Day: August 24, 2022

Australia’s new Air Force Chief has said surveillance missions would continue in the South China Sea despite a “recent spate of unsafe incidences” in the contested region.

In May, a Royal Australian Air Force surveillance plane was intercepted by a Chinese fighter jet in international air space claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea region.

At the time, officials in Canberra accused Beijing, Australia’s biggest trading partner, of intimidation.

Since then, bilateral ties have been strained in recent years over various geo-political, diplomatic and trade disputes.

And there have been other as-yet unspecified encounters with Chinese forces, according to Air Marshal Robert Chipman, who became the new chief of the Australian air force in July 2022.

At the time, officials in Canberra accused Beijing, Australia’s biggest trading partner, of intimidation.

Since then, bilateral ties have been strained in recent years over various geo-political, diplomatic and trade disputes.

And there have been other as-yet unspecified encounters with Chinese forces, according to Air Marshal Robert Chipman, who became the new chief of the Australian air force in July 2022.

In his first comments to the media, Chipman said the incidents were “robust” and he insisted that Australia would continue its maritime surveillance flights over the region.

Speaking to reporters in Canberra, he said that despite the recent encounters, Australia did not expect to see an increase in confrontations with Chinese aircraft near the South China Sea, which is home to vital shipping lanes and has enflamed territorial disputes in the region for years.

During a media briefing, Chipman said Beijing has become increasingly assertive in the region.

“We think that China has a formidable aerospace capability and that they have concentrated that aerospace capability in the South China Sea region to deter others from going into that airspace. It does not make it impenetrable and it does not mean that you cannot deliver military effects to achieve your interest when you are operating against China,” he said.

Chipman has held talks in Canberra with U.S. Secretary for the Air Force Frank Kendall. Both sides have spoken about tensions around Taiwan and boosting cooperation in the South China Sea.

The talks have coincided with Exercise Pitch Black, a three-week international military exercise in northern Australia.

This year’s event brings together 2,500 personnel and up to 100 military aircraft from around the world including France, Indonesia, Singapore and the United States.

Forces from Germany, Japan, and Korea are participating fully for the first time.

The military exercises run from August 19 to September 8.

Source: Voice of America

This week marks five years since more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees fled violence and persecution in Myanmar, joining hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya who sought refuge in Bangladesh in previous years.

The events that caused nearly three-quarter-million people to take flight in August 2017 have not improved. Indeed, they have worsened. The United Nations reports Myanmar’s military junta has increased its brutal campaign of violence against the population. This, since it overthrew the country’s democratically elected government a year-and-a-half ago.

The U.N. refugee agency estimates 1.1 million Rohingya are internally displaced inside Myanmar, most in Rakhine State. The agency says the repressive conditions under which they live preclude the possibility of safe, dignified, and sustainable refugee returns to Myanmar.

Having passed five years in exile, the UNHCR reports the latest exodus from Myanmar is now officially defined as being a protracted situation. Refugees who live in this long-lasting state of limbo are dependent on international aid.

UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo says her agency is appealing for increased support for the Rohingya. She says it is critical the international community continues to pay attention to the crisis, which is at risk of being forgotten.

“There must be a redoubling of efforts to find solutions for the Rohingya. The longer that this displacement situations protract, it becomes difficult to sustain support… We are facing a funding shortfall. That is really important that that international commitment and that funding is sustained to support both the Rohingya refugees but also their local host communities,” she said.

Some one million Rohingya refugees, nearly half of them children, live in extremely overcrowded conditions in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee camp.

Mantoo says the Rohingya remain fully reliant on humanitarian assistance for their survival. She says they need proper nutrition, shelter materials, sanitation, and livelihood opportunities.

“Protection needs — especially for women, children, and people with disabilities—are often under-reported,” she said. “Violence against children and women, especially gender-based violence, is shrouded in stigma that can render survivors voiceless and unable to access legal, medical, psycho-social or other forms of support. Some have resorted to dangerous boat journeys to seek a future for themselves and their children.”

The UNHCR says support must be stepped up for education, skills development, and livelihood opportunities to prepare refugees for a hoped-for eventual return to Myanmar.

In the meantime, the agency is appealing for $455 million to provide lifesaving assistance this year to more than 1.4 million people, including Rohingya refugees and more than half-a-million most affected host communities.

Source: Voice of America

Groups of protesters gathered in Thailand’s capital on Tuesday to call for the country’s prime minister to step down, saying he has exceeded his constitutional term limit.

A demonstration at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument, a traditional protest venue, appeared to draw fewer than 200 protesters, mixed in with bystanders and journalists.

Anti-government activists have been seeking Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s resignation for almost three years, saying he holds the post illegitimately because he came to power by leading a military coup that ousted an elected government in 2014.

They have fresh hopes that he can be thrown out of office because of an article in the constitution that limits prime ministers to eight years in office. They say the eight years ended on Tuesday, a day before the anniversary of Prayuth taking the post of prime minister in the military government installed after the coup.

But Prayuth’s supporters contend the countdown on his term began after 2014.

They say the current constitution, which contains the provision limiting prime ministers to eight years, came into effect on April 6, 2017, and that should be used as the starting date. Another interpretation favoring his continuing tenure is that the countdown began on June 9, 2019, when Prayuth took office under the new constitution following a 2019 general election. He must call new elections by next year in any case.

A petition from opposition lawmakers arguing that Prayuth has reached the eight-year limit was sent Monday to the Constitutional Court.

Polls show the prime minister’s popularity is at a low ebb. He has been accused of mishandling the economy and botching Thailand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, thousands of people took to the streets in multiple protests to demand that Prayuth and his Cabinet resign, while calling for the constitution to be amended and the monarchy to be reformed. The student-driven movement was sparked in part by the court-ordered dissolution of the popular opposition Future Forward Party.

The protest movement at one point attracted crowds of 20,000-30,000 in Bangkok. Several confrontations with the authorities grew violent. A legal crackdown on activists, arrested in many cases under a law against insulting the monarchy because of their criticism of the royal institution, has embittered Prayuth’s critics more.

The major faction of the protest movement, calling itself Ratsadon — The People — issued a statement Sunday affirming its call for Prayuth’s ouster.

“For more than eight years, Thai society has fallen under the darkest and most bitter times. A period under the rule of a tyrant who took power away from the people. A tyrant who inherits power through a mechanism without democratic legitimacy,” the statement said.

“We, the people, are hopeful that deep down, you, and General Prayuth’s cronies will come to your senses and realize that the time of General Prayuth as prime minister of Thailand has come to an end according to the 2017 constitution of Thailand.”

Fearful of protesters marching to Prayuth’s offices at Government House, security forces have blocked some streets with shipping containers, a tactic they have previously used against anti-government protesters.

At Democracy Movement, where the protest was set to end at midnight and resume Wednesday, a costumed dancer slowly whirled around lit candles placed on the ground while another protester burned Prayuth’s picture in a bowl together with items such as salt and incense sticks in a ritual curse. Firecrackers were set off and protesters raised a three-finger salute that has become their symbol of resistance.

“The people are suffering. It’s difficult to earn a living. Prices are rising. Oil prices are on the rise and eggs are expensive. Everything is expensive. Nothing is good right now. Prayuth shouldn’t run the government anymore,” said Manee, a 44-year-old protester who declined to give her last name for fear of retribution by the authorities. “He must get out.”

Source: Voice of America

The United States says diplomatic channels with China remain open even after Beijing said it was cutting cooperation with the U.S. in areas such as climate change and counternarcotics.

At the Pentagon, a senior official said the tempo of Chinese military activity around Taiwan is slower than it had been immediately after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit earlier this month but is still higher than historical norms.

“Deputy Secretary [Wendy] Sherman met with the [People’s Republic of China] ambassador to the United States [Qin Gang] … on August 23. We have and will continue to keep the lines of communication open with the PRC,” said State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel during a Wednesday phone briefing.

“Beijing has shut down some key communication channels and cooperation across several vital issues that affect the entire world,” he added. “But the United States continues to seek an open and constructive line of communication to manage our differences, especially during moments of tension.”

The U.S. continues to take “calm and resolute steps” to uphold peace and stability in the region, and support for Taiwan is in line with Washington’s long-standing “One China” policy, Patel told VOA.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to VOA’s request for a readout of the meeting.

Sherman’s meeting with Qin came as China continued to ramp up military maneuvers around the Taiwan Strait following successive visits to the self-ruled island by Pelosi; Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat and member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; and Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, a Republican.

In Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Chinese officials “have made serious demarches to the U.S. side on Indiana Governor Holcomb’s visit to Taiwan,” adding that Beijing is urging “relevant [parties] in the U.S. to abide by the one-China principle” and “stop all forms of official interactions” with Taiwan.

China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, see U.S. senior lawmakers’ visits to Taiwan as irritants. Taiwan “has always been the most important and the most sensitive issue at the heart of China-U.S. relations,” said the spokesperson.

U.S. officials say that Washington does not subscribe to Beijing’s One China principle, and that the U.S. remains committed to its long-standing, bipartisan One China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances.

U.S. officials have said Washington’s One China policy is “distinct” from Beijing’s One China principle. The Chinese Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan but asserts sovereignty over the self-ruled democracy.

For decades, the U.S. has been clear that its decision to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1979 rested on the expectation that “the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means,” as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act.

On Wednesday, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters the U.S. remains committed to a stable, free and open Indo-Pacific and will continue its freedom of navigation operations as well as Taiwan Strait transits in accordance with international law.

“Our reaction is not to invite conflict or to generate unnecessary frictions but to basically make clear that Beijing’s gambit isn’t going to pay off. But if their goal was to coerce us and the international community to back off, it’s not going to work,” he told VOA.

The U.S. and China are also in talks as travel ban exemptions for 13 Taliban officials expired Friday. China and Russia want to allow them to continue to travel, while the U.S. and Western nations want to limit the number.

“Discussions on whether to grant an exemption remain ongoing. And this decision requires consensus among other members of the [United Nations] Security Council,” Patel told VOA.

While the U.S. sees the need to continue limited engagement with the Taliban, the purpose and scope of the travel ban waiver is “strictly limited and in no way confers legitimacy on the Taliban,” said a State Department official.

This week, the U.S. and South Korea began their biggest combined military training in years.

Senior American officials have said the United States considers maintaining the stability across the Taiwan Strait as vital to U.S. national interests and to the region.

“The entire Indo-Pacific region and the international community have an interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, the State Department’s top official on East Asian and Pacific affairs, in a briefing last week.

“It’s the primary route for ships from China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan heading to Europe, the United States and all markets along the way,” he added. “Almost half of the global container fleet — 48%, and 88% of the world’s largest ships by tonnage — passed through the Taiwan Strait this year.”

Source: Voice of America