The NASA chief said he hoped “the Chinese space programme would come to its senses and understand that civilian space is for peaceful uses…reports Asian Lite News
The chief of US space agency NASA has told lawmakers in Washington that China is using civilian programmes to hide military objectives in space.
“China has made extraordinary strides [in space] especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive,” Bill Nelson told the appropriations committee of the US House of Representatives as he testified on the US space agency’s 2025 budget request.
“We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian space programme is a military programme. And I think, in effect, we are in a race.”
Nelson also stressed that it was “incumbent on us” get to the moon, first as he warned: “my concern is if China got there first and suddenly said ‘ok this is our territory, you stay out’.”
The NASA chief said that the US was not going to lose its “global edge” in space, “but you got to be realistic that China is really throwing a lot of money at it and they’ve got a lot of room in their budget to grow.”
“I think that we just better not let down our guard,” Nelson added.
The NASA chief said he hoped “the Chinese space programme would come to its senses and understand that civilian space is for peaceful uses,” but added: “We have not seen that demonstrated by China.”
With the Artemis programme NASA wants to put humans on the moon again after more than 50 years. The moon landing mission Artemis 3 was recently postponed to September 2026.
The long-term goal of Artemis is to establish a permanent lunar base as a foundation for missions to Mars.
The national flags of China and Russia are seen on Red Square, Moscow.(Xinhua/IANS)
There is now a concerted message from US government officials alleging that China is largely responsible for the build-up in Russia’s defence industry. As one example, Moscow is now able to produce three times the artillery ammunition that the USA and Europe combined can….reports Asian Lite News
China insists it “has always maintained an objective and impartial position” on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet, contrary to these words of assurance, China is aiding and abetting Russia’s war of aggression against the Ukrainian people.
The rhetoric from China is sharply at odds with its actions. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed last year that “As for military item exports, China has throughout adopted a prudent and responsible attitude”. However, such statements are laughable in the face of mounting evidence that says otherwise.
As violence flares in the Middle East, exacerbated by Iran’s barrage against Israel, some are naively suggesting that China should help mediate there too. As J. Michael Cole, Senior Advisor, Countering Foreign Authoritarian Influence at the Washington DC-based International Republican Institute, commented: “That sure hasn’t worked with Russia over its war of aggression against Ukraine. Nor did it work with North Korea. When will the world stop living under the illusion that Beijing will be a partner for peace?”
Disclosing previously classified intelligence, senior US officials have claimed that China is helping bankroll Russia’s resurgent military-industrial complex. After starting cautiously after Vladimir Putin’s invasion, China has been gradually ramping up clandestine support for Russia. It is helping plug gaps by rebuilding Russia’s defence industrial base. Indeed, there is alarm that Russia is now achieving its most massive military-industrial expansion since the end of the Cold War. For instance, General Chris Cavoli, commander of the US European Command, recently testified that Russia has been “quite successful” at reconstituting its military.
Indeed, its capacity has largely “grown back” to what it was pre-invasion despite Western sanctions. President Joe Biden raised precisely this issue with Chairman Xi Jinping in a phone call on 2 April. According to a US readout of the conversation, Biden “raised concerns over the People’s Republic of China’s [PRC] support for Russia’s defence industrial base and its impact on European and transatlantic security”.
There is now a concerted message from US government officials alleging that China is largely responsible for this build-up in Russia’s defence industry. As one example, Moscow is now able to produce three times the artillery ammunition that the USA and Europe combined can.
Last week, US officials divulged some of the ways that China is lending support. For instance, Chinese and Russian groups are working to jointly produce drones inside Russia. They also mentioned cruise missile and drone engines, as well as machine tools that are needed to manufacture ballistic missiles. Moscow used to get its machine tools from Europe, but sanctions turned off that conduit. Regardless, it has found alternative and willing suppliers, and nearly 70 per cent of Russia’s USD 900 million worth of machine tool imports in the last quarter of 2023 emanated from China.
The USA has complained that Dalian Machine Tool Group has provided tooling to Russia. Other guilty parties for items used in military equipment include Wuhan Global Sensor Technology, Wuhan Tongsheng Technology and Hikvision, which are providing optical components that can be used on armored vehicles, for instance. iRay Technology and the North China Research Institute of Electro-Optics have also supplied military optics.
Electronic components are flowing Russia-ward from China too. Where Western companies have stopped supplying items like semiconductors, China has stepped in to fill the gap. Hong Kong, for instance, is a vital conduit of computer chips to Russia. So much so, that China supplied 90 per cent of computer chips imported by Russia last year. These are critical for things such as targeting systems and radars. Additionally, Russian semiconductor imports from China soared from USD200 million in 2021 to more than USD500 million in 2022.
Chinese entities are also helping boost Russia’s satellite and other space-based capabilities. Media have reported that China has supplied Russia with propellant for use in missiles, nitrocellulose (used to make gunpowder for artillery rounds, for example), avionics and fighter jet engine parts too. Another widely reported export from China to Russia is drones and associated spare parts.
Xi Jinping with Russian President Vladimir Putin.(photo:instgaram)
Molfar, a Ukrainian business intelligence consultancy, has reported that devices from DJI – the world’s largest maker of consumer market drones – continue to flood into Russia, despite DJI’s promise in 2022 to stop doing business there. Molfar alleged that low-cost DJI drones are being sold to Russian companies such as Skymec, SHUBBA-Octagon and Pustelga to train government and military personnel on how to fly drones. These are not lethal weapons, but they are militarily useful to Russia.
Molfar also reported that Chinese companies sent USD200,000 in drone shipments to Ukraine in the first half of 2023, compared to at least USD14.5 million to Russia in the same period. The London-based Royal United Services Institute estimates that Ukraine goes through something like 10,000 drones a month. Other Russian imports from its eastern friend include trench-digging equipment and unusually high numbers of tractors. Chinese ball-bearing exports have surged to countries like Kyrgyzstan, which then find their way onto Russian tanks.
A year ago, a senior adviser in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office told Reuters that in “weapons recovered from the battlefield, we continue to find different electronics. The trend is now that there are fewer Western-made components but more- not hard to guess which country – components. Of course, China.” They have been found in navigation systems in Russian Orlan drones, for instance. Or instead of French-made fire control system components in Russian tanks, they now feature Chinese parts.
The Ukrainian official also listed Norinco and Xinxing Guangzhou Import & Export Co as suppliers to Russia’s military. Ukraine has imposed sanctions against Comnav Technology for supplying navigation and radar equipment to Russia, but it is just one of 14 Chinese companies sanctioned by Ukraine so far.
There is no hard evidence that China has provided Russia with lethal aid like missiles, munitions or weapons. The same cannot be said of North Korea and Iran, of course, which are actively supplying Russia with missiles and loitering munitions. However, China is providing copious amounts of “dual-use” items used by Russia’s industrial-military complex to produce weapons for use against Ukraine. By doing so, Beijing is supporting Russian aggression and prolonging the war.
In one of the clearest allegations yet, David O’Sullivan, who is International Special Envoy for the Implementation of EU Sanctions, claimed last September that up to 70 per cent of sensitive, high-tech products used to kill Ukrainians are reaching Russia’s military via China. O’Sullivan asked, “Now we need to understand better exactly what that means. How much of this is actually produced by China copying our technology, how much of it is produced in China but with Western technology, and how much is coming directly from other sources and then re-exported via China.”
Speaking of components like microchips, integrated circuits, optical readers and flash memory cards, the EU sanctions leader pointed out: “…Once they go to Russia, we know they’re not going into consumer goods or innocent activities. They will go straight to the military-industrial complex and produce weapons that are more lethal and more deadly.”
