Protesters on Friday set fires and hurled bricks in a daylong assault on the city hosting US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, registering their rage in a series of clashes that led to more than 200 arrests.
Pledging to empower the US’ “forgotten men and women,” Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the US.
Under cloudy skies at the West Front of the US Capitol, Trump promised to stir a “new national pride” and protect the US from the “ravages” of countries he says have stolen US jobs.
Photo: AFP
“This American carnage stops right here,” Trump said.
“From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it’s going to be America first,” he said.
Trump brought his signature style to the task of governing, sprinkling his comments at three inaugural balls with references to “phony polls,” campaign victories and social media.
“Let me ask you: Should I keep the Twitter going?” he asked a crowd of supporters before dancing with his wife, Melania, to Frank Sinatra’s My Way at the second ball.
“The enemies keep saying: ‘Oh that’s terrible,’ but it’s a way of bypassing dishonest media,” he said.
Leading up to Trump being sworn in, police were pressed into using pepper spray and stun grenades to prevent the chaos from spilling into the formal procession and evening events.
Several demonstrations were staged at security checkpoints near the Capitol as police helped ticket-holders get through to the ceremony.
Signs read: “Resist Trump, climate justice now,” “Let freedom ring” and “Free Palestine.”
About 2km from the National Mall, police gave chase to a group of about 100 people who smashed the windows of downtown businesses, including a Starbucks, a Bank of America and a McDonald’s, as they denounced capitalism and Trump.
Police in riot gear used pepper spray to help contain the violence, which erupted periodically throughout the day.
“They began to destroy property, throw objects at people, through windows. A large percentage of this small group was armed with crowbars and hammers,” Washington interim police chief Peter Newsham said.
Six officers sustained minor injuries, he said.
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
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
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
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,