Russia faced diplomatic isolation over its military action against Georgia yesterday, with its Asian allies failing to offer support and France saying EU leaders were considering imposing sanctions.
Moscow accused the West of heightening tensions with a naval build-up in the Black Sea and said talk of punishing Russia for recognizing the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions was the product of a “sick” and “confused” imagination.
The G7 rich nations condemned Moscow’s “continued occupation of Georgia” and a group of Asian allies led by China, meeting in the capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, failed to follow Russia’s lead on independence for two breakaway regions of Georgia.
On Tuesday, Moscow announced that it was recognizing South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states.
EU SANCTIONS
France, the current EU president, has called a meeting of EU heads of government on Monday to discuss the Georgian crisis.
“Sanctions are being considered and many other means as well,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in response to a question at a news conference.
“We are trying to elaborate a strong text that will show our determination not to accept [what is happening in Georgia],” he said. “Of course, there are also sanctions.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed such talk, saying that Kouchner had also suggested recently that Russia might soon attack Moldova, Ukraine and the Crimea.
“But that is a sick imagination, and probably that applies to sanctions as well. I think it is a demonstration of complete confusion,” Lavrov said in Dushanbe.
NAVAL BUILD-UP
As the diplomatic manoeuvring gathered pace, Moscow also expressed alarm at a naval build-up in the Black Sea, an area normally dominated by its southern fleet.
Two US warships are already off the coast of Georgia to show support for their ally and Washington has ordered the flagship of its Sixth Fleet, the sophisticated joint command ship Mount Whitney, to the area, saying it will deliver humanitarian supplies.
NATO said yesterday there was no build-up of ships in the Black Sea.
Russia’s navy has responded by sending the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, the guided missile cruiser Moskva, to the Abkhaz port of Sukhumi, less than 200km to the north of where the two US warships are sailing.
PRISONER RELEASES
Meanwhile, Russia turned over 12 Georgian soldiers yesterday.
The release along the Inguri River separating Abkhazia from Georgia proper was a small conciliatory gesture.
The soldiers, who were detained on Aug. 18 in the seaport of Poti, appeared unharmed and some were smiling.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS