Australia yesterday announced plans to swap its detained boatpeople with those held by the US, a move immediately denounced as "bizarre" by rights groups and opposition politicians.
The deal would see mainly Asian refugees intercepted on their way to Australia considered for resettlement in the US, while Cuban and Haitian asylum-seekers hoping to live in the US could be dispatched to Australia.
The exchange would involve boatpeople held by Australia on the remote Pacific island of Nauru and refugees held by the US at its naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said.
Shared problem
Australia and the US shared a similar problem with boatpeople regularly breaching their international borders, said Andrews, who signed an agreement on the deal with the US on Tuesday.
"Some, for example, are held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base -- not the prison -- and those cases, the Cubans and Haitians, if they've got genuine refugee claims, the United States might say to us, `Would you consider settling some of these people?' and we would give consideration to it," he said. "Equally, we might say we have people that have sought to illegally enter Australia who have a refugee claim and we could say to the United States, `Would you consider settling them?'"
Prime Minister John Howard said the scheme would deter boatpeople seeking asylum from attempting to come to Australia.
Howard said the exchange would not involve large numbers of refugees and would only happen on a case-by-case basis.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
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