China says lodges protest with Myanmar over consulate attack

“China expresses its deep shock at the attack and sternly condemns it,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said of the incident that occurred Friday. (AP)
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Updated 21 October 2024
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China says lodges protest with Myanmar over consulate attack

  • “China expresses its deep shock at the attack and sternly condemns it,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said of the incident that occurred Friday

BEIJING: China said Monday it had lodged a protest with Myanmar authorities after Beijing’s consulate in the city of Mandalay was attacked with an explosive device.
“China expresses its deep shock at the attack and sternly condemns it,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said of the incident that occurred Friday.
“China has made stern representations to the Myanmar side,” Lin said.
China is a major ally and arms supplier to Myanmar’s junta, but it also maintains ties with ethnic groups fighting the military in Myanmar’s northern Shan state, according to analysts.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power in 2021.
The blast occurred at the consulate office in central Mandalay, south of the sprawling Royal Palace, around 7:00 p.m. Friday (1230 GMT), local media said.
A statement from the junta on Saturday night blamed “terrorists” for the incident, which it said it was investigating in cooperation with consulate officials.
China said Monday there had been no casualties and that it had “urged Myanmar to thoroughly investigate the attack” and “go all out to catch and punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law.”
Beijing called on authorities to “comprehensively step up security for Chinese consular offices, institutions, projects and personnel in Myanmar, and prevent this kind of incident from ever happening again,” Lin said.
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Iraqi PM in London to launch ‘new era’ of ties

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Iraqi PM in London to launch ‘new era’ of ties

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was to meet his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Tuesday for talks on trade, security and migration, in a visit hailed as a “new era” in ties.
The Iraqi prime minister’s trip to London, during which he will also meet King Charles III, comes more than 20 years after Britain took part in the US-led invasion of Iraq.
A “strategic partnership” to be signed during the trip would consolidate cooperation and be “one of the most important steps in relations between Iraq and the United Kingdom, representing the start of a new era,” Sudani told AFP during the flight from Baghdad.
The three-day visit comes amid a complicated situation in the Middle East fueled by the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, as well as a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and the Lebanese pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah.
Donald Trump will also move back into the White House next week, with observers expecting he will resume his hard-line stance toward Iran.
Oil-rich Iraq, which is an ally of Iran as well as a strategic partner for Washington, has for decades practiced a delicate balancing act, while also seeking to deepen its ties to wealthy Gulf countries.
Sudani was due to first meet Tuesday with the UK’s head of state King Charles, before meeting Starmer at Downing Street.
The visit will see the start of talks on a returns agreement for Iraqi irregular migrants to the UK, Starmer’s office said.
The leaders will also unveil a £12.3 billion ($15 billion) export package to boost opportunities for British businesses, it added.
Starmer said the trip “marks a new era in UK-Iraq cooperation, which will deliver mutual benefits from trade to defense, as we continue to work together toward stability in the wider region.”
Immigration, both irregular and regular, was a major issue in the UK’s July general election, which brought the premier’s Labour party to power.
“Secure borders are a vital foundation of our plan for change, so I am also very pleased to get started on talks for a bespoke returns agreement between our countries,” Starmer said in a statement.
“The deal will help dismantle the people smugglers’ business model by sending the clear message that if you come here illegally, you cannot expect to stay.”
Sudani will also meet with business leaders including from oil giant BP.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, following a visit to Iraq and its autonomous Kurdistan region in November, said a security agreement with Iraq to target people-smuggling gangs and strengthen its border security was already having “an impact.”
Due to strengthened border security, better intelligence-sharing, and “additional funding to support Iraq’s law enforcement capabilities, we’re targeting people smuggling gangs where it hurts,” she said.
Swept to power in a landslide election victory in July, Starmer has had a bumpy first six months in power and is under pressure to kickstart growth and slash immigration.
The number of irregular migrants arriving in Britain on small boats soared to over 36,800 in 2024, according to official data.
At least 76 deaths were recorded, making it the deadliest year for migrants who are taking ever greater risks to evade Britain’s border controls.
Tuesday’s talks come as Sudani said his country was preparing for the end of the military presence in Iraq of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh.
The US maintains about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 more in Syria seeking to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State jihadist group.
President Joe Biden’s administration has agreed with Iraq to end the coalition’s role by September 2025, but stopped short of a complete withdrawal of the US forces, whose presence has been opposed by Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq.

NATO launches Baltic Sea patrols after suspected cable sabotage

Updated 14 January 2025
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NATO launches Baltic Sea patrols after suspected cable sabotage

  • Several telecom and power cables have been severed with experts and politicians accusing Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war against the West
  • The “Baltic Sentry” mission would involve “frigates and maritime patrol aircraft” among other assets, NATO chief Mark Rutte said

HELSINKI: The NATO military alliance said Tuesday it would launch a Baltic Sea monitoring mission following the suspected sabotage of undersea cables in recent months.
Several telecom and power cables have been severed with experts and politicians accusing Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war against the West as the two sides square off over Ukraine.
The “Baltic Sentry” mission would involve “frigates and maritime patrol aircraft” among other assets, NATO chief Mark Rutte said at a regional meeting in Finland’s capital Helsinki on Tuesday.
But he declined to give details on the number of vessels “because that might differ from one week to another” and he did not want to make “the enemy any wiser than he or she is already.”
NATO was also tight-lipped on the duration, saying in a statement the operation would continue “for an undisclosed amount of time.”
The suspected sabotage has been blamed on a “shadow fleet” of vessels — often aging and operating under opaque ownership — that carry Russian crude oil and petroleum products, embargoed since the invasion of Ukraine.
“Investigations of all of these cases are still ongoing, but there is reason for grave concern,” Rutte said.
He said protecting undersea infrastructure was of “utmost importance” not only for energy supplies but also for Internet traffic.
Leaders of NATO’s Baltic countries said in a statement after the Helsinki meeting that the shadow fleet “poses a particular threat to the maritime and environmental security in the Baltic Sea region and globally.”
They said the fleet “significantly supports funding of Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said foreign ministries from the Baltic Sea NATO states would set up a group of legal experts to assess what they could do without affecting freedom of navigation.
NATO said in late December it would increase its presence in the region but had not announced an operation.
Iro Sarkka, a researcher from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told AFP that NATO had been pushed into action by the Russian shadow fleet.
A comprehensive operation would serve as a “deterrent and a strategic signal” that NATO was prepared to act, according to Sarkka.
Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe in September 2022, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.
Two telecom cables in Swedish waters were severed on November 17-18 last year.
And weeks later, on December 25, the Estlink 2 electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia were damaged.
Investigators suspect the cables were damaged by the anchor of the Eagle S, a Cook Island-flagged oil tanker believed to be part of the “shadow fleet.”
Finnish police seized the Eagle S on December 28 as part of a criminal investigation.
Finnish authorities last week deemed the ship unseaworthy, barred it from sailing and have banned eight crew members from leaving the country while police carry out a probe.


Malaysia signs economic pact with UAE, eyes new opportunities in Middle East

Updated 14 January 2025
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Malaysia signs economic pact with UAE, eyes new opportunities in Middle East

  • Pact with Malaysia is the UAE’s third in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia and Cambodia
  • UAE is Malaysia’s second-largest trade partner in the Middle East, after Saudi Arabia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the UAE on Tuesday, its first with a GCC country.

The countries started negotiations over a CEPA in 2023. It will lower tariffs, reduce trade barriers, promote private-sector collaboration, and create new opportunities for investment.

The deal was signed on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, in the presence of Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“The Malaysia-UAE CEPA will open up deeper economic cooperation opportunities, including the elimination or reduction of tariffs and enhanced market access, which will drive exports and create new investment opportunities for key sectors,” Anwar said, after witnessing the signing ceremony with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

Besides the UAE, Malaysia has signed CEPAs with India and Pakistan. It also enjoys free trade agreements with Australia, Japan, Chile and Turkiye.

For the UAE, it is the third such pact in Southeast Asia, after it signed similar deals with Indonesia in 2022 and Cambodia in 2023.

The immediate effect of the Malaysia-UAE CEPA is that for both countries it “opens up inter-region trade and increases access to non-traditional Western markets,” Dr. Lim Kim Hwa, director of the public policy think tank Penang Institute, told Arab News.

“The agreement will enhance trade, boost investments, and deepen Malaysia-UAE economic ties, providing both countries with clear clarity on tariff-free trade in the era of Trump 2.0. This provides both countries with market access certainty, thereby reducing the cost of business and diversify market access,” he said.

“Malaysia views the UAE as a strategic hub for Malaysian exporters to access markets in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly as Malaysian exports, such as electrical and electronics, machinery, jewelry, prepared foodstuff, tropical fruits, palm oil, cocoa and rubber, will immediately enjoy zero import duties when the CEPA agreement comes into force.”

The UAE is Malaysia’s second-largest trade partner in the Middle East, after Saudi Arabia, and contributes 32 percent of the Southeast Asian nation’s trade with the region.

The economic relationship is not massive but is growing rapidly. It stood at $8.61 billion in the first 11 months of 2024, registering growth of 8.6 percent on an annual basis for that period, according to data from the Malaysian Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry.

It “means there’s room to grow,” said Lee Heng Guie, executive director at the Socio-Economic Research Center in Kuala Lumpur. He expects the CEPA to spur more economic activity with the whole region.

“It’s a breakthrough,” Lee told Arab News. “Malaysia can use this CEPA to make more trade partners with other Middle Eastern countries, expand our economic ties with the Islamic world.”

Expanding economic ties with the Middle East — especially GCC countries — is a part of the Malaysian government’s policy. Since assuming office in late 2022, Anwar has committed to enhancing the country’s relations with the region and positioning it as a key economic gateway to the fast-growing Asia-Pacific.

As this year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Malaysia will be hosting the 2025 ASEAN-GCC and ASEAN-China summits.

“Hopefully, that can spark more future strategic collaborations between the three blocs,” Lee said.

“Hopefully, this forum will have a further follow-up. Not just trade (and) investment, but people connectivity. Given the current geopolitical trade conflicts it’s good for this part of Asia and Middle East to come up with this kind ... of collaboration.”


Chinese tourist killed in jet ski collision in Thailand

Updated 14 January 2025
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Chinese tourist killed in jet ski collision in Thailand

  • The cause of the incident was being investigated
  • This marks the second incident involving Chinese tourists

BEIJING: One Chinese tourist was killed and another injured after their jet skis collided off Thailand’s Phuket island on Tuesday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing China’s embassy in Thailand.
The cause of the incident was being investigated, CCTV said.
This marks the second incident involving Chinese tourists near Phuket in just two days.
Thailand is a popular destination for Chinese tourists who are set to travel during the upcoming Lunar New Year break.
On Monday, a catamaran carrying 33 Chinese and 5 crew members capsized off the coast of Koh Racha island north of Phuket, CCTV reported.
All those on board were rescued with no casualties, the report said.
Last year, Chinese tourists accounted for the largest group of visitors to Thailand, with 6.7 million visits to the Southeast Asian country.


UK's Princess Kate visits hospital where she had cancer treatment

Updated 14 January 2025
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UK's Princess Kate visits hospital where she had cancer treatment

  • For the treatment, Kate attended the Royal Marsden Hospital in central London
  • She paid an official visit there to mark her becoming joint patron

LONDON: Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, visited a London hospital on Tuesday where she underwent cancer treatment last year to personally thank medics there for their care and support, her office said.
Kate, 43, underwent a course of preventative chemotherapy after major abdominal surgery a year ago revealed the presence of cancer.
For the treatment, which concluded in September, Kate attended the Royal Marsden Hospital in central London and on Tuesday she paid an official visit there to mark her becoming joint patron of its specialist cancer unit along with her husband Prince William.
On her visit she met patients and staff and spoke of her own treatment. A royal source said Kate had wanted to show her gratitude to the hospital staff and highlight its work.
“We are incredibly fortunate to receive Royal Patronage – it is inspiring for staff and patients and enables us to shine a light on the outstanding work our staff deliver every day for patients and their families,” said Cally Palmer, Chief Executive of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
Kate’s illness meant she was absent from royal duties for most of last year, although she gave a number of health updates in highly personal video messages.