SHANGHAI: British foreign minister David Lammy on Saturday called for a resumption of dialogue between London and Beijing, urging the two sides to engage in “more diplomacy” as he concluded a rare diplomatic visit to China.
China and Britain are seeking to reset ties frayed in recent years by Beijing’s security crackdown in Hong Kong and human rights concerns including in its troubled Xinjiang region.
The new Labour government in London is under pressure to raise human rights abuses with China but also maintain ties with a major trading partner.
Lammy met with Chinese officials including his counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Friday, before traveling to financial hub Shanghai.
“UK policy in the past under the last government was not consistent and what I’m hearing is that we need consistency in our approach,” he told reporters on Saturday.
Lammy said he pressed his Chinese hosts on issues including Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Taiwan, where Britain is “worried about some of the tensions that we see in the Taiwan Strait, because that is not in the interests of the global community.”
“There are values, areas where the UK government and our cultural approach will be different to China’s and there are important areas of national security where we will always put the UK’s national interests first,” Lammy said.
But he said there were also “areas where we can cooperate and collaborate with the Chinese.”
“I believe what you need is more diplomacy, not less. That’s why it’s so important to be here as a UK foreign secretary and to keep coming back,” Lammy said, adding that he would aim to meet Wang again next year.
Britain’s Lammy calls for ‘more diplomacy’ with China
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Britain’s Lammy calls for ‘more diplomacy’ with China
North Korea says it recovered crashed South Korean military drone, KCNA says
- South Korea declines to say if such drones were flown, and whether they were flown by its military or civilians
- ‘It is quite likely that the drone is the one which scattered leaflets over the center of Pyongyang Municipality’
“In light of the drone’s shape, the presumptive period of flight, the leaflet-scattering box fixed to the underpart of the drone’s fuselage, etc, it is quite likely that the drone is the one which scattered leaflets over the center of Pyongyang Municipality. But the conclusion has not yet been drawn,” said state news agency KCNA.
South Korea’s government has declined to say if such drones were flown, and if they were, whether they were flown by its military or civilians. It said to comment on the North’s claim would be to get drawn into a ploy.
“If a violation of the DPRK’s territorial ground, air and waters by ROK’s military means is discovered and confirmed again, it will be regarded as a grave military provocation against the sovereignty of the DPRK and a declaration of war and an immediate retaliatory attack will be launched,” KCNA said.
DPRK is short for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name, and ROK stands for Republic of Korea, the South’s formal name.
“North Korea’s one-sided claims are not worth verifying, nor do they merit a response,” South Korea’s defense ministry said in a statement.
South Korean lawmaker Yu Yong-weon said the drones in North Korea’s photos are “very similar” to surveillance drones made by South Korean company Sungwoo Engineering and supplied to the South Korean military in 2023.
Sungwoo says on its website it has supplied 100 of its S-Bat drones — which have a maximum flying time of four hours and a top speed of 140kph (88 mph) — to the South Korean military.
Yu said South Korea’s drone command ordered the aerial vehicles last year after a North Korean drone entered a no-fly zone surrounding South Korea’s presidential office.
Tensions between the Koreas have escalated since the North began flying balloons carrying trash across the border to the South in late May, with Seoul responding by restarting loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts, which anger Pyongyang.
North Korea has intensified its hostile rhetoric in recent days, accusing the South’s military of flying drones over its capital on three days this month and threatening “a horrible disaster” if it detects another drone over its skies.
China’s Xi urges missile troops to boost deterrence, combat capabilities
- Last month China conducted a rare launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean
- China’s military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge since last year
BEIJING: Chinese state media reported on Saturday that President Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected a brigade of the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, urging the troops to boost their “deterrence and combat capabilities.”
During the inspection Xi also urged the strategic missile troops to “resolutely fulfil the tasks entrusted by the Party and the people,” state news agency Xinhua said.
The PLA Rocket Force, which oversees the country’s conventional and nuclear missiles, has been tasked with modernizing China’s nuclear forces in the face of developments such as improved US missile defenses, better surveillance capabilities and strengthened alliances.
During the inspection, Xi stressed the need to “adhere to political guidance, strengthen mission responsibility,” and “promote high-quality development of the force construction,” according to Chinese media outlet Cailianshe.
Last month China conducted a rare launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, underscoring growing international focus on the country’s nuclear build-up.
China’s military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge since last year, with several generals, including from the Rocket Force, and aerospace defense industry executives removed from the national legislative body.
In June, Xi said there were “deep-seated problems” in the Chinese military’s politics, ideology, work style and discipline, adding “there must be no hiding place for corrupt elements in the army.”
G7 defense summit convenes during ‘historic moment’
- Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto welcomed each of the attendees, who also included NATO chief Mark Rutte
Naples: G7 defense ministers started talks on Saturday against a backdrop of escalation in the Middle East and mounting pressure on Ukraine as it faces another winter of fighting.