China approaches, but attempts not to blatantly overstep, the red lines painted by the West right after Putin invaded Ukraine. China has been cautious in its support for Putin, as shown in the wake of the original invasion and the rebellion of Wagner’s head Yevgeny Prigozhin in mid-2023. However, Xi remains in close communication with his Russian comrade, and has personally met him several times since the outbreak of war, as well as multiple telephone calls. In the same timeframe, Xi managed just one phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Indeed, Xi’s government still cannot bear to call Russia’s action an invasion or war. When Putin met Xi in March, it was educational that more than half his team attending were officials involved in Russian weapon and space programs. Since the Ukraine war broke out, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has actually increased its joint training activities with Russia.
China has bolstered Russia in other ways too. Xi and his officials diplomatically blame the West for provoking Putin into launching this “operation”. Xi also foisted a comprehensive propaganda campaign on Chinese educators, whereby an official narrative supporting Russia’s reasons for invading Ukraine were promulgated nationwide. Bilateral trade has reached record levels too, worth USD240 billion last year. Revenue achieved by Russia can be funneled to fund Moscow’s war effort, and Beijing has also forged closer relations with Iran, who is a key Russian ally not shy about directly supplying weapons to Moscow.
Xinhua reported this month that Sino-Russian ties are at the “highest historical level of comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era”. Significantly, there is an effort to deepen institutional links between the two countries, rather than rely on just the respective leaders’ personal friendship.
There are occasional but prominent Chinese voices that express opposition to Russia’s war. As an example, Feng Yujun, deputy dean of Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, argued that the war “as a strategic opportunity for China would be wrong”. Not everyone is enamored with Xi’s direction, and some intellectual elite have expressed their private opposition. Nonetheless, Arran Hope, writing for The Jamestown Foundation, concluded: “Xi
Jinping is unlikely to be persuaded by any of the arguments presented by dissenting voices. Cracks that exist in the Sino-Russian relationship are minimal next to the overwhelming support with which the PRC buttresses the Russian war machine.
Many PRC experts refer to the conflict as a ‘proxy war’ or ‘avatar war’, referring to US and Western support for Ukraine. But the level of PRC support for Russia suggests that the PRC is every bit as involved on the other side of the conflict.”
During a trip to Beijing in early April, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Chinese companies about providing support for Russian violence. She told reporters: “We continue to be concerned about the role that any firms, including those in the PRC, are playing in Russia’s military procurement. I stressed that companies, including those in the PRC, must not provide material support for Russia’s war and that they will face significant consequences if they do. And I reinforced that any banks that facilitate significant transactions that channel military or dual-use goods to Russia’s defence industrial base expose themselves to the risk of US sanctions.”
In recent weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has raised concerns in European capitals about China’s quiet involvement in the war, and he is redoubling efforts to prevent such exports. It is believed that Europe has sanctioned only three Chinese entities since the war broke out, compared to more than 100 by Washington, DC.
The US campaign is understandable, since Beijing does not feel that its relations with Europe have been unduly affected by its latent support for Russia’s war. If Europe does tighten sanctions, this could affect China’s calculus. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting Xi in Beijing this week, and he is expected to raise this issue. With China slow to emerge from its economic malaise, to which COVID-19 contributed, it is more vulnerable to pressure from Europe. A senior US official said, “One of the most game-changing moves available to us at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade the PRC to stop helping Russia reconstitute its military industrial base. Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort without PRC inputs.”
In complete denial of support for Moscow, but fearing sanctions, the Chinese Embassy in the USA said, “The normal trade between China and Russia should not be interfered [with] or restricted. We urge the US side to refrain from disparaging and scapegoating the normal relationship between China and Russia.” A spokesperson affirmed that China had “not provided weaponry to any party”.
China officially advocates that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected”. Yet it has broken its own premise in its dealings with Russia and Ukraine. As Beijing watches all the Western aid going to Ukraine, it perhaps sees its efforts as a necessary counterbalance. It must know, however, that it is treading a very fine line and that there is great risk in providing more tacit support to Moscow. (ANI)
Tata or Murugappa Group did not immediately comment on the reports….reports Asian Lite News
As Apple continues to minimise its dependence on China, the iPhone maker is increasing investments in India and is reportedly in advanced talks with Tata Group’s Titan Company and Murugappa Group to assemble sub-components for phone camera modules, giving an impetus to the “Make in India’ initiative and the country becoming an integral part of the global supply chain.
