Today’s News 29 March 2021 (Monday)

A. NAVY NEWS/COVID NEWS/PHOTOS Title Writer Newspaper Page DND Chief: more assets deployed in reef R Acosta B Mirror A2 1 area 2 Go: Covid-19 vaccine shipment arriving B Tamayo PDI A2

B. NATIONAL HEADLINES Title Writer Newspaper Page 3 Palace vows aid during ECQ A Romero P Star 1 4 Doctors: Fix response, avoid lockdown cycle D Pazzibugan PDI A1

C. NATIONAL SECURITY Title Writer Newspaper Page 5 DND: Phl ready to defend WPS sovereignty R Cabrera P Star 3 6 PH ramps up monitoring of Chinese vessels N Corrales PDI A4 7 Esperon optimistic PH, China will resolve M Sadongdong M Bulletin 1 latest tension in West PH Sea 8 Defense chief urges China: Withdraw ships D Reyes M Times A3 9 China war games: PH on guard R Araja M Standard A1 10 PH sends patrol ships, plane to West PH M Sadongdong Tempo 3 Sea reef 11 Smuggled cigarettes sized in Zamboanga N Lacson M Standard B16

D. INDO-PACIFIC Title Writer Newspaper Page NIL NIL NIL NIL

E. AFP RELATED Title Writer Newspaper Page 12 Checkpoint protocols laid down K Maralit D Tribune A3 Palace execs wish Duterte good health on PNA P Tonight 10 13 76th b-day

F. CPP-NPA-NDF-LCM Title Writer Newspaper Page 14 PACC to tap villages in fight vs corruption K Calayag M Times A3 15 6 impoverished rebels surrender J Reyes M Standard B16 16 Send home Joma, groups demand M Standard A4 17 5 most wanted men arrested A Dalizon P Journal 13 18 5 rebels yield ahead of NPA anniversary J Eleda P Journal 13 19 3 sa NPA sa , nalambat F Taboy Balita 3

G. MNLF/MILF/BIFF/ASG Title Writer Newspaper Page 20 Amnesty program backed J Manalastas P Journal 2 Velasco backs Duterte amnesty program for J Manalastas P Tonight 12 21 rebs

H. EDITORIAL-OPINION-COMMENTARY-SPECIAL Title Writer Newspaper Page 22 Pass or fail? S De Guzman P Star 4 Drilon wants govt to capitulates to R Tiglao M Times A1 23 communists 24 52 years of NPA M Cabugon M Times A5 25 Kaya bang umalma sa China? Ngayon 4

I. ONLINE NEWS Title Link NATIONAL NEWS https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/asean-on-the- 26 ASEAN ‘on the spot’ after Myanmar ‘bloodbath’, says Locsin spot-after-myanmar-bloodbath-says-locsin/ Catholics brave COVID-19 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health- threat to celebrate Palm Sunday coronavirus-philippines-palm-s/philippines- 27 catholics-brave-covid-19-threat-to-celebrate- palm-sunday-idUSKBN2BK06I Rites marking 500 yrs of Christianity to https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/29/rites 28 proceed, mostly online, says CBCP -marking-500-yrs-of-christianity-to-proceed- mostly-online-says-cbcp/ Non-APORs urged to stay home, stay https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135150 29 safe Palace confirms ‘ayuda’ for ECQ areas; https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/palace- 30 cash aid to cover SAP beneficiaries, confirms-ayuda-for-ecq-areas-cash-aid-to- displaced workers cover-sap-beneficiaries-displaced-workers/ NAVY NEWS DND Chief: More assets deployed in reef https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/29/dnd- 31 area chief-more-assets-deployed-in-reef-area/ PH sends patrol ships, plane to WPS as https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/ph-sends-patrol- 32 China refuses to leave Julian Felipe Reef ships-plane-to-wps-as-china-refuses-to-leave- julian-felipe-reef/ Lorenzana: More ships sent to patrol https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/28 33 West Philippine Sea /2087585/lorenzana-more-ships-sent-patrol- west-philippine-sea PH ready to defend sovereignty, marine https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135123 34 resources: Lorenzana French submarine offer to the https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop 35 Philippines - Part 1: Why are submarines &v=c7GpA_suRho getting so popular globally? AFP RELATED Esperon optimistic PH, China will https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/esperon- 36 resolve latest tension in West PH Sea optimistic-ph-china-will-resolve-latest-tension- in-west-ph-sea/ Philippine Air Force deploys jet over https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/natio 37 Chinese ships at Julian Felipe Reef n/781574/philippine-air-force-deploys-jet-over- chinese-ships-at-julian-felipe-reef/story/ Send home Joma, groups demand https://manilastandard.net/news/national/3506 38 61/send-home-joma-groups-demand.html 6 private armed groups in https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/regio disbanded during Q1 of 2021 task ns/781529/6-private-armed-groups-in- 39 — force maguindanao-disbanded-during-q1-of-2021- task-force/story/ Velasco: House fully supports Duterte’s https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/velasco-house- 40 amnesty program for Muslim, communist fully-supports-dutertes-amnesty-program-for- rebels muslim-communist-rebels/ AFP ready to deploy more Covid-19 https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135136 41 vaccines PCOO premieres anti-terrorism docu https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135166 42 ‘CTG’ AMLC orders freeze of UCCP Haran https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135146 43 bank deposits, assets 6 impoverished rebels surrender https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/29/6- 44 impoverished-rebels-surrender/ hospital upgrade up https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/29/sul 45 u-hospital-upgrade-up/ Earthquake scenarios: Mitigating https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/earthquake- 46 potential impacts of ‘Big Ones’ scenarios-mitigating-potential-impacts-of-big- ones/ The unending story of red-tagging, https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/03/27/opinio 47 courtesy of CPP n/columnists/the-unending-story-of-red- tagging-courtesy-of-cpp-2/855934/ INDO-PACIFIC NEWS Myanmar's deadliest day since its coup https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia- 48 56549156 Troops fire at funeral as Myanmar https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar- mourns bloodiest day since coup politics/troops-fire-at-funeral-as-myanmar- 49 mourns-bloodiest-day-since-coup- idUSKBN2BK00T Factbox:'Fallen Stars' from a day of https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar- bloodshed in Myanmar politics-victims-factbox/factboxfallen-stars- 50 from-a-day-of-bloodshed-in-myanmar- idUSKBN2BK0BF Myanmar Protesters Return After https://www.wsj.com/articles/myanmar- 51 Security Forces Kill 90 People protesters-return-after-security-forces-kill-90- people-including-children-11616942696 Myanmar army launches air strikes in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar- Karen state, group says politics-karen/myanmar-army-launches-air- 52 strikes-in-karen-state-group-says- idUSKBN2BJ0IZ Thousands flee to Thailand after https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar- Myanmar army's air strikes on villages: politics-karen/thousands-flee-to-thailand-after- 53 activist group, media myanmar-armys-air-strikes-on-villages-activist- group-media-idUSKBN2BK0CP https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/world/asi 54 Inside Myanmar’s Army: ‘They See Protesters as Criminals’ a/myanmar-army-protests.html World Bank, Asian Development Bank https://www.voanews.com/east-asia- 55 Freeze Funds to Myanmar to Shun Junta pacific/world-bank-asian-development-bank- freeze-funds-myanmar-shun-junta Indonesian church bombed by https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia- 56 suspected Islamist militants blast/indonesian-church-bombed-by- suspected-islamist-militants-idUSKBN2BK02C Indonesia police: Makassar church https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia- bomber part of a group involved in past blast/indonesia-police-makassar-church- 57 attack bomber-part-of-a-group-involved-in-past- attack-idUSKBN2BK0EU Islamic State terror network behind https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast- 58 suicide bombing at Indonesian church, asia/article/3127364/islamic-state-terror- police say network-behind-palm-sunday-suicide Indonesia president condemns church https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia- attack as "terrorism" blast-president/indonesia-president- 59 condemns-church-attack-as-terrorism- idUSKBN2BK06M Two people carried out church bombing https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia- 60 in Indonesia: police blast-attackers/two-people-carried-out-church- bombing-in-indonesia-police-idUSKBN2BK04L Indonesia police: one killed in church https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia- bombing was the attacker blast-victim/indonesia-police-one-killed-in- 61 church-bombing-was-the-attacker- idUSKBN2BK03U Indonesia police: explosion in Makassar https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia- suspected to be a suicide bombing blast-police/indonesia-police-explosion-in- 62 makassar-suspected-to-be-a-suicide-bombing- idUSKBN2BK03E Bangladesh violence spreads after https://www.reuters.com/article/us- Modi's visit, attacks on Hindu temples, bangladesh-india-protest/bangladesh-violence- 63 train spreads-after-modis-visit-attacks-on-hindu- temples-train-idUSKBN2BK08L Killing of youths sparks protests in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan- northwest Pakistan killings-protests/killing-of-youths-sparks- 64 protests-in-northwest-pakistan- idUSKBN2BK0K2 Thai rally site cleared https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/ 65 2091047/police-storm-rally-site North Korea accuses U.N. Security https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea- Council of 'double standard' over missile missiles-un/north-korea-accuses-u-n-security- 66 tests council-of-double-standard-over-missile-tests- idUSKBN2BK0P1 U.N. negotiating with China for https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china- unfettered access to Xinjiang: Guterres rights-un/u-n-negotiating-with-china-for- 67 tells CBC unfettered-access-to-xinjiang-guterres-tells- cbc-idUSKBN2BK0GN Beijing enveloped in hazardous https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china- sandstorm, second time in two weeks weather-sandstorm/beijing-enveloped-in- 68 hazardous-sandstorm-second-time-in-two- weeks-idUSKBN2BK03C China generated over half world's coal- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate- fired power in 2020: study change-china-coal/china-generated-over-half- 69 worlds-coal-fired-power-in-2020-study- idUSKBN2BK0PZ Could a chill in China’s ties with the West https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/ 70 put its Arctic plans on ice? article/3127320/could-chill-chinas-ties-west- put-its-polar-silk-road-plans-ice China-Iran deal a ‘momentous’ shift as https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/ 71 US ties sour, says ex-envoy article/3127346/chinas-25-year-deal-iran- marks-momentous-change-ties-us-sour Turbulence ahead as US-China tech https://www.scmp.com/economy/china- 72 war spills into aviation sector economy/article/3127090/us-china-relations- beijings-plan-aviation-supremacy-faces China hits U.S. and Canada with https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/28 73 sanctions in Xinjiang fallout /asia-pacific/china-us-canada-xinjiang/ Western views of human rights don't http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021- 74 represent int'l community: Chinese FM 03/29/c_139842752.htm Blinken says aspects of U.S.-China ties https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china- 75 are 'increasingly adversarial' blinken/blinken-says-aspects-of-u-s-china-ties- are-increasingly-adversarial-idUSKBN2BK0EA United States condemns China's https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa- sanctions in dispute over Uighurs canada/united-states-condemns-chinas- 76 sanctions-in-dispute-over-uighurs- idUSKBN2BJ0DW Washington condemns China’s https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/ 77 ‘baseless sanctions’ over Xinjiang article/3127305/us-china-relations-blinken- condemns-chinas-baseless-sanctions US decries Chinese ‘state-led’ campaign https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/ 78 against companies ending Xinjiang ties article/3127230/us-decries-chinese-state-led- social-media-campaign-against U.S.-China sanctions battle escalating https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/ 79 under Biden with focus on Xinjiang mar/28/us-china-sanctions-battle-escalating- abuses under-biden-w/ US demonstrators rally nationwide https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2090875/ 80 against anti-Asian violence us-demonstrators-rally-nationwide-against- anti-asian-violence U.S. lawmakers reintroduce Taiwan https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4161 81 Relations Reinforcement Act 968 U.S. religious-rights official says she is https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china- 'flattered' to be target of China sanctions uighurs/u-s-religious-rights-official-says-she-is- 82 2flattered-to-be-target-of-china-sanctions- idUSKBN2BK0IZ U.S. denuclearization phrasing puts https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/28 83 progress on North Korea in jeopardy /asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia- pacific/north-korea-denuclearization-peninsula/ U.S., Japan and South Korea eye foreign https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/28 84 minister meeting in April, source says /national/politics-diplomacy/u-s-south-korea- north-korea-nuclear-weapons-china/ Japan joins global condemnation of https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/28 85 lethal force against Myanmar protesters /asia-pacific/myanmar-killings-condemned/ Taiwan condemns junta following https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4162 86 Myanmar's bloodiest day since coup 659 Malaysia's key ruling coalition ally says https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia- will not work with PM Muhyiddin in polls politics/malaysias-key-ruling-coalition-ally- 87 says-will-not-work-with-pm-muhyiddin-in-polls- idUSKBN2BK04W Hazard map reveals possibility of https://www.nst.com.my/world/region/2021/03/ 88 powerful earthquake in next 30 years 677644/hazard-map-reveals-possibility- powerful-earthquake-next-30-years Tugs, dredgers still struggle to free https://www.hindustantimes.com/world- container ship blocking Suez Canal news/tugs-dredgers-struggle-to-free-container- 89 ship-evergiven-blocking-suez-canal- 101616953737814.html 6 days on, Suez Canal still blocked: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world- 90 What we know so far news/6-days-on-suez-canal-still-blocked-what- we-know-so-far-101616903531092.html The U.S. Doesn't Know How to Treat Its https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/202 91 Allies 1/03/the-us-doesnt-know-how-to-treat-its- allies/618441/ Malign or benign? China–US strategic https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/03/28/mal 92 competition under Biden ign-or-benign-china-us-strategic-competition- under-biden/ China To Invest $400 Billion In Iran. Iran https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/03/china-to- 93 Will Regret It. invest-400-billion-in-iran-iran-will-regret-it/ Indo-Pacific views from Tokyo to Tonga https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/indo-pacific- 94 views-from-tokyo-to-tonga/ DEFENSE NEWS China war games: PH on guard https://manilastandard.net/news/top- 95 stories/350679/china-war-games-ph-on- guard.html DND: Philippines ready to defend West https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/29 96 Philippine Sea sovereignty /2087739/dnd-philippines-ready-defend-west- philippine-sea-sovereignty Philippines sends fighter aircraft over https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines- Chinese vessels in South China Sea china-southchinasea/philippines-sends-fighter- 97 aircraft-over-chinese-vessels-in-south-china- sea-idUSKBN2BK031 Philippine fighter jet flies over Chinese https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast- 98 boats in South China Sea asia/article/3127316/philippines-sends-fighter- aircraft-over-chinese-boats Philippines sends fighter aircraft over https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International- Chinese vessels in South China Sea relations/South-China-Sea/Philippines-sends- 99 fighter-aircraft-over-Chinese-vessels-in-South- China-Sea International Chiefs of Defense http://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/ Condemn Use of Lethal Force in Burma Article/2552774/international-chiefs-of- 100 defense-condemn-use-of-lethal-force-in- burma/ Royal Australian Navy Selects Saab 9lv https://www.asiapacificdefensejournal.com/202 Combat System For New Mine Warfare 1/03/australia-selects-saab-9lv-combat.html 101 & Hydrographic Vessels

Managing China relations, Australia’s https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/policy-gun- new submarines and investing in and-money-managing-china-relations- 102 Southeast Asia australias-new-submarines-and-investing-in- southeast-asia/ Australia's Nine network hit by https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nine-entmt- suspected cyber attack: source cyber/australias-nine-network-hit-by- 103 suspected-cyber-attack-source- idUSKBN2BK02V Top military officers from U.S., allies to https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar- condemn violence by Myanmar security politics-usa-military-exclusi/exclusive-top- 104 forces military-officers-from-u-s-allies-to-condemn- violence-by-myanmar-security-forces- idUSKBN2BK002 Japan and Indonesia defense chiefs https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/28 105 opposed to assertive moves by China /national/indonesia-china-south-china-sea- defense/ Japan to iron out deal on arms exports to https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International- 106 Indonesia relations/Japan-to-iron-out-deal-on-arms- exports-to-Indonesia NATO chief raises serious concern https://www.hindustantimes.com/world- about China's military investment news/nato-chief-raises-serious-concern-about- 107 china-s-military-investment- 101616921719625.html Pentagon: Suez Canal stoppage may https://thehill.com/policy/defense/navy/545292- 108 impact transit of military vessels pentagon-suez-canal-stoppage-may-impact- transit-of-military-vessels Joe Biden’s North Korea Strategy: https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/03/joe- 109 Failure Could Mean War bidens-north-korea-strategy-failure-could- mean-war/ Chinese aviation firm Avic: why is it on a https://www.scmp.com/economy/china- 110 US sanctions list and what do we know economy/article/3127089/chinese-aviation- about it? firm-avic-why-it-us-sanctions-list-and-what Russia could upset India’s US-China https://www.scmp.com/week- 111 balancing act asia/politics/article/3127193/russia-could- upset-indias-us-china-balancing-act USMC General Tracy King Comments https://www.navalnews.com/naval- 112 On The US Navy’s New Light news/2021/03/usmc-general-tracy-king- Amphibious Warship comments-on-the-us-navys-new-light- amphibious-warship/ US-Taiwan coast guard partner to blunt https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/d 113 potential Chinese invasion efense-national-security/us-taiwan-coast- guard-partner-blunt-potential-chinese-invasion In Great Power Wars, Americans Could https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/03/gr 114 Again Become POWs eat-power-wars-americans-could-again- become-pows/172964/ Taiwanese military has not learned from https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archi 115 air crashes: report ves/2021/03/29/2003754691 Taiwanese political party leaders could https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archi 116 face security rule ves/2021/03/29/2003754689

China's Navy: Now More Powerful Than https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/chinas- 117 the U.S. Navy? navy-now-more-powerful-us-navy-181387 China opens yet another front in South https://www.myind.net/Home/viewArticle/china- 118 China Sea, Philippines raises concerns opens-yet-another-front-in-south-china-sea- philippines-raises-concerns National Defense University PRISM https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Document 119 Quarterly s/prism/prism_9-2/prism_9-2.pdf

Viewpoint: Empower Warfighters https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/artic 120 Through a Digital Battlespace les/2021/3/29/empower-warfighters-through-a- digital-battlespace COVID NEWS Philippines locks down capital ahead of https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health- 121 Easter as virus cases surge environment/article/3127277/philippines- renewed-coronavirus-lockdown-manila-likely UN chief criticizes wealthy countries for https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/29/un-chief- 122 vaccine ‘stockpile’ criticizes-wealthy-countries-for-vaccine- stockpile/ Hong Kong says initial investigation of https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health- BioNTech vaccines shows no 'obvious coronavirus-hongkong-vaccines/hong-kong- 123 systemic factors' says-initial-investigation-of-biontech-vaccines- shows-no-obvious-systemic-factors- idUSKBN2BK00G Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020- 124 Across the World coronavirus-cases-world- map/?srnd=coronavirus

J. OPINION/EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Title Link 125 In the South China Sea, Biden is https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article outdoing Trump in bluff and bluster /3127180/south-china-sea-biden-outdoing- trump-bluff-and-bluster 126 As US-China clash endangers our https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article fragile economic recovery, we must do /3127197/us-china-clash-endangers-our- more than just gawk fragile-economic-recovery-we-must-do 127 Whose world is it anyway? https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/leaders/2021/ 03/677767/nst-leader-whose-world-it-anyway 128 China’s go-it-alone five-year plan https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2021/03/ 28/commentary/world-commentary/china-five- year-plan-semiconductors-xi-jinping/ 129 Taiwan: Europe and strategic ambiguity https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/ar chives/2021/03/29/2003754666 130 Bishop Pabillo’s voice: Source of light, https://opinion.inquirer.net/138888/bishop- hope in dark times pabillos-voice-source-of-light-hope-in-dark- times

ASEAN ‘on the spot’ after Myanmar ‘bloodbath’, says Locsin

Published March 28, 2021, 2:08 PM by Roy Mabasa Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Sunday said the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) is placed “on the spot” following the escalating violence in Myanmar where more than 100 people — including several children — were killed after security forces opened fire on protesters.

Locsin’s reaction came as dozens of defense leaders worldwide condemned the deadly incident on Saturday that coincided with Myanmar’s annual observance of Armed Forces Day

“ASEAN on the spot,” Locsin said in a tweet in reaction to the reports of the mass killings.

In a separate post, the country’s top diplomat said the latest incident in Myanmar is a “test of ASEAN credibility”.

“ASEAN was not constituted to be a pallbearer and regional hearse but a grouping for the good of its peoples as we repeatedly avow,” he said.

Observers say that the latest incident in Myanmar was the ‘worst bloodshed’ since the military staged a coup on Feb. 1.

Three weeks ago, the Philippines issued a statement calling for the immediate release of detained Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and a complete return to the country’s existing state of affairs.

Locsin, in a statement, also called for ASEAN unity, adding that the regional bloc “must stand by” its fellow member, “ready to give what help it is asked by the people and government of Myanmar.”

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/asean-on-the-spot-after-myanmar-bloodbath-says-locsin/

Philippines Catholics brave COVID-19 threat to celebrate Palm Sunday By Lisa Marie David, Jay Ereno 2 MIN READ Slideshow ( 4 images )

MANILA (Reuters) - Dozens of Catholics in the Philippines braved the threat of coronavirus on Sunday to attend a mass outside the Baclaran Church in Manila to celebrate Palm Sunday, marking the beginning of the Holy Week.

Wearing face masks and observing physical distancing to protect themselves from COVID-19, they waved their palm fronds as the priest sprinkled holy water on them.

“I hope and pray this pandemic will end. I hope our (living) conditions will get better, especially since there are a growing number of people going hungry,” Stephane Silva said after attending mass.

Religious gatherings will be banned from Monday until Easter to comply with stricter quarantine restrictions the Philippine government reimposed in the capital and nearby provinces to slow the sharp rise in COVID-19 infections.

About 80% of people in the Philippines are Catholic.

At the St. Peter Parish in City, candles were attached to empty pews to represent parishioners taking part in Palm Sunday celebrations outside the church or online. The Philippines is battling a renewed surge in infections, including those of the new and more transmissible variants, prompting the government to tighten existing curbs in the capital and nearby provinces.

Coronavirus cases and deaths in the Philippines totalled 721,892 and 13,170, the second highest in Southeast Asia, with infections reported in the past nine days accounting for a tenth of the total.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-philippines-palm-s/philippines-catholics-brave- covid-19-threat-to-celebrate-palm-sunday-idUSKBN2BK06I

Rites marking 500 yrs of Christianity to proceed, mostly online, says CBCP

BySAMUEL P. MEDENILLA

MARCH 29, 2021

DESPITE the raging pandemic and its quarantine restrictions, the celebration of the 500 years of Christianity this Holy Week and its succeeding activities will still push through online, according to the

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). In its schedule of activities for the Jubilee Year 2021, CBCP announced most of its events will be streamed online due to restrictions on mass gathering, particularly in areas currently under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and its surrounding areas (NCR Plus).

The National Quincentennial Celebration of the First Easter Mass in the country will be held on April 4, 2021.

It will be marked by the simultaneous opening of the Jubilee Doors in all Cathedral, which will signal the opening of the 2021 Jubilee Year in parishes nationwide.

try, as CBCP President and Archbishop of Davao Romulo G. Va“Letlles it saidalso bein athe pastoral occasion letter. for the opening of a jubilee door in every cathedral in the whole coun well as in select Churches during the rest of Easter,”

Cebu City, and a mass and cultural show in the Basilica del Sto. Niño, also in City. It will be followed by the reenactment of the First Baptism to be held in front of the Magellan’s Cross in On April 18, 2021, cathedrals and parishes will commemorate the First Baptism, by holding the said sacrament.

seph and Cathedrals and Parishes nationwide will simultaneously hold the national consecration of the patron of the Universal Church. During this year’s Labor Day, the National Shrine of St. Jo Pope Francis declared 2021 as the Year of St. Joseph. During this period, the faithful could gain plenary indulgence through several activities, including the praying for protection to the saint for protection during work. The commemoration of St. Joseph will end during the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, 2021.

The faithful could also gain plenary indulgence by making a pilgrimage to any of the designated Jubilee s online portal, www.businessmirror.com.ph. Churches as listed by the CBCP. The list of such churches are posted in BusinessMirror’ Based on Pope Fran devotional pilgrimage to one of the designated Jubilee Churches cis’s recent decree, the faithful can receive plenary indulgence when they make a “ ” until April 22, 2022. When the faithful make the pilgrimage, they have to meet the usual conditions of going to confession, receiving the Eucharist, and praying for the intentions of the pope.

Pilgrims are also asked to istian calling, for the

Prayer, the profession of faith,pray and “for an the invocation fidelity of tothe the Filipino Blessed people V to their C hr increase of priestly and religious vocations and for the defense of the family, concluding with the Lord’s irgin Mary”. An indulgence is the remission of the temporal punishment due to sins, which have already been forgiven.

Throughout the year, CBCP and Church-run Radio Veritas, will hold several other online activities related to Quincentennial Celebration.

These events include the launching of the Year of Mission ad Gentes (Nov. 8); virtual pilgrimage (starting March 2021); webinars on Mission for Youth (Jan. 23 to March 2021); Pista ng Pananampalataya (April 10); Lecture Series on Philippine Church History (May to July 2021); Webinars on Mission for Ecclesial Movements (May 22 to June 26); webinars on the mission of clergy (July 24); webinars on Mission for Christian Living Educators, Campus Ministers, and Catechists (Aug. 28 to Sept. 25); Webinar/online short course on Historical Research (Sept.); webinar on Mission for pastoral workers, parish Basic Ecclesial Communities Leaders (Oct. 23); and Webinar on Mission for Women Religious (Nov. 27).

The 2021 Jubilee will end on April 22, 2022 with the closing of the Second National Mission Congress in Cebu City.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/29/rites-marking-500-yrs-of-christianity-to-proceed-mostly- online-says-cbcp/

Non-APORs urged to stay home, stay safe

By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan March 28, 2021, 7:14 pm

MANILA – Once the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces begins 12:01 a.m. Monday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will be busy monitoring non-Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APORs).

The PNP advised on Sunday that for their own good, non-APORs must stay home as much as possible to decrease their chances of getting the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Lt. Gen. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, commander of the Joint Task Force Covid Shield, said they will deploy 7,876 cops in 929 checkpoint areas in the National Capital Region; 982 cops in 162 control points in , particularly in ; and 498 policemen in 15 quarantine control points in , specifically , and .

They will undergo Covid-19 testing and isolation after their weeklong duties.

Binag said there is no need for travel passes as identification cards or certificates to prove employment status will suffice when passing through checkpoints.

He said quarantine passes will depend on village ordinances.

"Violators will be issued citation tickets or sent back to their places of origin. They may also be sent to a gym or whatever spacious area to listen to lectures or watch videos that will remind them of protocols under ECQ," Binag said in Filipino during a virtual press conference.

He said checkpoints must have enough space if a vehicle must turn around, be secured and equipped with tents, restrooms and sanitation items. Cops will also carry sticks to avoid physical contact when checking on items.

“Those passing through checkpoints must prove they are residents there and are out only to buy necessities,” he added.

The Highway Patrol Group and other support units will provide assistance, particularly when conducting an inspection.

Binag reminded that persons below 18 and over 65 years old, persons with comorbidities, and pregnant women must stay at home.

The 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will be followed.

"If you’re not an APOR, please do not go out because we will send you home just the same," he said. ECQ will last until 11:59 p.m. on April 4 in the so-called NCR Plus bubble.

Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, deputy chief for administration and commander of the Administrative Support for Covid-19 Task Force, said that based on the order of PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas, police commanders in NCR Plus must ensure that their personnel are well-protected and aware of the ECQ rules, especially in proper decorum and observance of maximum tolerance.

“All our security personnel that would be tapped to implement the ECQ in the NCR Plus area are reminded to strictly observe the minimum protocols on health safety,” said Eleazar.

