China to conduct ‘regular’ military drills east of Taiwan Strait median line: state media

China raged at US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, ripping up series of talks and cooperation agreements with Washington. (Reuters)
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Updated 07 August 2022
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China to conduct ‘regular’ military drills east of Taiwan Strait median line: state media

  • China has deployed fighter jets, warships and ballistic missiles around Taiwan
  • Taiwan resumed flights through its airspace after Chinese military drills

BEIJING: The Chinese military will from now on conduct “regular” drills on the eastern side of the median line of the Taiwan Strait, Chinese state television reported on Sunday, citing a commentator.
The median line in the narrow strait between the island of Taiwan and mainland China is an unofficial line of control that military aircraft and battleships from either side normally do not cross.
The median line has never been legally recognized, and is an “imaginary” line drawn up by the US military for their combat requirements in the previous century, according to the state television commentator.

Earlier, China’s largest-ever military exercises surrounding Taiwan drew to a close on Sunday following a controversial visit last week to the self-ruled island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Beijing has raged at the trip by Pelosi — the second in the line of succession to the US presidency — ripping up a series of talks and cooperation agreements with Washington, most notably on climate change and defense.
It has also deployed fighter jets, warships and ballistic missiles around Taiwan in what analysts have described as practice for a blockade and ultimate invasion of the island.
Those exercises were set to end Sunday, though Beijing has announced fresh drills in the Yellow Sea — located between China and the Korean peninsula — to take place until August 15.
Taiwan’s transport ministry said six of the seven “temporary danger zones” China warned airlines to avoid ceased to be in effect as of noon on Sunday, signalling a drawdown of the drills.
It said the seventh zone, in waters east of Taiwan, would remain in effect until 10:00 am (0300 GMT) local time on Monday.
“Relevant flights and sailings can gradually resume,” the ministry said in a statement.
Taipei said some routes were still being affected in the seventh area, and authorities would continue to monitor ship movements there.
Earlier on Sunday, Beijing conducted “practical joint exercises in the sea and airspace surrounding Taiwan Island as planned,” the Chinese military’s Eastern Command said.
The drills were focused “on testing the joint firepower on the ground and long-range air strike capabilities,” it added.
Taipei’s defense ministry also confirmed that China had dispatched “planes, vessels and drones” around the Taiwan Strait, “simulating attacks on Taiwan’s main island and on ships in our waters.”
Beijing also sent drones over Taiwan’s outlying islands, it added.
In response, the democratic island said it mobilized a “joint intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance system to closely monitor the enemy situation” as well as sending planes and vessels.
China’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the expected conclusion of the drills on Sunday.
To show how close China’s forces have been getting to Taiwan’s shores, Beijing’s military released a video of an air force pilot filming the island’s coastline and mountains from his cockpit.
And the Eastern Command of the Chinese army shared a photo it said was taken of a warship patrolling seas near Taiwan with the island’s shoreline visible in the background.
The drills have also seen Beijing fire ballistic missiles over Taiwan’s capital, according to Chinese state media.
Taipei has remained defiant throughout China’s sabre-rattling, insisting it will not be cowed by its “evil neighbor.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry urged Beijing on Saturday to “immediately stop raising tensions and taking provocative actions to intimidate the Taiwanese people.”
But experts have warned the drills reveal an increasingly emboldened Chinese military capable of carrying out a gruelling blockade of the self-ruled island as well as obstructing US forces from coming to its aid.
“In some areas, the PLA might even surpass US capabilities,” Grant Newsham, a researcher at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies and former US Navy officer, told AFP, referring to China’s military by its official name.
“If the battle is confined to the area right around Taiwan, today’s Chinese navy is a dangerous opponent — and if the Americans and Japanese do not intervene for some reason, things would be difficult for Taiwan.”
The scale and intensity of China’s drills — as well as Beijing’s withdrawal from key talks on climate and defense — have triggered outrage in the United States and other democracies.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meeting with his Philippine counterpart on Saturday, said Washington was “determined to act responsibly” to avoid a major global crisis.
China should not hold talks on issues of global concern such as climate change “hostage,” Blinken said, as it “doesn’t punish the United States, it punishes the world.”
The United Nations has also urged the two superpowers to continue to work together.
“For the secretary-general, there is no way to solve the most pressing problems of all the world without an effective dialogue and cooperation between the two countries,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.


Mauritania ex-leader Aziz jailed on appeal for 15 years

Updated 55 min 9 sec ago
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Mauritania ex-leader Aziz jailed on appeal for 15 years

  • Aziz had appealed his original five-year sentence after his conviction two years ago of using his power to amass a fortune
  • Aziz, 68, remained impassive when the decision was announced

NOUAKCHOTT: An appeals court sentenced Mauritania’s former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to 15 years in prison on Wednesday for abuse of office and illicit enrichment.

Aziz, who came to power in a 2008 coup, had appealed his original five-year sentence after his conviction two years ago of using his power to amass a fortune.

The former leader, who has been in custody since his original trial began in January 2023, appeared alongside several former top officials and advisers also facing charges of abuse of office, illicit enrichment, influence peddling and money laundering.

The court in the capital Nouakchott also upheld the confiscation of Aziz’s assets and the stripping of his civic rights.

Aziz, 68, remained impassive when the decision was announced, an AFP journalist saw.

Investigators estimate that Aziz, who led the northwest African country of 4.5 million people for more than a decade, accumulated assets and capital worth $70 million during his presidency.

