MANILA, Philippines: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday that China should define its “so-called ownership” in the disputed South China Sea so other claimant countries can start to gain benefits from the resource-rich waters.
Mahathir stressed the importance of freedom of navigation in the busy waterway, saying in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel in Manila that if there were no restrictions and sanctions, “the claims made by China will not affect us very much.”
Malaysia, the Philippines, China and three other governments have been locked in long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea. China has claimed virtually the entire sea but has refused to define the extent of its claims except for a vague line with nine dashes on its maps, complicating the disputes.
Efforts by the Philippines, for example, to explore for undersea deposits of oil and natural gas in Reed Bank west of its Palawan island province have been stymied for years by Chinese protests and claims to the offshore region. The Philippines has declared a moratorium on exploration in the area in the past because of Chinese threats.
“We have to talk to China on the definition of their claims and what is meant by their ownership or so-called ownership they claim to have so that we can find ways of deriving some benefits from them,” Mahathir said.
“I think that whatever may be the claim of China, the most important thing is that the South China Sea in particular must be open to navigation,” Mahathir said. “There should be no restriction, no sanction, and if that happens, then I think the claims made by China will not affect us very much.”
During talks in Manila between the visiting Malaysian leader and President Rodrigo Duterte, the territorial conflicts were high in the agenda.
“We emphasized the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight over the South China Sea,” Duterte said after the meeting, adding that force or the threat of it should not be resorted to.
Duterte thanked Malaysia for brokering peace talks between the Philippine government and Muslim guerrillas in the south, homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation. The rebels have become leaders of a new Muslim autonomous region in the country’s south under a peace deal.
The Malaysian leader, who at 93 is the world’s oldest prime minister, visited the Philippines as his country’s leader in 1987 and 1994.
“I’m glad to see that, at last, peace has come to the southern Philippines. Development cannot take place in war. In war, we destroy but in peace we build,” Mahathir told a business forum in Manila before meeting Duterte.
With enormous economic opportunities opening up in the former battlefields, Mahathir said Malaysia is looking forward to investing in the region and pledged that his country will continue to back Philippine peace efforts. Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the two countries plan to resume the ancient practice of barter trading between Malaysia and the southern Philippine towns of Jolo, Siasi and Bongao to ease poverty that breeds criminality and terrorism.
A Malaysia-led team of 28 international peace monitors will remain in the south until all Muslim guerrillas have demobilized under the peace deal, Malaysian officials said. The European Union, Japan and Brunei also have contributed personnel to the peacekeeping contingent.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Murad Ebrahim, the former Muslim rebel leader who now heads the five-province autonomous region called Bangsamoro, attended a state banquet hosted by Duterte for Mahathir. Officials were trying to arrange a meeting between Mahathir and Murad.
The Philippines and Malaysia, along with Western governments and the guerrillas, see effective Muslim autonomy as an antidote to nearly half a century of Muslim secessionist violence which the Daesh group could exploit to gain a foothold in the region.
Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia agreed in 2017 to carry out sea and aerial patrols to confront a wave of abductions along their sea border by Abu Sayyaf militants and allied gunmen from the southern Philippines. The sea abductions have eased but ransom-seeking Abu Sayyaf militants are still holding a Malaysian and two Indonesians captive in their jungle hideouts.
“Malaysia is committed to take the necessary steps to address the serious issue of terrorism and violent extremism” through the accord, Mahathir said.
Mahathir: China should define claims in South China Sea
Mahathir: China should define claims in South China Sea
- Malaysia, the Philippines, China and three other governments have been locked in long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- China has claimed virtually the entire sea but has refused to define the extent of its claims
Russia downed three drones targeting Moscow, mayor says
MOSCOW: Russian air defense forces shot down three drones attempting to attack Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, the Russian capital’s mayor, said on Friday.
He did not provide further details about the incident but said emergency services were working at the sites where debris from the downed drones had fallen.
Separately, Russia’s aviation watchdog said that the Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports in the Moscow region had temporarily suspended operations to ensure flight safety.
On Java, Indonesian Muslims celebrate Eid with time-honored royal tradition
- Procession involving local harvest is at least 400 years old, historian says
- Tradition can be traced back to Demak Sultanate, first Islamic kingdom in Java
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s historic royal capital of Solo will celebrate Eid Al-Adha with a royal procession on Saturday, in which “mountains” of local harvest are paraded and distributed as a symbol of gratitude and a reminder of the role of leaders in looking after the people’s welfare.
Grebeg, which roughly translates to ‘mass celebration,’ is a public ceremony held three times a year on the island of Java to mark Islamic holidays, including Eid Al-Fitr and the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
Though Indonesians joined Muslims in other parts of the globe in starting Eid celebrations on Friday, the centuries-old Javanese tradition will take place on the second day of Eid.
“Grebeg tradition started about 200 years ago at the Surakarta Royal Palace, this is a continuation from the same tradition that began in the Demak Sultanate,” Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Haryo Adipati Dipokusumo, chief administrator of the Surakarta Royal Palace, told Arab News.
Demak Sultanate, which was located in the present-day city of Demak, was the first Islamic state in Java, while Surakarta is another name for Solo, once the capital of the Mataram Sultanate — the last major independent Islamic state in Java before it was colonized by the Dutch.
Grebeg involves an elaborate arrangement of local produce — including long beans, chili, and cassava — assembled in a decorated, mountain-like form and paraded from the palace to the nearby Great Mosque for a blessing, before it is brought to the public square for distribution.
“First and foremost, the palace began this tradition as a way to spread Islamic teachings,” Dipokusumo said. “It is symbolic of values taught by Islamic prophets. The values of sincerity, patience, belief and trust, which also cover the importance of faith, intention, and gratitude.”
Eid Al-Adha, the second of the two main holidays observed in Islam, commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith when he was commanded by God to sacrifice his son. To reflect his readiness to do so, Muslims around the world slaughter an animal, usually a goat, sheep or cow, and distribute the meat among relatives and the poor.
The grebeg staged at Eid Al-Adha is known as Great Grebeg and incorporates the animal sacrifice aspect of the holiday. On Saturday, more than 500 people are expected to participate.
Historically, the tradition also functions as a barometer of the local economy and welfare, he added, as the quality of the local harvest will be on display for the ceremony.
“If there is some kind of issue with the production or distribution, it will be visible, prompting questions as to why it is happening. Let’s say maybe there is some kind of pest going around,” he said. “It will then prompt the palace to send an officer to investigate.”
According to Ody Dwicahyo, an historian at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, the tradition is between 400 and 500 years old.
Today, it is observed not only in Solo but also at the royal palace in Yogyakarta, another Javanese city.
People will usually try to get an item from the mountain of produce to take home, Dwicahyo told Arab News.
“Javanese people believe that produce from the king is symbolic, that it is blessed and far more special than food items they buy in the markets or harvest from their own farms,” he said.
“Grebeg is mainly about Earth’s harvest, but when it is conducted during Eid Al-Adha, there’s the additional aspect of meat distribution from the ritual sacrifice presented by the king.”
As Javanese people are “big believers in symbolic gestures,” grebeg served as an important occasion where the king gives something back to the people in return for their loyalty, and also a symbol of “how leaders must ensure the people’s welfare,” Dwicahyo said.
Today, the palaces in Solo and Yogyakarta function as “cultural keepers” for this time-honored tradition.
“Though times and people become more modern, this annual event is still routinely organized so people will still be aware of its function,” he said.
“Maybe people won’t participate directly, but it’s actually a symbol that is applicable for leaders anywhere in the world: that a leader must ensure the welfare of his people.”
Trump has no plans to call Musk, White House says after feud
- Trump lobbed fresh insults at the South African-born Musk a day after the fiery implosion of their unlikely political marriage
- “The president does not intend to speak to Musk today,” a senior White House official told AFP
WASHINGTON: The White House squashed speculation that Donald Trump and Elon Musk would patch up their stunning public feud, saying the US president had no plans to call his billionaire former aide Friday.
Trump lobbed fresh insults at the South African-born Musk a day after the fiery implosion of their unlikely political marriage, saying the tech tycoon had “lost his mind.”
In a telling symbol of how their relationship had deteriorated, the president was even considering selling or giving away a Tesla he had bought to show support for Musk amid protests against the company.
