BEIJING: China’s top diplomat Wang Yi pledged to support Iran in safeguarding its security against “external forces” in a meeting with the country’s new president in New York, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.
Wang met President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly, Beijing said, as Israel launched more strikes against Tehran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The top diplomat promised China would “always be a trustworthy partner.”
“China will continue to support Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, security, territorial integrity, and national dignity,” Wang said on Tuesday, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Beijing also opposed “external forces interfering in Iran’s internal affairs and imposing sanctions or pressure,” he added.
Conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant movement backed by Iran, has intensified in recent weeks.
Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed at least 558 people on Monday — the deadliest day of violence in the country since its 1975-90 civil war.
Iran, regarded by Israel as its archenemy, is an influential player in the Middle East, supporting armed groups in the region including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
China is a close partner of Iran, its largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.
Both countries have often faced Western pressure in the form of sanctions, most recently because of their stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China pledges ‘support’ for Iran says FM Wang
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China pledges ‘support’ for Iran says FM Wang
- Wang met President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly
- The top diplomat promised China would “always be a trustworthy partner”
Greece and Turkiye explore holding talks on maritime zones
ATHENS: Greece and Turkiye will explore whether they can start talks aimed at demarcating their maritime zones, Greece’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Neighbours Greece and Turkiye, both NATO allies but historic foes, have been at odds for decades over a range of issues from airspace to maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean and ethnically split Cyprus.
An agreement on where their maritime zones begin and end is important for determining rights over possible gas reserves and power infrastructure schemes.
Tensions have eased in recent years and both countries agreed last year to reboot their relations, pledging to keep open channels of communication and work on the issues that have kept them apart.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday and discussed bilateral ties, according to statements from the Turkish presidency and the Greek foreign ministry.
“The two leaders tasked the foreign ministers to explore whether conditions are favorable to initiate discussions on the demarcation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said.
Foreign ministers from the two countries will start preparations for a high-level meeting to take place in Ankara in January, the Greek prime minister’s office said.
UK sends troops to Cyprus, anticipating mass Lebanon evacuation
- Starmer said he was very concerned that the region was spiralling out of control
LONDON: Britain is moving troops to Cyprus to help its nationals leave Lebanon, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that the escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah was pushing the region toward the brink.
The government said in a statement late on Tuesday that 700 troops would travel to Cyprus, bolstering its presence in the area where it already has two Royal Navy ships, aircraft and transport helicopters.
“Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now,” said Defense Secretary John Healey.
“Our government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate.”
Fierce fighting this week between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah has increased fears that nearly a year of conflict will explode and destabilize the Middle East, where a war between Hamas and Israel is already raging in Gaza.
Starmer said he was very concerned that the region was spiralling out of control.
“All parties need to pull back from the brink,” he said in an interview with LBC radio. “I’m obviously going to New York to the UN General Assembly to talk to colleagues and allies, but my message will be very much ceasefire. Pull back from the brink. De-escalate the situation.”
Israel’s offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad has said.
Thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
Israel has said it is shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
Philippines says its aircraft was shadowed by Chinese navy helicopter during patrol
- Philippines accuses China of meddling over missiles rebuke
- China, Philippines spar repeatedly over Scarborough Shoal
- Philippine military chief wants US missiles permanently
MANILA: The Philippines said on Wednesday its fisheries bureau aircraft was shadowed and approached by a Chinese navy helicopter while on patrol near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, in another face-off between two countries locked in a bitter row over territory.
The Philippine National Security Council (NSC) said the incident took place on Monday and its aircraft was still able to complete its mission. China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was the latest in the series of air and sea encounters between the two countries that have sparred over contested areas of the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, one of Asia’s most contested features, which has been occupied by China’s coast guard for more than a decade.
China’s actions violated air safety regulations, the NSC said in a statement.
Based on its interpretation of old maps, China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, coveted for its bountiful fish stocks and a stunning turquoise lagoon.
The shoal, named after a British vessel that got stuck there centuries ago, is located 200 km (124 miles) off the Philippines, inside its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration found China’s sweeping claims were not supported by international law, a decision Beijing refuses to recognize.
The tribunal did not determine sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, which it said was a traditional fishing ground for several countries.
CHINESE ‘INTERFERENCE’
Separately, the Philippine defense minister told China on Wednesday to withdraw vessels from its EEZ and accused Beijing of trying to meddle in its defense activities, including its use of a US mid-range missile launcher for training.
Reuters reported last week the United States has no immediate plans to pull out the missile system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets.
“China is saying that they are alarmed, but that is interference into our internal affairs,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters.
“Why don’t they lead by example? Destroy their nuclear arsenal. Remove all their ballistic missile capabilities. Get out of the West Philippine Sea, and get out of Mischief reef,” he added, referring to the Philippine EEZ and a manmade, militarised island built there by China.
China has expressed concern over the deployment of the Typhon system in the Philippines, accusing Washington of fueling an arms race.
Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner on Wednesday said if he had his way, “I would like to have the Typhons here in the Philippines forever.”
US missile system will remain in the Philippines despite China’s alarm
- The launcher can fire cruise missiles up to 1,800 kilometers, which places China within its target range, one of the two officials said
MANILA: American and Filipino security officials have agreed to keep a US mid-range missile system in the northern Philippines indefinitely to boost deterrance despite China’s expressions of alarm, two Philippine officials said Wednesday.
The US Army transported the Typhon missile system, a land-based weapon that can fire the Standard Missile-6 and the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, to the northern Philippines as part of combat exercises in April with Philippine troops and to test its deployability aboard an Air Force aircraft.
The launcher can fire cruise missiles up to 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles), which places China within its target range, one of the two officials said. Officials are considering keeping the missile system in the northern Philippines up to April next year, when US and Philippine forces are scheduled to hold their annual Balikatan — Tagalog for “shoulder-to-shoulder” — large-scale combat exercises, he said.
The two officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive US missile deployment publicly. There was no immediate immediate comment from US officials.
Chinese diplomats have repeatedly conveyed their alarm to the Philippine government, warning that the deployment of the missile system could destabilize the region.
A Philippine army spokesperson said was earlier the system was scheduled to be removed from the country by the end of this month. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. refused to confirm or deny the extension.
But Teodoro rejected China’s demands as interference in the Philippines internal affairs, speaking to reporters Tuesday on the sidelines of an Asian defense industry exhibition in Manila.
“China is saying that they are alarmed but that is interference into our internal affairs. They are using reverse psychology in order to deter us from building up our defensive capabilities,” Teodoro said.
“Before they start talking, why don’t they lead by example? Destroy their nuclear arsenal, remove all their ballistic missile capabilities, get out of the West Philippines Sea and get out of Mischief Reef,” Teodoro said. “I mean, don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.”
Teodoro used the Philippine name for the disputed South China Sea and for a contested reef off the western Philippines that Chinese forces seized in 1995 and is now one of seven missile-protected island bases China maintains in the disputed waters.
Last month, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi expressed China’s “very dramatic” concern over the US mid-range missile deployment to the Philippines during their recent talks in Laos on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings with Asian and Western countries.
Manalo said Wang warned the presence of the US missile system could be “destabilizing,” but he said that he disagreed. “They’re not destabilizing” and the missile system was only in the Philippines temporarily, Manalo said he told Wang.
Although the missile system was transported to the Philippines for joint combat exercises in April, it was not fired during the joint drills by the longtime treaty allies, according to Philippine and US military officials.
China has strongly opposed increased US military deployments to the region, including to the Philippines, saying they could endanger regional stability and peace.
The US and the Philippines have repeatedly condemned China’s increasingly assertive actions to fortify its territorial claims in the South China Sea, where hostilities have flared since last year with repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine coast guard forces and accompanying vessels.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the busy waterway, a key global and security route which is also believed to be sitting atop vast undersea deposits of gas and oil.
Security high as Indian Kashmir votes in round two of regional polls
- Turnout is expected to be high unlike in past elections when separatists opposed boycotted polls
- Polling in the first stage of the three-phased election was held on September 18 with 61% turnout
SRINAGAR, India: Indian-administered Kashmir voted on Wednesday to elect its first government since New Delhi scrapped the Himalayan territory’s semi-autonomous status, sparking widespread protest in a region wracked by a decades-long insurgency.
The change in 2019 by Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought the Muslim-majority territory under New Delhi’s direct control and was accompanied by mass arrests and a long communications blackout.
Since then the territory has been without an elected government, ruled instead by a federally appointed governor.
Security was high on Wednesday as the region’s 8.7 million registered voters prepared for the second round of their first local election for a decade.
Paramilitary troops guarded polling stations and patrolled largely deserted streets in the main city of Srinagar, with few early voters seen, an AFP reporter said.
“Since the last election ten years ago we were left at the mercy of God,” said Tariq Ahmed, 40.
“No one asked us about our problems. I am happy this election is happening. I hope we get our own representative with whom poor people like myself can raise everyday issues.”
Polling stations opened at 7 am (0130 GMT), the government said.
Turnout is expected to be high unlike in past elections when separatists opposed to Indian rule boycotted polls, demanding the independence of Kashmir or its merger with neighboring Pakistan.
Islamabad controls a smaller portion of the mountainous territory, divided since the end of British colonial rule in 1947, and like India claims it in full.
Polling in the first stage of the three-phased election — staggered due to security challenges — was held on September 18 when 61 percent of voters cast their ballots.
About 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in the region where a 35-year insurgency has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels, including dozens this year.
Diplomats from 16 foreign missions including the United States and Russia were set to arrive in Srinagar to observe the vote, according to the Indian Express newspaper.
A high unemployment rate and anger at the 2019 changes have animated campaigning and regional parties have promised to fight for restoration of autonomy.
Key decisions will remain in New Delhi’s hands, however, including security and appointing Kashmir’s governor.
Delhi will also have the power to override legislation passed by the 90-seat assembly.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says the changes to the territory’s governance have delivered a new era of peace to Kashmir and rapid economic growth, claims the regional parties vehemently dismiss.
The territory, officially titled Jammu and Kashmir, is split.
Modi campaigned for support in the Kashmir valley, promising a return of statehood without giving a timeline, while his powerful interior and defense ministers wooed voters in the Hindu-majority Jammu areas.
Critics have accused Modi’s BJP of encouraging a surge of independent candidates — nearly half of the 862 contestants — in Muslim-majority areas to split the vote.
While the BJP has fielded candidates in all the constituencies of Hindu-majority Jammu, it is fighting only from about a third of the seats in the Kashmir valley.
The last round of voting will be held on October 1 with results expected a week later.