Cop were issued personal protective equipment on top of the Field Service uniform, which has a long-sleeved upper garment for added protection. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135150

Palace confirms ‘ayuda’ for ECQ areas; cash aid to cover SAP beneficiaries, displaced workers

Published March 28, 2021, 11:37 AM by Argyll Cyrus Geducos Malacañang said the government will be extending financial assistance to those who will be affected by the week-long enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and that the aid will cover more beneficiaries.

(Ali Vicoy / MANILA BULLETIN)

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after President Duterte approved placing Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal under ECQ from March 29 to April 4.

In his press briefing on Saturday, Roque said that the government will be extending cash aid since a lot of people will be affected by the closure of many businesses.

Roque said details such as the source of the fund and the method of distribution are still being finalized by the government’s economic team.

However, the Palace official said that those affected by the ECQ, particularly the ones who will not be able to work, will receive the assistance. The beneficiaries of the first two tranches of the social amelioration program (SAP) will also be included.

“Lahat po noong mga nangangailangan ‘no kasi iyan po ang tinitingnan natin – magkano iyong halaga (Everyone in need will receive and we’re looking at the exact amount),” he said.

“Sa pagpupulong ng mga Metro Manila mayors, mas gusto nila na mas maraming makinabang, hindi lang iyong mga SAP beneficiaries (In their meeting, Metro Manila mayors want that this round of assistance will not just cover SAP beneficiaries),” he added.

Roque, however, said beneficiaries may receive a smaller amount compared to the original SAP.

“Siguro po ang halaga ay mas maliit sa inaasahan pero ang makakatanggap ay mas marami po (Maybe it will be a smaller amount than what is expected but there will be more people who will get the assistance),” he said. He likewise hoped that only those who will not be able to work for the next week will avail of the assistance.

“Sana po iyong mga hindi lang nakapagtrabaho ang kumuha ng financial aid ‘no kasi iyan naman po iyong intensiyon natin, iyong mga hindi nakapagtrabaho (I hope that only those who will not be able to work will get the financial aid because our intention really is to help those people),” he said.

Meanwhile, Roque said the distribution of this round of cash assistance will unlikely take place during the ECQ period but will happen within the next month.

“Kasi sa lockdown mahirap mamigay ng tulong at isang linggo lang naman ito (It will be hard to distribute the aid during the lockdown. And it’s just for a week anyway),” he said.

“Pero ang target po natin, hindi rin naman po matatapos ang buwan ng Abril eh makakarating iyong tulong na ibibigay ng gobyerno sa mga nangangailangan (But our target is to distribute the cash aid before the end of April),” he added.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/palace-confirms-ayuda-for-ecq-areas-cash-aid-to-cover-sap- beneficiaries-displaced-workers/

DND Chief: More assets deployed in reef area

ByRENE ACOSTA

MARCH 29, 2021

THE military has increased its deployment of assets at the Julian Felipe Reef as Defense Secretary Delfin security situation has tensed up with the presence of nearly 200 Chinese maritime militia vessels. Lorenzana guaranteed the military’s readiness to defend the country’s interests over the reef, where the for the Chinese communist government to remove them. By the latest count of the military, at least 183 vesselsThe Chinese are remain ships have holed been out atin inthe the country’s reef maritime waters since March 7 despite calls from officials

There will be an increased presence of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard ships to conduct sovereignty“We are ready patrols to defend and protect our national our fishermen sovereignty in th and protect the marine resources of the Philippines. night. e West Philippine Sea,” said Lorenzana on Saturday immediate withdrawal of Chinese vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef, which was communicated to the “I assure our people that we are addressing the situation. We stand by our position calling for the

Chinese ambassador,” he added. Filipino and Chinese military officials met before the weekend in order to defuse the situation. vessels was also relayed by military officials to their Chinese counterparts. Lorenzana’s call for the removal of the Chinese maritime militia No development was however reported after the meeting and the Chinese government, apparently, has not taken any action.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. on March 21 said his agency had filed a diplomatic protest with China over the vessel swarm, though Chinese officials insisted these were simply fishing boats seeking shelter from rough seas.

Several countries, including Australia and Japan, have since backed the call of the Philippines, urging China to observe maritime laws, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

Lorenzana said that while a Philippine navy ship and a Philippine Coast Guard (vessel) are currently at the reef monitorin

g the actual situation, the Philippine Air Force is also using AS211 jet aircraft “every day with the same mission.” Philippine Sea) and KIG (Kalayaan Island “Our air and sea assets are ready to protect our sovereignty and sovereign rights in the WPS (West Group),” the defense secretary assured the public. Lorenzana said the Department of National Defense is coordinating with other government agencies like t in the WPS and the Kalayaan Island Group, which he stressed is part of the Municipality of Pag-asa. the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to coordinate the country’s effor commitment to keeping the freedom of navigation and “By securing the West Philippine Sea and its islands in the Kalayaan area, the Philippines reinforces its maintaining regional peace and stability,” he said.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/29/dnd-chief-more-assets-deployed-in-reef-area/

PH sends patrol ships, plane to WPS as China refuses to leave Julian Felipe Reef

Published March 28, 2021, 1:13 PM by Martin Sadongdong The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) have deployed two patrol ships and a jet trainer to Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as China continues to defy the call of top defense and military officials to recall hundreds of their suspected maritime militia vessels in the area.

(Photo courtesy of AFP)

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Saturday night, March 28, that the Philippine Navy (PN) and PCG each sent one patrol ship while the Philippine Air Force (PAF) deployed an AS-211 jet aircraft for maritime patrols in the tension-filled waters.

Lorenzana did not identify which patrol ships were sent by the PN and PCG.

However, Ryan Martinson, of the China Maritime Studies Institute, said on March 26 that PCG’s BRP Cabra, a Parola-class patrol vessel, arrived at the Julian Felipe Reef via Pag-asa (Thitu) Island and stayed for one day.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo has yet to respond to queries as to which patrol ship was deployed by the PN.

“We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines. There will be an increased presence of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard ships to conduct sovereignty patrols and protect our fishermen in the West Philippine Sea,” Lorenzana said.

Further, the Defense Chief said that they have already coordinated with other government agencies, including the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), to unify their efforts in the West Philippine Sea and Kalayaan Island Group (KIG).

Pag-asa (Thitu) Island, which is located in the Kalayaan Island Group, is the nearest Philippine-occupied feature to Julian Felipe Reef. A community of Filipino fishermen and a military contingent are stationed on Pag-asa Island while several development works, such as a beaching ramp, were completed last year to pave the way for the development of the island.

“Our air and sea assets are ready to protect our sovereignty and sovereign rights in the WPS and KIG,” Lorenzana said. He stressed that the country is committed to keep freedom of navigation and maintain regional peace and stability in the area by securing the West Philippine Sea and its islands in the Kalayaan area.

Lorenzana reiterated his call on the Chinese government to “immediately” withdraw their vessels, which are suspected to be manned by maritime militiamen, at the Julian Felipe Reef. He said this was already communicated to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian.

Several nations including the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have expressed support to the Philippines as they called out China’s deployment of their vessels in the West Philippine Sea. A diplomatic protest was already filed by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) over the incident.

Around 220 Chinese vessels were monitored at Julian Felipe Reef on March 7, according to the National Task Force (NTF) for the West Philippine Sea. Last March 23, the AFP conduct an aerial survey in the West Philippine Sea and found out that there remained 183 Chinese vessels moored at the Julian Felipe Reef.

Simularity, a United States-based technology firm, said that Chinese vessels have been frequenting Julian Felipe Reef since November 2020.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/ph-sends-patrol-ships-plane-to-wps-as-china-refuses-to-leave-julian- felipe-reef/

Lorenzana: More ships sent to patrol West Philippine Sea (Philstar.com) - March 28, 2021 - 10:23am

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said late Saturday night that the government is addressing the situation in the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea and has sent out ships to patrol the area.

To recall, a report released by US-based Simularity found that hundreds of Chinese vessels have been "mooring, arriving and departing" in Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef in the West Philippine Sea since December of last year.

The Chinese Embassy has denied the presence of militia ships in the area, saying these were fishing vessels seeking shelter from bad weather. It also asserted ownership over the reef despite a 2016 arbitral ruling that its nine- dash-line claim covering a large part of the South China Sea has no basis in international law.

"We stand by our position calling for the immediate withdrawal of the Chinese vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef which has been communicated to the Chinese Ambassador," Lorenzana said in a statement in response to the findings.

"We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines. Thus, there will be an increased presence of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard ships to conduct sovereignty patrols and protect our fishermen in the West Philippine Sea," he also said.

The defense chief added that vessels of the navy and coast guard have already been deployed to monitor the situation in the area, while the Philippine Air Force deploys airfcraft "every day with the same mission."

"Our air and sea assets are ready to protect our sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea and the Kalayaan Island Group," Lorenzana said, adding that the Department of National Defense is "consistently coordinating" with other government agencies on efforts in the West Philippine Sea. "By securing the West Philippine Sea and its islands in the Kalayaan area, the Philippines reinforces its commitment to keeping the freedom of navigation and maintaining regional peace and stability."

Why does this matter?

• Earlier Wednesday, retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio surmised that Beijing was appeasing the Philippines by donating COVID-19 vaccines while its maritime militia swarms.

• The Department of Foreign Affairs has also slammed China for its lingering presence in Philippine waters, calling it a blatant infringement of the country's sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.

• Progressive groups, including fisherfolks' federation Pamalakaya and farmers' group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas demanded the national government to take a bolder stance against the Chinese incursion, as well as be more transparent about meetings with China's ambassadors.

• To this day, Beijing continues to reject the arbitral ruling that the Philippines won in The Hague in 2016 based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which held that China's sweeping nine-dash line claim has no legal basis.

• President has asserted that he cannot do anything on the maritime dispute as doing so, he claimed, would mean going to war with them.

• Other members of the Phillippine delegation in the South China Sea arbitration have already said that enforcing the arbitral win does not necessarily mean going to war with Beijing, suggesting other possible measures to uphold the ruling.

— Franco Luna with a report from Patricia Lourdes Viray

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/28/2087585/lorenzana-more-ships-sent-patrol-west- philippine-sea

PH ready to defend sovereignty, marine resources: Lorenzana

By Priam Nepomuceno March 28, 2021, 11:45 am

MANILA – Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana assured the public that the government is ready to defend the sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the country.

"We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines. There will be an increased presence of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships to conduct sovereignty patrols and protect our fishermen in the West Philippine Sea," he said in a statement late Saturday night.

Lorenzana also reiterated the country's call for the immediate withdrawal of Chinese vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef (Union Reefs) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

"A Philippine Navy ship and a Philippine Coast Guard are currently in the area monitoring the actual situation there. The PAF (Philippine Air Force) deploys an element of AS-211 jet aircraft every day with the same mission. Our air and sea assets are ready to protect our sovereignty and sovereign rights in the WPS and KIG (Kalayaan Island Group)," he added.

He also said the DND is coordinating with other government agencies like the PCG and the Bureau of Aquatic and Fisheries Resources to coordinate its efforts in the WPS and the Kalayaan Island Group (municipality of Pag-asa).

"By securing the West Philippine Sea and its islands in the Kalayaan area, the Philippines reinforces its commitment to keeping the freedom of navigation and maintaining regional peace and stability," he added.

Last Thursday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian has paid a “social call” on President Rodrigo Duterte and assured that the Philippines need not worry over the presence of Chinese vessels in the Julian Felipe reef that is within the country’s exclusive economic zone.

During his meeting with Huang, Duterte raised concern over the reported sighting of Chinese ships, Roque said.

Roque added that Duterte had made it clear that he would protect the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its maritime domain and uphold the country’s historic win over the contested WPS.

“Naging malinaw ang Presidente na siya ay Presidente at puprotektahan ang teritoryo ng Pilipinas (The President has taken a firm stance that he is the President and he will protect the Philippine territory),” Roque said. Huang, Roque said, echoed China’s stance that the spotted Chinese boats off the Julian Felipe Reef in the WPS were merely taking shelter due to rough sea conditions.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on March 21 lodged a note verbale to protest the “unauthorized and lingering” presence of Chinese ships in and around Julian Felipe Reef.

The Philippine Coast Guard initially reported that around 220 Chinese fishing vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, were sighted moored in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef as early as March 7.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines confirmed on March 22 that around 183 Chinese vessels were sighted by a Philippine maritime air patrol in the area.

Julian Felipe Reef is a large boomerang-shaped, shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Reefs) located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, .

China has overlapping claims with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands ruled in favor of the Philippines’ petition against China’s supposedly historic rights over almost the entire disputed South China Sea.

China, however, has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the arbitral ruling. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135123

Esperon optimistic PH, China will resolve latest tension in West PH Sea

Published March 28, 2021, 2:33 PM by Martin Sadongdong National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. believes that the Philippines and China will iron out the latest issue involving the swarming of Chinese vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN)

Esperon, who also serves as the chairman of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), said the sighting of around 220 Chinese vessels at the reef last March 7 should be dealt with in a multi-faceted way, and not only through military means.

“We have other instruments of national power aside from military: diplomatic, informational, economic, legal and political, financial resources, intelligence, peoples’ support,” he said.

As part of military response, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) have deployed two patrol ships and a jet plane to the Julian Felipe Reef for maritime patrols.

Esperon also stressed the importance of the voice of the international community after many countries expressed support to the Philippines in protesting China’s apparent incursion in the West Philippine Sea including the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

“It is not a hopeless case. We have allies and sympathetic countries. They may come short but international opinion on rule of law and conventions is important,” he said.

The NTF-WPS chairman noted that there is “no need to panic” since the country’s relationship with China “does not start and end with the South China Sea.”

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian previously said that the vessels were actually fishing boats that sought refuge at the reef due to rough sea conditions.

But Esperon thought otherwise. “How could they be ordinary fishing vessels seeking shelter, as Amb. Huang says, when the weather is so good? And they have been there in increasing numbers since Nov. 2020. And they are not visibly there to fish,” he said.

Esperon said the Chinese vessels are steel-hulled with lengths ranging from 30 to 100 meters.

“[These are] longer than most of our [Phillippine] Coast Guard and Navy ships. Isn’t that intimidating when we have only two PN ships and one PCG vessel in the area as of now?” he said.

Nonetheless, Esperon said the government is doing the necessary steps to assert the country’s sovereignty in the area.

One way to do that is by demanding China to pull out their vessels which are believed to be manned by maritime militia, and by deploying military assets to maintain peace and order in the tension-filled waters.

As of March 23, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) monitored 183 Chinese vessels moored in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef. There were 34 vessels spotted as well around Pagasa (Thitu) Island and its five sandbars including at Sandy Cay, Esperon bared.

Julian Felipe Reef is a boomerang-shaped reef located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan while Pag-asa Island is part of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) about 480 kilometers west of Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/esperon-optimistic-ph-china-will-resolve-latest-tension-in-west-ph-sea/

Philippine Air Force deploys jet over Chinese ships at Julian Felipe Reef

Published March 28, 2021 9:32pm

A Philippine Air Force jet is conducting daily patrols over Chinese fishing vessels parked near a disputed reef, the defense chief said, as Beijing refuses to pull the ships out of the area.

Around 220 boats were first spotted earlier this month at the boomerang-shaped Whitsun Reef (Julian Felipe Reef) around 320 kilometers (175 nautical miles) west of Palawan Island, sparking a diplomatic row.

Manila has ordered Beijing to recall the vessels, describing their presence as an incursion into its sovereign territory.

But China, which claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, says the flotilla is made up of fishing vessels sheltering from bad weather.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has filed a diplomatic protest, and several countries, including the United States and Australia, have expressed concern over the renewed tension in the region.

Philippine navy and coast guard ships have been deployed to the area to monitor the situation, in addition to the aerial patrols, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said late Saturday.

"We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines," Lorenzana said, repeating a call for the Chinese ships to withdraw.

He added there will be an "increased presence" of navy and coast guard ships patrolling Philippine waters.

The resource-rich South China Sea is contested by several countries, including the Philippines and China.

Beijing often invokes the so-called nine-dash line to justify its apparent historic rights over most of it, and has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared this assertion as without basis. President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed concern over the presence of the vessels to the Chinese ambassador in Manila, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday.

Duterte has fostered warmer ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016 in exchange for greater economic cooperation with its superpower neighbor.

But the shift has failed to stem Chinese ambitions in the South China Sea, or unlock much of the billions of dollars of promised trade and loans. — Agence France-Presse

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/781574/philippine-air-force-deploys-jet-over- chinese-ships-at-julian-felipe-reef/story/

Send home Joma, groups demand posted March 28, 2021 at 11:00 pm by Manila Standard

Anti-communist groups on Sunday said sending home Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison will halt the atrocities by communist terrorist groups (CTGs) as they renewed their call to the Dutch government to terminate his asylum status in the Netherlands.

In a joint statement, the League of Parents of the Philippines and Liga Independencia Pilipinas said the termination of Sison’s asylum status may curtail the attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the CPP.

They insisted that the 82-year-old Sison is not a political refugee but a “political terrorist”.

“We appeal to the Netherlands Government to expel Joma Sison together with his co-terrorists,” the groups’ statement read.

The groups want the Dutch government to stop coddling Sison and his colleagues and let them face various cases in the Philippines.

“The State of the Netherlands has provided Joma Sison and the ruling members of the terrorist group CPP-NPA-NDF [National Democratic Front] a sanctuary and a staging ground in Utrecht, Netherlands, to propagate their senseless war of terror and aggression against the government and the Filipino people,” they said.

The groups lamented that Netherlands became a “safe haven” for Sison and other CTG leaders to continue planning their atrocities in NPA-infiltrated areas in the Philippines.

The groups also condemned the recent attack of suspected NPA rebels in Labo, that resulted in the death of policemen who were conducting humanitarian relief operations.

CTGs have likewise been assassinating leaders of indigenous people in far-flung communities, according to the groups, and continuously recruiting the youth to join the armed revolution.

“They use landmines forbidden under international law. And their legal fronts sabotage development through obstructionist policies. All of these have the blessings or direction of Sison,” they added. They lamented how Sison has been enjoying much of his protection and the asylum status from the Dutch government since 1987 while waging war against the Philippine government.

“We know and believed that the Netherlands is a state that pushes humanitarian actions and which has been wrongfully deceived by Joma Sison and his co-conspirators,” they added.

“Now is the time to expel these terrorists from their sanctuary. They have brought so much hate, manipulation, death, and destruction to our society and our lives while evading prosecution,” they said. “These terrorist enablers pass themselves off as victims, feigning persecution and harassment by our government. But they attack the peaceful lives of the Filipino people from the safety of Europe.”

The groups are set to stage another condemnation rally outside the Dutch embassy on Paseo de Roxas Avenue, Makati City on Monday, March 29.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://manilastandard.net/news/national/350661/send-home-joma-groups-demand.html

6 private armed groups in Maguindanao disbanded during Q1 of 2021 task force

Published March 28, 2021 1:10pm

Six private armed groups (PAGs)— operating in Maguindanao were disbanded during the first quarter of 2021, the National Task Force for Disbandment of Private Armed Groups (NTF-DPAG) said.

Police Lieutenant General Jose Chiquito Malayo, commander of the Task Force DPAGs in Western Mindanao, reported the development during the NTF- third oversight meeting held on Friday. DPAG’s Malayo said this was the result of intensified efforts and activities in bringing down the number of active armed groups in the area.

He added that this is “a clear evidence to the lawless groups that the government Meanwhile,is determined Police to uphold Brigadier peace General and order Honorio in the Agnila from the.” Task Force DPAGs in Eastern Mindanao said participate in criminal activities the PAGs that were “downgraded” no longer "Continuous monitoring and preventive actions were [conducted] by the task force against dismantled, delisted or downgraded [PAGs] to avoid their resurgence that can be used by politicians in the upcoming national elections," Agnila said.

The Department of Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Government have expressed support to the NTF-DPAG.

In the said meeting, DILG Undersecretary and officer-in-charge Bernardo Florece Jr. noted the importance of the task fo credible, and democratic 2022 national elections. rce’s work in preparation for a safe, Moreover, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. reminded the task force to implement community- society, where all individuals and groups are free to engage in our different activities and programs." based activities to “establish a genuinely pluralistic He reiterated the need to cut down the number of PAGs in the country before the upcoming elections.

"We need to make people understand what we do, and why we are doing these things. We have to show everyone that our main goal is to create an environment free from fear, anger and violence, and where peace, mutual understanding and unity reign," the presidential peace adviser said.

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2014.

It provides a comprehensive approach in strengthening peace and order, as well as addressing emerging security concerns in the Bangsamoro region.

Among the provisions of CAB is the disbandment of PAGs, implementation of a program for small arms and light weapons management, the redeployment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), policing, and the clearing of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and landmines. —Hana Bordey/KG, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/regions/781529/6-private-armed-groups-in-maguindanao- disbanded-during-q1-of-2021-task-force/story/

Velasco: House fully supports Duterte’s amnesty program for Muslim, communist rebels

Published March 28, 2021, 1:36 PM by Hannah Torregoza House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Sunday, March 28 assured that the House of Representatives is in full support of President Duterte’s amnesty program for Muslim and communist rebels who would choose to surrender to the government.

Velasco made the assurance after the House Committees on Justice and National Defense and Security approved, last Wednesday four resolutions concurring with the proclamations Duterte has signed granting amnesty to members of four major rebel groups.

Velasco led the filing of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) Numbers 12 to 15. According to the House leader, the granting of amnesty is “necessary for the general interest of the Philippines and the Filipino people” to achieve justice and long-term peace.

In February, Duterte issued Proclamation Nos. 1090 to 1093 granting amnesty to members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB), and the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) who have committed crimes in “furtherance of their political beliefs.”

“The amnesty program is a huge step towards achieving just and lasting peace in the country and giving former rebels a path back into civilian life,” Velasco said.

Congress, he said, shares the President’s view on the need to declare amnesty to MNLF members to promote an atmosphere conducive to the attainment of a just, comprehensive and enduring equanimity.

“Both Houses of Congress recognize that transforming MNLF members from armed combatants to productive citizens and peace partners is necessary to achieve the paramount ends of the peace process—national unity, solidarity and progress for all ,” he said.

He also said the creation of the National Amnesty Commission and the grant of amnesty in favor of MILF would fulfill the government’s commitment under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, particularly the gradual normalization of the previously conflict-affected areas.

“The amnesty will also provide a meaningful and complete transformation and assimilation of the MILF decommissioned combatants into peaceful and progressive lives towards national reconciliation and healing in the Bangsamoro,” he said.

In the case of the amnesty granted to RPMP-RPA-ABB and CTG, the House leader said lawmakers are in agreement with the Duterte government in “nurturing a climate conducive for peace” and tackling the root causes of armed conflict by balancing the delivery of basic services and social development packages in conflict-affected communities.

Duterte, in his proclamation, highlighted the need to reintegrate all rebels and insurgents into the mainstream society as soon as possible, including those who may have committed unlawful acts.

Under the proclamation, the amnesty will extinguish any criminal liability for acts committed in pursuit of political beliefs and restore political and civil rights which were lost due to criminal conviction.

However, the amnesty excludes kidnappings for ransom, massacres, rape, terrorism, drug trafficking, and certain crimes the United Nations deemed ineligible for amnesty including genocide, crimes against humanity and torture.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/velasco-house-fully-supports-dutertes-amnesty-program-for-muslim- communist-rebels/

AFP ready to deploy more Covid-19 vaccines

By Priam Nepomuceno March 28, 2021, 4:26 pm

MANILA – With additional 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine set to arrive on Monday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has expressed its readiness to help in the deployment of the vaccines even in far flung areas of the country.

"We will support in areas where we can, depending on our own operational deployments. We will also be providing sea, air, and land mobility/transportation assets for use in the deployment of PNP (Philippine National Police) personnel and vaccinators, as well as in the transportation of vaccines," AFP spokesperson Marine Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said in a statement on Sunday.

He said the AFP medical personnel also continue to provide key assistance in vaccine deployment.

"We continue to help provide medical health front-liners in the vaccine deployment. Specifically, these are vaccinators that include nurses and trained medical aid men to augment the teams from LGUs (local government units) and DOH (Department of Health)," he added.

Arevalo said the AFP and the police under the supervision of the LGUs, will continue to man the checkpoints.

The AFP reported that a total of 31,519 personnel have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines as of March 25.

The figure includes 30,530 personnel who were vaccinated with Sinovac jabs and 989 personnel who were inoculated with AstraZeneca vaccines.

The AFP has also delivered 60,300 Sinovac vials and 1,520 doses of AstraZeneca jabs to 47 military treatment facilities.

President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to witness on Monday the arrival of around 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine purchased by the Philippine government from Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech.

On Feb. 28, Duterte welcomed the arrival of 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine donated by Chinese government. China donated additional 400,000 on March 24.

Around 100,000 of the first batch of 600,000 doses of CoronaVac vaccine were donated by Chinese military to the AFP.

Apart from Sinovac vaccines, the Philippines has so far received 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines through the Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility for the country’s health front- liners. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135136 PCOO premieres anti-terrorism docu ‘CTG’

March 28, 2021, 11:46 pm

MANILA – The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) premiered Sunday an in- depth documentary focusing on the gains and challenges of our government in eradicating the New People’s Army (NPA) and their acts of terrorism against the Filipino people.

"Aside from the intensive campaign against illegal drugs, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has also strongly pushed for ending the communist armed conflict nationwide," PCOO Secretary Martin M. Andanar said.

Andanar said the 52 years of existence of the communist terrorist group has been a major contributor to the disruption of peace and security in the whole country.

"As time goes by, the communist armed struggle has had extremely negative effects not only in the economy but also in attaining peace and security for our country," he said.

He added that for decades, the Filipino people have experienced brutal abuses, fraud, and bloody violence that have hampered our collective development as a nation.

The full-length documentary explains the organizational structure of the movement as told by former rebels who are now working with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Viewers will also learn about the tragic stories of the victims of atrocities committed by the communist terrorist groups (CTGs).

The late Ka Ruben Guevarra, former Central Committee member and Military Commission of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said he had to leave his loved ones and go to the mountains to serve the terrorist group.

Meanwhile, according to Lola Agnes, a former rebel who was the first female commander of the NPA in the , she once embraced the ideology of the terrorist group. Later on, she realized she was deceived. She recalled that they recruit by taking advantage of the poor people.

One of those who lost faith in the movement was Louie. He shared that the sacrifices he made while he was still a member of the NPA were all for naught.

Now, the former rebels only hope for one thing – that no one gets to be deceived by the NPA anymore.

The “CTG” documentary shows a group of former rebels in Bukidnon, trained to recruit back the people they once deceived and help them return to the folds of the government.

It also follows the untold stories of our modern heroes – the valiant members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who are at the forefront of our battle against the terrorist group. Meanwhile, National Security Adviser and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Vice-Chair, Secretary Hermogenes Esperon, Jr., said the over five decades of government intervention to dismantle the Communist Party of the Philippines - NPA - National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) has resulted in 113,000 casualties. There were 100,000 deaths recorded related to the CPP-NPA-NDF's terror attacks on civilians and uniformed personnel.

"Ang number one political security threat ay ang Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army - National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) dahil gusto nilang pataubin, patalsikin ang gobyerno, upang sila ang mamuno sa Pilipinas at ginagawa nila ito ng 52 years na (The number one political security threat is the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army - National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), because they want to topple the government, so they can take over the leadership in the Philippines and they have been doing this for 52 years)," Esperon said.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines

The “CTG: An Anti-terrorism Documentary" was aired at 9:30 pm on PTV-4 and IBC-13. It was also live-streamed on the Presidential Communications Operations Office and other government- affiliated social media pages.

Media outlets are free to share and use the video materials and short documentaries. For inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. (PR)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135166

AMLC orders freeze of UCCP Haran bank deposits, assets

By Gigie Arcilla March 28, 2021, 4:03 pm

MANILA – The Anti-Money Laundering Council issued a freeze order on the bank deposits and assets of a religious group’s center allegedly used to finance or support terrorism.

In a Resolution No. TF-36 dated March 12, 2021, the AMLC order covers the three bank accounts of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines' (UCCP) Haran Center with the Philippine National Bank amounting to more or less PHP600,000, and a real property under the name of Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries, Inc.

The freeze order stemmed from the AMLC’s investigation that the assets are used to finance terrorism in violation of Republic Act 10168 otherwise known as The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.

The UCCP Haran Center located on Fr. Selga Street, Madapo Hills, Bankerohan, Davao City, , has become a sanctuary for beleaguered indigenous peoples (IP) in Mindanao.

Reports, however, showed these IPs, because of their ignorance and being unlearned, are exploited, enticed to join anti-government protest actions, brain-washed to hate the government, and soon to become members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

According to government security officials, in the guise of formal education, the IPs, including minors, are indoctrinated with a series of communist ideologies, principles, and beliefs into being “Red warriors” by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) members posing as teachers in the so- called learning institution.

“At first, they are being used as a force multiplier in the conduct of series of protest actions against the government, then to join ‘exposure’ during the CPP/NPA anniversary celebrations, and to join the ‘tour of duty’ wherein they were taught how to use firearms and explosives as their defensive and offensive tools to defend their ancestral lands,” a press statement on Saturday read.

It added that these IPs are exposed to armed activities, forced labor, involuntary servitude, and are used in armed conflict and other exploitative purposes.

In mid-September of 2020, some four members of an IP group from pressed charges before the City Prosecutor's Office against NPA leaders and administrators and board of directors of the UCCP Haran Center.

At least 48 personalities connected with the UCCP Haran Center were charged with child abuse, forced labor, trafficking in person, and violation of humanitarian law, said lawyer Marlon Bosantog, Legal Affairs Director of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). The four IP complainants, who are members of the Ata-Manobo tribe and were minors "during the time of the commission of the crimes", accused Haran officials of "harboring communist terrorist group (CTG)" and forcing them against their will.

Read: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1115566

The Regional Peace and Order Council of Region 11 (RPOC-11) on January 15, 2020, approved a resolution seeking the immediate closure of the UCCP Haran Center.

Davao del Norte Gov. Edwin Jubahib said the IPs inside the facility are being exploited by the communist rebel movement for "various terroristic activities."

Davao Oriental Gov. Nelson Dayanghirang, RPOC-11 chairperson, accused the center of violating the Indigenous People’s Rights Act, as well as of committing child abuse and serious illegal detention offenses while engaging in human trafficking.

Read: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1091122

The UCCP Haran Center reportedly became popular after a Salugpungan school, a CPP/NPA-ran learning center, particularly in Talaingod, Davao del Norte, was closed in 2018 on public demand.

Read: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1091452

It was also allegedly implicated in the case of kidnapping with serious illegal detention, trafficking in persons, and child abuse after the successful rescue operation of 19 IP minors inside the University of San Carlos Campus, Retreat House, Talamban, Cebu City on February 15, 2021.

One of the witnesses of the case claimed most of the rescued minors are from Talaingod, Davao del Norte who were initially housed at the UCCP Haran Center, Davao City.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135146

6 impoverished rebels surrender

Published 7 hours ago On March 29, 2021 02:30 AM By Jonas Reyes

SAN FERNANDO, — Six communist rebels have returned to the fold of the law even as war materiel were seized in Central Luzon, the police reported on Sunday.

Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3) director P/Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon said the six former rebels who operated in surrendered to various police units in Aurora.

Four were from a group operating in Northern Aurora while two others were Militiang Bayan members operating in Aurora and Province. They were identified as “Ka Robin,” alias Yoyong/Bong, “Ka Eryong,” “Ka Bryan,” alias Dave/Mael, “Ka Joey,” “Ka Ekyang,” and another member of MB not identified.

They said that they gave up because of the hardships and poverty they have experienced as rebels.

De Leon said the six are eligible to avail of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (e-clip) and will be provided livelihood, medical, education, housing and legal assistance.

Meanwhile, munitions were found inside a former New People’s Army camp along Sitio Iyak, Barangay San Lorenzo in Norzagaray, Bulacan also over the weekend.

De Leon said that military and police units conducted operations in the area after a former rebel revealed the weapons’ location to authorities. Recovered were two magazines for an M14 Rifle, and 13 caliber 7.62 live ammunition.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/29/6-impoverished-rebels-surrender/

Sulu hospital upgrade up Proposal to construct a medical center in Maimbung also being considered at BARMM Published 7 hours ago On March 29, 2021 02:30 AM By Nonoy Lacson JOLO, Sulu — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will upgrade the Sulu provincial hospital here to level 2 by increasing its bed capacity to 200, upgrading its professional healthcare services and facilities and increasing its medical personnel.

Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan on Saturday revealed that the hospital, established in 1916, only has 100 beds for patients at present, necessitating a hundred percent increase to better serve the people of Sulu.

A bill has been filed to effect the capacity build-up for the hospital, said the governor, citing information from Nabil Tan, the deputy speaker of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

The Sulu Provincial Hospital is the main referral medical center in the province catering to the needs of about 900,000 people, coming from the 19 municipalities of Sulu, according to Governor Tan.

A tour of the hospital by Daily Tribune with the governor showed it does not have an intensive care unit and that it is severely understaffed. Nabil has made the assurance that BARMM will get all the necessary legislated funds, including to cover an increase in personnel, once the hospital is upgraded.

According to Nabil, BTA members have also filed a bill that seeks to establish a 100-bed level 2 general hospital in the town of Maimbung, province of Sulu. Maimbung needs its own hospital, it being very far from Jolo, the lawmakers said.

The proposed Maimbung hospital will cater to patients coming from the island municipalities of Tapul, Para, Lugus and Pandami.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/03/29/sulu-hospital-upgrade-up/

Earthquake scenarios: Mitigating potential impacts of ‘Big Ones’

Published March 28, 2021, 10:27 AM by Jhon Aldrin Casinas Imagine this, if the West Valley Fault (WVF), which runs through the eastern section of Metro Manila, moves and generate an estimated 7.2-magnitude earthquake, what do you think may happen?

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), Metro Manila, parts of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite and even parts of might be affected by an Intensity 8 shaking.

The state seismology bureau estimated that the potential impacts of such “worst-case earthquake scenario” may result to around 33,500 deaths in Metro Manila alone, with 114,000 people seriously injured, 18,000 fire casualties, and widespread damage on properties and infrastructure.

Such seismic scenario—known as the “Big One”—is only one of some scenarios that might happen across the country, Phivolcs said, adding that such scenarios cannot be predicted.

What are ‘earthquake scenarios’

Department of Science and Technology Phivolcs (DOST) Undersecretary and Phivolcs director Dr. Renato Solidum Jr. said earthquake scenarios are assumed sequences of events, which help experts determine not only the hazards but also the possible impacts of an earthquake.

“An earthquake scenario is an assumed hazard scenario describing the estimated ground shaking, for example the intensity, other potential hazards related to the earthquake, and most importantly the impact that can be caused by these specific earthquake events,” he told reporters in a webinar last week.

“An earthquake scenario is also used as a planning tool so that we understand a potential future earthquake, so that we can plan accordingly as to the possible impacts that these earthquakes can bring,” he added.

Worst-case earthquake scenario

On the other hand, Solidum explained that “worst-case earthquake scenario” describes an earthquake that can bring the most severe impact to a region or locality.

“That is why when we released the potential impact of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Metro Manila, our friends from the media called it the ‘big one’ because there can be many people that will die and even significant number of buildings that might be destroyed,” he added. The ‘Big One’

The term “big one” is used in many parts of the world. It is a term used to describe damaging and strong earthquake scenarios. In the Philippines, it is often equated to the worst-case earthquake scenario in the greater Metro Manila area.

But he noted that Phivolcs provides many worst-case earthquakes scenarios for different parts of the country. “Therefore, there can be many big ones. It’s not simply in Manila but there can be other big ones in other parts of the Philippines.”

Metro Manila’s ‘Big One’

According to Solidum, studies indicated that the WVF moved four times in the past 1,400 years, with a movement interval measured between 400 to 600 years. He said that the last major earthquake event generated by the movement of the fault was in 1658.

“So in terms of recurrence interval with the last earthquake event, and if you consider the lower limit of the recurrence interval which is 400, then we can say that a large earthquake can happen from the West Valley Fault in our generation, it can happen in the next generation,” Solidum said.

Other earthquake scenarios

Aside from the earthquake scenario in the metropolis, Solidum said an earthquake scenario of a magnitude 8.2 quake may occur in the Philippine Trench, affecting the nearby areas of , and .

He also explained that movement in the Mati Fault in Mindanao could also generate a scenario of a 7.3-magnitude temblor, which may potentially affect Davao area.

Importance of earthquake scenarios

“We need to take into consideration that we want individuals to imagine the risk that may face properly so that they have an informed decision,” Solidum said.

Earthquake scenarios, he added, can also be used by local government units to formulate appropriate strategies for mitigation, response, and coordination during disaster.

“When distinctive impacts are explained, quantified, individuals and communities can understand [that] disasters can be mitigated.”

Not a prediction

The Phivolcs chief noted that such earthquake scenarios are not predictions.

“Because predictions have exact time, level and exact magnitude. So these are scenarios that can happen. If we are prepared for the worst case scenario, we are prepared for the smaller ones. That is important,” Solidum said. “Scenarios are tools so that we can imagine the possible disaster that can happen if we do not do anything. If we do something, the scenario will not happen. The scenario is important so that we can prepare better,” he added.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/earthquake-scenarios-mitigating-potential-impacts-of-big-ones/

The unending story of red-tagging, courtesy of CPP

ByLt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.

March 27, 2021

I STARTED this article with the red-tagging issue where I discussed at length how red-tagging was used by the Communist Party of the Philippines

(CPP) and its front organizations to cover their asses over their underground work. For five decades, it worked until the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) was created to address this issue.

But look: who are vehemently defending this tactic by the CPP? Senator- lawyers Francis Pangilinan and Franklin Drilon? The latter is, in fact, filing a bill criminalizing red-tagging even after the series of Senate inquiries, which proved disastrous to them, what with the damning revelations from former CPP cadres and rebels which confirmed everything that we have been saying in the NTF-Elcac all along.

In the advent of this 1Sambayan coalition, the narrative of the left (Yes, it is still the left driving it) will definitely shift to another major issue, which is a common ground to these strange bedfellows in the coalition — the Chinese at the West Philippine Sea (WPS). At this point, we need to educate our readers more on the background of this sensitive issue, lest I be accused of red- tagging the entire coalition.

WPS story MT columnist Rigoberto Tiglao actually wrote a very interesting angle on this entitled: “China, US should thank Carpio, del Rosario — profusely” (The Manila Times, March 22, 2021). Amen, we say to you Ambassador Tiglao. But just to put in context the circumstances of how we lost our interests, and many other core national interests, is contained in that Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (Caser) of the CPP and the Security

Sector Reform that the Left and the Liberals wanted for us. Bottom line — they wanted a weak Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which can hardly defend us and our shores, and a strong CPP-New People’s Army to implement the national democratic revolution. Whooah! How is this all related?

1992 — The Senate booted out the US bases in the Philippines. We lost the 13th Air Force, USAF in Clark while Subic, the home of the Seventh Fleet was also abandoned by the Americans. But did the Senate have plans on what would replace the “de facto” armed forces being provided by the US at that time, starting from 1935? None. What was left with us were aging and decrepit war materiel sold to the AFP through the Foreign Military Sales program of the US.

Realizing this, in that same year therefore, the Senate had to rush a law that would develop capabilities to defend our interests without relying on Uncle Sam. They passed the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992

(Republic Act 7227). It sold our AFP camps sitting on prime property, Bonifacio Global City included, to raise funds for the modernization of the

AFP. P330 billion at that time must have been enough but procurement is not that quick. The realization of the sale would not happen until 1995. But instead of spending the money for modernization, the proponents of the Security Sector Reform and Caser instead pushed for funding health and education instead. The modernization fund was also used to cushion the impact of the financial recession of 1998 and kept the peso afloat over the dollar.

1995 — The Chinese started encroaching on our territory given that we did not have the capability to check on them, much less drive them away. We saw the start of the Chinese build-up in the South China Sea (SCS). (It wasn’t until after 2014 when we started calling that part of the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea, but what’s in a name?) The Chinese started building light structures at Mischief Reef saying they were just “fishermen’s shelter’ until the Philippine Navy dismantled them. We were successful, yes, even with our limited capability because the Chinese did not have any military base in the area yet. More importantly, it was because we had the political will to do it. I will hammer on this some more later, if only to highlight that leadership does not emanate from the barrels of guns alone.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/28/earthquake-scenarios-mitigating-potential-impacts-of-big-ones/

Troops fire at funeral as Myanmar mourns bloodiest day since coup By Reuters Staff 6 MIN READ

(Reuters) -Myanmar security forces opened fire at a funeral on Sunday, witnesses said, as people across the country gathered to mourn 114 people killed the previous day in the worst crackdown on protests since last month’s military coup.

Mourners fled the shooting at a service for 20-year-old student Thae Maung Maung in Bago near the commercial capital Yangon and there were no immediate reports of casualties, three people in the town told Reuters.

“While we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us,” a woman called Aye who was at the service said. “People, including us, run away as they opened fire.”

Another 12 people were recorded dead in incidents elsewhere in Myanmar by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group on Sunday, taking its total toll of civilians killed since the Feb. 1 coup to 459.

Thousands of villagers in a border area fled to Thailand after military air strikes on one of several ethnic militias that have stepped up attacks since the coup, witnesses and local media said.

There were no reports of large-scale protests in Yangon or Mandalay, which bore the brunt of the casualties on Saturday, Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day. But people in Mandalay surrounded a police station late in the evening, accusing the security forces of arson after five houses burned down, residents said. Reuters could not reach police there for comment.

At least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were among those killed on Saturday, according to news reports and witnesses. Protesters call the victims “Fallen Stars”

ISOLATION CALL

The bloodshed drew renewed Western condemnation. The U.N. Special Rapporteur for Myanmar said the army was carrying out “mass murder” and called on the world to isolate the junta and halt its access to weapons.

Foreign criticism and sanctions imposed by some Western nations have failed so far to sway the military leaders, as have almost daily protests around the country since the junta took power and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“We salute our heroes who sacrificed lives during this revolution and We Must Win This REVOLUTION,” one of the main protest groups, the General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN), posted on Facebook.

Heavy fighting also erupted between the army and some of the two dozen ethnic armed groups that control swathes of the country.

About 3,000 people fled to neighbouring Thailand after military jets bombed areas controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) militia near the border, an activist group and local media said.

In an air attack by the military on Saturday, at least three civilians were killed in a village controlled by the KNU, a civil society group said. The militia earlier said it had overrun an army post near the border, killing 10 people.

Fighting also erupted on Sunday between another armed group, the Kachin Independence Army, and the military in the jade-mining area of Hpakant in the north. The Kachin forces attacked a police station and the military responded with an aerial assault, Kachinwaves media reported.

There were no reports of casualties.

A junta spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment on the killings or the fighting.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.

‘RINGING HOLLOW’

Countries including the United States, Britain, Germany and the European Union again condemned the violence.

“It’s terrible, it’s absolutely outrageous,” U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware. “Based on the reporting I’ve gotten an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily.”

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called on Myanmar’s generals to stand down from what he called a “senseless path” of violence against their own people.

“We will continue to use the EU’s mechanisms, including sanctions, to target the perpetrators of this violence, and those responsible for turning back the clock on Myanmar’s path of democracy and peace,” Borrell said in a statement.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter: “We will not tolerate the military’s brutal course of action against the people of Myanmar”.

U.N. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said the junta should be cut off from funding, such as oil and gas revenues, and from access to weapons.

“Words of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them,” he said in a statement.

The top military officer from the United States and nearly a dozen of his counterparts said a professional military must follow international standards for conduct “and is responsible for protecting - not harming - the people it serves”.

Myanmar’s military took power saying that November elections won by Suu Kyi’s party were fraudulent, an assertion dismissed by the country’s election commission. Suu Kyi remains in detention at an undisclosed location and many other figures in her party are also in custody.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics/troops-fire-at-funeral-as-myanmar-mourns- bloodiest-day-since-coup-idUSKBN2BK00T

Factbox:'Fallen Stars' from a day of bloodshed in Myanmar By Reuters Staff 5 MIN READ

(Reuters) - Opponents of Myanmar’s Feb. 1 military coup call those killed by security forces the “Fallen Stars” of protests against the junta and Saturday was the bloodiest day so far with at least 114 civilians reported dead by local news services.

FILE PHOTO: Aung Zin Phyo, an 18-year-old who volunteered in Myanmar's COVID-19 response and was killed at a protest on March 27, 2021, is seen in an undated photo obtained by REUTERS.

Marked by the military as Armed Forces Day, it was also the full moon day of the last month in the Burmese year, the end of the dry season and a day on which people would normally have gone to pagoda festivals in the largely Buddhist country.

Below are the stories of some of the civilians who were killed and wounded, as recounted by family members, witnesses and media reports. An army spokesman did not answer calls requesting comment. Reuters could not independently verify details of the deaths.

AUNG ZIN PHYO, 18, MANDALAY, KILLED

Aung Zin Phyo was the goalkeeper of Lin Latt Futsal Club in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city. He was shot dead by junta forces in Mandalay’s Chan Mya Thar Si Township, his family said. He was in the front line of the protesters. He had volunteered to help at a local intensive care centre during a second wave of COVID-19 infections. His mother cried beside the coffin and said: “I have only this son... Let me die so that I can be together with my son.”

AYE KO, 40, MANDALAY, KILLED

Aye Ko had four children and sold traditional coconut snacks. He also served as a watchman in his Aungmyethazan township of Mandalay. His wife told Reuters how he had been shot and wounded by soldiers. He hid behind a market stall, but the soldiers found him. First they said they would beat him to death, then they dragged him into a bonfire of car tyres that protesters had set up for a barricade. He burned to death, she said. MA SHWE MYINT, AGE UNKNOWN, BHAMO, KACHIN STATE, KILLED

Ma Shwe Myint, a mother of two, was shot dead during a protest in Bhamo, Kachin State, according to local media service Bhamo Platform. She was from the minority Palaung ethnic group in Myanmar’s northernmost state, which borders China. Bhamo Platform said security forces told her family to sign a document absolving them from responsibility in her death. They removed the body after the protest and returned it to the family for the funeral on Sunday, the news service said.

THAE’ MAUNG MAUNG, 20, BAGO, KILLED

Thae’ Maung Maung was killed on Saturday during a protest in Bago, east of Yangon. He was from Myanmar’s Muslim minority. Funeralgoers said security forces had opened fire at the ceremony on Sunday. “I couldn’t believe that they would crack down on a funeral service too,” said Aye, one of those present.

AYE MYAT THU, 11, MAWLAMYINE, KILLED

School student Aye Myat Thu was shot dead during a protest in the southeastern city of Mawlamyine, the Khit Thit Media news service said. Pictures of her funeral showed her body adorned with colouring books, Barbie dolls, and a Hello Kitty picture she had drawn. Her face was made up with the thanaka paste cosmetic that is widely used in Myanmar.

TAY ZA TUN, 31, YANGON, KILLED

At around 5 a.m., Tay Za Tun was driving to New Insein Township when he was stopped and shot by security forces at the Pauktawwa bus stop, the RFA news service said. He was not protesting. He was shot in the thigh and arm and was taken to the Army Hospital. The family asked to treat him themselves, but the request was refused. Security forces returned his dead body.

SAI WAI YAN, 13, YANGON, KILLED

Sai Wai Yan was shot dead in Yangon’s Mingalar Taungnyunt township, residents said. Barricades had been set up in the area and security forces opened fire, although there were no protests at the time, they said. Sai Wai Yan, also known as Wai Yan Tun, was playing in a back street when he was shot and killed. A neighbour said security forces took away his body in a blue plastic sheet. “Are you leaving your mum behind? How can I live without you my son?” his mother wailed beside his coffin on Sunday. HTI SAN WAN PHI, 19, YANGON, KILLED

Hti San Wan Phi, nicknamed Phi Tun, was killed when a bullet hit him in the cheek, residents said. He had been at the protesters’ defensive line. His parents own a noodle shop and he had five siblings. Neighbours knew him as a happy boy with a big smile. When he was hit, he called on his comrades to fight back. When his parents saw his friends crying they both said: “Do not cry at all, my son is a martyr.”

CHIT BO BO NYEIN, 21, YANGON, KILLED

Chit Bo Bo Nyein was the captain of Hantharwady United Under 21 football team. He was shot dead in Insein township, Yangon, neighbours said. He also ran the family tea shop business. Many security forces were deployed in the area. He was walking in front of the tea shop when he was shot. The family took him to hospital, but it was too late to save him.

THIN THAWDAR TUN, 1, YANGON, WOUNDED

A rubber bullet went through the eye of one-year-old Thin Thawdar Tun while she was at home in Yangon, family members said. She is in hospital. Doctors are trying to treat the eye before extracting the rubber bullet. Her grandmother Nyein Nyein Thu told Reuters: “I don’t have any words to describe my sadness.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-victims-factbox/factboxfallen-stars-from-a-day- of-bloodshed-in-myanmar-idUSKBN2BK0BF

Myanmar Protesters Return After Security Forces Kill at Least 90 People

Six children were among those gunned down as soldiers and police opened fire in 40 locations Protesters set tires on fire on Sunday at a blockade in Yangon, Myanmar. GETTY IMAGES

By Niharika Mandhana Updated March 28, 2021 2:21 pm ET SHARE TEXT SINGAPORE Protesters returned to the streets of Myanmar after soldiers and police gunned down at least 90 people across the country in the bloodiest day since the military began its violent —

Amongcampaign those to crush killed opposition on Saturday to werelast month’s six children coup. between the ages of 10 and 16 as security forces opened fire in residential areas and into homes, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a nonprofit that monitors arrests and fatalities. At an 11-year- Sunday, her body lay surrounded by toys, a box of crayons and a hand-drawn sketch of Hello Kitty, photographs in local media showed. old girl’s funeral on

The nonprofit group recorded gunfire and violence against protesters in 40 locations across the country on Saturday, including the two largest cities Yangon and Mandalay, and said the death toll was likely higher than the 90 fatalities it had confirmed. Soldiers dragged some of the bodies off the away later died in detention, the nonprofit group said. streets and didn’t return them to the families of the deceased, and the injured who were hauled For weeks, security forces have terrorized civilians by shooting protesters and sometimes bystanders in the streets. The displays of force are intended to strike fear and suppress resistance country to absolute military rule. Aung San Suu Kyi, the ousted civilian leader, has been under todetention the Feb. in 1 hercoup, home which since ended her Myanmar’sgovernment decadelong was deposed, shift as toward have dozens democracy of other and officials returned from the her political party.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/myanmar-protesters-return-after-security-forces-kill-90-people- including-children-11616942696

Myanmar army launches air strikes in Karen state, group says By Reuters Staff 2 MIN READ People seek shelter at an unidentified location in Karen state, Myanmar, March 27, 2021, in this image obtained via social media. Picture taken March 27, 2021. THOO LEI NEWS via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Myanmar army fighter jets launched air strikes on Saturday on a village near the Thai border in territory controlled by an armed ethnic group, the group said, as fears grow of civil war following last month’s military coup.

The Karen National Union (KNU), the armed ethnic group that controls the southeastern region, said fighter jets attacked Day Pu No in Papun district, an area held by its Brigade 5 forces, at around 8 p.m., forcing villagers to flee.

“They bombed the area... The villagers from that area said two dead and two injured,” a spokesperson for civil society group Karen Peace Support Network said, adding that communication was difficult in the remote region and there could be more casualties.

A spokesman for the junta did not answer phone calls seeking comment.

The reported air assault is the most significant attack for years in the region. The KNU had signed a ceasefire agreement in 2015 but tensions surged after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government on Feb.1.

Earlier on Saturday, the KNU said Brigade 5 forces overran an army base, killing 10 soldiers including a lieutenant-colonel, as the junta celebrated its annual Armed Forces Day with a parade in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The KNU says it has been sheltering hundreds of people who have fled central Myanmar amid mounting violence in recent weeks. The junta’s troops killed dozens of people on Saturday, including children, in one of the bloodiest days of protests since the coup, news reports and witnesses said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-karen/myanmar-army-launches-air-strikes-in- karen-state-group-says-idUSKBN2BJ0IZ

Thousands flee to Thailand after Myanmar army's air strikes on villages: activist group, media By Reuters Staff 2 MIN READ

(Reuters) - About 3,000 villagers from Myanmar’s southeastern Karen state fled to Thailand on Sunday following air attacks by the army on an area held by an ethnic armed group, an activist group and local media said.

Myanmar’s military launched air strikes on five areas in Mutraw district, near the border, including a displacement camp, the Karen Women’s Organization said.

“At the moment, villagers are hiding in the jungle as more than 3,000 crossed to Thailand to take refuge,” a statement from the group said.

Thai PBS reported about 3,000 had reached Thailand.

Thai authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At least two soldiers from the Karen National Union were killed, said David Eubank, founder of the Free Burma Rangers, a relief organisation.

“We haven’t had air strikes there for over 20 years,” Eubank said. “Second, these were at night, so the capability of the Burma military has increased with the help of Russia and China and other nations, and that is deadly.”

In an air attack by the military on Saturday, at least three civilians were killed in a village controlled by the KNU, a civil society group said. The militia earlier said it had overrun an army post near the border, killing 10 people. The air assaults are the most significant attack for years in the region. The KNU had signed a ceasefire agreement in 2015 but tensions have surged after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government on Feb. 1.

The KNU and the Restoration Council of Shan State, also based on the Thai border, have condemned the takeover and announced their support for public resistance.

KNU says it has been sheltering hundreds of people who have fled central Myanmar amid mounting violence in recent weeks.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-karen/thousands-flee-to-thailand-after- myanmar-armys-air-strikes-on-villages-activist-group-media-idUSKBN2BK0CP

World Bank, Asian Development Bank Freeze Funds to Myanmar to Shun Junta

By Zsombor Peter March 28, 2021 08:36 AM

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Moves by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to freeze funds to post-coup Myanmar could make many vulnerable communities worse off even as the lenders look for ways to keep some projects going without the government, analysts and experts say.

ollowed suit March 10, puttingThe World a hold Bank on said new February contracts 19 and it wasfunds freezing to existing outlay public-sectors to Myanmar projects. “as we closely monitor and assess the situation.” The ADB f Together, the institutions have put hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to h has shot and killed more than 400 people since seizing power February 1 to quell protests,Myanmar according on hold to to avoid local working media and with activists. the country’s new military junta, whic

Counting the cost

Losing the average $500 million to $600 million both bank earmark for Myanmar each year will not on its o Bryan Tse, country analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit and a former consultant specializing in wninternational cripple the development country’s $76 projects. billion economy, said

However, much of the work they fund does have an outsized impact on the communities they target, he added, from malaria treatment in the south to harm reduction programs for drug addicts in the north and village farming projects across the country.

t would -being, and these are things that are not “If these projects get suspended for an extended period of time, then tha said.have an impact on people’s well necessarily visible in the headline GDP [gross domestic product] figures,” Tse end of people, especially “If you are part of that community, then there will be a direct impact. So, at the the day, it’s not necessarily the broad economy but the the vulnerable population, that will suffer the most.” FILE - A farmer works in the field in Nyaung Woon village, Kyauk-Se, central Myanmar, Dec. 18, 2018.

Their projects are also often of the type the private sector or the state are unlikely to pick up on their own, Tse added.

“These are not the kind of populations that would generate a lot of revenue for private business, or it may not even be worth it for the government to do,” he said.Their “That’s grants whereand loans a lot span of these major development infrastructure organiz projects,ations too, step from in.” highways to power grids.

