Chinese, Philippine vessels in ‘David and Goliath’ near-crash

A member of the Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Malabrigo mans his post while being shadowed by a Chinese coast guard ship at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea. (AFP)
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Updated 27 April 2023
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Chinese, Philippine vessels in ‘David and Goliath’ near-crash

  • The near-miss off the Spratly Islands on Sunday was the latest in a steady string of incidents between China and the Philippines in the contested waterway

ABOARD THE BRP MALABRIGO: A Chinese coast guard ship cut off a Philippine patrol vessel carrying journalists in the disputed South China Sea, causing a near-collision, an AFP team on board another boat saw.
The near-miss off the Spratly Islands on Sunday was the latest in a steady string of incidents between China and the Philippines in the contested waterway.
AFP was one of several media outlets invited to join two Philippine Coast Guard boats on a 1,670-kilometer (1,040-mile) patrol of the South China Sea, visiting a dozen islands and reefs.
The BRP Malapascua and BRP Malabrigo were shadowed by Chinese navy and coast guard ships, and ordered to leave the waters several times during the six-day journey.
“We would have collided on the bow had I not cut the engine and thrown it in reverse,” Malapascua commanding officer Rodel Hernandez told reporters of Sunday’s close call, describing it as an encounter between “David and Goliath.”
The incident happened after the Philippine coast guard boats approached Second Thomas Shoal, where Philippine marines are stationed in a run-down navy ship grounded to assert Manila’s territorial claim in the waters.
As the 44-meter Malapascua neared the shoal, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel more than twice its size sailed into its path.
Hernandez said the Chinese ship came within 45 meters of his boat and only his quick actions avoided the steel-hulled vessels crashing into each other.
AFP watched the incident from the Malabrigo, which was less than a kilometer away.
A second Chinese coast guard vessel was seen nearby.
Hernandez said Chinese boats routinely blocked his and other Philippine coast guard ships during their patrols near the shoal.
However, Sunday was the “closest” he had seen vessels from the rival fleets come to a collision.
The Malapascua and Malabrigo had broadcast their intention to sail into the shoal to conduct a “site survey” and asked the Chinese vessels to “stay clear from our passage.”
But the Chinese coast guard responded over the radio that the Philippine boats were illegally sailing in China’s territorial waters, and told them to leave.
Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometers from the major Philippine island of Palawan and more than a thousand kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass of Hainan island.
Over the past decade, China has ripped up thousands of hectares of reef in the Spratlys to create militarised islands with runways, ports and radar systems.
“If we ceased our watch they would soon take over Ayungin as well, so we need to be there always and challenge their harassment,” Hernandez said, using the Philippine name for the shoal.
The incident came just a day after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for talks in Manila aimed at defusing tensions in the contested waterway.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands, ignoring an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis.
To back Beijing’s claim, hundreds of Chinese coast guard and other vessels patrol the waters, swarming reefs and harassing and attacking fishing and other boats.
On Saturday, the Philippine coast guard identified more than a hundred Chinese vessels parked at Whitsun Reef, which the Philippines claims as part of its exclusive economic zone.
The Philippine coast guard ordered the vessels to leave, but they were ignored.

