The frayed relations between Chile and Peru appeared to unwind further on Saturday, after Peruvian President Ollanta Humala officially recognized an administrative district in a disputed border area.
The Chilean government promptly sent a protest note to Peru “strongly” rejecting the law because it “unquestionably” concerns Chilean territory.
In addition, Santiago said a planned bilateral meeting of ministers on social integration that had been set to take place next month was canceled.
Humala said the move aimed to spur development in the disputed La Yarada-Los Palos area on the border with Chile and improve living conditions for its inhabitants.
It would enable them to elect their own representatives and create conditions for them to take part in decisions involving their future, he said.
The action effectively asserts Peruvian sovereignty over a 4 hectare wedge of land within the district that Chile also claims.
The arid region where the district is located was the scene of the 19th-century War of the Pacific between the two nations.
The controversy has surfaced less than two years after the two sides had appeared to resolve their biggest boundary dispute.
In January last year, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, delineated the two countries’ maritime boundaries, giving Peru rights over an additional more than 50,000km2 of sea.
However, the two countries disagree on where the land boundary begins, with Peru insisting it runs from the edge of the sea and Chile arguing the starting point is about 270m inland.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese