WASHINGTON: The United States vowed on Friday to commit more diplomatic and security resources to the Indo-Pacific to push back against what its sees as China’s bid to create a regional sphere of influence and become the world’s most influential power.
In a 12-page strategy overview, the Biden administration said it would focus on every corner of the region from South Asia to the Pacific Islands to strengthen its long-term position and commitment.
“The PRC is combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might as it pursues a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most influential power,” it said referring to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
“Our collective efforts over the next decade will determine whether the PRC succeeds in transforming the rules and norms that have benefited the Indo-Pacific and the world.”
Release of the document was timed to coincide with a visit to the Indo-Pacific by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken intended to emphasize the priority the United States attaches to the region, even as Washington grapples with a dangerous standoff with Moscow, which has massed some 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border, stoking Western fears of an invasion.
It also comes after China and Russia declared last week a “no limits” strategic partnership, their most detailed and assertive statement to work together — and against the United States — to build a new international order based on their own interpretations of human rights and democracy.
In its document, the United States vowed to modernize alliances, strengthen emerging partnerships, and invest in regional organizations. It particularly stressed the importance of “a strong India” as a partner in a positive regional vision.
It said the United States would pursue a “free and open Indo-Pacific ... through a latticework of strong and mutually reinforcing coalitions.”
Under an action plan for the next 12-24 months, the document said Washington would “meaningfully expand” its diplomatic presence in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands and prioritize key negotiations with Pacific island states that cover access for the US military and which have appeared to stall in the past year.
“We will refocus security assistance on the Indo-Pacific, including to build maritime capacity and maritime-domain awareness,” it said.
On the highly sensitive potential flashpoint of self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, Washington would work with partners inside and outside the region to maintain peace and stability in the strait dividing the island from China, it said.
Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia under the Obama administration, noted the heavy focus on partnerships and networks and called the reference to Taiwan an “interesting nuance.”
“(It) makes clear the administration sees the maintenance of peace and security across the Taiwan Strait as a team effort that includes partners inside and outside the region — reaffirming Washington’s One China Policy, but framing the issue of Taiwan as a broader issue of regional stability.”
The action plan also vows to expand the US coast guard presence and cooperation in South, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, where Washington has identified China as a threat to fishing and free-trade routes.
“We recognize the limitations in our ability to change China, and therefore seek to shape the strategic environment around China,” a senior US administration official told reporters, adding that the document did not embody the administration’s broader China strategy.
“Our China strategy is global in scope. It recognizes the Indo-Pacific is a particularly intense region of competition,” he said.
The document reiterated US plans to launch an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in early 2022, an initiative the administration hopes will at least partially fill a big gap in engagement with the region since former President Donald Trump quit a multinational trade framework in 2017.
It said the United States’ approach to trade would “meet high labor and environmental standards,” a reference making clear that the administration will stick to its vow to avoid damage to America jobs in economic dealings with the region.
US vows stepped-up Indo-Pacific effort in push back against China
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US vows stepped-up Indo-Pacific effort in push back against China
- US unveils strategy overview during Quad Summit, which comes after China and Russia declared last week a “no limits” strategic partnership
Saudi-run terminal in Chittagong expands as major hub for Bangladesh’s foreign trade
- Red Sea Gateway Terminal is the first foreign company to operate Bangladeshi ports
- It is now exploring new opportunities, including in the country’s deep-sea port
DHAKA: Saudi developer Red Sea Gateway Terminal, which last year started operations at Bangladesh’s largest port, plans further expansion as it already facilitates about 10 percent of the country’s imports and exports.
Chittagong Port is the busiest container port on the Bay of Bengal. Last year, it handled about 3.3 million TEU, or 20-foot equivalent units, serving as the main gateway for Bangladesh’s ocean cargo import and export.
RSGT, which in June last year started operations at Chittagong’s Patenga Container Terminal, is the first foreign company operating Bangladeshi ports.
According to its agreement with the Chittagong Port Authority, RSGT will run the terminal for the next 22 years.
“RSGT Chittagong operates 24/7, 365 days a year, ensuring seamless and uninterrupted service for the trade community … Our operations facilitate around 10 percent of Bangladesh’s total imports and exports,” Erwin Haaze, CEO of RSGT Bangladesh, told Arab News on Monday.
“We manage all containerized shipments passing through Patenga Terminal efficiently, facilitating smooth trade for a diverse range of industries, from manufacturing to retail.”
The company is steadily increasing the terminal’s output and is expected to have a maximum annual capacity of 600,000 TEU.
It also plans to more than double its permanent workforce.
“RSGT has plans to invest approximately $170 million in the RSGT Terminal. This investment has already created more than 300 permanent jobs, which are expected to increase to more than 700 when in full operation,” Haaze said.
“Regarding indirect employment, RSGT Chittagong is committed to growing with the community and has engaged with many local vendors to participate in different tasks in RSGT Chittagong. With further expansions, we anticipate generating even more job opportunities in the coming years.”
Following the success of the Patenga Terminal, Saudi investors are exploring more opportunities in port-related sectors in Bangladesh, including the Matarbari Port — the country’s first deep-sea port, which the government wants to build some 120 km south of the Chittagong Port.
Saudi Ambassador to Dhaka Essa Al-Duhailan told Arab News that talks with the relevant authorities were already underway.
“The investment in Chottogram (Chittagong) Bay Terminal is between $300 million and $400 million, and the other one (Matarbari Deep Sea Port) will be maybe $700 million to $800 million,” he said.
“The intention is there, and the willingness is there. The excellent performance of the Saudi company, Red Sea Gateway, is already shown to the Bangladeshis and they are satisfied … The experience is encouraging so far.”
Philippine ex-president Duterte arrested after ICC warrant
- Court estimates death toll from Duterte’s anti-drug campaign could be 30,000
- Any state can comply with ICC arrest warrant, human rights lawyer says
MANILA: Former President Rodrigo Duterte was taken into custody on Tuesday after the Philippine government said it received an International Criminal Court warrant over his involvement in suspected crimes against humanity related to the country’s bloody “war on drugs.”
The ICC had been investigating Duterte over his administration’s deadly anti-drugs campaign, in which according to official data over 6,000 Filipinos were killed during the ex-president’s six-year term since 2016. ICC prosecutors estimate, however, that the number of extrajudicial killings committed by security forces could be as many as 30,000.
He was arrested at Manila’s main airport after returning from a trip to Hong Kong, the office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a statement.
“Earlier this morning, Interpol Manila received the official copy of the arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court,” the Presidential Communications Office said.
“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general presented the ICC notification for an arrest warrant against the former president for crimes against humanity … As of now, he is in the custody of the authorities.”
Duterte won the Philippine presidency in 2016 on a promise to eradicate illegal drugs, after serving for more than two decades as mayor of Davao, the second-largest city in the Philippines, where he allegedly ran a deadly anti-drug crackdown with impunity.
The ensuing nationwide campaign drew international condemnation.
The 79-year-old has repeatedly defended the crackdown and denied the extrajudicial killing of alleged drug suspects, although he has also openly admitted to instructing police to kill in self-defense.
Duterte officially withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 as it began to look into allegations of systematic killings under his leadership.
But under the court’s withdrawal mechanism, it keeps jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while a country was a member. While the Philippine government had refused to cooperate, the Marcos administration signaled in November that it would comply if an arrest warrant was issued.
The Philippines also remains a member of Interpol, which can seek Duterte’s arrest on behalf of the ICC.
“Under the rules of the ICC, any state, whether a state party or non-state party, can accede to the request of the ICC,” human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares told Arab News.
For the families of victims of Duterte’s deadly anti-drug campaign, his arrest has sparked new hopes for justice.
“The families of the victims see a light in, at least a glimmer of light, at the end of the tunnel for their search for justice for their loved ones who were mercilessly killed during the time of President Duterte,” Colmenares, who also serves as one of the legal counsels for the families, said.
“We will demand from President Marcos … that he should pursue the ends of justice, because that is his obligation under the Philippine laws, to execute the law and, of course, afford justice to the Filipino people.”
Rights group Karapatan is also calling on Marcos to make sure that Duterte “is actually delivered to the ICC for detention and trial.”
If transferred to the Hague, Duterte may become Asia’s first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.
“(Marcos) should also cooperate in ensuring that Duterte is convicted by making available to the International Criminal Court additional pieces of evidence in the hands of the government,” Maria Sol Taule, Karapatan deputy secretary-general, said in a statement.
“With Duterte’s arrest, the Filipino people are hopefully a step closer to attaining justice and accountability for Duterte’s many crimes.”
Beijing warns UK against ‘provoking tensions’ over South China Sea
- China claims the strategically important waterway in nearly its entirety
- ‘The South China Sea is currently one of the safest and freest maritime routes in the world’
BEIJING: China warned Britain on Tuesday against “provoking tensions” in the South China Sea after its foreign minister David Lammy called Beijing’s actions in the disputed waters “dangerous and destabilising.”
In a video partly filmed alongside a vessel belonging to the Philippine Coast Guard, Lammy on Monday condemned “dangerous and destabilising activities” by Beijing in the South China Sea.
China claims the strategically important waterway in nearly its entirety, despite an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
Asked about Lammy’s comments, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said “the UK should respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea and refrain from provoking tensions or sowing discord over regional disputes.”
“The South China Sea is currently one of the safest and freest maritime routes in the world,” Mao said.
Beijing has deployed navy and coast guard vessels in a bid to bar Manila from crucial reefs and islands in the South China Sea, leading to a string of confrontations in recent months.
In a Saturday meeting with his Filipino counterpart Enrique Manalo, Britain and the Philippines signed a joint framework to boost defense and maritime cooperation.
The Philippines has similar agreements with the United States, Australia and Japan.
India brings home nearly 300 citizens rescued from Southeast Asian scam centers
- Thousands of people have been freed from cyber scam centers
- Countries are working together to crack down on the criminal networks
NEW DELHI: India has brought home nearly 300 of its nationals who were lured to various southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, with fake job offers and made to engage in cybercrime and other fraudulent activities in scam compounds, the government said.
Thousands of people have been freed from cyber scam centers along the Thailand-Myanmar border this year as countries work together to crack down on the criminal networks.
China and Indonesia repatriated some of their citizens last month.
“Indian embassies in Myanmar and Thailand have coordinated with local authorities to secure the repatriation of 283 Indian nationals today by an IAF (Indian Air Force) aircraft from Mae Sot in Thailand,” India’s foreign ministry said late on Monday.
Thailand arrested 100 people last week as a part of its crackdown on the scam centers.
Criminal gangs have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people to the centers, which generate billions of dollars a year from illegal online schemes, according to the United Nations.
India also warned its citizens against the scams, advising them to “verify” the credentials of foreign employers and check the “antecedents” of recruiting agents and companies before taking up job offers.
WHO warns difficult decisions ‘unavoidable’ as it slims down recruitment
- The WHO has begun “prioritization” work to make the global health agency sustainable, the document says
GENEVA: The World Health Organization has warned that difficult decisions will be “unavoidable” in an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday announcing a recruitment freeze and a one-year limit on new fixed-term contracts.
The WHO has begun “prioritization” work to make the global health agency sustainable, the document says, adding that staff are working to secure additional funding from countries, private donors and philanthropists.
