, with the COVID-19 pandemic clearly highlighting the link between protecting public health and ensuring proper biodiversity management.

ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim expressed her appreciation for the Philippines’ and DFA’s support. She highlighted the numerous knowledge products and contributions that the ACB has provided over its 17 years of service, including online resources such as the ASEAN Clearing House Mechanism and the ASEAN Biodiversity Dashboard, both of which consolidate and organize data on regional biodiversity.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is an intergovernmental organization and regional centre of excellence established in 2005 to support the ASEAN Member States in protecting and conserving their unique and valuable biodiversity resources and is the only ASEAN Centre of Excellence hosted by the Philippines, with its headquarters located in Los Baños, Laguna.

It regularly releases the ASEAN Biodiversity Outlook, which assesses progress based on drivers of biodiversity loss, including climate change, overexploitation and pollution; maintains the ASEAN Strides database, an online repository summarizing ASEAN’s collective positions on biodiversity; and serves as the secretariat for the ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) Programme, which manages selected protected areas in the Southeast Asian region known for their unique biodiversity. Currently, 50 areas have been designated as AHPs, with nine of these also designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Source: Republic of Philippines Department Of Foreign Affairs