He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail in December 2023.

Aziz was excluded from the 2019 presidential election, won by his former right-hand man, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, who had been at his side for the coup and acted successively as his chief of staff then defense minister.

Aziz led the country linking the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa until 2019, returning to general stability a nation once prone to coups and jihadist activities.

He groomed Ghazouani as his successor and handed over to him after elections in 2019 in what was the first peaceful transition of power in a country that proclaimed independence from France in 1960 but then saw decades of political unrest.

At the time of his indictment investigators estimated that Aziz, the son of a merchant, had amassed wealth and capital of 67 million euros ($75 million) over his time in power.

Although not denying his wealth, Aziz has always strenuously contested the accusations against him, seeing a conspiracy to oust him from political life.

His successor has always denied any interference in the case. After remaining discreet about where he had obtained his wealth, Aziz surprised everyone toward the end of his trial by implicating his successor.

He claimed that, the day after the 2019 election, Ghazouani had handed him two suitcases filled with several million euros.


Neo-Nazis plotted terrorist attacks on UK mosques and synagogues

Updated 14 May 2025
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Neo-Nazis plotted terrorist attacks on UK mosques and synagogues

  • Court in Britain convicts three far-right extremists who stockpiled more than 200 weapons

LONDON: Three far-right extremists were convicted in a UK court on Wednesday of planning terrorist attacks against mosques and synagogues.

The men were part of an online neo-Nazi group that had stockpiled more than 200 weapons and were close to finishing a 3-D printed semi-automatic gun.

Brogan Stewart, 25, Marco Pitzettu, 25, and Christopher Ringrose, 34, were found guilty of multiple terrorism and firearms offenses, following a nine-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court. They will be sentenced in July.

The group were arrested in February last year after an investigation by counter terrorism police found that the men were intent on carrying out a violent attack.

“These extremists were plotting violent acts of terrorism against synagogues, mosques and Islamic education centers,” said Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division. “By their own admission, they were inspired by SS (Nazi) tactics and supremacist ideology.”

Counter terrorism police said that the men belonged to an online group that provided an echo chamber of extreme right-wing views. They shared horrific racial slurs, glorified mass murderers and encouraged violence.

The group, which idolized the Nazi Germany regime, prepared for what they claimed would be a “race war” by sourcing body armor and weapons including machetes, hunting knives, swords and crossbows.

“They were a group that espoused vile racist views and advocated for violence, all to support their extreme right-wing mindset,” said Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East. “All three took real-world steps to plan and prepare for carrying out an attack on innocent citizens.”


Saudi crown prince hopes India-Pakistan ceasefire restores ‘calm’ between neighbors

Updated 14 May 2025
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Saudi crown prince hopes India-Pakistan ceasefire restores ‘calm’ between neighbors

  • India and Pakistan exchanged missiles, drone attacks and artillery fire last week before agreeing to ceasefire
  • Saudi Arabia was one of several countries that defused tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday hoped the recent ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan would contain escalation and “restore calm” between the two neighbors, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Pakistan has credited Saudi Arabia and several other nations for playing a constructive role in defusing its tensions with India last week after fighting erupted between the two. US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that Washington had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, calming fears of an all-out war between the nuclear-armed states.

The Saudi crown prince welcomed the ceasefire during his opening address at the GCC-USA summit in Riyadh on Wednesday, which was held in Trump’s presence.

“We welcome the ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India and hope that it will contain escalation and restore calm between the two countries,” the crown prince said as per the SPA.

The Saudi crown prince said the Kingdom aimed to work with Trump and GCC countries to de-escalate tensions in the region, end the war in Gaza and seek a “lasting and comprehensive solution” to the Palestinian cause.

“Our objective is to ensure security and peace for the peoples of the region,” he said. “We reiterate our support for all endeavors aimed at resolving crises and halting conflicts through peaceful means.”

The fragile ceasefire has temporarily halted hostilities with India and Pakistan trading blame for the conflict.


Judge says Georgetown student can be released from immigration detention as case proceeds

Updated 14 May 2025
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Judge says Georgetown student can be released from immigration detention as case proceeds

  • Khan Suri was arrested by masked, plain-clothed officers on the evening of March 17

VIRGINIA, USA: A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that a Georgetown scholar from India be released from immigration detention after he was detained in the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign college students.

Khan Suri was arrested by masked, plain-clothed officers on the evening of March 17 outside his apartment complex in Arlington, Virginia. Officials said his visa was revoked because of his social media posts and his wife’s connection to Gaza as a Palestinian American.

They accused him of supporting Hamas, which the US has designated as a terrorist organization.

By the time Khan Suri’s petition was filed, authorities had already put him on a plane to Louisiana without allowing him to update his family or lawyer, Khan Suri’s attorneys said.

A few days later, he was moved again to Texas.


German Chancellor Merz says Israel should bring hostages back alive

Updated 14 May 2025
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German Chancellor Merz says Israel should bring hostages back alive

  • Merz said that in principle it should be possible for an Israeli prime minister to visit Germany

BERLIN: Germany wants to see the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including Germans, brought back alive and Israel should consider this in its military actions in the strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday.

Asked whether Germany would implement an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Merz said that in principle it should be possible for an Israeli prime minister to visit Germany.

How this could happen would be clarified when necessary, he said at the joint press conference with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Berlin, adding that no bilateral visits by him or Netanyahu were currently planned.

Merz said future financial support for UNRWA, the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees, was conditional on the organization being reformed.