Since taking office last June, Marcos has insisted he will not let China trample on the Philippines’ rights in the sea — in contrast to his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte who was reluctant to criticize Beijing.
Marcos has meanwhile gravitated toward the Philippines’ traditional ally, the United States, as he seeks to strengthen their defense ties.
This shift has alarmed China, which has accused Washington of trying to drive a wedge between Beijing and Manila.
Manila this month announced the locations of four more military bases it is allowing the United States to use on top of the five agreed on under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, or EDCA.
The four additional bases include sites near the South China Sea and another not far from self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.
China has warned the expanded EDCA could endanger regional peace, and accused Washington of having a “zero-sum mentality.”
The largest-ever war games between the Philippines and the United States, which end Friday, have also drawn Beijing’s ire.
On Wednesday, Marcos watched US and Philippine troops fire rockets at a decommissioned warship representing an enemy vessel in the South China Sea, the first time the allies had held such an exercise.
The annual Balikatan maneuvers followed a three-day Chinese military exercise that simulated targeted strikes and a blockade around Taiwan.
Marcos said Monday he would discuss with US President Joe Biden at the White House next week the “need to tone down the rhetoric” over the South China Sea, Taiwan and North Korea.
“The discussion is heating up, some harsh words are being exchanged and we are worried,” Marcos told a Philippine broadcaster.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard has been trying to draw international attention to China’s activities in the South China Sea.
But with only three patrol vessels to monitor the vast waters, it is a challenge, said Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea.
Out on the high seas, Malabrigo’s captain Commander Julio Colarina was defiant.
“The Philippines might be a small nation, but our country has a coast guard with a big heart that is willing to serve the Filipino people and an overwhelming loyalty and bravery to protect the republic,” Colarina said.


US charges Indian agent over alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist

Updated 11 sec ago
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US charges Indian agent over alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist

  • Vikash Yadav, 39, who remains at large, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering
  • Yadav is the second Indian man to be charged in the United States in the alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

WASHINGTON: An Indian intelligence official has been indicted for his role in a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader in the United States, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Vikash Yadav, 39, who remains at large, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering, the department said.
Yadav is the second Indian national to be charged in the United States in the alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US and Canadian citizen who lives in New York.
Nikhil Gupta, 53, pleaded not guilty in June to involvement in the assassination plot after being extradited to the United States from the Czech Republic.
Pannun is affiliated with a New York-based group called Sikhs for Justice that advocates for the secession of Punjab, a northern Indian state with a large Sikh population.
Pannun, in a statement on X, denounced the alleged assassination plot as a “blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism” and a “threat to freedom of speech and democracy.”
The Justice Department accused Yadav of directing the plot and said he recruited Gupta in May 2023 to hire a hitman to carry out the murder.
Gupta allegedly contacted an individual he believed to be a criminal associate to hire a hitman. The individual was in fact a confidential source working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
“Yadav, an employee of the Indian government, used his position of authority and access to confidential information to direct the attempted assassination of an outspoken critic of the Indian government here on US soil,” Anne Milgram, the DEA chief, said in a statement.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department “will be relentless in holding accountable any person — regardless of their position or proximity to power — who seeks to harm and silence American citizens.”
According to the Justice Department, Yadav was employed by the Indian government’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses the country’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The United States said Wednesday it had been informed by India that an intelligence operative accused of directing an assassination plot on US soil was no longer in government service.
“They did inform us that the individual who was named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “We are satisfied with the cooperation.”
The action by New Delhi represented a sharp contrast to its defiant approach to similar charges from Canada, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday accused India of violating his country’s sovereignty.
Canada has separately alleged that India arranged a plot on its soil that ended in the killing last year of a Sikh separatist, who was a naturalized Canadian citizen, outside a Vancouver temple.
Unlike the United States, Canada has highlighted its concerns publicly and at the highest level, with Trudeau criticizing India’s actions.
Canada and India on Monday expelled each other’s ambassadors as Ottawa said that the Indian campaign went further than previously reported.
India has rejected Canada’s charges and alleged a domestic political motive by Trudeau.
Canada has the largest Sikh community outside of India, concentrated in suburban areas that are critical in national elections.