According to reports, there are currently no Indian suppliers for the iPhone’s camera module, which is a sophisticated piece of technology, and this move could reduce Apple’s dependence on Chinese suppliers.
Both Murugappa and Tata’s Titan have a solid background in high-precision manufacturing.
Both Titan and Murugappa have already qualified for government incentives under the PLI scheme to set up a chip assembly unit in the country.
Tata or Murugappa Group did not immediately comment on the reports.
Last year, Tata Group acquired Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Wistron’s India operations for $125 million. It is also reportedly eyeing to acquire Pegatron’s iPhone manufacturing facility near Chennai. Reports surfaced late last year that the Tata Group is planning to build one of India’s largest iPhone assembly plants in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of three semiconductor projects worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the country. The chip fabrication facility at the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) in Gujarat is being set up by Tata Electronics Private Limited with an investment of more than Rs 91,000 crore. The Tata Group is also setting up an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Assam with a total investment of about Rs 27,000 crore.
Meanwhile, Samsung clinched the top spot in the smartphone market from Apple in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, preliminary data from global research firm IDC said on Monday.
Global smartphone shipments increased 7.8 per cent (year-over-year) to 289.4 million units in the first quarter of 2024, according to the IDC, reports DPA news agency.
“While the industry is not completely out of the woods, as macroeconomic challenges remain in many markets, this marks the third consecutive quarter of shipment growth, a strong indicator that a recovery is well underway,” the report mentioned.
In the last quarter, Samsung sold 60.1 million smartphones and Apple 50.1 million of its iPhones.
That brings the market shares of the two biggest companies to 20.8 per cent and 17.3 per cent.
“As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands,” Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said.
“While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter,” he said.
China’s Xiaomi, Transsion and OPPO rounded out the top five companies.
“The smartphone market is emerging from the turbulence of the last two years both stronger and changed,” said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team.
“Xiaomi is coming back strong from the large declines experienced over the past two years and Transsion is becoming a stable presence in the Top 5 with aggressive growth in international markets,” Popal said.
“In contrast, while the Top 2 players both saw negative growth in the first quarter, it seems Samsung is in a stronger position overall than they were in recent quarters.”
The US official, Kritenbrink, will be on his visit to China from April 14 to 16…reports Asian Lite News
Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink is set to begin his visit to China today (Sunday) to meet Chinese officials as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the two countries.
The US official, Kritenbrink, will be on his visit to China from April 14 to 16.
“Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink will travel to the People’s Republic of China on April 14-16,” the US State Department said in an official release.
Kritenbrink will be joined by National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran, and the two will meet with the Chinese officials.
“Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink will be joined by National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran. The two will meet with PRC officials as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and to responsibly manage competition,” the statement added.
As reported on Saturday, amid growing tensions in the South China Sea between Beijing and Manila, the presidents of the United States, Japan, and the Philippines formed an unprecedented level of collaboration to counter China, according to Al Jazeera.
While US President Joe Biden and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have stressed the security aspects of their cooperation, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has highlighted its potential economic rewards, touting the partnership with promised investments of some USD 100bn as a friendship with benefits.
Last week, US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a telephonic conversation, the White House confirmed.
This comes amid increasing tensions between the two countries on a range of thorny issues, from trade to tech to investment.
According to the White House statement, the two leaders held a candid and constructive discussion on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including areas of cooperation and areas of difference.
President Biden further emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. (ANI)
Moves by India to fortify its kinetic capabilities vis-à-vis China are being closely followed within Southeast as well as East Asia, writes Prof. Madhav Das Nalapat
On land, sea, air and cyberspace, the Narendra Modi government is scaling up capabilities designed to halt and reverse efforts by the CCP leadership to grab territory and other rights at India’s expense. Since 2020, the buildup has succeeded in preventing another effort at land grabs of the kind that routinely took place in past times.
