Aukus security pact likely to spur China into boosting anti-submarine warfare capacity 1st Quad summit tacitly targets China but US 'can't coordinate members' differences, doomed to fail' Chinese military plans for Taiwan hampered by second island chain Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban Kim Jong Un's sister: Inter-Korean summit possible German Social Democrats beat conservatives in vote to decide Merkel successor German Social Democrats beat conservatives in vote to decide Merkel successor The Aukus defence pact between the US, UK and Australia is likely to drive China to step up its efforts to enhance its anti-submarine capabilities, military analysts have said. The three-nation alliance will give Australia access to nuclear-powered submarine technology and is seen as a way of increasing the pressure on China in the Asia-Pacific. China has outpaced the US in naval shipbuilding in recent years and has the major advantage of operating close to home in the western Pacific, but underwater warfare has been described as its “Achilles’ heel” by Donald Trump’s former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger. Collin Koh, a research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said Australia’s geographical location made it a suitable location for operations across the Indo-Pacific. “Australia is a long way down south, farther away from the concentration of strike capabilities the PLA musters than Japan is. This thus provides a certain strategic depth for allied nuclear submarine operations,” said Koh.
“[We] can surmise that China is certainly bent on enhancing its ASW [anti-submarine warfare] capabilities with an eye on closing the undersea gap with the Americans and US allies”. The combination of Russian and Western technology allowed China to gradually build up its ASW capabilities through reverse-engineering and improvisation and the navy has stepped up training exercises to combine air, surface and underwater operations in recent years. The Pentagon said in its annual report on China’s military last year that while Beijing was advancing in its undersea warfare abilities by developing surface vessels and aircraft, “it continues to lack a robust deepwater anti-submarine warfare capability”. Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval analyst, said China had made significant progress in developing ocean surveillance ships, anti-submarine patrol aircraft and helicopters. “Anti-submarine aircraft can move at a faster speed, but sound detection ships will more accurately locate the submarines,” said Li.
But Koh said China continues to lag behind the US in terms of real-world experience. “The Americans not only accumulated vast ASW experience, but also a rich database containing acoustic characteristics of various targets of interest worldwide,” he continued. “This database is critical for any effective ASW work, since it allows for the accurate identification of targets, thus facilitating detection, tracking and prosecution.”
Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Yuan Wang military science and technology institute in Beijing, said China still has time to catch up, adding: “It will take three to four years for Australia to build the submarines and they won’t be ready for operation until a decade later.” The leaders of the US, Japan, India and Australia — known as the Quad — finished their face-to-face meeting in Washington on Friday in an attempt to cement ties while containing China, but experts said that an interlude during the meeting involving US President Joe Biden complaining about his translation device malfunction is an omen of the emerging anti-China clique's future — that it cannot function at all due to US' declining capability and changes of the global situation. Although the leaders of the four countries did not mention China and were trying to play down disputes with China, the entire agenda and all topics in the summit focused on China. It is an initiative that aims to incite disputes and confrontation under the banner of cooperation especially in the Western Pacific, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Saturday.
The move to not mention China at all also displayed the disputes among the Quad countries as they may share similar views of not wanting China to rise but differ with each other on policies toward China, Sun Chenghao, an adjunct fellow from the Center for International Security and Strategy in Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Saturday. An interlude is worth mention as Biden told a working staff that he couldn't get his translation device "to function at all." The remarks were spoken through his mic and heard by leaders from the other three countries. Some analysts mocked that Biden's words were more like an omen for the future of the Quad, which is doomed to fail. According to US media, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also attended the meeting with leaders from the four countries. Tanvi Madan, head of the India Project at the Brookings Institution, was cited by the Washington Post as saying that the formation of AUKUS and the Quad summit this week showed the outlines of two anti-China blocs were emerging in parallel. While AUKUS has the appearance of a more hard-edge military pact, the Quad is emphasizing soft- power projects like vaccine distribution in Southeast Asia, where many governments resist the idea of choosing between Washington and Beijing.