The banks have not said exactly how much money is on hold.

The World Bank would not elaborate, and referred VOA back to its February 19 statement, which offers no figures or any other details. The ADB did not provide VOA with figures either.

According to its website, the World Bank has 24 active projects in Myanmar worth a combined $2.73 billion and another 13 worth $1.68 billion in the pipeline. The ADB says it has committed $3.57 billion to Myanmar over the years up to the end of 2019, with 99 active or approved projects as of February and 10 more planned.

Alternate spending

Moe Thuzar, a Myanmar analyst for the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said the banks will try to keep projects going where they can find ways around the military-run government.

In its statement, the World Bank said it was bolstering efforts to monitor projects

te-sector alreadyprograms. underway to ensure compliance with the group’s policies, while the ADB’s announcement left open the possibility of continuing with priva would affect the life of communities, of grassroots, of people across the country in these difficult times and where I think direct“They’re delivery not halting or assistance projects canthat be done without necessarily having [to work with] entities that purport to represent the governm Thuzar said. ent as it is right now,” Moe by the banks, by these financial institutions, [have] any negative or adverse “It’s about the ‘do no harm’ principle, which really is not to let any action taken consequencesHowever, as on the people,” she added. government bodies, many of their projects will surely grind to a halt, said Jared Bissinger, a developmentmost of the banks’ economist grants who and has loans done go consulting to, or at least work through, for the World Bank, United Nations and other organizations in Myanmar.

While health care projects might lend themselves to new partnerships with private clinics and independent charities that can help to keep them running, others do not.

“For a lot of what they do it’s going to be very difficult if not impossible,” Bissinger said. “You’re not going to be working on the national electrification grid withoutMoe Thuzar the government;said strikes at it’s local just banks, not possible.” part of a nationwide civil disobedience movement against the junta, will make it hard to send money to anyone in Myanmar, the government or otherwise. She said local charities are also coming under added scrutiny from authorities for foreign ties, making any activity with even a hint of resistance to the new regime risky.

Earlier this month the junta arrested a local employee of the Open Society Foundation, a U.S.-based philanthropic group that champions democracy and human rights around the world. State-run media claimed the group ran afoul of fund-transfer rules, which the group denies.

Donors’ dilemma

COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit the country harder than most others in SoutheastThe coup also Asia. risks derailing donors’ projects to help Myanmar combat the

The World Bank and ADB had both committed tens of millions of dollars to the effort ahead of the coup.

-

“It’s a no win situation,” Bissinger said. endorse this military-controlled gove “Thenot doing World Bank just can’t continue working with and thereby sort of implicitly rnment,” he said. “But at the same time, by that, yeah, it’s going to interfere with plans to address the COVID pandemic. So, it really does put organizations like the bank in a really difficult

position.” government failed to ad Myanmar’sgeneral election, military which claims the itNational took power League because for Democracy the countr partyy’s civilian of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyidress had its won allegations in a landslide. of rampant Local fraudand international in last year’s election monitors had raised concerns with the poll but said the results on the whole did reflect the will of the people.

The U.N., local media and nongovernment groups say police and soldiers have killed hundreds and arrested thousands since the coup in a failing bid to quash near-daily protests and strikes. The U.S., European Union and others have imposed sanctions on the top generals and some of their business interests in response.

https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/world-bank-asian-development-bank-freeze-funds- myanmar-shun-junta

Indonesian church bombed by suspected Islamist militants By Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Stanley Widianto 3 MIN READ

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers believed to be members of an Islamist militant group attacked a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sunday on the first day of the Easter Holy Week, wounding 19 people, police said.

The mass was finishing when the attackers detonated at least one device outside the church. The two suspects were the only fatalities.

Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the bombers were both believed to belong to the Islamic State- inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which is suspected of suicide attacks on churches and a police post that killed at least 30 people in the city of Surabaya in 2018.

Around 20 suspected JAD members were arrested in January. The group is also believed to have been involved in a bomb attack on a Philippine church in 2019 that killed more than 20 people.

“They are part of that group ... They carried out the attack with a pressure cooker bomb,” Listyo said.

In an online broadcast, President Joko Widodo condemned “this act of terrorism”, urged people to remain calm, and said the government would make sure they could worship “without fear”.

Police said the suspects had tried to enter the church’s grounds on a motorbike. Security camera footage showed a blast that blew flame, smoke and debris into the middle of the road.

A security source who was not authorised to speak to media said they were a male college student and his female partner.

Makassar, the biggest city on the island of Sulawesi, reflects the religious makeup of Indonesia, which is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country but has a substantial Christian minority, among other religions.

“Whatever the motive is, this act isn’t justified by any religion because it harms not just one person but others, too,” Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said in a statement.

Pope Francis prayed for the victims of the attack, according to Vatican Media. Gomar Gultom, head of the Indonesian Council of Churches, described the attack as a “cruel incident” as Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday, and urged people to remain calm and trust the authorities.

Indonesia’s deadliest Islamist militant attack took place on the tourist island of Bali in 2002, when bombers killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-blast/indonesian-church-bombed-by-suspected-islamist- militants-idUSKBN2BK02C

Indonesia police: Makassar church bomber part of a group involved in past attack By Reuters Staff 1 MIN READ

FILE PHOTO: Armed police officers stand guard along a closed road following an explosion outside a Catholic church in Makassar, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, March 28, 2021 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Arnas Padda/ via REUTERS

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian police have identified one of the bombers of a church in the city of Makassar on Sunday as part of a group involved in a militant attack in the Philippines in 2018, police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo told reporters.

Sunday’s attack killed the two suspected bombers and wounded 19 people, Listyo said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-blast/indonesia-police-makassar-church-bomber-part-of- a-group-involved-in-past-attack-idUSKBN2BK0EU

Islamic State terror network behind Palm Sunday suicide bombing at Indonesian church, police say

• National Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said both attackers – a man and a woman – were members of extremist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) • Both suspects in the attack were killed as they rode a motorbike into the compound of the church, setting off what authorities said was an improvised explosive device

The suicide bombing at an Indonesian cathedral on Palm Sunday was carried out by two members of a pro-Islamic State extremist group blamed for other church blasts, including a deadly 2019 attack in the Philippines, police said.

About 20 worshippers were injured by the powerful explosion outside the church in Makassar city on Sulawesi island as they celebrated the start of Holy Week.

Both suspects in the attack were killed as they rode a motorbike into the compound of the church, setting off what authorities said was an improvised explosive device known as a pressure-cooker bomb.

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3127364/islamic-state-terror-network- behind-palm-sunday-suicide

Indonesia president condemns church attack as "terrorism"

By Reuters Staff 1 MIN READ

FILE PHOTO: Indonesian President Joko Widodo gestures during an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 13, 2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian president Joko Widodo strongly condemned a suspected suicide bomb attack outside a church that wounded 14 people in the city of Makassar on the island of Sulawesi on Sunday.

In a video broadcast, he described the attack in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population as an “act of terrorism”, and urged people to remain calm, saying the government would ensure that everybody can worship freely, “without fear”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-blast-president/indonesia-president-condemns-church- attack-as-terrorism-idUSKBN2BK06M

Two people carried out church bombing in Indonesia: police By Reuters Staff 1 MIN READ

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian national police said two people were suspected of carrying out a bomb attack in the city of Makassar, after local police said the bomber had acted alone.

Fourteen people were hurt in the blast, Argo Yuwono, a police spokesman said. The counter-terrorism unit is investigating which network the attackers belonged to.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-blast-attackers/two-people-carried-out-church-bombing- in-indonesia-police-idUSKBN2BK04L

Indonesia police: one killed in church bombing was the attacker By Reuters Staff 1 MIN READ

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The one person killed in the church bombing in the Indonesian city of Makassar in South Sulawesi was suspected to be the attacker, the provincial police chief Merdisyam told reporters.

Nine others were hurt in the blast, he added, while the police categorised the bombing as “high explosive”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-blast-victim/indonesia-police-one-killed-in-church- bombing-was-the-attacker-idUSKBN2BK03U

Bangladesh violence spreads after Modi's visit, attacks on Hindu temples, train By Ruma Paul 3 MIN READ

COX’S BAZAR (Reuters) - Hundreds of members of a hardline Islamist group attacked Hindu temples and a train in eastern Bangladesh on Sunday, police and a local journalist said, as violence spread across the country in the wake of a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.ll begin in 1 seconds

Local police and doctors have said at least 11 protesters have been killed since Friday in clashes with police during demonstrations organised by Islamist groups against the Indian leader’s visit. Violence has raged on since Modi’s departure as anger has swelled over the deaths.

Modi arrived in Dhaka on Friday to mark the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s nationhood, and he left on Saturday after gifting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina some 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Islamist groups accuse Modi of discriminating against minority Muslims in Hindu-majority India.

On Friday, dozens of people were injured in the densely-populated capital Dhaka as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.

Thousands of Islamist activists marched down streets across Bangladesh on Sunday.

Activists with the Hefazat-e-Islam group attacked a train in the eastern district of Brahmanbaria, resulting in ten people being injured, a police official said.

“They attacked the train and damaged its engine room and almost all the coaches,” the official told Reuters, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Several government offices, including the land office and a government-sponsored music academy, were set on fire and several Hindu temples were also attacked, said Javed Rahim, a journalist in Brahmanbaria town.

“We are in extreme fear and feeling really helpless,” Rahim told Reuters by telephone, adding: “Even the press club was attacked, leaving many injured, including the press club president.”

One protester, who sustained an injury during Saturday’s clash in Brahmanbaria, died on Sunday, a doctor said. Islamist activists also set alight two buses in the western district of Rajshahi on Sunday, while hundreds of protesters clashed with police in several places, pelting them with stones, three police sources in three districts said.

Protesters used electric poles, timber and sand bags to block roads and police retaliated with rubber bullets and tear gas, leaving dozens injured in Narayanganj, just outside the capital, Dhaka, one police official said.

Protesters also vandalised and burned several buses in Dhaka as they blocked many roads, a police official said.

The protests have flared into wider demonstrations against police killings, and the Hefazat-e-Islam enforced a nationwide strike on Sunday.

“Police opened fire on our peaceful supporters,” Hef

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bangladesh-india-protest/bangladesh-violence-spreads-after- modis-visit-attacks-on-hindu-temples-train-idUSKBN2BK08L

Killing of youths sparks protests in northwest Pakistan By Jibran Ahmad, Saud Mehsud 3 MIN READ

PESHAWAR/DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters broke through a police blockade in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday as they tried to march on the city of Bannu and then on to Islamabad to demand a government probe into the deaths of four young men who they allege were tortured and killed by security forces.

Slideshow ( 3 images )

Police fired tear gas in an attempt to keep them from entering the city of Bannu, which lies on the way to Islamabad, on Sunday evening.

The protesters were carrying the bodies of the four young men, aged between 15 and 20, found in a shallow grave on March 21 in the town of Jani Khel, outside Bannu.

“The government didn’t pay any attention to us and left us alone to mourn the slain boys,” Haji Mohammad Wali, one of the protesters, told Reuters by phone.

Relatives of the dead, alleging they died during interrogation by security forces, held a sit-in in Jani Khel for nearly a week, refusing to bury the bodies until an investigation was opened against an army officer they said was responsible.

A Pakistani military spokesman declined to comment about the incident on Sunday, and the military has not commented publicly on the case. The central government has not commented on the case.

Officials of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, including Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, travelled to Bannu on Sunday to meet with protesters.

“This incident is a challenge for my government and law enforcement agencies,” Khan said in a statement, adding those responsible for the deaths will be held accountable.

The protesters said that after their demands for an inquiry went unheard they decided to march to Islamabad - 300 km (190 miles) away - and local police tried to stop them by placing barricades in Bannu.

The four dead boys had been missing for several weeks, according to their relatives. Relatives said their bodies bore signs of torture when they were found.

Protests were also held in the port city of Karachi on Sunday.

The town of Jani Khel is part of the former semi-autonomous tribal areas, a region along the Afghanistan border that served as a base for the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other jihadist groups until a series of Pakistani military offensives drove them out.

Rights groups have accused the military of carrying out extrajudicial detentions and other abuses in the area - a charge the military has consistently denied.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-killings-protests/killing-of-youths-sparks-protests-in- northwest-pakistan-idUSKBN2BK0K2

Police storm rally site

99 rounded up as Govt House camp dispersed

PUBLISHED : 29 MAR 2021 AT 04:30 NEWSPAPER SECTION: NEWS WRITER: WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM A protest site set up near Government House was cleared and 99 demonstrators rounded up in two separate operations at dawn and dusk on Sunday by the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB).

The MPB deployed four companies of police to clear the site occupied by two groups of protesters at 6am. However, a number of demonstrators regrouped at 3pm at Chamai Maruchet Bridge near Government House after the police dispersal in the morning.

They demanded the release of the rest of their members and calling for a new constitution to be drawn up, the resignation of the prime minister and the abolition of Section 112 of the Criminal Code -- the lese majeste law.

Pol Maj Gen Piya Tawichai, deputy commissioner of the MPB, said that a total of 99 protesters had been arrested during the two incidents.

He said the 67 arrested in the morning had been taken to the Border Patrol Police Region 1 headquarters in Pathum Thani while the rest who were taken later in the day to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.

''They would initially be charged with violating the Communicable Disease Control Act and the emergency decree,'' Pol Maj Gen Piya said.

Two monks who joined the protest were apprehended and disrobed at Wat Benjamaborphit near the site, he added.

He said the protest was illegal since the event had trespassed on public property and government offices. The protesters also vandalised a number of fixtures in the vicinity.

Police had received complaints of loud noise and traffic congestion caused by the protest, said Pol Maj Gen Chiraphat Bhumichitr, deputy MPB commissioner.

Half a kilogramme of marijuana and two one-litre bottles of kratom leaf juice were found inside a tent behind the protest stage. Sex toys and condoms were among the items found at the protest site, he said.

The site near Government House had been occupied by two groups of protesters. The first group was the Save Bang Kloi Coalition of ethnic Karen people from the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi.

They had been entrenched by Government House since early this month demanding justice for ethnic minorities.

The second group comprised members of the Ratsadon group who had marched to Bangkok from Nakhon Ratchasima to make their case for reform.

At the site they call Mu Ban Thalu Fah (Through the Sky Village), the two groups had mingled after the Ratsadon members arrived on March 14 and it had largely become a single anti-establishment protest.

About 6am on Sunday morning, four companies from the Protection and Crowd Control Division police moved in with officers using loudspeakers to order everyone to pack up their belongings and leave the area in three minutes.

The protesters pleaded for more time to pack up their belongings but were removed as threatened before ordnance disposal and forensic police arrived to sweep the site.

At 3pm, several protesters returned to Chamai Maruchet Bridge near Government House and held a live music performance where they were vociferous in the criticism of the police's earlier handling of their dispersal.

Then later, around 5.30pm, crowd control police moved in and closed traffic at Misakawan and Nang Loeng intersections as protesters spilled onto the street parading banners with anti-government messages.

At 6pm, police issued a second ultimatum, giving all those present 15 minutes to vacate the area or face legal action.

A large proportion of the group refused and twenty minutes later the police swooped in from Phitsanulok Road and Wat Benchamabophit to arrest 32, many of whom were holding pictures of their leaders who are being held by authorities without bail.

Among those apprehended was Chinnawat Chankrachang, leader of a protest group in Nonthaburi. No violence was reported.

Yingcheep Atchanont, manager of the Internet Law Reform Dialogue and a protest leader, urged everyone to go home ahead of fresh rallies in coming days.

The Facebook page Unme of Anarchy of the Ban Thalu Fah protesters later posted a message reaffirming their constitutional right to free speech and insisted they had complied with the law by notifying the authorities of their demonstration in advance.

Meanwhile, the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration said in a Facebook post they would converge on Government House to reclaim the protest site and denounce the illegitimate arrests.

The Feminist Liberate group also spoke out on the seizure of condoms and sex toys accusing the army of misrepresenting props that were being used to call for sexual equality and sexual health awareness in an adjoining protest calling for the revocation of Section 287 to pave the way for the legalisation of sex toys in Thailand.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2091047/police-storm-rally-site

North Korea accuses U.N. Security Council of 'double standard' over missile tests By Hyonhee Shin 2 MIN READ FILE PHOTO: A North Korea flag flutters next to concertina wire at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Monday that the U.N. Security Council showed a double standard as its sanctions committee criticised the country’s recent missile test as a violation of U.N. resolutions.

North Korea launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile last week, prompting Washington to request a gathering of the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) sanctions committee.

At the committee meeting on Friday, the United States called for imposing additional sanctions and tightening the implementation of existing measures, denouncing the test as a violation of U.N. resolutions, according to Jo Chol Su, director-general for international organisations at North Korea’s foreign ministry.

Jo said the meeting was “designed to negate the right of our state to self- defence,” warning it would devise a “countermeasure.”

“It constitutes a denial of sovereign state and an apparent double standard that UNSC takes issue, on the basis of the U.N. ‘resolutions’ - direct products of the U.S. hostile policy,” Jo said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

“It does not make any sense that only our righteous self-defensive measure should be singled out for denunciation, when many other countries across the globe are firing all kinds of projectiles for the purpose of increasing their military strength.” The statement came after North Korea said on Saturday that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden had taken a wrong first step and revealed “deep-seated hostility” by criticising its self-defensive missile test.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-un/north-korea-accuses-u-n-security-council- of-double-standard-over-missile-tests-idUSKBN2BK0P1

U.N. negotiating with China for unfettered access to Xinjiang: Guterres tells CBC By Reuters Staff 2 MIN READ Slideshow ( 2 images )

(Reuters) - The United Nations is holding “serious negotiations” with China for unfettered access to the Xinjiang region to verify reports that Muslim Uighurs are being persecuted, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a CBC interview broadcast on Sunday.

The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said last month that reports of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, sexual violence and forced labor in Xinjiang necessitated a thorough and independent assessment.

In February, Bachelet said talks to organize a visit had begun but no agreement has yet been reached.

Bachelet’s visit “is being negotiated at the present moment between the office of the High Commissioner and the Chinese authorities,” Guterres said in an interview aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp’s Rosemary Barton Live show.

“And I hope that they will reach an agreement soon and that the human rights commissioner will be able to visit China without restrictions or limitations,” he added.

China’s sensitivity to criticism of its treatment of the Uighur minority was underscored on Saturday when it announced targeted sanctions against two American religious-rights officials and a Canadian lawmaker who had denounced Beijing’s treatment of them and other minorities. Activists have expressed skepticism about the prospects for a meaningful visit with unfettered access in China.

The Chinese government denies any mistreatment and has said that people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and the Tibetan region enjoy wide-ranging freedoms.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-un/u-n-negotiating-with-china-for- unfettered-access-to-xinjiang-guterres-tells-cbc-idUSKBN2BK0GN

Beijing enveloped in hazardous sandstorm, second time in two weeks By Reuters Staff 2 MIN READ

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BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese capital Beijing woke on Sunday morning shrouded in thick dust carrying extremely high levels of hazardous particles, as a second sandstorm in two weeks hit the city due to winds from drought-hit Mongolia and northwestern China.

Visibility in the city was reduced, with the tops of some skyscrapers obscured by the sandstorm, and pedestrians were forced to cover their eyes as gusts of dust swept through the streets.

“It’s quite serious today. There’s always a day or two like this (of pollution or dust) each month,” said Mr. Fan, 39, who did not wish to disclose his full name.

Beijing’s official air quality index reached a maximum level of 500 on Sunday morning, with floating particles known as PM10 surpassing 2,000 micrograms per cubic metre in some districts.

Readings of smaller PM2.5 particles were above 300 micrograms per cubic metre, far higher than China’s standard of 35 micrograms.

PM2.5 particles are especially harmful because they are very tiny and can enter the bloodstream, while PM10 is a larger particle that can enter the lungs.

The China Meteorological Administration issued a yellow alert on Friday, warning that a sandstorm was spreading from Mongolia into northern Chinese provinces including Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Liaoning and Hebei, which surrounds Beijing.

The meteorological office said the recent sandstorms to hit Beijing originated from Mongolia, where relatively warmer temperature this spring and reduced rain resulted in larger areas of bare earth, creating favorable conditions for sandstorms.

Beijing might face more sandstorms in April due to the unfavorable weather this year, the meteorological office said.

chttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-weather-sandstorm/beijing-enveloped-in-hazardous- sandstorm-second-time-in-two-weeks-idUSKBN2BK03C

China generated over half world's coal- fired power in 2020: study By Reuters Staff 2 MIN READ

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China generated 53% of the world’s total coal- fired power in 2020, nine percentage points more that five years earlier, despite climate pledges and the building of hundreds of renewable energy plants, a global data study showed on Monday.

Slideshow ( 3 images )

Although China added a record 71.7 gigawatts (GW) of wind power and 48.2 GW of solar last year, it was the only G20 nation to see a significant jump in coal-fired generation, according to research from Ember, a London-based energy and climate research group.

China’s coal-fired generation rose by 1.7% or 77 terawatt-hours, enough to bring its share of total global coal power to 53%, up from 44% in 2015, the report showed.

The country has promised to reduce its dependence on coal in a bid to bring emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gas to a peak before 2030 and become “carbon neutral” by 2060.

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“China is like a big ship, and it takes time to turn in another direction,” said Muyi Yang, senior analyst with Ember and one of the report’s authors. China has so far been unable to find enough clean energy to meet rapid increases in electricity demand. Renewables met only around half of China’s power consumption growth last year.

New coal-fired power installations reached 38.4 GW in 2020, more than three times the amount built by the rest of the world, according to a February research report.

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China has steadily reduced the share of coal in total energy consumption from around 70% a decade ago to 56.8% last year. But absolute generation volumes still rose 19% over the 2016-2020 period, Ember calculated.

In its 2021-2025 five-year plan, China vowed to “rationally control the scale and pace of development in the construction of coal-fired power,” and Yang said tougher measures could follow.

“I think there will be a cap on coal consumption, and that will have a major impact on the future trajectory for coal power,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-china-coal/china-generated-over-half-worlds-coal- fired-power-in-2020-study-idUSKBN2BK0PZ

Silk Road plans on ice? Could a chill in China’s ties with the West put its Polar • Beijing will need more than support from Moscow to realise its Arctic trade ambitions, observers say • Chinese entities have had ‘mixed results at best’ in the region

Polar Silk Road headway in expanding its presence in the Arctic.Chinese entities have opened up new freight routes and conductedIn the three scientific years since expeditions China first in airedthe region. its vision And f orlate a “last year, the country” trade also route, announced it has made plans some to launch a satellite by 2022 to track shipping routes and monitor changes in sea ice.The vision is part of -dollar Belt and Road Initiative to expand Chinese influence through investment and infrastructure across the world, and is officially part of the national development blueprint for the nextBeijing’s five multibillionyears.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3127320/could-chill-chinas-ties-west-put-its- polar-silk-road-plans-ice

- change as ties with US sour, says former ambassador China’s 25 year deal with Iran marks ‘momentous’ • Former diplomat Hua Liming says Beijing used to be cautious in its dealings with the Islamic Republic to avoid upsetting Washington • Both sides have welcomed the new deal, which includes agreements on energy supplies and security

-year agreement with Iran underlies a shift in its Middle East strategy as relations with the

China’s 25 LastUnited week States China deteriorate, and Iran signedthe country’s the pact former on energy, ambassado economicr to Tehranand security has said. cooperation in the face of increased pressure from the United States

to Tehran Hua Liming. “The deal and [Foreign Minister] Wang Yi’s trip mark a momentous change in China’s relations with Iran and the region,” said former Chinese ambassador

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3127346/chinas-25-year-deal-iran-marks- momentous-change-ties-us-sour

US- supremacy faces bumpy ride as American export controlsChina show relations: no signs Beijing’s of easing plan for aviation

• Since taking office, the Biden administration has not loosened buying restrictions on US aviation products imposed on China • As a result, China’s plan to accelerate development of its aviation and aerospace industries faces enormous challenges, analysts say controls on aviation products, as tension between Beijing and Washington shows no sign of easing despiteChina’s plana new to administration become a powerhouse in Washington. in civil aircraft manufacturing could be derailed by US export

A trade war that has spilled over into the aviation sector in the past two years. between the world’s two biggest economies has morphed into a battle for tech supremacy Amid fears that US global competitiveness could be compromised and critical technology could fall into the hands of the Chinese military, Washington has targeted Chinese companies, including many in the aerospace industry, by restricting them from buying US-made products.

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3127090/us-china-relations-beijings-plan- aviation-supremacy-faces

Western views of human rights don't represent int'l community: Chinese FM

Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-29 07:04:00|Editor: huaxia

ABU DHABI, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that the views of human rights held by some Western countries don't represent those of the international community. He made these remarks in a meeting with his counterpart of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

The visiting Chinese foreign minister said that the situation of a country's human rights shall be judged by its people, rather than other countries' opinions.

"The world should listen to and absorb the views of developing countries so that the definition of human rights will be more comprehensive, diverse and balanced," Wang said.

He stressed that the rights to live and develop are as important as the political and social rights, and fairness and justice should be respected the same as democracy and freedom.

"It's normal that different civilizations and traditions in different development phases lead to different understandings and emphases. This is why we advocate communicating equally and learning from each other on the human rights issue," Wang said.

He reiterated that China opposes any form of interference in other countries' domestic affairs under the pretext of protecting human rights, and objects to slandering other countries by using human rights as a political tool. "No country is superior to another in this world, and the standard of a single country should not be regarded as the international standard," Wang said, noting it would be the utmost injustice in human history if some Western countries keep using human rights as an excuse to suppress and contain developing countries and to deprive non-Western countries of the rights to develop.

China is keen to hold dialogue with the UAE over the human rights issue and jointly seek progress in protecting human rights in both countries and the world as well, Wang added.

For his part, Sheikh Abdullah said that the level of well-being and happiness of the citizens should be the criteria to judge the human rights situation in a country.

Forcing others to accept one's own values is hegemony, and many developing countries have suffered such kind of unfair treatment over the human rights issue, he noted.

The UAE is willing to enhance communication and cooperation with China on promoting and protecting human rights, he added. Enditem

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-03/29/c_139842752.htm

Blinken says aspects of U.S.-China ties are 'increasingly adversarial' By Reuters Staff 1 MIN READ FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2021. Olivier Hoslet/Pool via Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday he sees “increasingly adversarial” aspects to the United States’ relationship with China.

“There are clearly increasingly adversarial aspects to the relationship, there are certainly competitive ones,” Blinken told CNN, adding that there were also areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The United States on Saturday condemned China’s sanctions against two U.S. religious rights officials and a Canadian lawmaker in a dispute over Beijing’s treatment of Uighur Muslims and other minorities.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-blinken/blinken-says-aspects-of-u-s-china-ties-are- increasingly-adversarial-idUSKBN2BK0EA

United States condemns China's sanctions in dispute over Uighurs By Reuters Staff 4 MIN READ

BEIJING/OTTAWA (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday condemned China’s sanctions against two American religious-rights officials and a Canadian lawmaker in a dispute over Beijing’s treatment of Uighur Muslims and other minorities.

China’s moves “only contribute to the growing international scrutiny of the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. We stand in solidarity with Canada, the UK, the EU, and other partners and allies around the world in calling on the (China) to end the human rights violations and abuses,” U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement.

Beijing’s sanctions followed those imposed by the United States, European Union, Britain and Canada earlier this week for what they say are violations of the rights of Uighur Muslims and other Turkic minorities in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.

Activists and U.N. rights experts say at least a million Muslims have been detained in camps in Xinjiang. The activists and some Western politicians accuse China of using torture, forced labour and sterilisations.

China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

Blinken’s statement came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced Beijing and vowed to defend human rights.

China sanctioned Canadian opposition lawmaker Michael Chong, vice-chair of parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development and its Subcommittee on International Human Rights, which this month presented a report concluding that atrocities in Xinjiang constitute crimes against humanity and genocide.

Beijing also said it will take measures against the chair and vice-chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Gayle Manchin and Tony Perkins.

The individuals under Beijing’s sanctions are banned from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, and Chinese citizens and institutions are prohibited from doing business with the three individuals or having any exchanges with the subcommittee. “The Chinese government is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and urges the relevant parties to clearly understand the situation and redress their mistakes,” the Chinese foreign ministry said.

“They must stop political manipulation on Xinjiang-related issues, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs in any form and refrain from going farther down the wrong path. Otherwise they will get their fingers burnt.”

China’s previous sanctions on U.S. individuals who it says have seriously undermined China’s sovereignty and interests on Xinjiang-related issues remain in effect.

Chong, who is a member of the opposition Conservative Party in Canada, said he would “wear (the sanctions) as a badge of honour”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-canada/united-states-condemns-chinas-sanctions-in- dispute-over-uighurs-idUSKBN2BJ0DW

US-

China relations: Blinken condemns China’s • Beijing’s efforts ‘contribute to the growing international scrutiny of the ongoing ‘baselessgenocide’ sanctions’ in Xinjiang, US secretary of state says • US stands ‘in solidarity with Canada, the UK, the EU, and other partners and allies around the world’, he says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken -for-tat sanctions against two Americans in the growing dispute over Beijin said on Saturday that China’s tit g’s treatment of Uygurs were “baseless” and would only Xinjiang.shine a spotlight on the “genocide” in hts and fundamental freedoms only contribute to the growing international scrutiny of the ongoing genocide “Beijing’s attempts to intimidate and silence those speaking out for human rig

Blinkenand crimes spoke against out after humanity China in announced Xinjiang,” sanctionshe said. against two Americans, a Canadian and a rights advocacy body

from the Uygur ethnic minority group. in response to sanctions imposed this week by the two countries over Beijing’s treatment of people

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3127305/us-china-relations-blinken-condemns- chinas-baseless-sanctions

- against companies cutting Xinjiang ties US decries Chinese ‘state led’ social media campaign • Biden administration appears keen to stiffen the resolve of companies that say they will stop working with Xinjiang suppliers because of forced-labour charges • Chinese media has called for boycotts of Swedish retailer H&M, sports apparel powerhouses Nike and Adidas; New Balance; Burberry and other brands

- dia campaign against US companies and other foreign businesses that have pledged not to use cotton and other componentsThe Biden administration involving Uygur criticised workers on in Friday Xinjiang. what it called a Chinese “state led” social me

With co far western region of Xinjiang, the European Union on Monday announced sanctions against four Xinjiang officialsncern and one mounting entity; theglobally US, Britain over alleged and Canada forced quickly labour fol andlowed other in human what seemed rights abuses to be a incoordinated China’s move.

Beijing quickly countered with its own sanctions against 10 EU lawmakers, scholars, human rights

Beijing followed up on Friday with sanctions aimed at Britain involving nine individuals and four entities.activists and scholars and four organizations for “maliciously spreading lies and false information”.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3127230/us-decries-chinese-state-led-social- media-campaign-against

U.S.-China sanctions battle escalating under Biden with focus on Xinjiang abuses

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the end of a NATO Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (Olivier Hoslet,/Pool Photo via AP) more >

• By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times - Updated: 8:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 28, 2021

A tit-for-tat sanctions battle between the Biden administration and China has reached new heights in recent days, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken accusing Beijing of attempting to “intimidate and silence” U.S. officials who speak out for human rights around the world. Mr. Blinken made the assertion in a statement Saturday night in response to China’s leveling of sanctions against U.S. and Canadian officials in a growing political and international economic feud surrounding Beijing’s policies in the ethnic Uighur and traditionally Muslim Chinese region of Xinjiang.

Earlier Saturday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Gayle Manchin; commission Vice Chair Tony Perkins; and Canadian Member of Parliament Michael Chong will be barred from visiting China, Hong Kong and Macao, and from having any dealings with Chinese financial entities.

The Chinese sanctions came days after the United States, Canada, Britain and the European Union had leveled sanctions against Chinese officials, accusing them of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

U.S. officials previously have accused the Chinese government of carrying out genocide against minority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, where more than 1 million members of the Uighur and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities have been confined to detention camps. Foreign governments and researchers also have accused authorities in the region of imposing forced labor and coercive birth control measures on Uighurs.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/mar/28/us-china-sanctions-battle-escalating-under- biden-w/

US demonstrators rally nationwide against anti- Asian violence

PUBLISHED : 28 MAR 2021 AT 07:45 WRITER: AFP NEW YORK - Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in New York's Queens borough Saturday to demand an end to anti-Asian violence, part of a national day of action following deadly mass shootings at Asian-owned spas in Atlanta.

Organizers held rallies in some 60 US cities including the Georgia metropolis along with San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Portland.

"We're one year into this pandemic and anti-Asian violence has only intensified," said Judi Chang, a representative of the anti-war, anti-racism ANSWER coalition behind the demonstrations.

Like many organizers, Chang attributed the spike in anti-Asian sentiment to political rhetoric that casts China as a threat.

"Everyone I know who is Asian has been a victim of violence or harassment, assault," she told AFP in New York. "We get spat at, we get yelled at. We get stared at, people move away when we come." The March 16 gun rampage left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent, triggering alarm and grief nationwide along with fear over a rise in pandemic-era hate crimes.

"Stop Demonizing China and Chinese People!" read some signs wielded by demonstrators in Atlanta, as others were emblazoned with messages like "Say No to Anti-Asian Racist Terror!"

"I'm not a virus, I'm not the enemy, I'm Chinese-American and I love who I am," read the placard of another demonstrator marching with about 100 others in Washington's Chinatown district.

Irving Lee, a demonstrator in Queens, called "the anti-Asian violence that's been created in his country" a "byproduct of US foreign policy."

When the spread of Covid-19 began gripping the United States in early 2020 a number of politicians, including then US president Donald Trump, dubbed it the "Wuhan" or "Chinese" virus, which Lee said has had devastating effects on Asian communities.

"I've seen a lot of people that have been affected," he told AFP. "They're scared to go out as a consequence of the violence that's been going on."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2090875/us-demonstrators-rally-nationwide-against-anti-asian- violence US lawmakers reintroduce Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act

By Central News Agency

2021/03/28 13:56

Two United States bipartisan lawmakers on Friday reintroduced the Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act, which according to them, seeks to update U.S. policy toward Taiwan to better reflect U.S. values and the realities on the ground.

The bill was jointly introduced by Republican Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who is chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

If the act were passed, it would change the status of the head of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official ties.

Under the act, the position of AIT director would be changed to "representative," and its appointment would have to be approved by the Senate, as is required for all U.S. ambassadors.

It would also require the U.S. president to establish an "inter-agency Taiwan Task Force" comprised of senior government officials who would submit an annual report to Congress detailing actions that should be taken to enhance U.S.-Taiwan relations.

Another provision would establish a nonprofit U.S.-Taiwan Cultural Exchange Foundation, which would work with local governments and educational institutions to send American high school and university students to Taiwan to study Chinese, history and politics.

The act would also direct the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress on how the U.S. could work with the Taiwanese government to establish an alternative to China's Confucius Institutes, which offer Chinese language education courses globally.

"I'm proud to reintroduce this bipartisan bill, which seeks to update U.S. policy to better reflect our core values as well as the current realities in the Indo-Pacific region," Rubio said in a statement on Friday.

Merkley, meanwhile, also called for the U.S. to keep building a robust relationship with Taiwan. "Let's pass the Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act, so we can expand exchange programs, continue to encourage Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations, and work together to defend our businesses from the Chinese government's coercion," he said.

The Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act was reintroduced that day by Rubio and Markey during the first session of the 117th Congress.

The bill was previously introduced to the Senate in October 2020, but was not included in the congressional schedule of the previous term.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4161968

U.S. religious-rights official says she is 'flattered' to be target of China sanctions By Michael Martina 4 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. religious-rights official said she was “flattered” to be the target of Chinese government sanctions stemming from a dispute between the two countries over Beijing’s treatment of Uighur Muslims, which Washington has described as genocide.

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and his wife Gayle watch West Virginia University play Texas University in football, ahead of 2018 midterm elections, at Hound Dog Adkins Barn in Peach Creek, West Virginia, U.S. November 3, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

The United States on Saturday condemned China’s sanctions against two Americans and a Canadian lawmaker, which followed those imposed by the United States, European Union, Britain and Canada last week for what they say are violations of the rights of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities China’s western region of Xinjiang.

Beijing sanctioned the chair and vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Gayle Manchin and Tony Perkins, banning them from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau. It also prohibited Chinese citizens and institutions from doing business or having any exchanges with them.

“I feel flattered to be recognized by Communist China for calling out genocidal crimes against religious and ethnic minorities in the country,” Manchin told Reuters in a statement late on Saturday.

“While I don’t have plans to travel to China this summer, I won’t stop speaking out when egregious violations of religious freedom are taking place as they are in China,” said Manchin, who is married to Democratic U.S. senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin.

USCIRF last year recommended that the U.S. government and its partners sanction China for abuses in Xinjiang.

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The back and forth over sanctions is the latest sign of the increasingly bitter rivalry between the United States and China, which was on rare public display earlier this month in Alaska when the two sides held their first high-level, in-person talks of President Joe Biden’s administration. That meeting began with pointed criticism of each other’s policies in front of television cameras, and ended with no major breakthroughs, an indication of how little common ground remains in relations that have sunk to the lowest level in decades.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the Chinese government sanctions only draw more international scrutiny to the “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang”.

In an interview that aired on CNN on Sunday Blinken said he sees “increasingly adversarial” aspects to the United States’ relationship with China.

Activists and U.N. rights experts say at least a million Muslims have been detained in camps in Xinjiang. They, and some Western politicians, accuse China of using torture, forced labor and sterilizations. China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

China’s foreign ministry said the individuals it sanctioned must redress their mistakes, and warned that “they will get their fingers burnt” unless they stop political manipulation over Xinjiang.

Canadian opposition lawmaker Michael Chong, who was also targeted by China, said he would wear Beijing’s sanctions as a badge of honor.

The United Nations is holding “serious negotiations” with China for unfettered access to the Xinjiang region to verify reports of persecution, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a CBC interview broadcast on Sunday.

Rights advocates, however, have expressed skepticism about the prospects for unrestricted access to the region.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-uighurs/u-s-religious-rights-official-says-she-is-flattered- to-be-target-of-china-sanctions-idUSKBN2BK0IZ

U.S., Japan and South Korea eye foreign minister meeting in April, source says

• North Korea and China are expected to be high on the agenda if foreign ministers from the United States, Japan and South Korea meet in April, a source says. | AFP-JIJI • • • • KYODO • • SHARE • Mar 28, 2021 WASHINGTON The United States, Japan and South Korea are arranging a meeting of their foreign ministers, possibly in late April, a diplomatic source said, with policy coordination on– China and North Korea expected to be high on the agenda. If realized, it will be the first such meeting since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January. The source said their talks are expected to be held in the United States.

The news of the plan follows Pyongyang’s recently resumed ballistic missile tests after a year-long hiatus.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/28/national/politics-diplomacy/u-s-south-korea-north- korea-nuclear-weapons-china/

Japan joins global condemnation of lethal force against Myanmar protesters

• Military personnel participate in a parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Saturday. | REUTERS

• AFP-JIJI, KYODO • • SHARE • Mar 28, 2021 WASHINGTON Defense chiefs from a dozen countries, including Japan, released a statement Sunday condemning the bloodbath in Myanmar a day earlier, when at least 90 people — including– several children — were killed after security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters. Also on Sunday, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi condemned the continued use of deadly force by Myanmar's military and police against civilians. Motegi issued a statement saying that the Japanese government "strongly condemns" such action continuing despite repeated calls from the international community to immediately stop resorting to violence against civilians.

"Shooting against civilians, the inhumane treatment of detainees, and the strict crackdown on media activities by the Myanmar military and police are actions that contradict what the Myanmar military officially announced about the importance of democracy," Motegi said.

"The use of live ammunition against peaceful protests can never be tolerated," he said.

Motegi also reiterated Japan's call for the immediate release of State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi and others who have been detained since a Feb. 1 coup, and the swift restoration of the democratic political system in the nation.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the generals ousted and detained Suu Kyi, triggering mass protests demanding a return to democracy.

The junta on Saturday staged a major show of might for its annual Armed Forces Day as the death toll since the Feb. 1 coup climbed to at least 423, according to a local monitoring group.

The defense ministers of 12 countries, including the United States, Britain and Australia, condemned the Myanmar military's use of lethal force against civilians. "A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting — not harming — the people it serves," the rare joint statement said. "We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions."

Mourners were expected to turn out for funeral processions across the country Sunday, after the bloodiest day since the coup.

Protesters with flags hit the streets in the morning at Bago city, northeast of Yangon, and the small town of Moe Kaung in Kachin State.

A day earlier, violence erupted across the country with the military using live rounds in nine regions, including the largest city Yangon, local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said.

By sunset, AAPP said at least 90 people had been killed. Local media, however, put the death toll higher at 114.

"Junta forces shot machine guns into residential areas, resulting in many civilians, including six children between ten and sixteen years old, killed," AAPP said.

"The fact the illegitimate military regime is targeting children is a grave act of inhumanity."

Rebels in eastern Myanmar's Karen state said they had been targeted in air strikes late Saturday, hours after the ethnic armed group seized a military base.

Hsa Moo, an ethnic Karen and human right activist said three people were killed and at least eight were injured.

"The people are worried about whether the air strikes would come again today," she said.

It was the first air assault in years in the state, and targeted the Fifth Brigade of the Karen National Union (KNU) — one of the country's largest armed groups — which says it represents the ethnic Karen people.

The junta did not immediately comment, and there was no official confirmation of any casualties.

There was a grand parade of troops and military vehicles in the capital Naypyidaw on Saturday, where junta leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing defended the coup and pledged to yield power after new elections.

But he also issued a threat to the anti-coup movement, warning that acts of "terrorism which can be harmful to state tranquillity and security" were unacceptable.

"The democracy we desire would be an undisciplined one if they pay no respect to and violate the law," he said. Armed Forces Day commemorates the start of local resistance to the Japanese occupation during World War II, and usually features a military parade attended by foreign military officers and diplomats.

The junta announced that eight international delegations attended Saturday's event, including those of China and Russia — with a state media broadcast showing Russian deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin in the audience.

Overnight, at the Miss Grand International beauty pageant in Bangkok, a tearful Myanmar contender, Han Lay, pleaded for peace.

"I deeply feel sorry for all the people who have lost their lives on the streets," she said in an emotional address, before singing Michael Jackson's "Heal the World."

"Please help Myanmar, we need your urgent international help right now."

The Myanmar Embassy in London on Sunday confirmed the ambassador met with Suu Kyi's youngest son Kim, 44, last week, who reiterated a request to speak to his mother by telephone.

"Kim asked about his mother's situation and her health. He is obviously extremely worried," the embassy said on its Facebook page, adding it had already sent three letters to Naypyidaw.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/28/asia-pacific/myanmar-killings-condemned/

Taiwan condemns junta following Myanmar's bloodiest day since coup

At least 114 civilians killed in Myanmar Saturday, MOFA joins international outcry over escalating violence by Southeast Asian country's security forces

797

By Micah McCartney, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2021/03/28 19:37

Anti-coup protesters run as one uses fire extinguisher to counter the impact of tear gas fired by riot policemen in Yangon, Myanmar, March 3... (AP photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following the bloodiest day since Myanmar's junta began employing deadly force to crack down on protesters, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned that nation's military leadership and called for it to restore democracy peacefully.

The eighth week of protests in Myanmar ended with the single deadliest day since demonstrators first took to the streets to protest the coup that toppled the country's democratically elected government. Saturday (March 27) saw at least 114 people killed by security forces, including a 13-year-old, according to independent news agency Myanmar Now.

In a statement released Sunday (March 28), MOFA expressed "solemn condemnation over the continued use of lethal force by the Myanmar military to suppress peaceful protesters. It stated that as a country that embraces peace, freedom, and democracy, Taiwan cannot accept the violence against civilians in the Southeast Asian country.

The ministry further stated that the Myanmar junta's crackdown only exacerbates the chaotic situation, which has seriously impacted the country's society, politics, and economy.

Saying Myanmar's military "cannot avoid the blame," MOFA urged it to cease the use of force and instead resolve the conflict with "peaceful and rational dialogue" and restore the country's democratic processes.

The defense chiefs of the U.K., U.S., Japan, Australia, and eight other nations published a joint statement condemning Saturday's killings, which coincided with Myanmar's annual Armed Forces Day. "A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting — not harming — the people it serves," it read.

American Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Twitter that the U.S. is "horrified by the bloodshed perpetrated by Burmese security forces, showing that the junta will sacrifice the lives of the people to serve the few."

The military of Myanmar, known as the Tatmadaw, declared a state of emergency on Feb. 1 and seized control of the government, citing unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the parliamentary elections late last year. The military arrested State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and many other leaders in their party, the National League for Democracy.

Thousands have since taken to the streets in overwhelmingly peaceful protests across the country. After the first reports surfaced of protesters being shot by security forces, Taiwan's foreign ministry urged a peaceful resolution to the dispute and return to democracy.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4162659

Malaysia's key ruling coalition ally says will not work with PM Muhyiddin in polls By Reuters Staff 3 MIN READ

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia’s biggest political party and key ruling coalition ally UMNO on Sunday said it will not cooperate with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s alliance in the next national election, deepening conflict within the ruling pact.

FILE PHOTO: A man stands in front of a United Malays National Organization (UMNO) logo at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia October 26, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

Muhyiddin’s 13 months in office have been beset with infighting and a leadership challenge from opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has wrecked havoc on the economy.

UMNO, or the United Malays National Organisation, is the largest bloc in Muhyiddin’s ruling alliance, but some of its leaders have been unhappy playing second fiddle to the premier’s own party and have called for early elections.

Muhyiddin, who came to power with a slim majority in parliament, declared a nationwide emergency in January to focus efforts on fighting the pandemic, though his critics say he did so to stay in power.

UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party will contest elections as part of the Barisan Nasional alliance it leads, and not cooperate with any other parties.

“We will not be part of Perikatan Nasional as a party. This resolution is final,” Ahmad Zahid said at the party’s general assembly on Sunday referring to Muhyiddin’s ruling coalition.

Elections are not due until 2023 but under pressure from UMNO, Muhyiddin had said earlier this year he would hold elections as soon as it was safe to do so amid the pandemic.

Some defections from the opposition have boosted his support in parliament.

Ahmad Zahid said the election timing was still uncertain.

“From our viewpoint, maybe it’s 2023 because they have enough members of parliament now,” he said. Several UMNO leaders, including Ahmad Zahid, were charged with corruption after the party lost power in the 2018 elections - their first loss since Malaysia gained independence from the British more than 60 years ago.

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, also from UMNO, was last year sentenced to 12 years in jail for corruption in a case linked to the multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.

He has consistently denied wrongdoing and has appealed the court verdict.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-politics/malaysias-key-ruling-coalition-ally-says-will-not- work-with-pm-muhyiddin-in-polls-idUSKBN2BK04W

Hazard map reveals possibility of powerful earthquake in next 30 years By New Straits Times - March 28, 2021 @ 11:13am

(File pic) This picture taken on February 25, 2021 shows the newly-built fishing village of Mone in Miyagi prefecture, after the old village lost 42 of its 55 houses in the 2011 tsunami, but instead of building a wall, residents decided to move. - A 2020 seismic hazard map recently released by the government’s Earthquake Research Committee showed the nation faces the risks of being hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of at least a lower 6, the third-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

JAPAN faces a high possibility of a powerful earthquake occurring on the Pacific side of the country in the next 30 years.

A 2020 seismic hazard map recently released by the government's Earthquake Research Committee showed the nation faces the risks of being hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of at least a lower 6, the third-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale.

According to a report published in Japan Times, the new map showed probabilities of at least 26 per cent in the eastern part of Hokkaido, as well as on the Pacific side of Kanto, Tokai, Kinki and Shikoku regions.

The results also indicate a high probability of two huge offshore quakes over the next 30 years.

One is with a magnitude of around 8 that is forecasted to occur with an 80 per cent probability along the Chishima Trench off Nemuro in Hokkaido.

The other one is along the Nankai Trough off the country's central to southwestern coast with a magnitude of 8 to 9. It has a probability of 70 to 80 per cent.

Many other areas on the map, where the offices of prefectural capital cities and Hokkaido sub-prefectural administration bureaus are located, showed slight increases in quake probabilities.

Among them, Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture, showed the highest probability at 81 per cent, unchanged from the previous map released in 2018.

The probabilities stood at 80 per cent in Nemuro, up from 78 per cent, unchanged at 75 per cent in Kochi and 75 per cent in Tokushima, up two per cent. However, as recent geographical, geological and drilling survey data are reflected in the map, the probabilities dropped to 62 from 85 per cent in Chiba and to 30 from 55 per cent in Osaka.

Tokyo's risk dropped by just one per cent to 47.

The release of the 2020 map was delayed into 2021 as evaluations of quake probabilities along the Japan Trench and the Nankai Trough had to be updated.

According to the report, the Tohoku region still sees aftershocks of the March 11, 2011, 9.0 magnitude Great East Japan Earthquake.

This is the earthquake that unleashed a deadly tsunami along the region's Pacific coast.

This partly contributes to the probabilities of major quakes measuring at least a lower 6 over the coming 30 years remaining high at 26 per cent or higher along the Pacific coast of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.

Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures as well as the eastern part of Nagano Prefecture, showed lower probabilities because of updated quake evaluations, although they are still at high levels.

"We want people to check the areas of their homes, schools and workplaces on the map and take steps such as quake-proofing furniture," said Naoshi Hirata, chairman of the committee.

The Japanese version of the map is accessible at the website of the government's Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion.

Visitors to the site can pick a location and see the quake probability on the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience's J-SHIS online hazard map.

https://www.nst.com.my/world/region/2021/03/677644/hazard-map-reveals-possibility-powerful- earthquake-next-30-years

Tugs, dredgers struggle to free container ship Evergiven blocking Suez Canal

Dredgers working to dislodge the stranded vessel have so far shifted 27,000 cubic metres of sand, to a depth of 18 metres (19.7 yards), and efforts would continue around the clock according to wind conditions and tides, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said.

Reuters | , Egypt

PUBLISHED ON MAR 28, 2021 11:28 PM IST

Suez Canal salvage teams were alternating between dredging and tugging on Sunday to dislodge a massive container ship blocking the busy waterway, while two sources said efforts had been complicated by rock under the ship's bow.

Dredgers working to dislodge the stranded vessel have so far shifted 27,000 cubic metres of sand, to a depth of 18 metres (19.7 yards), and efforts would continue around the clock according to wind conditions and tides, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered preparations for the possible removal of some of the ship's 18,300 containers, SCA Chairman Osama Rabie told Egypt's Extra News.

Any operation to lighten the ship's load would not start before Monday, an SCA source said, as salvage teams try to take advantage of high tides before they recede next week to manoeuvre the ship free.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds more than five days ago, halting shipping traffic in one of the world's busiest waterways.

At least 369 boats are waiting to transit the canal, Rabie said, including dozens of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.

Shippers affected by the blockage may be offered discounts, Rabie said, adding that he believed investigations would show the canal was not responsible for grounding the Ever Given, one of the world's biggest container ships.

Rescue workers from the SCA and a team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage have been weighing how much tugging power they can use on the ship without risking damage, and whether some cargo will need to be removed by crane in order to re-float it. Experts have warned that such a process could be complex and lengthy. Rabie said he hoped it would not be necessary, but that Egypt would take up offers of international assistance if it did switch to that strategy.

A ballast tank at the bow of the ship has been damaged, and the vessel will have to be inspected once it is freed, two people familiar with the salvage operation said. "There are positive indicators from yesterday and the day before yesterday," Rabie told Egyptian state TV.

"The rudder was not moving and it is now moving, the propeller is working now, there was no water underneath the bow, and now there is water under it, and yesterday there was a 4-metre deviation in the bow and the stern."

However, two SCA sources told Reuters that a mass of rock had been found at the bow of the ship, complicating salvage efforts.

From the dredging done so far it was still unclear whether the ship was stuck on soft sand, compact sand or clay, which will determine how easily it may shift free, said one official involved in the salvage operation.

Two more powerful tugs are expected to arrive by Monday. "We believe that is what you are going to need in terms of horse power ... to have a decent attempt, a decent chance of trying to float her," the official said.

"We're dividing the day into two halves, 12 hours for dredgers and 12 hours for tugs, because not all times are suitable for tugs due to the tide," said Rabie, adding that 14 tug boats in total were being deployed.

About 15% of world shipping traffic transits the Suez Canal, which is a key source of foreign currency revenues for Egypt. The current stoppage is costing the canal $14-15 million daily.

Shipping rates for oil product tankers nearly doubled after the ship became stranded, and the blockage has disrupted global supply chains, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with Covid-19 restrictions.

If the blockage drags on, shippers may decide to reroute their cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope, adding about two weeks to journeys and extra fuel costs.

The SCA has said it can accelerate convoys through the canal once the Ever Given is freed.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/tugs-dredgers-struggle-to-free-container-ship-evergiven- blocking-suez-canal-101616953737814.html

6 days on, Suez Canal still blocked: What we know so far

• The MV Ever Given, which is longer than four football fields, has been wedged diagonally across the Suez Canal since Tuesday, blocking it in both directions. By hindustantimes.com | Edited by Kanishka Sarkar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

UPDATED ON MAR 28, 2021 12:54 PM IST

The Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest waterways, continued to remain blocked as a giant container ship is stuck sideways in it hindering global shipping and trade for the sixth day on Sunday.

The 400 metre (430 yard) long Ever Given, which is wedged diagonally across a southern section of the canal, moved slightly as efforts underway to dislodge it allowed its stern and rudder to move, the head of the canal authority told news agency Reuters. "We expect that at any time the ship could slide and move from the spot it is in," Suez CanalAuthority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie was quoted as saying by Reuters. He added that water had started running underneath the ship.

About 15% of world shipping traffic transits the canal and hundreds of vessels are waiting to pass once the blockage is cleared, the agency reported. Here’s what we know so far about the Suez Canal blockage:

*The MV Ever Given, which is longer than four football fields, has been wedged diagonally across the canal since Tuesday, blocking it in both directions.

*Rabie on Saturday pointed to the possibility of "technical or human errors" behind the grounding of a huge container ship, which has led to a backlog of over 300 vessels, according to news agency AFP. "Strong winds and weather factors" were not solely responsible, he said adding, there "may have been technical or human errors".

*On being asked by when the vessel may be removed, the Suez canal chief told AFP on Saturday, “We could finish today or tomorrow (Sunday), depending on the ship's responsiveness" to tides.

*Dredgers removed some 20,000 tonnes of sand from around the ship’s bow by Friday, Reuters said and quoted a Dutch firm that is carrying out efforts to move the vessel that it could be freed by the start of next week if heavier tugboats, dredging and a high tide succeed in dislodging it.

*Following the logjam, over 320 ships carrying billions of dollars-worth of cargo are now stalled at either end of the vital shipping lane linking Asia to Europe, according to AFP. Rabie told the agency that Egypt is suffering a loss of some $12-14 million in revenue from the canal for each day it is closed.

*An expert cited by AFP said, "If they don't manage to dislodge it during that high tide, the next high tide is not there for another couple of weeks, and that becomes problematic." Plamen Natzkoff, an expert at VesselsValue added that the stakes are too high for it to take months. *Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled after the stranding of the vessel and disrupted global supply chains threaten costly delays for companies already dealing with Covid-19 restrictions, Reuters said.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/6-days-on-suez-canal-still-blocked-what-we-know-so- far-101616903531092.html

MARCH 28, 2021

Kori Schake Contributing writer at The Atlantic

CARSTEN KOALL / GETTY

President Joe Biden is promising the world that “America is back,” but his effort to reclaim global leadership shouldn’t come at the expense of the country’s closest friends. At a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken sharply criticized Germany’s efforts to get more natural gas from Russia through a pipeline project known as Nord Stream 2. The president, Blinken warned, “believes the pipeline is a bad idea, bad for Europe, bad for the United States. Ultimately it is in contradiction to the EU’s own security goals.” Not only is the Biden administration continuing former President Donald Trump’s punitive policy against an important ally, but it’s considering further strictures.

Blinken’s statement also reflected a major defect in Obama-era foreign policy: the condescending assumption that other countries don’t understand their own interests. But the U.S. focus on stopping an energy project domestically important for Germany is all the more misguided when the administration’s strategy for managing America’s top security concern—the rise of China—is utterly dependent on a dramatic deepening of allied cooperation. Biden has a choice: Should he prioritize concern about Russia, a nettlesome but less important rival power, or should he consolidate support among America’s allies? And the administration is on the verge of choosing the wrong option.

European reliance on Russian energy resources is significant: EU countries import 30 percent of their crude oil, 40 percent of their natural gas, and 42 percent of their coal from Russia. But the U.S. opposition to Nord Stream 2 nevertheless feels atavistic, because European gas-market integration has defanged much of Russia’s ability to strong-arm other countries by threatening to cut off energy supplies.

Biden’s opposition to the pipeline has several justifications. The project will double existing gas capacity from Russia to Germany, bypassing Ukraine and thereby costing that country $3 billion in transit revenue. Our Central European allies vociferously object to Nord Stream 2, fearing long-term dependence on Russia—and German unwillingness to confront that threat. Now that the U.S. is a net energy exporter, it can offer a commercially advantageous American alternative: liquefied-natural-gas shipments to terminals in the Baltic states and Poland.

Congress is trying to undermine Nord Stream 2 as well, escalating secondary sanctions against companies that lay pipeline or provide insurance or certification of its construction. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas even bartered his hold on the nomination of Bill Burns as CIA director for promises to carry out the legislated sanctions, which the president has the option to waive.

Kori Schake: Biden’s bad foreign-policy ideas

Biden’s opposition to Nord Stream 2 is in many ways a reprise of President Ronald Reagan’s stand against the Siberian pipeline that the Soviet Union and Germany constructed in the 1980s. And Biden is likely to be no more successful in halting this project than Reagan was in his efforts: Nord Stream 2 is 95 percent complete, and Germany has been obdurate in ignoring objections from both the U.S. and its Central European neighbors for more than a decade. Germany, which is weaning itself off nuclear power, cares desperately about energy reliability and is rushing to find low-carbon sources.

To ask the German government to sacrifice its domestic goals would be hypocritical, given that Biden has prioritized the protection of U.S. markets in his own foreign policy. He has been unwilling to pay the political price of rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership—a trade bloc that major American labor groups oppose—or expend the effort to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the United States nevertheless enforces against China. The U.S. expects other countries to make difficult domestic compromises without being willing to do it ourselves.

The controversy about Nord Stream 2 comes as the U.S. pushes Europeans for a more integrated allied approach to China. On the same trip that included the NATO meeting, Blinken made a big show of reviving the U.S.-EU dialogue on China. The United States has made considerable progress in persuading allies not to use Huawei equipment in their 5G systems. The European Union joined the U.S. in sanctions on China. The Biden administration’s objections to a proposed EU-China trade deal have helped prevent its ratification. Europeans are realizing that China’s repression in Xinjiang is offensive to their human-rights standards—and that Beijing’s indiscriminate retaliation for mild sanctions does not bode well. The EU is developing an Indo-Pacific strategy. Germany is even sending a warship to help patrol the South China Sea. This is the ideal moment for the U.S. and European democracies to build a common approach to managing China. Thomas Wright: The U.S. and China finally get real with each other

Having allies requires sacrifices grounded in common values; it does not mean that other democratic countries must in every case do what the United States wants. The Biden administration should compromise on Nord Stream 2, securing concessions that mollify Central Europe and Ukraine, and then let go of this outdated concern. Far from showing that “America is back,” our uncompromising stance impedes the deepening of allied cooperation for our more important problems.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/the-us-doesnt-know-how-to-treat-its- allies/618441/

Malign or benign? China US strategic competition under Biden 28 March 2021 – Author: Jia Qingguo, Peking University

In late 2017 China–US relations shifted dramatically when the Trump administration officially labelled China a strategic competitor. For various reasons the Democrats seem to have accepted this label. Many believe strategic competition will continue to define the relationship under the Biden administration, though its understanding of strategic competition may be quite different from the Trump administration’s.

China–US strategic competition under the Trump administration was rather malign. First, it was a competition to undermine rather than outperform the other. The Trump administration trashed the engagement policy that previous US administrations — both Democrat and Republican — adhered to after the normalisation of China–US relations in 1979. It devoted much energy to smearing China, accusing Beijing of trying to destroy freedom and democracy and dominate the world through territorial expansion and diplomatic coercion. To this end, the Trump administration pressured other countries to work with the United States to contain China.

Many in China, both in and outside the government, believe that China should not tolerate this. They argue that what the United States wants from China is not just its money but its life (bujin yaoqian, erqie yaoming). That leaves China no alternative but to fight for its existence. So China pushed back on a range of issues, including human rights, Hong Kong, the South China Sea and Taiwan.

Second, China–US strategic competition under the Trump administration was one where the end justified the means. To rally domestic and international support to contain China, the administration spread lies and misinformation. It branded COVID-19 the ‘China virus’, claimed that China’s Belt and Road Initiative is a debt trap and that China’s economic growth is the result of theft of American technologies and unfair economic policies.

Some Chinese retaliated, presenting the United States as a vicious monster constantly stoking conflicts overseas to advance its selfish interests in the name of defending freedom and democracy. One Chinese senior diplomat alleged that a US military lab was responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak. This trading of barbs deepened the mistrust and hostility between the two countries.

Finally, it was lose–lose competition. The trade war initiated by the Trump administration left many factories closed and many people unemployed in both countries. American consumers are paying more for imported goods. The technology war saw high-tech companies from both countries bleeding. The two countries found it difficult to cooperate on anything, even on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both countries imposed sanctions on each other’s companies and officials, closed down each other’s consulates, traded insults and attacks, and suspended most official channels of communication. The two countries’ warships and military aircrafts tried to out-manoeuvre each other in close proximity in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, escalating the risk of an accidental military clash.

Is this the kind of strategic competition in which the Biden administration wants to engage? On the surface, it appears so. Senior US officials recently stated in congressional hearings that they believed the Trump administration was correct to take a tough approach towards China. They claim that the Biden administration will work with US allies to put pressure on China. The prelude to top officials’ talks in Alaska last weekend seemed also to reflect these ways of thinking.

But closer analysis suggests that despite the tough rhetoric, the Biden administration’s understanding of the strategic competition may be quite different from that of the Trump administration.

Biden appears to favour a strategic competition to outperform rather than to undermine the other. At home, it promises to focus on issues like restoring unity, freedom and democracy, investing more in education and science, and reversing the trend of economic polarisation that has frustrated and angered many Americans.

Overseas, the Biden administration claims that it will try to restore relations with US allies and rally international support to tackle global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery and growth, and climate change. While accepting that some aspects of China–US relations are increasingly adversarial, the new US administration also argues that the two countries share important interests in other aspects, providing opportunities for cooperation. The new administration appears to resist the idea that the end justifies the means. It condemns Trump’s spreading of lies and misinformation, claiming that it will instead develop policies based on principle and fact. Top Biden officials indicate that they will reassess some of Trump’s China policies. Crucially, the Biden administration does not believe that all-out confrontation with China serves US interests. During the presidential election campaign, Biden risked losing popular support by declaring that he perceives China as a strategic competitor rather than an enemy. While endorsing a tough approach toward China, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said that Biden’s China policy will be different from his predecessor’s. The new administration will confront China on some issues, while seeking to collaborate in other areas where the two countries share interests.

Although the Biden administration’s approach to strategic competition is quite different from the Trump administration’s, it does not necessarily follow that China–US relations will stabilise and improve. How the Biden administration actually deals with the thorny issues between the two countries is yet to be seen. It will also depend on how China responds to US actions. Given the strong negative pubic sentiments toward each other, and their increasingly divergent domestic political practices, a truly benign strategic competition still remains difficult if not impossible to achieve.

https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/03/28/malign-or-benign-china-us-strategic-competition-under- biden/

China To Invest $400 Billion In Iran. Iran Will Regret It.

ByMichael Rubin Published 48 seconds ago

On March 27, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif signed a deal promising $400 billion in Chinese investment in Iran over the next quarter-century. Zarif called China a “friend of difficult days” and thanked Beijing for helping Tehran resist sanctions.

There will certainly be handwringing in Washington as partisans blame each other for bringing two adversaries together but, in reality, the two biggest losers will be both China and Iran. Frankly, it is a sign of the aloofness of both regimes that neither sees the train wreck coming.

Iranians are scarred by history. The British and Russian empires steadily encroached on Iran’s borders throughout the nineteenth century, wresting the South Caucasus, western Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and much of Baluchistan away from Iranian control. It was against this backdrop that Nasir al-Din Shah (r. 1848-1896) reached out to the Austrians who formed the Dar al-Funun, Iran’s first modern military academy. As dangerous for Iran as the erosion of its borders was the loss of its financial sovereignty. Throughout the late 19th and early 20thcenturies, the British and Russian empires targeted Iran (or Persia as it was called before 1935) with a series of exploitive loans to fund the shahs’ profligate lifestyles and inefficient administration. In 1872, for example, Baron Julius de Reuter signed an agreement to provide Nasir al-Din Shah a loan in exchange for control over many Persian industries and public works for a couple of decades and the majority of the revenue they would earn. While public outrage ultimately led to the cancellation of the Reuters Concession, Iranian schools still teach the episode as Exhibit A as to why Iranians should not trust grandiose business schemes originating with outside countries. In 1890, the shah repeated the error when he granted a British concern a monopoly over tobacco cultivation and processing, with the stroke of a pen dispossessing thousands of Iranians involved in the industry. The resulting protests—stoked by religious authorities in Najaf—paralyzed Iran and served as a prelude to the constitutional revolution just over a decade later. Iranian leaders reached out to experts from countries they deemed disinterested in imperial agendas to restore financial independence or, at the very least, to enable Tehran to balance its foreign affairs. Entrenched Persian interests as well as the British and Russians, however, conspired to oust first the Belgian experts and then their American replacements.

That Iranians once embraced the United States because Iranian leaders believed Washington disinterested in their affairs may seem quaint given subsequent bilateral relations. It was during World War II that the United States became involved in Iran in earnest, even occupying and helping run a supply route through Persia to the Soviet Union. While many pundits blame the 1953 coup against Mohammad Mosaddegh for the break between the United States and Iran, this is inaccurate. At the time, the United States and many Iranians viewed the episode as a countercoup since it was Mosaddegh and not the shah who was failing to abide by the constitution. Regardless, the idea that U.S. actions aggrieved those who now lead the Islamic Republic is nonsense—the clerics, distrustful of Mosaddegh’s flirtation with the communist Tudeh party—backed the prime minister’s ouster. The real root of Iranian anti-Americanism began the following decade: American businesses flooded into Iran. The shah’s government granted each immunity so that Iranian courts could not try Americans. If an American employee of Bell Helicopter, Pepsi, or Ross Perot’s EDS got into an automobile accident and killed an Iranian, the Iranian had no recourse, even if the American was drunk and at fault. As such episodes grew, so too did resentment toward Americans and foreign businessmen. This resentment helped fuel intellectuals at the time who spoke about “Westoxification” and ultimately helped glue together Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s revolutionary coalition of nationalists, leftists, and religious conservatives under the slogan “Neither East nor West but Islamic Republic.” Such distrust is deep-rooted: Tehran and Moscow have had a sustained rapprochement for the past 15 years; officially, relations are at their warmest in 500 years. Five years ago, I did a deep dive for the U.S. Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office into Russo-Iranian relations from Persian language sources to explore Iranian perspectives. What came through clearly was that the Iranian public was much more reticent to re-engage with Russia than was the Iranian leadership. Iranian historical memory is long. Just as entrenched interests stymied Iranian financial reform in the early twentieth century, so too has the fundamental corruption of the Islamic Republic’s elites undercut Iran’s economy today. Both Revolutionary Foundations (bonyads) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ economic wing operate above the law. Iran’s shifting power centers and politicized judiciary mean that there is little enforcement in commercial law. While many pundits—especially those who view Iran through the spectrum of American political debates—blame sanctions for Iran’s poor economic performance, those doing business with Iran and Iranians themselves understand that it is Iran’s poor business community and the regime’s economic mismanagement more than any outside power that is responsible for the Islamic Republic’s economic failures. Back to the current China-Iran deal. China does not have the historical baggage in Iran that the United Kingdom, Russia, or the United States do, but it is also not a state viewed particularly well by many Iranians (unlike Japan for reasons dating back to the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War). Should China move forward with its Iran dealing, it can pursue three different routes: The first would be to allow its businessmen wide freedom during their Iranian sojourn. Cultural misunderstandings and simple accidents, however, can put Chinese citizens on the wrong side of Iranian law. In such a case, Beijing would likely demand immunity, repeating the pattern which soiled U.S.-Iranian ties. Alternatively, China could treat Iran like its sub-Saharan African investments: Import workers, house them in compounds, minimize interaction, and send wealth back to China. This strategy, however, would only fuel Iranian memories of previous British attempts to dominate Iranian industry. In all likelihood, China will instead take a go-slow approach. The Chinese are not stupid, and they realize Iran’s shifting power centers make business easier said than done, all the more so when any meaningful Chinese investment would undermine the Revolutionary Guards’ own business interests. This scenario too does not end well for either regime as lack of meaningful progress will fuel Iranian resentment toward both their own government and China’s.

Iranian leaders have lost touch with their public. They may look at their China embrace as a way to stick a thumb in the American eye, but ordinary Iranians do not see the United States as the problem, but rather their own regime’s reactionary policies. To believe that their own anti-Americanism justifies a wholesale lease of Iranian sovereignty is a tremendous miscalculation, one that will only further Iranian antipathy toward their own government. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has, in effect, become the new Nasir al-Din Shah.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/03/china-to-invest-400-billion-in-iran-iran-will-regret-it/

Indo-Pacific views from Tokyo to Tonga

29 Mar 2021|Graeme Dobell

-Pacific. How the region handles the next few

‘Global strategic focus has shifted to the Indo years Cleo will Paskal, determine Indo-Pacific if it becomes strategies, the cradle perceptions of crises and or partnerships solutions.’ , Chatham House, March 2021 — Editors often conjure a good yarn on a big issue by dispatching journalists out to different places to ask the same question.

The contrasts and rhymes of diverse pubs, parishes and peoples do the alchemy, pulling the story together. Travel the miles and spend the time. Repeating a good question all over the place can turn up gold. It works as well for an academic research paper as a TV documentary.

Chatham House has just done this with a question for our times: the meaning and purposes of the Indo-

Chatham HousePacific. talked You’ll to not200 be experts surprised in seven that countries:China looms the lar US,ge thein the UK, answer. France, India, Tonga, Japan and China, recounted in Indo-Pacific strategies, perceptions and partnerships, by Cleo Paskal. The story she tells is how six nations regard the seventh, China.

- is (the French policy community, characteristically, wants the term more clearly defined, while their Indian counterparts see benefitsThe six aren’t in ambiguity), as one on but what the the six ‘Indo knowPacific’ what the construct is about some degree or another, that the primary driver of increasing interest in the Indo-Pacific is : ‘[A]ll agree, to

LookingChina’s out growing to 2024, economic the survey and foundstrategic three expansion.’ major themes:

• Domestic division A constant in the six was concern that their national policies were fracturing over China, along the economic decisive and focused— decision-making. –security divide: ‘This fracture was impeding ’ • An ‘extraordinary’ amount of uncertainty are more balls in the air than at any time since World War II. • Hedging between the US and China The aim—In is the to keepwords options of one asUS open participant, as possible, ‘[T]here but ’ — . ‘the general sentiment was that, by 2024, hedging would be coming to an end as both The shockBeijing of the and pandemic Washington and increased the cascading pressure’ impacts of China have united polities. Domestic divisions have diminished, Paskal writes, with more willingness to push back:

The pandemic has had such a severe economic effect in all six countries that the cost of some sort of ina can appear relatively minor in comparison. It seems less of an issue to rock the economic boat if that boat is already sinking. ’decoupling’ from Ch The power of China and the expanding construct of the Indo-Pacific demand a response a. Tonga switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1998, has substantial loans from Beijing, and joined the Belt and Road Initiative.from even small capitals like Nuku‘alof

clear example of increased strategic interest in Oceania, with the UK reopening its diplomatic mission there, Japan stepping up military engagement, and thePaskal US offeringdescribes the Tonga country as ‘a a

partnership with the Nevada National Guard’. Pacific stance. International interest means more potential donors; the skill is to play with allFor suitors, Nuku‘alofa, never the settling surge forin interestone. The provides more the ‘more merrier options’,Tonga which wants is the to addclassic India South to the mix independenc — —is the established formula to achieve a balance between ‘partnerships and On the other e’.side of the world, France is the least divided and most certain aim is to shape its own Indo- ‘one of matic French countries’ because its economic, able topolitical engage and as widelydefence in outlooks the Indo- are ‘closely aligned’. The to Pacific reality, ‘unabashedly built around a pragDelhi Canberra interests’. Paris may not be Pacific, but it’s ‘likely engage more deeply’. President Emmanuel Macron’s vision of ‘Paris– – UKaxis’ forei reaches into the Quad while not being in the Quad. integrated review gn policy is ‘undergoing epochal change’ and-Pacific, a ‘fundamental establishing reassessment’. a greater and moreLondon’s persistent view of presence China has toughened over Hong Kong and Huawei. The UK’s promises to deepen ‘engagement in the Indo the UK was a great power, therethan was any often other an European awkward country’.pause, followed Weigh thatby a ambitiovariationn againston this comment on interviews in London: ‘When foreign policy participants were asked if “not really”.’ Paskal reckons a loss of trust in China as a long-term investment could substantially shift Japan has the opposite problem: it’s a big player with the polite mien of a middle power. But she ends with the familiar problem of whether Japan will step up as a big power or merely decline and recline: Tokyo’s position. It is possible that Japan will increasingly line up with its allies and partners in a stronger, rounded stance against Beijing. However, it is also possible that domestic economic and political lobbies will successfully weaken any effective pushback on China. Much will depend on the direction taken by Washington, and how that affects Tokyo.

ess hesitation in embracing the Quad. Paskal notes calls for an India though not the sort of byIndia’s tone ‘has shifted substantially’, with much l Himalayas saw popular opinion–US turn ‘alliance’— strongly against China: alliance ‘recognized lawyers’ but the sort ‘recognized by generals’. The June 2020 border conflict in the A series of decisive actions took place, including banning Chinese apps on security grounds, restrictions on foreign direct investment, restrictions on visas for certain Chinese people, and a shift to a more forceful military strategy.

For India, as with everyone else, hedging behaviour is turning prickly, because the hedging

new era of space is contracting. ‘Countries are being forced to pick a side,’ Paskal writes, predicting The‘a conclusionalliances is a call and for partnerships’.an Indo-Pacific charter, expressing a consensus on acceptable behaviour, rules and norms:

An Indo-Pacific Charter is one way to reduce domestic division, uncertainty and hedging by making clear internally and internationally what nations that sign stand for, in the same way as the Atlantic Charter did in to create partnerships strong enough, and with enough levers (including economic), to dissuade nations that want to dominate unilaterally. That could1941 mean … [T]he economic goal wouldboycotts be or supply-chain redirecting, rather than naval blockades.

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/indo-pacific-views-from-tokyo-to-tonga/

China war games: PH on guard posted March 29, 2021 at 02:00 am by Rio N. Araja

China will conduct a military exercise in the South China Sea next Monday and Tuesday as tensions remain high over the presence of more than 200 Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea, prompting Manila to send daily air patrols over the Julian Felipe Reef. On Friday, the China Maritime Safety Administration issued a notice saying an area between China's southernmost Hainan province and the Paracel Islands would be closed to marine traffic due to military training, the South China Morning Post reported. The previous day the Philippine military sent more warships to carry out “sovereignty patrols” in the South China Sea, where Chinese vessels have surrounded the disputed Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef and refused to leave. The Chinese government said the ships were fishing vessels taking shelter, while the Philippines says the ships are manned by maritime militia. Friday’s announcement came on the same day that China sent 20 war planes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the largest incursion reported by the island’s defense ministry. A US official told Financial Times that Washington is concerned that China is flirting with the idea of seizing control of Taiwan. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said an Air Force jet was conducting daily patrols over Chinese vessels parked near the Julian Felipe Reef as Beijing refused to pull the ships out of the area. About 220 boats were first spotted earlier this month at the boomerang-shaped Julian Felipe Reef around 320 kilometers west of Palawan Island, sparking a diplomatic row. Manila has ordered Beijing to recall the vessels, describing their presence as an incursion into its sovereign territory. But China, which claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, says the flotilla is made up of fishing vessels sheltering from bad weather. The Department of Foreign Affairs has filed a diplomatic protest, and several countries, including the United States and Australia, have expressed concern over the renewed tension in the region. Philippine navy and coast guard ships have been deployed to the area to monitor the situation, in addition to the aerial patrols, Lorenzana said late Saturday. "We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines," Lorenzana said, repeating a call for the Chinese ships to withdraw. He added there will be an "increased presence" of navy and coast guard ships patrolling Philippine waters. The resource-rich South China Sea is contested by several countries, including the Philippines and China. Beijing often invokes the so-called nine-dash line to justify its apparent historic rights over most of it, and has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared this assertion as without basis. President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed concern over the presence of the vessels to the Chinese ambassador in Manila, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday. Duterte has fostered warmer ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016 in exchange for greater economic cooperation with its superpower neighbor. But the shift has failed to stem Chinese ambitions in the South China Sea, or unlock much of the billions of dollars of promised trade and loans. In the House of Representatives, the leftist Makabayan bloc said it wants an investigation into the presence of the Chinese ships. Lawmakers belonging to the bloc filed House Resolution 1675 seeking to condemn and probe the presence of hundreds of Chinese militia vessels around the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea. They said the Duterte administration has failed to protect the country's territorial integrity that resulted in the loss of livelihood of Filipino fishermen. "With the continuing harassment by the China Coast Guard and the Chinese deployment of maritime militias, Filipinos were deprived of the natural resources in its own territory," the Makabayan bloc said. The deployment of the Chinese vessels could "lead to another level of disrespect to Philippine sovereignty."

https://manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/350679/china-war-games-ph-on-guard.html

DND: Philippines ready to defend West Philippine Sea sovereignty

Romina Cabrera (The Philippine Star) - March 29, 2021 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is ready to defend its sovereignty, according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, as he again called on China to immediately withdraw its vessels still in formation in Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea.

Lorenzana assured the public that the government is actively addressing the situation as almost 200 Chinese vessels, said to be manned by militias, have been docked in the reef since earlier this month.

“We stand by our position calling for the immediate withdrawal of Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef, which was communicated to the Chinese ambassador. We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines,” Lorenzana said in a statement over the weekend.

More sovereignty patrols

The defense chief said he has ordered an increased presence of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard to conduct sovereignty patrols and protect local fishermen in the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippine Air Force has also been deploying an AS211 jet aircraft daily to monitor the actual situation in the reef, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

A news report posted on the website of South China Morning Post last Saturday night said China would conduct a military drill in the South China Sea today and tomorrow, based on a notice issued by the China Maritime Safety Administration last Friday afternoon. The notice stated that an area between Hainan, China’s southernmost province, and Paracel islands would be closed to marine traffic due to “military training.”

The Department of National Defense is coordinating with other government agencies, including the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on activities in the West Philippine Sea and the Kalayaan group of islands. “By securing the West Philippine Sea and its islands in the Kalayaan area, the Philippines reinforces its commitment to keeping the freedom of navigation and maintaining regional peace and stability,” Lorenzana said.

China has claimed that the vessels were only seeking shelter in the reef due to bad weather.

4 Phl Navy ships

At least four of the Philippine Navy’s gray ships, including its two new missile frigates, will patrol the West Philippine Sea following the recent swarm of Chinese fishing vessels in Julian Felipe.

AFP chief Lt. Gen Cirilito Sobejana has ordered increased presence in the disputed waters within the country’s EEZ.

Philippine Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, a corvette, and the BRP Conrado Yap, an offshore patrol vessel, have been deployed to the Naval Forces West and Naval Forces Northern Luzon, respectively, to conduct sovereignty patrols in the West Philippine Sea.

Bacordo added that the Philippine Navy’s brand new missile frigates, the BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna, “will also be deployed for sovereignty patrols as soon as they complete their manufacturer’s mandatory trainings and system tests.”

“It is now up to the operational commanders on the operational employment of these vessels,” he replied, when asked for specifics on how the patrols would be carried out.

Sobejana directed the deployment of more naval assets in the West Philippine Sea last week after the continued presence of at least 183 Chinese fishing vessels in Julian Felipe Reef was validated by the AFP in its aerial patrol.

China says it’s doing great job

Claiming it is doing a “great job” in abiding by international rules, China refused the label of militarization in South China Sea to be pinned on Beijing as it denied that it was the first to carry out construction activities and deploy facilities in the disputed waters.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying slammed the speech of United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters that China threatens freedom of navigation and militarize the South China Sea.

Blinken said China is “working to undercut the rules of the international system and the values we and our allies share, and threatens our collective security and prosperity.” Hua stressed that the US is not in the position to ask China to play by international rules since the only system in the world is the international system centered on the United Nations, and the only set of rules is the basic norms governing international relations with the UN Charter as the core.

“Speaking of abiding by international rules, China is doing a great job while the US has a poor record. This is a fact recognized by the international community,” she said in a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

“The label of undermining the rules of the international system cannot be pinned on China,” she said.

The Chinese official warned that the US could by no means deprive China of the right to self-preservation and self-defense over its own territory by putting a label of militarization on China.

“The label of militarization in South China Sea cannot be pinned on China. China is not the first to carry out construction activities and deploy necessary facilities on islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Nor is it the one that has conducted the most of such activities,” she said.

Hua claimed the US built military bases around South China Sea, where offensive weapons and equipment are deployed.

The US, she said, has also repeatedly sent aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to South China Sea and deployed military aircraft and warships there on a regular basis and conducted activities in the disputed waters for more than a hundred times by impersonating civil aircraft of other countries.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/29/2087739/dnd-philippines-ready-defend- west-philippine-sea-sovereignty

Philippines sends fighter aircraft over Chinese vessels in South China Sea By Reuters Staff 2 MIN READ

FILE PHOTO: Some of the about 220 Chinese vessels reported by the Philippine Coast Guard, and believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, are pictured at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea, March 7, 2021. Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-West Philippine Sea/Handout via REUTERS

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine military is sending light fighter aircraft to fly over hundreds of Chinese vessels in disputed waters in the South China Sea, its defence minister said, as he repeated his demand the flotilla be withdrawn immediately.

International concern is growing over what the Philippines has described as a “swarming and threatening presence” of more than 200 Chinese vessels that Manila believes were manned by maritime militia.

The boats were moored at the Whitsun Reef within Manila’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone..

The Philippine military aircraft were sent daily to monitor the situation, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement late on Saturday.

Lorenzana said the military will also beef up its naval presence in the South China Sea to conduct “sovereignty patrols” and protect Filipino fishermen.