Nigerians sacrifice cars as cost of living crisis worsens

Updated 5 min 41 sec ago
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Nigerians sacrifice cars as cost of living crisis worsens

  • The price of petrol has risen more than fivefold since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023
  • In the short term, Nigeria has seen one of its worst crises in decades with inflation at a three-decade high

LAGOS: Nigeria’s economic crisis and soaring petrol prices forced Bolaji Emmanuel to give up his driver and his Honda Pilot utility vehicle, as he struggles with spiking living costs.
Emmanuel is not alone. Many in Africa’s most populous country are abandoning their cars as the costs strain disposable income.
The price of petrol has risen more than fivefold since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023.
“I parked it at my son’s house. I use public transport now,” Emmanuel, a 72-year-old retired health worker, said. “It is not convenient, but it is what the economy demands.”
Since coming to power, Tinubu has ended a costly fuel subsidy and freed up the naira currency, in reforms that government officials and analysts say will revive the economy and attract investors.
But in the short term, Nigeria has seen one of its worst crises in decades with inflation at a three-decade high.
A liter of petrol sold for around 195 naira just before Tinubu took office. The price rose to at least 998 naira ($0.61) per liter in Lagos and 1,030 naira in the capital, Abuja, at the beginning of October. It can go for as much as 1,300 naira elsewhere.
Inflation reached an almost three-decade high of 34.19 percent in June. It has since slowed to 32.7 percent in September.
The slump in purchasing power is piling more hardship on locals, with more than 40 percent of the population living in poverty, according to the World Bank. That figure is expected to rise in 2024 and 2025, before it stabilizes in 2026.
The Nigerian middle class, which made up about 20 percent of the population in 2020, now readily sacrifices the comfort of private cars for survival.
Car dealers in Lagos and Abuja said that they had seen more and more people trading their fuel-guzzling cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for more efficient vehicles to cut costs.
“People are actually selling their big cars these days,” Maji Abubakar, a car dealer in Abuja, said. “The problem is that even if you put them on the market, there isn’t much demand for them.”
“It has been more than a year since I sold a car with an eight-cylinder engine, and the major reason is the price of petrol,” he added.
With fewer cars on the road, even the notorious Lagos traffic, known as “go-slow,” has thinned out.
Elijah Bello, a tech entrepreneur in the southern state of Ogun, has looked for a buyer for his Lexus RX 350 SUV for months.
He has since bought a smaller, energy-saving Toyota Corolla to replace it.
The trend, which began last year, “will intensify” and “we will see fewer cars on the roads,” said Bunmi Bailey, head of research at SBM Intelligence risk consultancy.
Bailey can fill his small car for 55,000 naira. “I can use it for two weeks for my normal home-to-work movement,” he said, while his larger car consumes 110,000 naira worth of petrol in just eight days.
The market for new cars has dropped by 10 to 14 percent in the last year, said Kunle Jaiyesinmi, deputy director at the Lagos-based CFAO Group, which specializes in automobile distribution.
“An SUV that sold for 40 to 45 million naira ($24,000 to $27,000) about two years ago, for now, if you want to negotiate the price, you see that it is within the range of 95 or 100 million ($57,000 to $60,000),” Jaiyesinmi said.
But unyielding inflation and high exchange rates are steering more middle-class people away from used Japanese- and American-brand cars, toward increasingly popular Chinese-made ones.
Some are turning to bicycles, despite the lack of appropriate infrastructure in cities like Lagos, where car crashes are common.
“Sure, we notice (a rise in) cycling... for months since the fuel hike,” said Femi Thomas, head of FT Cycle Care, a Lagos-based organization that promotes cycle use.
Food delivery platform Glovo said it had recorded a growing interest in bicycle deliveries among its riders.
About 20 percent of orders are delivered by bike, Chidera Akwuba, the group’s public relations manager in Nigeria, said.


India foreign minister’s Pakistan visit a ‘good beginning’, Nawaz Sharif says

Updated 37 min 24 sec ago
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India foreign minister’s Pakistan visit a ‘good beginning’, Nawaz Sharif says

  • Indian envoy was in Pakistan for a meeting of governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
  • Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was among nearly a dozen leaders participating in the gathering in Islamabad

