EU foreign ministers slapped a 15th round of sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because of the “appalling violence” in Syria and discussed further support for envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
The new EU sanctions, to take effect today, mean 129 people and 43 firms or utilities are now targeted by an assets freeze and travel ban for backing the regime’s 14-month campaign of relentless repression.
“The continuing violence is appalling and we continue to look again at sanctions,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said.
The last sanctions came barely a month ago, targeting the lifestyle of the al-Assad clique with a ban on luxury goods exports. The bloc this year also froze central bank assets and restricted trade in precious metals as it tightened the noose on Damascus following an arms and oil embargo.
“The ceasefire is not being fully implemented,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said. “There continues to be killing, torture, abuse in Syria. So it’s very important we keep the pressure on the Assad regime.”
“We must maintain political pressure,” Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said.
Ministers also urged a quick deployment of all ceasefire observers under the peace plan brokered by Annan, the UN-Arab League envoy. The EU sees the plan as the only possible way to avoid all-out civil war in Syria.
“I hope all of them will come in as soon as possible,” Swedish -Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. “We do see that that leads to a sort of reduction in violence and repression in areas where they are able to be.”
A failure of the Annan plan would be “a rapid descent into sectarian civil war,” Bildt said. “That would be profoundly devastating for Syria and the entire region.”
Meanwhile, fierce clashes between Syrian regime forces and armed rebels in the central city of Rastan yesterday left at least 23 soldiers dead and dozens wounded, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based monitoring group said initial reports indicated that three troop carriers were destroyed in the clashes that began at dawn on the outskirts of the rebel-held city, located in Homs Province.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a