Former Egyptian army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in as president yesterday in a ceremony with low-key attendance by Western allies concerned by a crackdown on dissent since he ousted Islamist Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi last year.
Last month’s election, which officials said al-Sisi won with 97 percent of the vote, followed three years of upheaval since a popular uprising ended 30 years of rule by former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Security in Cairo was extra tight, with armored personnel carriers and tanks positioned in strategic locations as al-Sisi swore to protect Egypt’s unity, law and the interests of its people before a panel of judges at the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court.
Near Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the revolt against Mubarak, where protesters now rarely tread, young men sold T-shirts with the image of al-Sisi in his trademark dark sunglasses.
Commentators on state and private media heaped praise on him, turning a blind eye to what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, in the hope that he can deliver stability and rescue the economy.
Many Egyptians share that hope, but they have limited patience, staging street protests that toppled two leaders in the past three years, and the election turnout of just 47 percent shows al-Sisi is not as popular as when he toppled Morsi.
“Sisi has to do something in his first 100 days. People will watch closely and there might be another revolution. That’s what people are like in this country,” theology student Israa Youssef, 21, said.
The US only sent a senior adviser to US Secretary of State John Kerry and most European countries sent only ambassadors.
“Just having ambassadors shows very clearly that while the governments are recognizing the new transfer of power, they are certainly not doing so with a huge amount of enthusiasm,” said H.A. Hellyer, non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “It won’t mean much in terms of trade and cooperation, but it leaves a bit of a foul taste in people’s mouths.”
Diplomacy pales as a problem for al-Sisi compared with an urgent need to fix state finances and tackle an Islamist insurgency to lure back tourists and investors.
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