The row exploded on Thursday when Trump said he was “very disappointed” by Musk and threatened to end his government contracts, after his ex-aide criticized the president’s flagship budget bill as an “abomination.”
Reports had emerged that Musk and Trump would speak by phone on Friday in a bid to patch up the damaging public row, but the White House scotched such speculation.
“The president does not intend to speak to Musk today,” a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity when asked if the feuding pair planned to speak.
Trump told broadcaster ABC in a phone call earlier Friday that he was “not particularly interested” in talking to Musk.
“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” ABC quoted Trump as saying.
Trump, who once called Musk a “genius,” branded him “crazy” on social media on Thursday.
The row could have major political and economic fallout, as shares in Musk’s Tesla car company seesaw and the SpaceX boss vowed that he would end a critical US spaceship program.
The White House called a special meeting on Thursday to discuss how to handle the crisis with Musk, a government source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Trump meanwhile may ditch the red Tesla that he bought from Musk’s firm at the height of their relationship. The electric vehicle was still parked on the White House grounds on Friday.
“He’s thinking about it, yes,” the senior White House official told AFP when asked if Trump would sell or give away the Tesla.
Trump and Musk had posed inside the car at a bizarre event in March, when the US president turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom after protests against Musk’s government role tanked the firm shares.
Speculation had long swirled that a relationship between two big egos like the president and the tycoon could not last long — but the speed of the meltdown took Washington by surprise.
Trump said in a televised Oval Office diatribe on Thursday that he was “very disappointed” after his former top donor criticized his “big, beautiful” spending bill before Congress.
The pair then hurled insults at each other on social media — with Musk even posting, without proof, that Trump was referenced in government documents on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
US citizen Joseph Tater leaves Russia after detention and psychiatric treatment, TASS says
- Tater was sentenced to 15 days in jail last August for “petty hooliganism“
- He was also being investigated on a more serious charge of assaulting a police officer
MOSCOW: US citizen Joseph Tater, who was detained in Moscow last August and later sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment, has left Russia, the state news agency TASS said on Friday.
Tater, who according to a Kremlin source last month was one of nine Americans being held in Russia that Washington wanted returned in a prisoner exchange, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last August for “petty hooliganism” after being accused of abusing staff at a Moscow hotel, something he denied.
Russian state news agencies later said he was also being investigated on a more serious charge of assaulting a police officer, which carries up to five years in prison.
But on April 6 a court ordered Tater be removed from pre-trial detention, saying he was not criminally responsible for his actions after doctors diagnosed him with a mental disorder, according to state media.
TASS reported on Friday that Tater had been discharged from the psychiatric clinic where he was being treated. It cited unnamed medical sources as saying that the clinic had no grounds to keep him there and had let him leave for outpatient treatment.
TASS cited a law enforcement source as saying Tater’s current whereabouts were unknown, but that he had left Russia.
Germany’s Munich Re withdraws from climate initiatives
- The groups all aim to help financial giants reach net-zero carbon emissions
- “Climate related disclosures and associated administrative requirements have become very complex for international corporations,” said the firm
FRANFURT: German reinsurance giant Munich Re said on Friday it had withdrawn from several climate alliances but insisted that it would keep pursuing green targets independently.
It is the latest sign that major firms are going cold on such initiatives, amid concerns about their effectiveness and growing political opposition in the United States and elsewhere.
Munich Re said it had pulled out of the UN-backed Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, Climate Action 100+ and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.
The groups all aim to help financial giants reach net-zero carbon emissions.
“Climate related disclosures and associated administrative requirements have become very complex for international corporations,” said the firm, which acts as an insurer for insurers.
“Moreover, they are disproportionate to the impact achieved in terms of climate protection.”
It also said there was an “increasing ambiguity in assessing private initiatives under the legal and regulatory regimes across various jurisdictions.”
The group, which last year booked a net profit of 5.7 billion euros ($6.5 billion), said it believed that it could pursue its climate targets “in a more focused and targeted manner on our own.”
“Climate protection remains an urgent priority for Munich Re,” it said.
“We continue to pursue our goal of contributing to the achievement of the Paris climate targets.”
The 2015 Paris climate accords aimed to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — and to 1.5 if possible.
The group said it had achieved or exceeded the interim targets that it had set itself for 2025.