MUMBAI: The visit of India’s foreign minister to Pakistan earlier this week was a “good beginning” that could lead to a thaw in relations between the two rivals, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was quoted as saying by Indian media on Friday.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was in Pakistan on Tuesday and Wednesday for a meeting of governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with the capital city under tight lockdown.
“This is how talks move forward. Talks should not stop,” Sharif, the president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N), and the brother of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, told a group of visiting Indian journalists, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
Jaishankar was among nearly a dozen leaders participating in the gathering in Islamabad, nearly a decade since an Indian foreign minister has visited amid frosty relations between the two nuclear powers.
Jaishankar and his counterpart Ishaq Dar had an “informal interaction,” an official in Pakistani foreign ministry said on Thursday, but New Delhi denied that any sort of meeting had taken place.
“We had made it very clear that this particular visit is for SCO head of government meeting. Other than that, there were some pleasantries exchanged on the sidelines of the meeting,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday.
“We have lost the last 75 years and it is important we don’t lose the next 75 years,” Sharif was quoted as saying in the Times of India newspaper.


North Korea’s Kim Jong Un calls South Korea a foreign, hostile country

Updated 44 min 56 sec ago
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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un calls South Korea a foreign, hostile country

  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has increasingly lashed out at South Korea this year
  • The reclusive state blasted road and rail links with South Korea this week

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has described South Korea as a foreign and hostile nation, state media KCNA reported on Friday with photos showing Kim and high-ranking military personnel at a command post poring over a map labelled “Seoul.”
The report comes a day after KCNA said North Korea amended its constitution to designate South Korea a “hostile state” and dropped unification of the two countries as a goal.
Kim has increasingly lashed out at South Korea this year, accusing Seoul of colluding with Washington to seek the collapse of his regime.
The reclusive state blasted road and rail links with South Korea this week. Those actions underscored “not only the physical closure but also the end of the evil relationship with Seoul,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
Seoul has said that if North Korea were to inflict harm upon the safety of its people, “that day will be the end of the North Korean regime.”
Kim made the remarks while inspecting the headquarters of the 2nd Corps of North Korean army on Thursday, KCNA said. During the visit, he also said the changed nature of the South Korea-US alliance, and their different, more developed military maneuvers highlight the importance of a stronger North Korean nuclear deterrent.
“Kim is trying to mentally fortify the frontline soldiers with his comments” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
“This ‘two hostile countries’ rhetoric is, in the end, Kim Jong Un’s survival strategy … Don’t interfere, live separately as a hostile country. It’s a path (North Korea) has never gone before, and no one can be sure about its success.”
On Sunday, South Korea will begin annual large-scale military exercises called Hoguk to improve operational performance, the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Friday.


Indonesia ramps up security ahead of Prabowo’s inauguration

Updated 54 min 2 sec ago
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Indonesia ramps up security ahead of Prabowo’s inauguration

  • Roughly 100,000 personnel in Jakarta will include snipers and anti-riot units and will stay in place until Wednesday
  • Security personnel have been placed in key areas such as the parliamentary building where the inauguration takes place
JAKARTA: Indonesian police and military started deploying at least 100,000 personnel across the capital Jakarta on Friday, officials said, as the country prepares for the inauguration of President-elect Prabowo Subianto this weekend.
Former General Prabowo will be sworn in as Indonesia’s president on Sunday with Vice President-elect, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of outgoing president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, also taking office.
The roughly 100,000 personnel in Jakarta will include snipers and anti-riot units and will stay in place until Wednesday, said military chief Agus Subianto.
During previous important events in Jakarta, security personnel have been placed in key areas such as the parliamentary building where the inauguration takes place, the presidential palace and Jakarta’s main roads.
On Friday, at least two thousand military personnel were taking part in security drills at Jakarta’s National Monument complex, with dozens of military light tactical vehicles on the ground.
“We need to be alert about possible threats before, during and after the inauguration,” said Agus.
The security forces are expected to escort 36 state leaders who will attend the inauguration, Agus said, without giving further details.
The Indonesian Air Force will also deploy four F-16 jets to guard aircraft carrying foreign dignitaries attending the inauguration, state news agency Antara reported.
Hundreds of people are expected to gather in Jakarta’s streets to welcome Prabowo as the new president and give a farewell to Jokowi, said police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo.