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September
Australia defends scrapping of French submarine deal, Macron and Biden to talk
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia on Sunday defended its decision to ditch a multi-billion-dollar order for French submarines and opt instead for an alternative deal with the United States and Britain, saying it had flagged its concerns to Paris months ago.
Canberra's move enraged Paris, triggering an unprecedented diplomatic crisis that analysts say could do lasting damage to U.S. alliances with France and Europe. It has also riled China, the major rising power in the Indo-Pacific region.
The United States has sought to assuage the anger in France, a NATO ally, and the French government spokesman said on Sunday that President Emmanuel Macron would have a call with U.S. President Joe Biden "in the next few days". Paris has recalled its envoys to Washington and Canberra for consultations.
"I don't regret the decision to put Australia's national interest first," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.
Morrison said he understood France's disappointment over the cancellation of the order - valued at $40 billion in 2016 and reckoned to cost much more today - but reiterated that Australia must always take decisions in its best interests.
"This is an issue that had been raised by me directly some months ago and we continued to talk those issues through, including by defence ministers and others," he told a briefing.
Under its new trilateral security partnership, Australia will build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and British technology. The scrapped deal, struck with France's Naval Group in 2016, was for a fleet of conventional submarines.
The new trilateral deal has cast into doubt the united front that Biden is seeking to forge against China's growing power.
'OPEN AND HONEST'
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told BFM TV that Macron would seek "clarification" of the cancellation in his call with Biden. Discussions would then need to take place over contract clauses, notably compensation for the French side.
European Union leaders are certain to discuss the issue at talks in Slovenia on Oct. 5, said an EU diplomat, saying it had raised questions over the transatlantic relationship and Europe's own geopolitical ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.
"I think the French... will milk it for all it's worth," the diplomat said, referring to Macron's long-standing support for greater European strategic autonomy, though many EU states are reluctant to weaken security ties with the United States.
Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said Canberra was "upfront, open and honest" with France about its concerns. He declined to reveal costs of the new pact, saying only that "it's not going to be a cheap project".
Britain's role in the trilateral partnership demonstrates its readiness to be "hard-headed" in defending its interests post-Brexit, newly appointed Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in an article published on Sunday. read more
She said it also showed Britain's commitment to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (Reuters)
September
Singapore reports 1,012 new COVID-19 cases, highest since April last year
Written by Nur Yasmin
Singapore's health ministry reported 1,012 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the highest since April last year.
A recent rise in cases after the relaxation of some COVID-19 measures has prompted Singapore to pause further reopening. More than 80% of its population has been vaccinated against COVID-19. (reuters)
September
Boxer Manny Pacquiao to run for Philippine president in 2022
Written by Nur Yasmin
Boxing star Manny Pacquiao said on Sunday he will run for president of the Philippines next year, after railing against corruption in government and what he calls President Rodrigo Duterte's cozy relationship with China.
Pacquiao accepted the nomination of his political allies during the national assembly of the faction he leads in the ruling PDP-Laban Party, days after a rival faction nominated Duterte's long-time aide, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, as its presidential candidate.
That faction nominated Duterte for vice president, a move that critics called a cynical ploy by Duterte to retain power.
Go declined the nomination, but the rift between the Pacquiao and Duterte factions has escalated.
"I am a fighter, and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring," Pacquiao, 42, a senator, said in a live-streamed speech during the assembly. "I am accepting your nomination as candidate for president of the Republic of the Philippines."
Pacquiao's faction has not expressed support for Duterte's vice-presidential bid. Duterte is prohibited by the constitution from running for a second six-year term as president.
One of the greatest boxers of all time and the only man to hold world titles in eight different divisions, Pacquiao was mum about his 26-year professional career.
Despite his popularity, Pacquiao trails the front-runners in opinion polls that have been topped consistently by Duterte's daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio.
In July, Pacquiao was voted out as PDP-Laban leader, weeks after challenging Duterte over his position on China and record on fighting corruption, but his ouster was rejected by his faction.
Pacquiao, once a close ally of Duterte, had said more than 10 billion pesos ($200 million) in pandemic aid intended for poor families was unaccounted for, adding this was just one discovery in his planned corruption investigation.
His anti-corruption crusade comes as the Senate has opened an investigation into alleged overpricing of medical supplies and equipment purchased under the government’s pandemic response programme.
Duterte challenged Pacquiao to name corrupt government offices to prove that the boxer was not just politicking ahead of the election.
Pacquiao countered by warning of jail for corrupt government officials: "Your time is up!" (Reuters)
September
Australia at centre of Indo-Pacific alliances to counter China
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia finds itself as the common link in a new mesh of global alliances centred on the Indo-Pacific that are all but in name aimed at countering China's rising military power and economic clout.
Canberra's 70-year-old defence alliance with Washington already commits Australia to act in response to an attack on U.S. forces in the Pacific, analysts said.
A new defence partnership, AUKUS, with the United States and Britain to share nuclear-powered submarines is significant not only for increasing Australia's deterrence capabilities, but also focussing Britain on the region, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.
The European Union's strategy to boost its Indo-Pacific presence, outlined on Thursday, will seek trade deals with Australia and Taiwan and closer maritime ties with Australia, Indonesia and Japan to keep open sea routes. read more
Morrison will travel to Washington on Monday for the first face-to-face meeting of leaders of the Quad, a grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the United States.
The scope of the talks, spanning freedom of navigation, critical technology and COVID-19 recovery, has grown swiftly since it was revived.
The Quad was put on ice a decade ago by Canberra because of the objections of China, its largest trading partner, to the group's naval exercises.
However, in 2021 Australia has become a case study for other nations of the potential for Chinese economic coercion. The treasurer recently advised exporters to diversify away from China because of Beijing's actions to target the Australian economy. read more
Head of the ANU National Security College, Rory Medcalf, said amid accelerating concerns about China: "Australia has crossed a strategic Rubicon, bitten the bullet, nailed its colours to the mast".
The AUKUS partnership and Quad will overlap as central to Australia's security, he said.
In radio interviews on Friday, Morrison said that contrary to China's objections, Australia's new security grouping was about ensuring stability in the region.
"We just want to ensure that right throughout the region there can be free movement of goods and services and maritime traffic and air traffic, and the rule of law applies," he said.
What happened in the Indo-Pacific was of concern to the rest of the world, he said.
"It isn't just the United States. It's the United Kingdom becoming a more significant partner with Australia on defence, one, but also, having their focus on this part of the world."
Australia and the United States agreed on Friday to increase the number of U.S. troops rotating through Australia, as well as aircraft and logistics support for U.S. naval vessels and submarines.
Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre, Ashley Townshend, said the United States was leveraging Australia's strategic geography, and rotating U.S. submarines through Western Australia more regularly for maintenance would allow them to expand operations in the region.
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd said in a television interview the government needed to clarify whether the United States expected that Australia's nuclear-powered submarines would be deployed to support any conflict over Taiwan or the South China Sea.
The United States said on Friday there is no reciprocal requirement.
"There has already been an expectation that Australia would join the United States and others - especially Japan - in discouraging or facing future military adventurism from China, over Taiwan, the South China Sea, the East China Sea," said Medcalf.
The new announcements increased Australia's capability for deterrence, he said.
"Australia's geography will allow the alliance to disperse and gather its forces in a way that America's frontline island bases like Guam cannot," he said. (Reuters)
September
China enters Taiwan air defence zone a day after military budget boost
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's air force scrambled on Friday to warn away 10 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, Taiwan's defence ministry said, the day after the island announced a $9 billion boost to military spending to counter the threat from China.
Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
The latest Chinese mission involved 6 J-16 and 2 J-11 fighters plus one anti-submarine and one reconnaissance aircraft, the Taiwan ministry said.
Taiwan sent combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese aircraft, while missile systems were deployed to monitor them, the ministry said.
The Chinese fighters flew in an area close to the Pratas, while the anti-submarine and reconnaissance aircraft flew into the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, according to a map that the ministry issued.
There was no immediate comment from China.
The incident came a day after Taiwan proposed extra defence spending of $8.69 billion over the next five years, including on new missiles, warning of an urgent need to upgrade weapons in the face of a "severe threat" from China. read more
Speaking earlier on Friday, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang said the government had to take the threat from China seriously.
"The Chinese Communists plot against us constantly," he said.
Taiwan's defence spending "is based on safeguarding national sovereignty, national security, and national security. We must not relax. We must have the best preparations so that no war will occur", he added.
China's government, for its part, criticised Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Friday for comments this week in which he said Taiwan was a "sea fortress" blocking China's expansion into the Pacific. read more
Wu's "aim is to deceive public opinion, to rope in and collude with anti-China foreign forces", China's Taiwan Affairs Office said in statement. (Reuters)
September
China's President Xi says Afghanistan should eradicate terrorism, promises more assistance- state media
Written by Nur Yasmin
China's President Xi Jinping said via video that "relevant parties" in Afghanistan should eradicate terrorism and that China will provide more help to the country within its capacity, according to a report on a regional summit by state media.
"Certain countries" should assume their due responsibilities for Afghanistan's future development as the "instigators" of the situation, he said, at a meeting of the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Afghanistan should be guided to be more open and inclusive, and to pursue moderate domestic and foreign policies, he said. (Reuters)
September
Australia agrees to increased U.S. air deployments after sub deal
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia and the United States announced expanded military cooperation on Thursday, including rotational deployments of all types of U.S. military aircraft to Australia, a day after announcing a submarine deal denounced by China as intensifying a regional arms race.
Speaking after meetings between the U.S. and Australian foreign and defense ministers, Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the two sides would be "significantly enhancing our force posture cooperation, increasing interoperability and deepening alliance activities in the Indo-Pacific."
"This will include greater air cooperation through rotational deployments of all types of U.S. military aircraft to Australia," Dutton told a joint news conference in Washington.
"We've also established combined logistics sustainment and capability for maintenance to support our enhanced activities, including logistics and sustainment capability for our submarines and surface combatants in Australia."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the meeting had endorsed "major force-posture initiatives that will expand our access and presence in Australia."
On Wednesday, the United States and Britain said they would provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines. read more
The United States and its allies are looking for ways to push back against China's growing power and influence, particularly its military buildup, pressure on Taiwan and deployments in the contested South China Sea.
China, in denouncing the new pact with Australia, said such partnerships should not target third countries. The United States, Britain and Australia were "severely damaging regional peace and stability, intensifying an arms race, and damaging international nuclear non-proliferation efforts," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
The White House defended the U.S. decision to provide Australia with advanced technology for nuclear-powered submarines, rejecting criticism from both China and France.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the agreement was not aimed at China, although the United States has mounting concerns about Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific and regional analysts said the deal is clearly a response to Beijing's growing strength.
"We do not seek conflict with China," Psaki told reporters.
The submarine agreement meant the scrapping of a $40 billion deal for conventional French-designed submarines, leading to an angry response from France, which called it a "stab in the back." read more
At the news conference U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called France a "vital partner" in the Indo-Pacific and said Washington would continue to cooperate with Paris, comments that appeared aimed at calming French anger.
"We cooperate incredibly closely with France on many shared priorities in the Indo-Pacific but also beyond around the world. We're going to continue to do so. We place fundamental value on that relationship, on that partnership," Blinken said.
Blinken said the United States had been in touch with French counterparts in the last 24-48 hours to discuss the new partnership with Australia.
Psaki said France was "aware in advance" of the deal.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused U.S. President Joe Biden of acting like former U.S. President Trump, and called the U.S. move "brutal, unilateral and unpredictable." read more "I am angry and bitter. This isn't done between allies," he told franceinfo radio.
The French embassy in Washington confirmed a New York Times report that in protest, it had canceled a gala event on Friday commemorating the “240th Anniversary of the Battle of the Capes,” and France’s top naval officer, who had traveled to Washington for the event celebrating French in America’s war of independence, would return early to Paris.
Ambassador Philippe Etienne told CNN "we were not informed until we saw the first news yesterday morning in Australia and also in the U.S."
The nuclear-powered submarines will allow Australia to operate throughout the region and for longer periods than those involved in the French deal, military analysts said.
Dutton said the nuclear-powered option France had was "not superior" to that operated by Britain and the United States.
"In the end, the decision that we've made is based on what is in the best interest of our national security, and ... security and peace within the Indo-Pacific," he said.
Dutton said there would be more bilateral exercises "and greater combined exercise engagement with partners in the region." (Reuters)
September
India tells China border troop pullback needed for better ties
Written by Nur Yasmin
India has told China that their bilateral relations will only develop when both countries pull their troops back from a confrontation on their disputed Himalayan border, the Indian foreign minister said.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed the possibility of both sides when he met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of a regional conference in Dushanbe on Thursday.
"Discussed disengagement in our border areas. Underlined that progress in this regard is essential for restoration of peace and tranquillity, which is the basis for development of bilateral ties," Jaishankar said on Twitter.
Thousands of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been locked in confrontation in the western Himalayas since last year when animosity over a decades-old border dispute blew up.
In June last year, tension erupted into hand-to-hand fighting resulting in deaths on both sides, the first between them in decades.
After several rounds of talks between their commanders, their forces have stepped back on some sections of the border, including the Pangong Tso lake, a contested area near the site of last year's clashes.
But troops backed by artillery remain dug in in close proximity in other sectors.
"China has always handled the China-India border issue properly and with a positive attitude," Wang said.
"(Both sides should) work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, and stop border incidents from recurring."
As two major emerging economies, China and India should push bilateral ties back to a healthy and stable track, a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry cited Wang as saying.
China and India went to war over their border in 1962 and have never resolved the dispute. Even so, in recent years, trade ties have flourished.
Jaishankar said he also discussed recent global events with Wang. He did not give details.
While China's close military ties with India's arch-rival Pakistan have been a source of tension, Jaishankar said India-China relations should be seen in bilateral terms.
"It is also essential that China does not view its relations with India through the lens of a third country," he said he told Wang.
The two top officials are in Dushanbe for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are due to speak at the gathering through video link later on Friday. (Reuters)
September
China says trade pact application unrelated to new US, UK and Australia alliance
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday that China's application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is totally unrelated to a recently formed Indo-Pacific security alliance.
In an arrangement dubbed AUKUS, the United States and Britain will provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines. read more
China said on Thursday that it had filed an application to join the CPTPP trade pact, from which the U.S. Trump administration withdrew in 2017. (Reuters)
September
Singapore PM gets COVID-19 booster shot, urges others to follow
Written by Nur Yasmin
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday he had received a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot and urged other elderly people to come forward to get a shot amid a new wave of infections across the city-state.
"Cases are increasing rapidly. A booster jab will strengthen your protection against COVID-19," Lee, 69, said in a post on his Facebook page. The Southeast Asia country has started giving boosters to the elderly and immunocompromised groups this week. (Reuters)