Italy, holding the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven countries, organized the body’s first ministerial meeting dedicated to defense, staged in Naples, the southern city that is also home to a NATO base.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto welcomed each of the attendees, who also included NATO chief Mark Rutte.
“I believe that our presence today... sends a strong message to those who try to hinder our democratic systems,” Crosetto told ministers as he opened the event.
Crosetto said on Friday in Brussels he had requested the summit, given the many conflicts facing the international community.
“Ample space” would be given to discussing the escalating Middle East conflict during the one-day summit, Crosetto said.
Also on the agenda is the war in Ukraine, development and security in Africa and situation in the Asia-Pacific.
The meeting comes two days after Israel announced it had killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the devastating retaliatory war in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sinwar’s death in the Palestinian territory signalled “the beginning of the end” of the war against Hamas, while US President Joe Biden saying it opened the door to “a path to peace.”
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was in Lebanon on Friday, where Israel is also at war with Hamas ally Hezbollah.
Speaking in Beirut, Meloni slammed attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon as “unacceptable” after the UN force accused Israel of targeting their positions.
Italy has around 1,000 troops in the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which has soldiers from more than 50 countries.
On Ukraine, the ministers will contemplate Kyiv entering a third winter at war, battlefield losses in the east — and the prospect of reduced US military support should Donald Trump be elected to the White House next month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, under mounting pressure from Western allies to forge a winning strategy against Russia, on Thursday presented what he called a “victory plan” to the European Union and NATO.
Its main thrust is a call for immediate NATO membership, deemed unfeasible by alliance members.
It also demands the ability to strike military targets inside Russia with long-range weapons, and an undefined “non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” on Ukrainian territory.
Under discussion will also likely be reports, based on South Korean intelligence, that North Korea is deploying large numbers of troops to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
NATO was not as yet able to confirm that intelligence, Rutte said on Friday.
Saturday’s summit was to conclude with a press conference at 4:00 pm.
Scholz in Turkiye to discuss Mideast crisis, migrants
ISTANBUL: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday to discuss the escalating Middle East crisis and migration.
Scholz arrived in Istanbul on Friday night after a meeting with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of France and Britain in Berlin.
The West is hoping that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israel will lead to a ceasefire in Gaza after a year of conflict.
A fierce critic of Israel’s Gaza campaign, Erdogan has often criticized Western capitals for supporting Israel which he brands a “terror state.”
Berlin is a strong supporter of Israel and has defended its right to self-defense.
Scholz on Friday said he hoped Sinwar’s death would pave the way for a ceasefire. Sinwar was considered the architect of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel which sparked the Gaza conflict.
Erdogan has forged close ties with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
His foreign minister Hakan Fidan on Friday held talks with Hamas officials in Istanbul and offered “condolences” over Sinwar’s death.
They also discussed “the state of recent negotiations for a ceasefire deal allowing the exchange of hostages and prisoners,” Fidan’s ministry said.
Turkiye’s relations with Germany — home to Europe’s largest Turkish diaspora of some three million people — are sensitive. Berlin has voiced concerns over the state of human rights and democracy under Erdogan especially after a failed 2016 coup.
Migration is expected to figure high on the agenda of the talks between Scholz and Erdogan.
Scholz’s government has been under heightened pressure over the issue after a series of violent crimes and extremist attacks committed by asylum seekers.
Turkiye will also expect progress on its plans to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoons which are built by a four-nation consortium including Germany.
Scholz last visited Turkiye in March 2022 a few months after taking office.
French foreign minister in Kyiv on solidarity tour
KYIV: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Kyiv Saturday on a two-day visit aimed at expressing his country’s unflinching support for Ukraine.
Barrot arrived in the capital when it was on alert for Russian drone strikes. He will spend the weekend in Kyiv and meet with counterpart Andriy Sybiga.
On Friday evening, Barrot said on France Inter public radio that his visit was aimed at “reminding that France will not back away from any crisis, to say that what is at stake in Ukraine is the security of our continent, including food and energy.”
He had earlier said he would also discuss the issue of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia.
US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain on Friday voiced their “resolve to continue supporting Ukraine in its efforts to secure a just and lasting peace.”
Barrot’s visit comes days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented Western allies with a “victory plan.”
The Ukrainian leader has traveled to Washington, Paris, Berlin, Rome and London to promote his initiative, but has yet to gain backing on the specifics of the plan.
The plan’s central plea for an immediate invitation to join NATO is widely viewed as unrealistic.
Zelensky’s blueprint also rejects any territorial concessions, calls for allies to lift restrictions on using donated long-range weapons against Russian military sites, and suggests deploying a “non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” on Ukrainian territory.