“Our air and sea assets are ready to protect our sovereignty and sovereign rights,” Lorenzana said.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has said the vessels at Whitsun Reef were fishing boats taking refuge from rough seas and that there were no militia aboard.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reaffirmed to China’s ambassador, Huang Xilian, the Philippines had won a landmark arbitration case in 2016, which made clear its sovereign entitlements amid rival claims by China, his spokesman said last week.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Vietnam have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, through which at least $3.4 trillion of annual trade passes.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-china-southchinasea/philippines-sends- fighter-aircraft-over-chinese-vessels-in-south-china-sea-idUSKBN2BK031 Philippine fighter jet flies over Chinese boats in South China Sea

• Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the military aircraft were sent daily to monitor the situation at the Whitsun Reef • More than 200 Chinese vessels are moored within Manila’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea

The Chinse boats are moored at the Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea. Photo: Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-West Philippine Sea via AP The Philippine military is sending light fighter aircraft to fly over hundreds of Chinese vessels in disputed waters in the South China Sea, its defence minister said, as he repeated his demand the flotilla be withdrawn immediately.

International concern is growing over what the Philippines has described as a “swarming and threatening presence” of more than 200 Chinese vessels that Manila believes were manned by maritime militia.

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3127316/philippines-sends- fighter-aircraft-over-chinese-boats

Philippines sends fighter aircraft over Chinese vessels in South China Sea

A Philippine Air Force pilot walks past a FA-50 fighter jet at the Clark Air Base in Angeles city north of Manila, Philippines July 2017. © Reuters

March 28, 2021 15:59 JST

MANILA (Reuters) -- The Philippine military is sending light fighter aircraft to fly over hundreds of Chinese vessels in disputed waters in the South China Sea, its defence minister said, as he repeated his demand the flotilla be withdrawn immediately.

International concern is growing over what the Philippines has described as a "swarming and threatening presence" of more than 200 Chinese vessels that Manila believes were manned by maritime militia.

The boats were moored at the Whitsun Reef within Manila's 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

The Philippine military aircraft were sent daily to monitor the situation, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement late on Saturday.

Lorenzana said the military will also beef up its naval presence in the South China Sea to conduct "sovereignty patrols" and protect Filipino fishermen.

"Our air and sea assets are ready to protect our sovereignty and sovereign rights," Lorenzana said.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has said the vessels at Whitsun Reef were fishing boats taking refuge from rough seas and that there were no militia aboard.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reaffirmed to China's ambassador, Huang Xilian, the Philippines had won a landmark arbitration case in 2016, which made clear its sovereign entitlements amid rival claims by China, his spokesman said last week.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Vietnam have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, through which at least $3.4 trillion of annual trade passes.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/South-China-Sea/Philippines- sends-fighter-aircraft-over-Chinese-vessels-in-South-China-Sea International Chiefs of Defense Condemn Use of Lethal Force in Burma

M A R C H 27, 2021 | BY JIM G A R A M O N E , D O D N E W S

The chairman joined with chiefs of defense from Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom in calling on the military junta in Burma — also called Myanmar — to follow international standards of military professionalism.

Navy Adm. Philip Davidson, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, also endorsed the statement. "As Chiefs of Defense, we condemn the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the Myanmar Armed Forces and associated security services," the statement says. "A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting — not harming — the people it serves. We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions."

The release of the joint statement follows concerns voiced by other countries in the region, including recent remarks made by military leaders in Singapore and Indonesia. The Joint Statement also echoes White House and U.S. State Department statements condemning the violence.

The military launched a coup d'etat in Burma on Feb. 1.The junta arrested the democratically elected government headed by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. They also arrested the ministers, deputies and members of Parliament. The military proclaimed a year-long state of emergency and declared Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Senior General Min Aung Hlang as the government leader. News reports from the Southeast Asian country indicate that thousands have been arrested since Feb. 1. The military has violently put down protests against the coup, and reporting indicates that over 350 people have been killed, including more than 20 children. This includes reports this past week that Burmese security forces shot a one-year-old in the eye with a rubber bullet and shot and killed a seven-year-old girl in her family home.

http://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2552774/international-chiefs-of- defense-condemn-use-of-lethal-force-in-burma/

Australia selects Saab 9LV Combat System for new Mine Warfare & Hydrographic Vessels

MARCH 29, 2021

RAN's upcoming Mine Warfare vessels will also use Lurssen's OPV80 design similar to the Arufare-class OPVs. Photo c/o Lurssen.

The Australian Department of Defence (DOD) confirmed that they have selected Saab’s 9LV next generation combat management system (CMS) for its new class of Mine Warfare and Hydrographic Survey Vessels for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

This would be the fifth and sixth class of ships in the RAN to use Saab’s CMS, after the ANZAC-class frigates, Canberra-class landing helicopter docks, the Supply-class replenishment vessels, and the upcoming Arufara-class offshore patrol vessels.

Saab will also be involved in interfacing works for the upcoming Hunter-class frigates and the existing Hobart-class destroyers of the RAN.

The new Mine Warfare Vessels, which will use the Lurssen OPV80 design also used on the the Arufara-class OPVs, are acquired under the Project SEA 1905 Maritime Mine Countermeasure Program, and are expected to start replacing the Huon-class mine warfare vessels of the RAN starting in mid-2020s.

The new hydrographic survey vessels will replace the existing Leeuwin-class ships under the Project SEA 2400 Phase 1 Hydrographic Data Collection Capability Program.

Saab’s 9LV Combat Management System is among the most widely used globally, with over 200 warships operating the system, with many more in the pipeline.

https://www.asiapacificdefensejournal.com/2021/03/australia-selects-saab-9lv- combat.html Policy, Gun and Money: Managing China relations, Australia’s new submarines and investing in Southeast Asia

29 Mar 2021|ASPI staff ASPI podcast

In this episode, The Strategist’s Brendan Nicholson speaks to Charles Parton of the Royal United Services Institute for an overview of how the Chinese Communist Party operates, what China wants from Australia and the UK, and the need for like-minded democracies to coordinate to prevent the use of coercive and hostage diplomacy.

Australia’s Attack-class submarine program has been highly scrutinised lately, with media outlets even reporting a review could lead to the government walking away from its partnership with France’s Naval Group. Michael Shoebridge and Marcus Hellyer weigh in on the $89 billion program and give their thoughts on what it means for the future of Australia’s maritime security and defence capabilities.

Bart Hogeveen speaks to Huong Le Thu about Australia’s announcement in November of a $500 million investment to assist Southeast Asia’s recovery from Covid-19. They discuss opportunities for the government to increase its engagement in the region through investment in digital initiatives, something Dr Huong Le Thu wrote about in the latest issue of Australian Foreign Affairs.

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/policy-gun-and-money-managing-china-relations- australias-new-submarines-and-investing-in-southeast-asia/

Australia's Nine network hit by suspected cyber attack: source By Reuters Staff 2 MIN READ

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment was unable to air its Sunday news bulletin from its Sydney headquarters due to “technical difficulties” which a source with knowledge of the matter blamed on a suspected cyber attack.

Nine’s Weekend Today show which runs from 7 am to 1 pm did not go to air. In a statement, Channel Nine said it was “responding to technical issues” affecting its live broadcasting.

“At this stage we’re working through the impacts and will provide updates as we resolve the systems.”

The network, which owns the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and The Age newspapers, did not confirm the cyber attack. But the source who did not want to be identified as he was not allowed to speak to media said Nine management had informed staff that a “malicious” cyber attack was suspected.

Nine is now trying to get a news bulletin out through Melbourne “using a server that hasn’t been compromised,” the source told Reuters.

The Australian Financial Review which is also owned by Nine, also reported that the media house was likely the target of a suspected cyber attack, the effects of which could last beyond Sunday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nine-entmt-cyber/australias-nine-network-hit-by- suspected-cyber-attack-source-idUSKBN2BK02V

Exclusive: Top military officers from U.S., allies to condemn violence by Myanmar security forces By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart 3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top military officer from the United States and nearly a dozen of his counterparts are set to condemn on Saturday the deadly use of force by Myanmar’s security forces and say the country’s military has lost credibility with its people.

Tires burn on a street as protests against the military coup continue, in Mandalay, Myanmar March 27, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

The joint statement, obtained by Reuters ahead of its planned release this weekend, is a rare declaration by the most senior military commanders from countries around the world, including in Asia and Europe.

It came after news reports and witnesses said Myanmar security forces killed 114 people on Saturday, including some children, on Armed Forces Day - the bloodiest day of its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters since last month’s military coup.

“As Chiefs of Defense, we condemn the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the Myanmar Armed Forces and associated security services,” read the draft statement.

It was signed by 12 chiefs of defense from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, United Kingdom and the United States.

Diplomats from these countries have already condemned the bloodshed by Myanmar’s military, making the statement largely symbolic. Myanmar’s military has so far ignored criticism of its violent crackdown on dissent.

While the draft statement did not explicitly condemn the Feb. 1 coup, which ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, it said that a professional military must follow international standards for conduct “and is responsible for protecting - not harming - the people it serves.”

It said the country’s military must “cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions.”

Myanmar’s military has said it took power because November elections won by Suu Kyi’s party were fraudulent, an assertion dismissed by the country’s election commission. Suu Kyi remains in detention at an undisclosed location and many other figures in her National League for Democracy party are also in custody. The deaths on Saturday, Myanmar’s annual Armed Forces Day, which commemorates the start of resistance to Japanese occupation in 1945, would take the number of civilians reported killed since the coup to more than 440.

New U.S. and European sanctions this week increased external pressure on the junta. But Myanmar’s generals have enjoyed some support from Russia and China, both veto- holding members of the U.N. Security Council that could block any potential U.N. action.

Russia’s deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin attended a parade in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw on Saturday, having met senior junta leaders a day earlier.

Diplomats said eight countries - Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand - sent representatives to the Armed Forces Day parade, but Russia was the only one to send a minister.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-usa-military-exclusi/exclusive-top- military-officers-from-u-s-allies-to-condemn-violence-by-myanmar-security-forces- idUSKBN2BK002

Japan and Indonesia defense chiefs opposed to assertive moves by China

Mar 28, 2021

The defense ministers of Japan and Indonesia on Sunday agreed to send messages to the rest of the world that the two countries will strongly oppose any action by China that could escalate tensions in regional waters.

Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi also told reporters after holding talks with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto in Tokyo that they will urge China to refrain from trying to unilaterally change the status quo in the South and East China seas.

While voicing concern over China’s introduction of a law allowing its coast guard to fire on vessels intruding into what it considers its waters, Kishi said they agreed to boost defense cooperation and hold a joint exercise involving Japanese and Indonesian forces in the South China Sea.

On Myanmar’s situation, Kishi said they agreed to work closely toward the early restoration of a democratic government.

The foreign and defense ministers of Japan and Indonesia are scheduled to hold talks together on Tuesday in Tokyo. The so-called two-plus-two talks will be the second of their kind since December 2015.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/28/national/indonesia-china-south-china- sea-defense/

Japan to iron out deal on arms exports to Indonesia Inking pact at 'two plus two' meeting with regional power will symbolize a united front against China

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, left, and Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi meet at the Defense Ministry building in Tokyo on March 28. © Kyodo JUNNOSUKE KOBARA, Nikkei staff writer March 29, 2021 06:36 JST TOKYO -- Japan hopes to sign an agreement with Indonesia on Tuesday to clear the way for exports of defense equipment amid stepped-up Chinese activities at sea.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Japan-to-iron-out-deal-on-arms- exports-to-Indonesia

NATO chief raises serious concern about China's military investment Jens Stoltenberg described China's behaviour as undermining the rule of law ANI | , Brussels

UPDATED ON MAR 28, 2021 02:34 PM IST

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) chief Jens Stoltenberg has raised serious concern about China's heavy investment in military equipment, claiming it will have a direct consequence on our security.

According to The Standard (Hong Kong), Jens Stoltenberg at a media conference after the commencement of NATO said, "the military alliance does not regard China as an adversary, but of course, the rise of China has direct consequences for our security."

"China is investing heavily in military equipment, including nuclear-capable missiles," Stoltenberg added.

"More importantly, China is a country that doesn't share our values. We see that in the way they deal with democratic protests in Hong Kong, how they suppress minorities in their own country, the Uyghurs, and also how they actually try to undermine the international rules-based order," Stoltenberg further added.

Earlier this month, Stoltenberg called for the United States and European Union to quickly repair their alliance if they are to deal with the bullying of countries all 'over the world by China.

He described China's behaviour as undermining the rule of law and he welcomed President Joe Biden's clear commitment to "rebuilding alliances and strengthening NATO".

NATO, a military alliance between 30 European and North American countries, enduring a tough four years when former President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the group, claiming that European members were not paying their way. The NATO chief said that Europe is not big enough, the United States is not big enough. But together Brussels and Washington represent 50 per cent of the world's GDP and 50 per cent of the world's military market.

"So if you're concerned about the rise of China, the military and economic strength of China, that makes it even more important that we stand together, Europe and North America in NATO," Stoltenberg said.

In December, in its report 'NATO 2030 - United for a New Era report', it said that the organisation must devote more time, political resources, and action to counter the security challenges posed by China. It also recommended a special unit within the Joint Intelligence and Security Division (JISD) to monitor Russia-China cooperation impacting Euro-Atlantic security.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/nato-chief-raises-serious-concern-about- china-s-military-investment-101616921719625.html

Pentagon: Suez Canal stoppage may impact transit of military vessels

BY JOHN BOWDEN - 03/28/21 01:01 PM EDT 424

© Greg Nash

Pentagon officials confirmed Sunday that the ongoing stoppage of traffic caused by a grounded container ship in the Suez Canal would affect the movement of U.S. military vessels, but stressed that the Defense Department had alternative means of supporting operations in the area.

In a statement to The Hill, a Navy spokesperson wouldn't comment on specific impacts the stoppage was having on U.S. defense or naval capabilities, but noted that the issues it posed would only grow the longer it took Egyptian officials to move the 1,300 foot-long ship from the narrow canal.

“We are not going to talk about specific operational impacts. The Suez Canal is an essential maritime choke point, and the longer passage is suspended, the more impact it will have to civilian and military transits. However, we have alternate capabilities to mitigate impact and support to our operations in U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility throughout any extended blockage," said Rebecca Rebarich, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet.

The Pentagon's comments come as some experts have warned that the growing backlog of ships on both sides of the canal — which now surpasses 300 vessels — raise new challenges including the inability of some businesses to afford the extra time at sea as well as risks from piracy.

"[I]f more and more ships are going along the coast of Africa because of this incident, security arrangements would need to be tightened" around areas where piracy is known to occur, especially the waters surrounding Somalia and Yemen, said Paul Sullivan, an international security expert and professor at the National Defense University in an interview with Voice of America. "If there is a need to deploy any ships from various locales due to a problem in the Gulf area response times could be effected. This could also effect response times to the Indian Ocean etc.," he added in an emailed statement to The Hill, before continuing: "It is time to rethink and bolster international security arrangements related to these choke points. They are called choke points for a reason."

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/navy/545292-pentagon-suez-canal-stoppage-may- impact-transit-of-military-vessels

Joe Biden’s North Korea Strategy: Failure Could Mean War

By Daniel Davis

New what appears to be Hwasong-16 ICBM

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will host a trilateral meeting next week between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan as part of the Biden Administration’s ongoing effort to establish its North Korea policy. Though Washington’s overwhelming advantage in nuclear and conventional military power will deter Pyongyang indefinitely, Biden has the chance to significantly lower the risk of war and increase the chances for peace in Korea by choosing a policy that features deft diplomacy. Sponsored Content

There is one key point that Biden’s foreign policy team must keep in mind, however, if it wants to break from decades of failure in America’s engagement with North Korea: zero- sum, up-front demands for full denuclearization by North Korea before discussing any relief will guarantee failure.

Negotiations involve engaging in give-and-take until each side is sufficiently satisfied with the outcome. It necessarily means that neither side will get all it wants and requires that both sides get something important to them – otherwise, there is no deal.

One major reason American diplomacy has been spectacularly fruitless for the past several decades is that all too often we press for getting everything while giving nothing and acting surprised when we fail to obtain our objectives.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/03/joe-bidens-north-korea-strategy-failure-could- mean-war/

Chinese aviation firm Avic: why is it on a US sanctions list and what do we know about it?

• The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic) plays a dominant role in R&D, operations, manufacturing and financing in China’s aviation industry • The state-owned aerospace contractor has begun raising alarm bells in Washington in recent years for its overseas ventures and ties to the Chinese military

Amanda Lee in Beijing

Published: 3:00pm, 28 Mar, 2021

Avic and its subsidiaries are involved in the manufacture of some of China’s leading aircraft, including the C919 (pictured) and fighter jets like the J-10, J-11, and J-20. Photo: CWH

The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic) is at the forefront of China’s plan to become more technologically self-reliant and a key supplier for acommercial aircraft that Beijing is trying to bring to market. But it has also been caught in the crossfire as relations between Beijing and Washington have deteriorated in recent years.

In December 2020, seven of its subsidiaries landed on the US Commerce Department’s list ofChinese companies with alleged military ties. As such, they are subject to a licensing requirement for certain sensitive items that are described in US export control regulations.

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3127089/chinese-aviation-firm- avic-why-it-us-sanctions-list-and-what

Russia could upset India’s US-China balancing act

• New Delhi’s increased defence engagement with Washington risks upsetting Moscow, its longtime arms supplier • Relations with Beijing, meanwhile, face a ‘complete re-set’ amid rising tensions, according to a former diplomat

Pranay Sharma in New Delhi

Published: 5:00pm, 28 Mar, 2021

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, left, meets with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on March 20. Photo: Bloomberg

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to New Delhi last week was the latest symbol of Washington’s desire for the two sides to close ranks against China’s increasing assertiveness, observers say.Yet in drawing closer to the United States, India could risk alienating its long-time defence ally and largest arms supplier Russia, with whom Delhi enjoys a “special and privileged strategic partnership”.

Since 2016, the US has designated India a “major defence partner”, with the two going on to sign three wide-ranging agreements that allow for greater defence interoperability, as well as Delhi’s procurement of high-end American weapons technology.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3127193/russia-could-upset-indias-us- china-balancing-act

USMC General Tracy King Comments On The US Navy’s New Light Amphibious Warship

The U.S. Navy’s new and upcoming Light Amphibious Warships (LAW) will be the “new strategy and tactic” to countering the Chinese Anti-Access/Area Denial island chains around the South China Sea.

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/03/usmc-general-tracy-king-comments- on-the-us-navys-new-light-amphibious-warship/

US-Taiwan coast guard partner to blunt potential Chinese invasion by Joel Gehrke, Foreign Affairs Reporter |

March 28, 2021 07:00 AM

For the latest videos from the Washington Examiner, subscribe to our YouTube channel Sign up for Daily on Defense SUBMIT U.S. and Taiwanese officials have signed a Coast Guard cooperation agreement amid fears of Chinese attacks on the island.

“The United States is committed to deepening ties with Taiwan, and this MOU [memorandum of understanding] lays an important foundation for strengthened maritime law enforcement cooperation between the United States and Taiwan,” a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “Coast Guard cooperation is a cornerstone for promoting regional maritime security.”

The agreement was unveiled Friday, in Washington’s latest display of respect for Taiwanese officials as a governing authority. The decision “to establish a Coast Guard Working Group” points to how U.S. officials are helping Taiwan prepare to defend against the “grey zone” tactics that Chinese forces seem likely to use if Beijing greenlights an invasion in the near future.

“We have to come up with a short-term solution, and if you think about, ‘what is the best counter for grey-zone activity?’ It is the Coast Guard,” said former White House National Security Council chief of staff Alex Gray, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. “As a strategic matter, that’s the service best equipped to work with our allies, to work with fellow coast guards ... to really be able to operate in a hybrid warfare domain.”

US AND JAPAN WARN CHINA NOT TO ATTACK TAIWAN

That idea may sound strange to people familiar with the U.S. Coast Guard’s law enforcement functions, just as the stated goals of the agreement may seem far removed from national security. “This MOU affirms a relationship with the common objectives of preserving maritime resources; reducing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; and participating in joint maritime search and rescue as well as maritime environmental response events,” the American Institute in Taiwan, the unofficial U.S. Embassy on the island, said in a Friday bulletin.

China maintains a fishing fleet that has outraged governments around the world. In December, U.S. Coast Guard crews stationed in Hawaii and Guam helped the Pacific island state of Palau seize a Chinese fishing vessel accused of fishing in Palau’s waters. The U.S. Embassy in Palau praised the local government for working to “prevent PRC- flagged vessels from engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing” — the same language from the new Taiwan agreement.

The Chinese coast guard appears to its neighbors like a fearsome force, a view underscored by Beijing’s recent adoption of a law authorizing the coast guard to use lethal force to defend China’s territorial waters. China has several high-stakes maritime boundary disputes, making the coast guard law “a verbal threat of war,” as a Philippines government official put it.

Taiwanese officials agree.

“China’s coast guard law is shocking to its neighboring countries,” Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang said. “So countries are working together based on shared values in an effort to maintain regional peace and stability.”

Chinese officials signaled their resentment of the deal. "We ask the U.S. to ... stop official exchanges and military interactions with Taiwan and be prudent on Taiwan-related issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Friday. "We also ask Taiwan not to try to add to its importance by soliciting U.S. support."

The Chinese coast guard and fishing fleets pose a special danger to Taiwan, in the eyes of American strategists who suspect that Beijing might try to convert them into a stealthy invasion force. This misgiving has been stoked by Russia’s use of so-called “little green men,” military forces in unmarked uniforms, to invade Ukraine and annex Crimea while claiming not to have deployed troops across the border, a lie that slowed Western responses to the 2014 invasion.

If China were to invade Taiwan in the near-future, fishing boats or Chinese coast guard vessels could provide cover for such a strategy, with the potential to confuse and paralyze U.S. or Taiwanese responses until it was too late to avoid defeat. U.S. Coast Guard officials likely will use this agreement as a basis to train Taiwanese coast guard forces on how to respond in the event of such a threat, according to Gray.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/us-taiwan-coast- guard-partner-blunt-potential-chinese-invasion

In Great Power Wars, Americans Could Again Become POWs

After years of training for counterinsurgency, today’s soldiers need to know how to survive large-scale warfare.

By JAN KALLBERG and LT. COL. TODD ARNOLD

MARCH 28, 2021 08:00 AM ET

With the return of great power competition comes another renewed threat most of us probably have not thought about in a long time: American soldiers could become prisoners of war.

To put it in perspective, the last conflict where America suffered hundreds of POWs was the Vietnam War. Today, after two decades of fighting non-state insurgents, Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, or SERE, training for U.S. service members has been tailored to match the counterinsurgency operational environment. But in a large-scale conflict between peer countries, aircrews bail out over enemy-controlled territory, wounded soldiers are captured by an advancing enemy, logistic convoys are ambushed, and the turmoil that comes with a moving battlefield creates risk for troops being captured by the enemy. If that is the more likely battlespace of the future, then there is a need to change once again how we prepare soldiers for being captured.

A future fight with a peer or near-peer adversary will likely be a rapidly unfolding event via a fait accompli attack in which an rapidly advancing enemy could overrun U.S. forces and any additional rapid response forces. According to the U.S. Army, a “fait accompli attack is intended to achieve military and political objectives rapidly and then to quickly consolidate those gains so that any attempt to reverse the action by the [United States] would entail unacceptable cost and risk.” The attack would occur via a rapid adversarial advancement to gain as much terrain and bargaining power before the U.S. military could send major formations of troops from continental U.S. bases. The most likely scenario where this would occur is in Europe along NATO’s eastern front, but there are several scenarios where this also could occur in the Indo-Pacific region. Here’s how.

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/03/great-power-wars-americans-could-again- become-pows/172964/

Military has not learned from air crashes: report

TOO FREQUENT: The defense report said recent crashes could have been prevented, and identified a number of areas that require improvement

By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA

Failure to learn from mistakes has contributed to five major military aviation safety incidents in the past two years, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan.

These incidents resulted in the deaths of 12 personnel, as well as two service members who remain missing, said the report, which was sent to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Saturday.

Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) is scheduled to attend a meeting of the committee today.

Members of the Chiayi Personal Watercraft Association yesterday join military personnel searching for captain Pan Ying-chun, a pilot who went missing after a mid-air collision between two F-5E jets on Monday last week off the coast of Pingtung County’s Mudan Township. Photo provided by the military via CNA The frequency of crashes proves that military aviation units have not learned from the past, the report said, adding that the military must study the causes of the disasters thoroughly to prevent them.

The recent air crashes were caused by human error, mechanical failure or environmental hazards, and could have been prevented, it said, adding that the risks could be mitigated by improvements to training, planning, leadership and personnel evaluation.

The military must establish a culture of flight safety, which is not only the responsibility of pilots and commanding officers, but also of each ground crew member, the report said. The ministry is considering arranging for technically accomplished veteran pilots to give lectures to aviation units and to have training on emergency and ejection procedures and parachute skills every month until F-5 pilots obtain improved ejector seats, the report said.

Other methods for broadening the military’s flight safety knowledge under review include studying air disasters in foreign countries, talking with civilian experts in the public and private sectors, and participating in international dialogue and conferences.

The ministry report identified a slew of other areas that require improvement, including the management of military resources, mission briefing practices, the training curriculum, flight discipline, the standardization of flight practices, preventive maintenance and flight checks.

However, it cautioned that the armed forces must not reduce flight training due to increased demand to meet safety standards, it said.

The country needs well-trained pilots to maintain the combat power necessary to defend its airspace, without which Taiwan cannot be defended, the report said.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/03/29/2003754691

Party leaders could face security rule

TRIGGER: Chang An-le is to appear in court after claiming to have recruited ‘red troops,’ leading to an amendment to change the requirements for leaders of political parties

By Chien Hui-ju and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer

An amendment seeking to bar those found guilty of harming national security from leading a political party would soon be sent to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation, the Ministry of the Interior said on Saturday, amid calls for action after China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) founder Chang An-le (張安樂) earlier this year claimed to have recruited “red troops” in central and southern Taiwan.

In an interview with China National Radio in January, Chang said that he has “converted” young Taiwanese to support unification with China, and urged Taiwanese to “rise up” to avoid being killed in a war.

The case was passed to the High Prosecutors’ Office, which is trying Chang, also known as the “White Wolf,” on a charge of contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法).

Chang is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow.

Motivated by the case, lawmakers have voiced concern over the effects of foreign interference on political parties, leading to calls for legislation to protect the nation’s democratic systems.

Since the Political Parties Act (政黨法) was promulgated three years ago, some parties have deviated from democratic principles and public expectations, lending credence to the need for revision, Department of Civil Affairs Deputy Director Cheng Ying-hung (鄭英 弘) said.

The Ministry of the Interior sent draft revisions of the amendment to the Executive Yuan on Sept. 3 last year, which held review sessions on Oct. 21 and Jan. 29, Cheng said, adding that the revisions would be sent to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation immediately after confirmation.

The most important changes relate to the age, qualifications, responsibilities and criminal record of a political party leader, he said. The amendment would lower the minimum age to lead a political party to 18 from 20 and bar party leaders from concurrently leading or serving as an elector for another party, he said.

Those found guilty of contravening the National Security Act, National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保 護法) or any national security law would also be banned from leading a political party, he added.

As the leader of a party decides the direction of its organizational development, they have a substantial influence on party policy, Cheng said, explaining the changes.

If a leader breaks a national security law, besides severely harming the party’s political development, their actions might also harm overall national interests and security, he said, adding that he was confident the changes would put an end to foreign interference through political parties.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/03/29/2003754689

China's Navy: Now More Powerful Than the U.S. Navy?