The PLA air force’s recent exercises in the South China Sea were designed to enhance its ability to prevent other militaries from coming to Taiwan’s aid in the event of an attack, according to the latest issue of mainland magazine Naval and Merchant Ships. the second island chain – a strategic group of islands in the middle of the West Pacific Ocean which includes the US military base on Guam, around 2,700km (1,677 miles) from Taiwan. While the PLA’s attacking range extended to the second island chain, an attack on Guam would not be wise as it would inevitably lead to a prolonged conflict between the US and China, the magazine said. In contrast, the US could rapidly deploy military resources, including B-1B and B-52 heavy strategic bombers. But the situation would be reversed if China’s next aircraft carrier, equipped with electromagnetic catapults and stealth planes, could get close to Hawaii. “At that time, the Taiwan issue and the future of the Western Pacific would have nothing to do with the US any longer.”
Despite acknowledging the current limitations on any PLA assault on Taiwan, the latest article also put forward a possible scenario, starting with the launch of DF-16 ballistic missiles and DF-10A ground attack cruise missiles to paralyse the island’s airports, early warning systems and anti-air missile bases. The first round of missile attacks would be followed by J-16 multirole fighters destroying small airports and highways capable of acting as runways for military planes. The resulting air superiority would minimise the danger for the PLA soldiers who by that stage would be crossing the Taiwan Strait, the article said.
At the same time, the PLA rocket force would launch an offensive against Taiwanese ground targets while the air force would send fighters to patrol up to 2,000km away with the aim of stopping planes from other militaries from coming to the island’s aid. The magazine did not mention possible counter-attacks from Taiwan, the US or its allies in the region in response to the simulated scenario. Former PLA military instructor Song Zhongping said any action against Taiwan would be a complicated and holistic operation, involving not only attacks but also mobilisation and logistical support. “We can never simplify such a complex military action, and some commentaries can only represent personal views and be seen as a reference only,” he said. According to state broadcaster CCTV’s military channel, the PLA air force conducted an exercise early last month which saw J-16 fighter jets launching advanced air-to-surface missiles and conducting off-zone strikes against ground targets, indicating it was enhancing its attacking capabilities. Russia, China, Pakistan and the United States are working together to ensure that Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers keep their promises, especially to form a genuinely representative government and prevent extremism from spreading, Russia's foreign minister said Saturday. Sergey Lavrov said the four countries are in ongoing contact. He said representatives from Russia, China and Pakistan recently traveled to Qatar and then to Afghanistan's
capital, Kabul, to engage with both the Taliban and representatives of "secular authorities" -- former president Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who headed the ousted government's negotiating council with the Taliban. Lavrov said the interim government announced by the Taliban does not reflect "the whole gamut of Afghan society -- ethno-religious and political forces -- so we are engaging in contacts. They are ongoing." The Taliban have promised an inclusive government, a more moderate form of Islamic rule than when they last ruled the country from 1996 to 2001 including respecting women's rights, providing stability after 20 years of war, fighting terrorism and extremism and stopping militants from using their territory to launch attacks. But recent
moves suggest they may be returning to more repressive policies, particularly toward women and girls. At a wide-ranging news conference and in his speech afterward at the U.N. General Assembly, Lavrov criticized the Biden administration including for its hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan. More broadly, Lavrov said, relations among the big powers must be "respectful." He emphasized that Russia was "keen to ensure that never will these relations morph into nuclear war." The major powers have a "great responsibility," he said, to negotiate and make compromises on the critical issues facing the world and that Russia is now "revitalizing" its proposal for a summit of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council --Russia, China, U.S., UK and France. He said discussions are under way on specific questions for an agenda, and "we may perhaps begin with an online meeting." The international seminar themed "Human Rights Violations Caused by US Military Intervention of Afghanistan" was a sideline event for the 48th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. It was jointly held by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, China's Permanent Mission to Geneva and
the Human Rights Institution of Southwest University of Political Science and Law in Chongqing. Together with scholars from China, guests from France, Nepal, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Japan and representatives from Iran's and Venezuela's permanent missions to Geneva attended the seminar by video link. The wanton killing of civilians in Afghanistan, capturing and torturing of Afghan people, indulging in terrorism, making stagnant economic and social development in the country, causing a flood of refugees… these are the notorious US violations of human rights mentioned by experts at the seminar. Mahdi Aliabadi, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Geneva, said that the US and its alliances have been indifferent to violations of human rights during their military occupation of Afghanistan and the international community should stand out to support victims to hold predators accountable. Aliabadi noted that the trouble caused by the US in Afghanistan is the latest example to showcase their hypocrisy when talking about human rights since human rights have become tools for them to play geopolitics. This is the "darkest page" that the international community is watching and will leave in people's minds forever. Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, believes that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has not only traumatized the Afghan people, but has also brought unforgivable crimes to the people of the world.