At the same time, largely as a consequence of the overreach and overload into society and governance by the Pakistan military, that country is slipping into a state of chaos and unrest. The change is that the people (as distinct from the elite) in several countries including Nepal and the Maldives are beginning to understand the predatory nature of the activities of the PRC on their soil.
Both External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have now explicitly called out the Peoples Republic of China for its aggressive designs, a manner that has thus far been avoided by ASEAN members, with the exception of the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. New Delhi’s countervailing buildup of military and other defences against PRC expansionism.
In the same way, Manila has been standing up to Beijing after having earlier (under President Obama) been abandoned by the US in the matter of control over its own islands and waters in the ASEAN Sea or ensuring that the PRC respect the international law of the seas.
Within the US, UK and the EU, a growing chorus of public concern about the activities of the PRC is forcing several CCP-leaning leaders (known for a combination of tough talk against China but meekness where action is concerned) into hardening their stances in public. This has not, however, stopped US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen from reportedly asking President Biden to abolish or at least substantially lower the Trump tariffs on China, or the placatory calls of US and EU leaders on the CCP leadership.
Amidst the dust and doubt of the intentions as distinct from words of the leaders of countries towards China in the Atlantic Alliance, what is clear is that public opinion is moving away from those who meekly accept PRC expansionist actions rather than take substantive action against such aggressive moves.
Moves by India to fortify its kinetic capabilities vis-à-vis China are being closely followed within Southeast as well as East Asia. Whether it be Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia or Indonesia, countries on the Indo-Pacific are bracing for a probable kinetic confrontation with the PRC.
The world’s second largest economy has not just discarded Deng Xiaoping’s economic policies, but has reversed his preferred foreign policy of “speaking softly while carrying a big stick”. Under CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, the People’s Republic of China is speaking loudly and assertively, and not just carrying but frequently using a bigger and bigger stick. As a consequence, the question facing its neighbours is no longer whether a confrontation is at hand, but when.
The Xi doctrine is to secure by bullying and intimidating where possible, and by force wherever necessary chunks of territory and other sovereign spaces of countries that the CCP General Secretary is targeting in his bid to expand the land, sea and other spaces that in the CCP view should constitute the PRC.
Once another bite into the territorial and other rights of a neighbouring country has been swallowed and digested, there follows a burst of sunshine diplomacy, designed to make the target country believe that the PRC has no interest in securing any further gains. Unfortunately for that country and for the stability of the Indo-Pacific in general, after a while, a fresh bite into the same country is made in the same way. Each such act of expansionist aggression and salami slicing gets followed after a while by soothing gestures that seek to mask the reality of.
The change in tone from wolf to lamb is to once again make the victim country believe the fiction that this would be the PLA’s last bite, and henceforwards, relations could resume on a cooperative track. Of course, such an illusion only until the next bite gets taken by the CCP. In the 1940s and the 1950s, Mao Zedong incorporated Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang into the PRC. Xi would like to emulate the CCP’s founder in his incorporation of territory and other assets into the PRC.
While looking at grabbing more land from countries such as Bhutan, Nepal and India, Xi has already established near-total PLA occupation of the ASEAN Sea (incorrectly known as the South China Sea). As was the case with Germany in the early part of the 20th century, the vast lands of Russia are being looked at for future conquests of land. Since 2021, an increasing number of netizens in the PRC have been mentioning what they term as the “historical injustice of losing lands to then Czarist Russia” in what is presently Siberia, and about the need for “rectification” of frontiers, including the incorporation of Vladivostok into the PRC.
Given that such posts could not be going online, or even get composed, without a nod from elements in the CCP, it is clear that expansion to the north and not just to the south and east is the aim of PRC strategists. From 2016, more than three million PRC citizens, almost all of them Han, have moved across the PRC border into Russian territory. Over 600,000 of them have secured citizenship or long-term resident rights, many through marrying Russian women, and thereafter divorcing them for Chinese spouses once citizenship or long-term residency is obtained.
The PRC is the only major gainer in the proxy war between Russia and NATO that was ignited in 2022 by the entry of Russian troops into parts of Donetsk and Lugansk that had shaken off the hold of Kiev in 2014.
Leh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Ladakh to review the ground security situation, amid ongoing tension at borders with China in Eastern Ladakh; on July 3, 2020. The Prime Minister reached Ladakh early morning and was briefied by the Army, Air Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police in Nimu. Located at 11,000 feet above sea level, Nimu is among the tough terrains, surrounded by the Zanskar range and on the banks of the Indus. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
A forensic study of anti-Russian memes in countries that are members of NATO would show that several have their origins in groups that assist the CCP in gaining through disinformation its strategic objectives. In the case of Russia, this is to ensure that the US, UK and the EU continue on the Russia track set by the previous Cold War, in the process ignoring the onset of the second, which is with China.
Next is to ensure through strategic moves by western powers that the Russian Federation and its leadership be constantly in a state of destabilisation where external relations are concerned, such that a weakening of the governance structure takes place on a scale that would replicate the events of 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed.
It is clear from his continued outreach to India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that President Vladimir V. Putin is aware of such designs, and hence his refusal to join hands with Beijing in making moves that are unfriendly to India.
Within the Atlantic Alliance, over the decades the CCP has nurtured an influencer network that regards China in a what may be called an admiring Gung Ho manner, while reserving for India the condescending Gunga Din approach of Rudyard Kipling. Even US envoy to India Eric Garcetti began making remarks that seemed designed not to make US-India ties stronger but more shaky, although he seems to have walked away from such remarks subsequently.
Meanwhile, events on sea, land and air in West, South, East and Southeast Asia are making clear the essentiality of the Quad developing into a full-fledged security alliance. And that the central role within the western Indo-Pacific in a grouping designed to deter further acts of expansionism will be played by India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.
Beijing has stepped up its activities in the strategic waterway in recent years, and tensions have risen…reports Asian Lite News
The leaders of Japan, the Philippines and the United States have voiced “serious concern” over China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing has stepped up its activities in the strategic waterway in recent years, and tensions have risen, particularly with the Philippines, one of several Southeast Asian countries that claim the parts of the sea around their coastlines.
Last month, Philippines’s President Ferdinand Marcos said Manila would take countermeasures against China after a confrontation off Second Thomas Shoal injured Filipino soldiers and damaged vessels.
“We express our serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s [PRC] dangerous and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea,” the three leaders said in a joint statement at the end of a first-ever summit between the three countries, which took place in Washington, DC.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line, which was rejected by an international court in 2016.
As well as the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea.
The statement noted the “importance of respecting the sovereign rights of states within their exclusive economic zones [EEZ] consistent with international law, as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS]”.
It also reiterated the three states’ opposition to China’s “dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea”.
Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin in the Philippines, has been the site of multiple standoffs between Beijing and Manila in recent months, with China’s coastguard using water cannon against ships trying to resupply a contingent of Filipino sailors living on board the deliberately grounded Sierra Madre.
The shoal lies about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, placing it within the Philippines’s EEZ, according to UNCLOS. It lies more than 1,000km (621 miles) from China’s southern Hainan island.
The US has a mutual defence treaty with the Philippines and has repeatedly made clear that it would protect its ally if its forces came under attack anywhere in the South China Sea.
Following a meeting with top diplomats on Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington’s commitment to that treaty was “ironclad”.
“We’re working in lockstep … to strengthen interoperability between our forces, to expand our operational coordination and to stand up to coercion in the South China Sea,” he said.
Meanwhile, Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo accused China of an “escalation of its harassment”.
He said he hoped the US meeting would help Washington and Manila better coordinate their diplomatic and defence responses.
“We are determined to assert our sovereign rights, especially within our economic — exclusive economic zone,” Manalo said.
Earlier on Friday, China summoned Japanese and Philippine diplomats in the country to express what it described as strong dissatisfaction over negative comments made during Thursday’s trilateral summit in the US.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L, Center) and Zhang Youxia (R, Center), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspect the guard of honor in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 4, 2019. Chinese and Russian senior military officials have agreed to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries to jointly maintain global peace and stability. (Photo by Li Xiaowei/Xinhua/IANS)
An official from the Joe Biden administration reportedly claimed that the Chinese and Russian entitles have also been working jointly to produce drones inside of Russia.
Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, China is helping Russia ramp up its defence industrial base at such a large scale that Moscow is now undertaking its most ambitious expansion in military manufacturing since the Soviet era, CNN reported, citing senior Biden administration officials.
One of the official claimed that the Chinese and Russian entitles have also been working jointly to produce drones inside of Russia.
The support from China is having a significant impact on Russia’s ability to continue its assault on Ukraine, while Ukraine’s military has been plagued with equipment and weapon shortages. The challenge for Ukraine is exacerbated by Republicans in the US Congress continuing to block a vote on a new American military aid package to Kyiv.
“One of the most game changing moves available to us at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade the PRC (People’s Republic of China) to stop helping Russia reconstitute its military industrial base. Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort without PRC inputs,” said a senior administration official, adding that Chinese “materials are filling critical gaps in Russia’s defense production cycle,” CNN reported.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during their meeting in New York. (File Pic: Xinhua/Han Fang/IANS)
According to the report, this week Gen. Chris Cavoli, the commander of US European Command, told lawmakers that Russia has been “quite successful” at reconstituting its military since it invaded Ukraine more than 2 years ago, and its capacity has largely “grown back” to what it was before the invasion. US officials are now making clear that China is largely responsible for that rapid build-up.
As a demonstration of this deepening China-Russia partnership: in 2023, 90 per cent of Russia’s micro-electronics imports came from China, which Russia has used to produce missiles, tanks, and aircraft, a second official said.
Russia’s rapidly expanding production of artillery rounds is due, in large part, to the nitrocellulose coming from China, officials said. This comes as Russia appears on track to produce nearly three times more artillery munitions than the US and Europe, CNN reported earlier this year.
Beyond the defence hardware, China is helping Russia to improve its satellite and other space based capabilities for use in Ukraine, and providing imagery to Russia for its war on Ukraine, the officials said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sign the statements on elevating bilateral ties to the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xueren/IANS)
Some of this information comes from downgraded US intelligence, officials said.
The support from China is compensating for the significant setbacks that Russia’s defense industry experienced early in the Ukraine war due to US sanctions and export controls.
President Joe Biden raised concerns about China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, following other officials repeatedly raising the concerns with their Chinese counterparts, officials said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also raised the matter with US allies during his recent Europe trip, the officials said. The US has not seen any interruption to the ongoing Chinese support since that Biden-Xi phone call, though sometimes it takes time to see changes come to fruition.
China continues to steer clear of providing Russia with lethal weaponry, which the US has warned against since the beginning of the Ukraine war, but in many cases, the inputs can be just as impactful as lethal weaponry, CNN reported.
US officials said it is imperative for the US and its allies to persuade China to stop this practice, though success will be hard to measure. Earlier this year Xi heralded a new year of growing coordination with Russia during a call with President Vladimir Putin.
Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivered China a warning of ‘significant consequences’ if Chinese companies provide support to Russia for the Ukraine war during her trip to the country.
CNN said in its report that the Biden administration also issued an executive order targeting third country banks that facilitate support to the Russian defense industrial base and following that action, the US has been touch with banks around the world to build up compliance systems to avoid inadvertently being caught up in this trade, which would result in US sanctions. (ANI)
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, too, said he had spoken to his Iranian counterpart and made it clear that “Iran must not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict.”…reports Asian Lite News
Amid speculations of Iran’s retaliation to the Israeli strike on its embassy in Syria, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken spoke to his Turkish, Chinese and Saudi counterparts in the last 24 hours, making clear that escalation in the Middle East is not in anyone’s interest, Al Jazeera reported citing the US State Department.
At the daily news briefing, US State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller said Washington continues to be concerned about the risk of escalation in the region, specifically after threats made by Iran towards Israel.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, too, said he had spoken to his Iranian counterpart and made it clear that “Iran must not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict.”
