AFGHANISTAN
Ghani reaches out to Taliban
President Ashraf Ghani is calling on the Taliban to take part in peace talks to “save the country.” Ghani said the government would provide facilities and security for those Taliban members who join the peace process and would “consider the Taliban’s view in the peace talks.” A resurgent Taliban has been blamed for much of the increased violence in the nation since US and NATO forces concluded combat missions in 2014. The attacks have underscored the weaknesses of national security forces. Ghani also called on government-to-government talks with Pakistan.
SOUTH KOREA
Chinese jet flies in territory
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday summoned the Chinese ambassador to lodge a complaint over a Chinese military aircraft entering the nation’s air defense territory, the second such incident this year. The Chinese aircraft on Tuesday flew for more than four hours inside the air defense identification zone, prompting the military to scramble multiple fighter jets to track it, a defense official said. The aircraft was told to “halt its threatening flight” and “any other actions that could raise the possibility of sudden conflict,” a defense official said, adding that Chinese officials said that the aircraft’s movements had been part of regular military exercises.
SOUTH KOREA
US joint exercises to resume
The nation and the US are early next month to start a joint military exercise postponed until after the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, presidential security adviser Moon Chung-in said according to Yonhap news agency. Moon, speaking at a seminar in Washington, said he is “aware the drills will begin in the first week of April,” Yonhap reported yesterday. “However, if there are talks between the United States and North Korea before the drills, there may be some kind of compromise,” Moon added, saying he hopes for dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington to begin.
PHILIPPINES
Chief justice expects ousting
Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno expects to be impeached by the House of Representatives this month and is to go on indefinite leave to prepare for the trial, her spokesman said yesterday. Sereno is to go on leave today, but is confident of being cleared of any wrongdoing during the impeachment trial, spokesman Jojo Lacanilao said. Lacanilao said that Sereno would not resign amid reports that rival justices demanded she quit in a meeting, adding that any effort to remove the chief justice outside of an impeachment trial is unconstitutional.
INDONESIA
Groups blast reconciliation
One of the main groups for survivors of terror attacks has refused to participate in what it says is a flawed government-organized “reconciliation” meeting between former Muslim militants and victims. The three days of meetings between dozens of ex-militants and victims has its finale yesterday, with speeches by seven government ministers and singing of the national anthem. Indonesian Survivors Foundation cofounder Sucipto Hari Wibowo said the government has good intentions, but many survivors have yet to come to terms with what happened to them, let alone face the people responsible. The rights of victims are “more important than a reconciliation held under the spotlight,” he said.
‘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