"Justice is late, but it will not be absent. The international community should support Afghanistan in its pursuit of punishing US military crimes," Qian said. Moreover, the 20-year-long war struck a heavy blow to Afghanistan's economy and since 2001, the country's economic and social development has stagnated, said Wang Nan, an academic consultant for the Institute of Silk Road Strategy Studies. In the fiscal year 2019-2020, the urbanization rate in Afghanistan was only 26%, the unemployment rate exceeded 40%, and the poverty rate exceeded 70%. Moreover, the average life expectancy of Afghans is about 45 years. Mei Xinyu, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of China's Ministry of Commerce, pointed out that Global food prices have soared for two consecutive years, which was not only caused by natural disasters but also by man-made disasters. The US relaxation of fiscal and monetary policies have led to rising commodity prices. In fiscal years 2019 and 2020, the per capita grain output in Afghanistan was only over 170 kg, which cannot guarantee the people's basic survival needs, Mei noted. Some foreign experts at the seminar also talked about the consequence of the US' hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Christian Mestre, a professor from the Human Rights Institute of University of Strasbourg, said that the US military's actions in the country were a failure and the military occupation was not only the US' political hegemony but also the hegemony of the West. Mestre noted that European countries are also infuriated by the Biden administration's incompetence of dealing with the situation in Afghanistan messy result. With the signing of the security pact AUKUS among the US, UK and Australia, which is like adding oil to the fire, the EU may reconsider its own security issues and may make its own decisions without living under the shadow of the US. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister has suggested that an inter-Korean summit could be discussed if mutual respect is assured. Kim Yo Jong issued a statement through the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Saturday.
She expressed dissatisfaction with South Korea and the United States, saying North Korea's acts of self-defense to counter military threats on the Korean Peninsula are denounced as provocations while their arms buildup is beautified as deterrent. She said she thinks that "only when impartiality and the attitude of respecting each other are maintained, can there be smooth understanding between the North and the South." She also mentioned the possibility of re-establishing the North-South joint liaison office, a declaration to formally end the Korean War, and the North-South summit, saying that constructive discussions can bring meaningful and successful solutions.
The joint liaison office in the border city of Kaesong, seen as a symbol of reconciliation, was blown up by the North in June of last year. Germans went to the polls on Sunday in a national election too close to call, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) mounting a strong challenge to retiring Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives. A fractured electorate means that after the election, leading parties will sound each other out before embarking on more formal coalition negotiations that could take months, leaving Merkel, 67, in charge in a caretaker role. Campaigning in his home constituency of Aachen alongside Merkel, conservative candidate ArminLaschet said on Saturday that a leftist alliance led by the SPD with the Greens and the hard-left Linke party would destabilise Europe. "They want to pull us out of NATO, they don't want this alliance, they want another republic," said Laschet, who is 60 "I don't want the Linke to be in the next government."
Running against Laschet is Olaf Scholz of the SPD, the finance minister in Merkel's right-left coalition who won all three televised debates between the leading candidates. Scholz, 63, has not ruled out a leftist alliance with The Left but said NATO membership was a red line for the SPD. The splintered political landscape means a three-way coalition is likely. Final opinion polls gave the Social Democrats a narrow lead, but the conservatives have reduced the gap in recent days and many voters were still undecided. Scholz told supporters in his own constituency in Potsdam near Berlin that he was still hoping the SPD and Greens would secure a majority to rule alone without a third partner. "The stronger the SPD, the easier it will be to form a coalition," Scholz said. "I don't know what will be possible but maybe it is possible for example to form an SPD-Greens coalition. I believe it is possible. We'll see."