“Today I made clear to Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian that Iran must not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict. I am deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence. Iran should instead work to de-escalate and prevent further attacks,” the British Foreign Minister posted from his X handle.
Vowing to strictly respond to any attack by Iran, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant dialled US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and discussed preparations for the “possibility of a direct attack from Iran”, Al Jazeera reported.
“The security cooperation between Israel and the USA is powerful and unquestionable,” Gallant posted on X, echoing the words of Biden on Wednesday that the US’ “commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad”.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden stressed his country’s ‘ironclad’ support for Israel after Iran vowed to retaliate in the wake of the deadly air strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria.
“As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad. Let me say it again: ironclad. We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security,” Biden said at a White House press conference alongside visiting Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on Wednesday.
According to Times of Israel, Biden stated that in their earlier Oval Office meeting, the two of them “addressed the Iranian threat, as they threaten to launch a significant attack on Israel”.
Iran blamed Israel for the April 1 strike on its consulate in Damascus, which killed senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Iranian government has since vowed a response. (ANI)
India, China military-level talks end on positive trajectory.
Mao said the boundary question does not represent the entirety of India-China relations, and it should be placed appropriately in bilateral relations and managed properly.…reports Asian Lite News
Sound and stable India-China relations serve the interests of both countries and are conducive to peace and development in the region and beyond, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday.
Mao made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks about the bilateral relations between the two countries, Xinhua news agency reported.In an interview, Prime Minister Modi said that for India, the relationship with China is important and significant, and the two sides need to urgently address the prolonged situation on the borders so that the abnormality in the bilateral interactions can be put behind.He added that stable and peaceful relations between India and China are important for not just the two countries, but the entire region, as he expressed hope and belief that through positive and constructive bilateral engagement at the diplomatic and military levels, the two countries will be able to restore and sustain peace and tranquility on the borders.Mao said the boundary question does not represent the entirety of India-China relations, and it should be placed appropriately in bilateral relations and managed properly.She also said that China and India maintain close communication through diplomatic and military channels on handling issues related to the border situation.“We hope that India will work with China, approach the bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, keep building trust and engaging in dialogue and cooperation, and seek to handle differences appropriately to put the relationship on a sound and stable track,” Mao said.
Cameron will take up her appointment this month…reports Asian Lite News
Head of the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre Lindy Cameron has been appointed British High Commissioner to India, the U.K. government announced on April 11. Ms. Cameron, who is a West Asia, North Africa and Afghanistan hand replaces Alex Ellis, who just completed three years in New Delhi, and is expected to take up her new role this month.
Prior to her role as the UK’s cyber security chief, Cameron was the Director General of the UK’s Northern Ireland Office. She has also held director-level roles overseeing operations of the Department for International Development’s in West Asia, North Africa, as well as the department’s conflict and security divisions. Ms. Cameron also worked in Helmand, Afghanistan, in 2009-10, leading a provincial reconstruction team, as per her official résumé. Her current office, which oversees the UK’s cyber security environment, is a subsidiary of GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), the British government’s intelligence centre.
Cameron’s appointment in New Delhi — the first woman to hold the post — comes on the eve of the general elections in India and months ahead of a general election in the UK.
Her portfolio will involve the free trade agreement negotiations between India and the UK. The 14th round of trade talks, which began in 2022, was suspended last month due to the Indian elections. Negotiations are expected to resume after the elections and potentially before the UK goes to the polls.
Cameron’s new role begins as New Delhi and London are resetting their bilateral relationship, which was marked, in part, by External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s visit to London in November 2023. The UK is also increasing its defence presence in the Indo-Pacific. The Ministry of Defence announced on Wednesday that it would hold regular joint exercises with Japan and the U.S. starting next year. Talks for cooperation between Tokyo and AUKUS (the Australia, UK and US security alliance) were also recently announced. The Royal Navy’s Littoral Response Group is expected to visit the Indian Ocean Region this year and the Carrier Strike Group, in 2025.
