The biggest security operation in Northern Ireland’s history swung into action yesterday for the start of the G8 summit.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, the summit host, arrived on Sunday, and other leaders were flying into Belfast before catching helicopters to Lough Erne.
At the resort, campaigners launched two longboats flying sails emblazoned with the slogan “End Tax Dodging,” a reference to Cameron’s aim to make progress on curbing tax evasion at the talks.
PHOTO: EPA
The conflict in Syria was set to dominate the summit, with Russian President Vladimir Putin facing pressure to back away from supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Face-to-face talks between Putin and US President Barack Obama were set to be prickly, with the leaders now supporting opposing sides in the war.
Cameron will host Obama, Putin, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who represent just more than half of the US$71.7 trillion global economy.
The EU and US are due to announce the start of formal talks on a free-trade deal that could be worth more than US$100 billion a year to each economy.
Cameron may face some uncomfortable questions after leaked documents appeared to show that Britain spied on foreign delegates at the 2009 London G20 meetings.
Asked if he could guarantee his guests that no similar operation was in place at Lough Erne, Cameron said: “We never comment on security or intelligence issues and I am not about to start now.”
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2