Both the conservatives and the FDP reject a European "debt union" and want to ensure that joint European Union borrowing to finance the bloc's coronavirus recovery package remains a one-off. The SPD has talked about taking steps towards a fiscal union. The Greens favour a common European fiscal policy to support investment in the environment, research, infrastructure and education. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will meet ministers from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, his first meetings with Gulf leaders since taking office in June. The meetings with Bahrain's foreign minister and a UAE minister were announced by Bennett in a statement on Saturday, and will take place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Bahrain and the UAE normalised relations with Israel last year. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who visited Dubai in June, is expected to travel to Bahrain soon. Syria lambastes "inhumane" sanctions, urges withdrawal of U.S. forces Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad has denounced the "inhumane" sanctions
imposed on Syria and called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria as quickly as possible. Mikdad said the U.S., out of its political interests, has imposed rounds of unilateral sanctions against Syria, which has brought humanitarian problems to its people. "This is a Satanic concept to impose sanctions on other nations. And to Syria, the influence is devastating. It is affecting all aspects of daily life. If you go today to
Damascus, you'll find that we have two-hour electricity, then two hours cutting over electricity. We want to buy even medicine from Western countries, banks could not allow the transfers of money to banks in the West. If any bank in Europe and in the world receives any dollar from Syria, they will be punishable for that. These are the sanctions. They are mixing the human with the political, and I do believe those people who impose sanctions on peoples are inhuman,"
Mikdad said the Pentagon should learn its lessons from the two decades of war in Afghanistan and end its military presence in northern Syria at an early date. He also stressed that the future of Syria must be in the hands of Syrian people. "I think the humiliating withdrawal by the United States from Afghanistan should give them a lesson that okay you were there for 20 years to send a message to Taliban to leave. finally the Americans gave the reins of power to Taliban. this is absolutely a humiliation for the United States and its allies. Secondly, of course if they have left Afghanistan, they should leave also Iraq. They should leave also Syria. Consequently, we advise them to leave before it is too late, because they cannot depend on their agents. In 2015, the United States formally sent troops to Syria in the name of fighting extremist groups, and subsequently, together with rebels it backed, took control of large swaths of northeastern Syria.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday (September 25) repeated his false claims of election voter fraud in the crucial state of Arizona, one day after a review of results by his own allies in the Republican Party reaffirmed that Trump lost the state to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. While finding the overall vote tallies largely matched up, the report highlighted a series of alleged problems, including 10,342 potential voters who voted in different counties. The report's conclusion will dismay Trump supporters who pushed for the review, many in the expectation that it would prove his unfounded assertions that he was robbed of re- election due to orchestrated fraud. So far no such proof has been produced either by Trump or his backers.
Japan's government has approved a plan to roll out a third dose of the new coronavirus vaccine even as some experts remain cautious. Japan’s vaccine program started in February, almost two months behind the US and United Kingdom. The pace has gradually picked up, and as of September 21, 54 percent of the population was fully vaccinated. More than 90 percent of elderly people had had at least one dose. Kono Taro, the minister in charge of the vaccine roll-out, has outlined how officials plan to administer the booster. "Medical workers would need to start receiving the third dose by the end of the year. Elderly people are likely to start early next year," he said. But experts on the government’s coronavirus panel were split on the timing of the extra dose.
Okada says while it is important to make preparations for the booster, many things remain unknown about people’s immune response. That includes individual differences in the rate at which antibodies decline, and how other mechanisms against the virus work. Booster programs are already underway in countries such as Israel, the UK, France and the US. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke about the urgent need for equal access to the COVID vaccine at the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Saturday (September 25). Markle expressed regret to the crowd of 60,000 that so much of the COVID-19 vaccine supply is being used by so few countries.
"This year, the world's expected to produce enough doses to meet the target of vaccinating 70 percent of people in every single country. But it is wrong that so much of the vaccine supply has only gone to just 10 wealthy nations so far and not everyone else. It's just not OK." The couple said they have learned from experts and global health leaders about how they can do their part to help end the global pandemic, calling it "a battle of misinformation, bureaucracy, lack of transparency and lack of access." The couple quit their royal duties last year to build an independent life and moved from Britain to California, where they live with their two children - two-year-old Archie and Lilibet, who was born in June. The Global Citizen Live concert in Central Park aims to push for greater action to combat climate change and urge rich countries to share one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines with nations most in need. Over a 24-hour period, concerts will be held in Paris, New York City, Los Angeles, and other cities.
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2021-09-28