Last week three Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels, including the first-class Type 055 (Renhai-class) large guided-missile destroyer Nanchang sailed through the Tsushima Strait towards the Sea of Japan. This marks the first time that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has spotted a Type 055 destroyer. by Peter Suciu

Last week three Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels, including the first-class Type 055 (Renhai-class) large guided-missile destroyer Nanchang sailed through the Tsushima Strait towards the Sea of Japan. This marks the first time that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has spotted a Type 055 destroyer.

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The warships didn't enter Japan's territorial waters and didn't take action that posed any threat to JMSDF vessels or aircraft, according to multiple reports including those from the Japan Times. However, the provocative deployment of the PLAN flotilla, which also included the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Chengdu and the Type 054A guided-missile frigate Daqing, came just days after Tokyo and Washington released a "2+2 ministers" joint statement.

U.S. and Japanese officials had warned earlier this month against "coercion and destabilizing behavior" by Beijing, including a new Chinese law that recently took measures that would enable its coast guard ships to fire on vessels that sail near contested Senkaku Islands. The uninhabited islands in the East China Sea are currently under Japanese control, but are claimed by China and Taiwan.

China's foreign ministry has responded that any U.S.-Japanese alliance should not target a third party, the Global Times reported.

As noted, this marks the first deployment of the Renhai-class missile destroyer to the Sea of Japan since it entered service in January 2020. It has been described as one of the world's most powerful warships and is in the same class as the U.S. Navy's own large surface combatants. SPONSORED CONTENT

It displaces more than 12,000 tons and is around 180 meters in length. It is equipped with 112 vertical launch missile cells that are capable of launching a combination of surface-to-air, anti-ship, land-attack, and anti-submarine missiles. It is also armed with 130-millimeter guns and can carry two helicopters. To date, a total of eight Type 055 guided missile destroyers have been built, and according to reports, two have entered service including the Nanchang, while a second ship Lhasa entered service earlier this year.

The Type 052D-class destroyers are also well armed; designed to provide anti-air area defense to a carrier battle group or amphibious ready group, the 052D has been described as a defensive linchpin of any Chinese task force, particularly one operating beyond the range of land-based assets. Two destroyers of the class have been commissioned into the PLAN, with another seven under construction and one more planned.

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However, just as China has increased the size of the PLAN, the Japanese government of then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has approved plans to build two new Aegis air warfare destroyers, bringing the pacifist country's overall number of Aegis ships to eight.

It is possible that any future showdown between the two Asian nations could occur in the waters of the Tsushima Strait, but it should be remembered that in 1905 during the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War the Russian fleet was virtually destroyed. Beijing would be wise not to make any rash actions or it could face a similar fate.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/chinas-navy-now-more-powerful-us-navy-181387

China opens yet another front in South China Sea, Philippines raises concerns

• 09:10 PM, Mar 28, 2021

Months into power, while the Biden administration is clamouring to revive engagements with trans-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific partners, amid ugly diplomatic sparing between American and Chinese diplomats at Anchorage, Philippines Foreign Minister raised concerns of Chinese incursions. Instructively, the silver lining of Biden administration’s interactions with various strategic partners has been a promise of countering Chinese assertiveness.

On March 21st, Philippines Defence Minister demanding the withdrawal of blue-hulled Chinese vessels, said, “we call on the Chinese to stop this incursion and immediately recall these boats violating our maritime rights and encroaching into our sovereign territory”. The statement was in response to the Philippines Coast Guard reports of about 220 Chinese vessels marooning the Whitsun Reef since March 7th1.

Expectedly, Chinese remained defiant and defended that Chinese vessels were sheltering against the inclement weather. Chinese Embassy in Manila warned against, “any speculation in such helps nothing but causes unnecessary irritation” and “hoped that the situation could be handled in an objective and rational manner”2. Whitsun Reef is boom-rang shaped obscure shallow reef in South China Sea (SCS) claimed by Philippines as Julian Felipe Reef and Vietnam as Da Ba Dau. China calls it Niu’e Jiao or Oxbrow Reef. Strategically located along the busy shipping lanes, ideally suited as operational and monitoring base, China and Vietnam have been making claims on this reef for some time. Vietnam is indeed operating near this reef at the Sin Cowe Island. Claims aside, the shallow reef is 175 nautical miles away from Philippines Western Province Palawan and falls well within the range of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Philippines.

Despite the Corona pandemic, around the same period last year, Chinese vessels traversed these regions in SCS and AMTI (Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative) tracked their movements. Around 30 Chinese Maritime Militia ships were spotted in this region which left the region shortly3. This year, in a brazen display of assertiveness and power, China has swarmed the region with hundreds of vessels. On March23rd Philippines Air Force reported presence of 183 CMM vessels.

The timing of these incursions has accentuated burgeoning animosity towards the Middle Kingdom which has opened several fronts since last year. With a partial disengagement of troops across the LAC, while Beijing has partially nullified the tactical advantage of India still several areas in Eastern Ladakh region are yet to be vacated by the Chinese troops. Beijing has intensified its ante against Taiwan, incursed into Japanese waters record number of times and also rolled out a new legislation enabling Coastal Guards to fire at any foreign vessel entering its perceived territorial region. With China laying claims to over 80% of SCS under the Nine Dash Line which is thoroughly contested, the legislation has invariably escalated the tensions.

Struggling to garner the trust of SCS stakeholders, in response to Philippines concerns, US declared, “We stand with the Philippines, our oldest treaty ally in Asia”. But unfortunately, America’s statement failed short of reposing confidence in Manila as the Biden administrations newly released interim National Security Strategic Guidance4 failed to mention Philippines as a strategic ally, unlike the previous regimes.

This prevarication is attributed to President Duterte’s dubious Chinese foreign policy, who upon ascension to power in 2016 shelfed the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s verdict and refrained from consolidating Manila’s maritime assertiveness. Unlike former President Aquino III who initiated an international arbitration case against China under UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of Seas) and deepened security cooperation with US in response stand-off with China and occupation of Manila’s Scarborough Shoal in 2012, Duterte warmed up to China. Adopted a meek and humble approach, acquiesced to China, welcomed Beijing’s investments.

Emboldened by Duterte’s approach, China not only militarised the rapidly reclaimed territorial features in the SCS but also carved out two municipal districts- Xinsha and Nansha from the newly developed islands Paracels and Spartly groups as separate administrative units5. Beijing began deploying sophisticated military hardware to these newly reclaimed regions and increased reliance on on the strategy of grey zone tactics to bolster its claims.

In 2019, China sunk a Philippines fishing boat and last year, as a vast swarm of ships surrounded the Thitu Island claimed by Philippines last year. The ship was allegedly rammed and sunk by Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) in the Reed Bank area. But Duterte chose to dismiss this as minor event. On the contrary, he notified US administration of the termination of 22-year old, the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement even as US expressed its commitment to the relationship5. Duterte’s overt kow-towing has been a strategic victory for China.

Though Duterte rescinded his decision, his rhetoric pertaining to lack of strategic payments from America and absence of offer of COVID vaccines has weakened the alliance. China aspired to eventually grab this strategic opportunity. But its overzealous approach and incremental adventurism has exposed its diabolical expansionist strategy. China’s unrelenting incursions has worsened Manila’s maritime concerns. The continuing presence of an armada of Chinese maritime vessels operating under the garb of fishing vessels is now eliciting strong response from Duterte’s Cabinet. Philippines Foreign Minister registered a formal protest, Defence Minister demanded withdrawal of the vessels. Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta Teh announced Manila’s plans to seek compensation for destroying the marine resources in EEZ from China as part of 2016 Hague ruling. The documentation is likely to include- ecological damage caused by harmful harvesting of endangered species, island building activities, construction of installations and artificial islands at Mischief Reef without the approval of the Philippines7.

While the matters stay thus, the most important facet of this entire episode is the strategic deployment of CMM and their intimidatory tactics. Till now, US refused to consider CMM as a formidable force. Pegged them at paltry 848, US grossly underestimated Chinese forces operating in the Seas. Now the Philippines Airforce declared the presence of 183 CMM “blue hulls” in their EEZ. Chinese observers have been warning of CMM, which operates along with the regular force-PLAN and Coast Guards. Known as People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM), they play a vital role in Gray Zone Pressure tactics.

During the early days of communist regime, commercial vessels were used to augment regular naval units. The Naval existed as “Brown Water” force was dedicated to protection of inland waterways and coastal areas. CMM owes its origins to Chinese fishing industry, the largest in the World. Initially when the military orientation was mostly continental, the regime never bothered about bolstering maritime resources.

After the end of the Cold War, China increased its focus on maritime strategy by co-opting the terms like First Chain of Islands, Nine Dash lines. While its Naval force was too thin to spread across the vast oceanic regions, CMM comprising the fishing boats of vast fishing fleet, started organising into company sized elements in 1985 for the first time at Sansa City. Basic training was organised by city level People’s Armed forces Department. By 2010 the training was coordinated with Chinese Maritime Law Enforcement Agencies like Chinese Coast Guard and Fisheries Law Enforcement Command. They were soon part of reconnaissance missions, and formed the advanced guard of island construction of China in SCS.

The Maritime Militia also trains for some independent missions, including anti-air missile defense, light weapons use and sabotage operations. Reconnaissance and surveillance are strongly emphasized, to make up for potential gaps in China’s intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) coverage9. CMM essentially gathers information about foreign vessels, harass them, offer logistic support and aid in reclamation activities.

These fishing vessels are equipped with Beidou Communication System. They are now modernised to become part of the NCW (Network Centric Warfare) which relies on C4I (Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence). PLA is blending its own NCW tactics with those learned from Soviet Union and the US Doctrine (Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan).

As indicted by Andrew Ericksson and Micheal Chase in their book- “The Chinese Navy: Expanding capabilities, Evolving Roles” the long and short goal of the regime in cultivating CMM is to develop a networked fleet to mount low cost but area denial mission in SCS and ECS.

China’s maritime strategy indeed has borrowed the ancient Athenians “Swarm Techniques” that trounced Persians. This method in the recent times is believed to have been successfully adopted by Nazis in the World War II. The tactics essentially involves use of small, fast, stealthy and lightly manned interconnected (networked) vessels operating in tandem from in different directions and attack the enemy. Clearly, CMM appears to have emulated all these principles and operating in Swarms to operate in SCS. Strategists Arquilla and Ronfeldt contend that CMM aptly fits the definition and functioning of Swarm.

With a precedent of using similar Swarm land techniques against UN forces on land in Korean War, analysts now believe “Naval Swarm Tactics” have been at the root of the Chinese incremental expansionism in the SCS.

Since 2014, the encounters between China’s so called fishing fleet and the foreign navies in the EEZ and Nine Dash Line have increased several folds with reports of Chinese fleets sinking vessels of the claimants-Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, Malaysia. Ever since, media is replete of incidents of hostile actions of Chinese fishing vessels. These events weren’t restricted to SCS alone even Latin American countries reported sighting these fleets.

As of now, Philippines has beefed up naval presence in SCS to conduct sovereignty patrols and sending fighter aircrafts over SCS. However, the Chinese embassy still maintains that fishing vessels are taking refuge at Whitsun Reefs and that there were no militia on board 10.

China’s belligerence and the unabated salami slicing have roots in its diligent military strategies. It is time to unravel and understand the implications of these stealthily honed approaches to stem and counter China’s nefarious tactics. Clearly through collectivization, modernisation and use of sophisticated technology China has evolved a robust low-cost force to defend and realise its territorial aspirations. Inexorably this is a force to reckon with. Hence it is incumbent on the stakeholders of the region to constantly monitor the activities of Chinese sinister fishing boats which are part of CMM and work together to safeguard their mutual interests.

https://www.myind.net/Home/viewArticle/china-opens-yet-another-front-in-south-china- sea-philippines-raises-concerns PRISM VOL. 9, NO. 2 | 2021

ABOUT PRISM, the quarterly journal of complex operations published at National Defense University (NDU), aims to illuminate and provoke debate on whole-of- government efforts to conduct reconstruction, stabilization, counterinsurgency, and irregular warfare operations. Since the inaugural issue of PRISM in 2010, our readership has expanded to include more than 10,000 officials, servicemen and women, and practitioners from across the diplomatic, defense, and development communities in more than 80 countries. PRISM is published with support from NDU’s Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS). In 1984, Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger established INSS within NDU as a focal point for analysis of critical national security policy and defense strategy issues. Today INSS conducts research in support of academic and leadership programs at NDU; provides strategic support to the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, combatant commands, and armed services; and engages with the broader national and international security communities. COMMUNICATIONS PRISM welcomes unsolicited manuscripts from policymakers, practitioners, and scholars, particularly those that present emerging thought, best practices, or training and education innovations. Publication threshold for articles and critiques varies but is largely determined by topical relevance, continuing education for national and international security professionals, scholarly standards of argumentation, quality of writing, and readability. To help achieve threshold, authors are strongly encouraged to recommend clear solutions or to arm the reader with actionable knowledge. Our review process can last several months. The PRISM editorial staff will contact authors during that timeframe accepting or regretfully rejecting the submission. If the staff is unable to publish a submission within four months of acceptance, PRISM will revert publication rights to the author so that they may explore other publication options. Constructive comments and contributions are important to PRISM. We also welcome Letters to the Editor that are exclusive to PRISM—we do not publish open letters. The PRISM editorial staff will contact authors within two months of submission if they accept the letter for publication. Please direct all comments and submit manuscripts in electronic form to [email protected]. Hard copies may be sent to the address listed below, and should include a note that provides a preferred email address and phone number for feedback: PRISM does not return original hard copy submissions.

https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/prism/prism_9-2/prism_9-2.pdf

Viewpoint: Empower Warfighters Through a Digital Battlespace

3/29/2021 By Joel Dillon

iStock photo-illustration

The era of the digital warrior has arrived. Technology is advancing faster than ever, allowing for the creation, transmission, analysis and distribution of data across the battlespace at a pace never seen before.

These advances are empowering warfighters in new ways. At the tactical edge, humans and machines are beginning to team to gather and share tactical data, and troops are being equipped with a plethora of body-worn digital systems, from augmented reality goggles linked to biometric sensors, thermal imagers and cameras, to miniature computer systems equipped with navigation aids and battle management apps.

These connected warfighters operate within the context of the “digital battlespace.” With artificial intelligence and machine learning for predictive insight, faster communications networks such as 5G coming online for connectivity during training, innovations like virtual and augmented reality, edge computing for faster processing, and integrated sensors and advanced analytics that bring it all together, the digital battlespace is a powerful internet- of-battlefield-things, enabling faster action with increased situational awareness and real- time intelligence.

Such advancements — paired with a new mindset toward integration, procurement and innovation — offer nearly limitless possibilities to provide warfighters across the military with better situational awareness and decision-support tools.

The digitization of the battlespace allows for the strengthening of warfighters’ capabilities before they even step foot into the battlefield. Traditional training scenarios are often limited by location, cost and logistics, and hampered by scenarios that may feel unrealistic. They may also lack the ability to objectively measure progress and deliver precise feedback.

Immersive training, which utilizes advancements in virtual and augmented reality, helps take warfighter preparation to the next level.

Virtual training empowers servicemembers through interactive experiences, actionable metrics and continual learning. It engages the brain on multiple levels: experiential, cognitive, behavioral and emotional. This type of virtual training can augment — and in some cases replace — live training. Warfighters can “train as they fight” at an unparalleled level of realism short of actual combat with reduced cost, increased safety, and more easily accessible training that provides real-time feedback and a continuous cycle of improvement, particularly when machine learning and AI enter the equation.

Increasingly ubiquitous connectivity makes virtual training more readily available, realistic and impactful over time.

In line with this type of immersive virtual training, defense leaders are recognizing the potential of 5G to add bandwidth, speed and capabilities. In October, the Defense Department announced $600 million in awards for 5G experimentation and testing, the largest full-scale 5G tests for dual-use applications in the world.

Among these tests is a 5G-enabled, AR/VR-powered prototype for combat-like training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Additionally, 5G also offers a competitive edge beyond training, namely in the support of multiple integrated digital devices and systems used by warfighters.

For servicemembers to get the most out of these new advances, however, these technologies must be integrated through an open and connected architecture rather than simply procured in the traditional stovepiped way. Why is this important? Not all that long ago, before the invention of smartphones, a person could leave their house with many of the same capabilities we have available in a smartphone today — a cell phone, camera, music player, flashlight, calculator, laptop computer, etc. However, you would have needed a backpack to lug around all the equipment required to do what today’s 7-ounce smartphone can do. This is currently the experience of our warfighters, burdened by separate devices for navigation, night vision, radio communications and various other functions, along with the redundancy and associated weight of each item’s individual power supply and networking components.

From a threat standpoint, adversaries have access to many of these technologies, and varying security standards among them make it even more difficult to secure them.

Moving forward, digital warriors need devices and systems, linked together through open architectures, that eliminate redundancies, maximize efficiencies, strengthen security and lighten both the physical and mental load in battle. A warfighter’s kit can — and should — consolidate, streamline and improve their lives in the same way that smartphones do our daily lives in the civilian world.

In today’s threat environment, information alone is not enough. Digital warriors need intelligence with real-time context for their specific mission and situation. Advancements in AI, data science and machine learning can help quickly triage the data, quiet the noise, and accelerate response.

AI can power numerous new technologies, from performance monitors that can detect if a warfighter is dehydrated, to self-diagnosing equipment that reports malfunctions before they impact performance, to remote sensors automatically reporting locations of enemy combatants to a common operating picture similar to how traffic apps share where congestion and accidents happen. AI can also be used to automate routine tasks, freeing up humans for more complex problem-solving in the digital battlespace.

Emerging technologies, quickly obtained through agile, modern procurement methods and then rapidly connected through open architectures will be possible in the digital battlespace, where warfighters are empowered with real-time data for faster decisions, mobile networks that support coordinated operations, and advanced cybersecurity to keep sensitive information away from enemy forces.

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/3/29/empower-warfighters- through-a-digital-battlespace

Philippines’ renewed coronavirus lockdown in Manila likely to sharpen criticism of government’s response to pandemic

• The total number of active infections has more than tripled since February 26, and more than half the active infections have been recorded in the capital region • The government for its part has sought to blame ‘pandemic fatigue’ and emerging variants of the disease, including one from Hong Kong

The Philippines on Saturday ordered more than 25 million people in and around Manila into a coronavirus lockdown, reimposing the restrictions of last year as the Philippines logged a record 9,595 new Covid-19 cases and active infections rose to 118,122.

response to the pandemic. disease,The renewed including restrictions one from are Hong likely Kong. to sharpen criticism of the government’s The government for its part has sought to blame “pandemic fatigue” and emerging variants of the The enhanced community quarantine will last seven days from Monday until Easter Sunday, presidential spokesman Harry Ro has been widely blamed for mismanaging the pandemic response. que said, citing the recommendation of the country’s coronavirus task force, which -to- Curfews will be reimposed from 6pm until 5am in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the An “intensified house house search for those who have symptoms” will be conducted, Roque said. Congress, the judiciary, the Philippine National Police, the armed forces and the Catholic Church, previouslyneighbouring announced provinces their of Bulacan, own lockdowns. Cavite, Laguna and Rizal. The country’s major institutions, such as

The total number of active infections has more than tripled since February 26, and more than half of active infections have been recorded in the NCR. It is the worst spike in the Philippines since the strict lockdown was imposed on Metropolitan Manila and the same four provinces on March 15 last year.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3127277/philippines-renewed- coronavirus-lockdown-manila-likely

UN chief criticizes wealthy countries for vaccine ‘stockpile’

Published March 29, 2021, 6:01 AM by Agence France-Presse UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized developed countries for creating a “stockpile” of Covid-19 vaccines, and called on them to share with the rest of the world to help end the pandemic.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 04, 2020 United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press briefing at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will run for a second five-year term as the organization’s chief, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on January 11, 2021. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP)

“I’m very concerned with this very unfair distribution of vaccines in the world,” Guterres said in an interview broadcast Sunday by the Canadian channel CBC.

“It’s in the interest of everybody to make sure that as soon as possible and in a fair way, everybody gets vaccinated everywhere and that vaccines are considered to be a truly global public good,” he said.

The UN chief criticized the “self interest” of rich countries for building up vaccine supplies beyond the needs of their populations.

“First, don’t stockpile vaccines,” he said, adding that it “doesn’t make sense.”

“We have been appealing to developed countries to share some of the vaccines that they have bought and in many situations they have bought more than what they need.”

The secretary-general lamented that the Covax international system of vaccine aid to disadvantaged countries is having “difficulties” because “there’s been a lot of hoarding.”

He said that ending the pandemic “depends a lot on having the possibility to vaccinate as quickly as possible the population all over the world,” and he pleaded in favor of a mechanism powered by the G20 to put in place a global vaccination plan.

Asked about the possible adoption of vaccination passports, Guterres was cautious, saying that before any decision is taken, there must be serious discussion to ensure fairness and to make sure that there is effective global cooperation. “The worst is for some countries to have it and for other countries not have it… it will be devastating if this would mean that people could move within the developed world but not within the developing world,” he warned.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/29/un-chief-criticizes-wealthy-countries-for-vaccine-stockpile/

Hong Kong says initial investigation of BioNTech vaccines shows no 'obvious systemic factors' By Reuters Staff 2 MIN READ

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong’s government said an initial investigation by Germany’s BioNTech and Fosun Industrial into its coronavirus vaccine did not show any “obvious systemic factors” during packaging after use of the vaccine was suspended in the city and neighbouring Macau this weekd late on

Authorities on Wednesday halted the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech citing defective packaging, triggering confusion in inoculation centres across the city.

The suspension came as the Asian financial hub has faced a sluggish take-up of vaccines due to dwindling confidence in China’s Sinovac vaccine and fears of adverse reactions.

In a statement published late on Saturday, the city’s government said the investigation results did not rule out that the situation was “caused by environmental conditions during the long-haul transport process.”

It was not related to the cold-chain and logistical management of the vaccine and random testing of intact vials delivered to Hong Kong did not uncover any issue of leakage, it said.

Both Fosun and BioNTech considered the vaccines to have no safety risks and people who have received them “do not need to worry”, the government said. The remaining part of the investigation will focus on “ascertaining the integrity of the intrinsic properties of the relevant batches of vaccine, and that the batches are safe for use.”

The government said it was following up with Fosun and BioNTech to complete the investigation within a week to allow for a resumption of supplying the vaccines to the public.

The city started vaccinating residents with doses from Sinovac in February and began offering the one developed by BioNTech in March.

The BioNTech vaccine is distributed in Hong Kong and Macau via a partnership with China’s Fosun Pharma, while BioNTech partners with Pfizer in markets outside greater China.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-hongkong-vaccines/hong-kong-says-initial- investigation-of-biontech-vaccines-shows-no-obvious-systemic-factors-idUSKBN2BK00G

Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak Across the World Updated: March 29, 2021, 8:27 AM GMT+8

U.K. 1,938 66,430 1,783.5 2.5

U.S. 1,663 91,619 1,100.7 2.8

Brazil 1,485 59,603 N/A N/A

France 1,401 68,128 N/A 6.0

Germany 945 34,672 609.0 8.0

Russia 677 31,486 814.4 8.1

India 123 9,128 181.9 0.5

Japan 72 3,721 71.3 13.1

Mainland China 3 65 N/A 4.3

Testing data as of March 26, 2021, 5:00 PM GMT+8

Sources: OECD for number of hospital beds (2016 for the U.S., 2017 for other countries), government agencies and the COVID Tracking Project via Our World in Data for testing data (various recent dates) (reported in the past 45 days) and the U.S. Census Bureau for population figures (2019).

The world is bracing for a new wave of Covid-19 infections, as the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 125 million people and killed more than 2.7 millionglobally since late January 2020. Efforts many countries took to stamp out the pneumonia-like illness led to entire nations enforcing lockdowns, widespread halts of international travel, mass layoffs and battered financial markets. Recent attempts to revive social life and financial activities have resulted in another surge in cases and hospitalizations, though new drugs and improved care may help more people who get seriously ill survive.

01002003004001 yrDays since 100 confirmed cases1001,00010,000100,0001,000,00010,000,00030,000,000CasesMainland ChinaFranceU.K.Hong KongU.S.AustraliaBrazilIndiaRussiaTaiwanNew Zealand Note: JHU CSSE reporting began on January 22, 2020, when mainland China had already surpassed 500 cases.

Source: Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering

127,085,960

Confirmed cases worldwide

2,782,896

Deaths worldwide

Jurisdictions with cases confirmed as of March 29, 2021, 8:27 AM GMT+8

1–99

100–999

1,000–9,999

10,000–99,999

100,000–999,999

1,000,000–9,999,999 10 million or more Where deaths have occurred Deaths Cases U.S. 549,306 30,258,812 Brazil 312,206 12,534,688 Mexico 201,429 2,224,767 India 161,552 11,971,624 U.K. 126,832 4,347,010 Italy 107,933 3,532,057 Russia 96,123 4,469,327 France 94,754 4,606,185 Germany 75,927 2,784,652 Spain 75,010 3,255,324 Colombia 62,955 2,382,730 Iran 62,397 1,855,674 Argentina 55,449 2,308,597 South Africa 52,663 1,545,431 Where deaths have occurred Deaths Cases Poland 51,884 2,250,991 Show more

Note: Totals for Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the U.K., and the U.S. include overseas territories and other dependencies. Cases and deaths for cruise ships have been separated in accordance with JHU CSSE data.

The epicenter of the pandemic has continued to shift throughout the year, from China, then Europe, then the U.S., and now to developing countries like Brazil. Cases globally surpassed 10 million in late June, but ever since infections have been multiplying faster. The U.S. and India have the most infections, accounting for more than a third of all cases combined.

Global Cases Added Per Day New cases: 595,757 Jan 21, 2020 Mar 27, 2021 Brazil New cases: 85,948 Jan 21, 2020 Mar 27, 2021 India 62,714 U.S. 62,062 France 42,634 Germany 17,628 Russia 8,783 Iran 8,120 U.K. 3,909 Mainland China 11 Note: On February 14, 2020, Hubei officials changed their diagnostic criteria, resulting in a spike in reported cases.

Countries took drastic measures to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 on their homefront— with varying degrees of success. More than 140 governments placed blanket bans on incoming travelers, closed schools and restricted gatherings and public events, according to data compiled by Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and Bloomberg reporting.

As countries loosen lockdowns in an effort to reboot their economies, many have seen a resurgence of infections. The number of new daily cases in the U.S. rose to record highs after some states relaxed social distancing requirements. Even places that successfully contained infections earlier in the year, like China and South Korea, have seen cases bubble back up. Theories that warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere would bring relief appear to be unfounded.

Mar 2020Jan 2021Mar 2700.5K1.0K1.5K2.0K2.5K3.0K3.5KNew deaths by dayU.S.IndiaRussiaU.K.

Note: Shown are the 15 places with the highest totals of confirmed cases, as of March 27. Negative values resulting from governments revising their totals have been excluded from rolling average calculations.

The “worst is yet to come” given a lack of global solidarity, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said at a briefing in Geneva on June 29.

In May, the WHO emphasized the need for a plan that includes testing for the virus and its antibodies, effective contact tracing and isolation, and community education. Antibody tests on the market that could potentially indicate a person’s immunity have been unreliable so far. Researchers and drugmakers are racing to develop treatments that could hold the key to recovery.

Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral remdesivir is one of the first widely used drugs for Covid- 19. It received an emergency use authorization from U.S. regulators in May, after a trial found it sped recovery by about four days in hospitalized patients. It was also part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s treatment after he tested positive for the coronavirus in early October, along with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s antibody cocktail and the generic drug dexamethasone.

Vaccines are also in development, though the study of one leading candidate from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc is on hold in the U.S. while regulators investigate a potential safety issue.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-coronavirus-cases-world-map/?srnd=coronavirus

In the South China Sea, Biden is outdoing Trump in bluff and bluster

• e and cement US hegemony in Asia • InThe the Alaska South meeting China Sea, makes its continuing it clear the strategy US will continuof demandinge to try Chi to bluntna abide China’s by its ris interpretation of UNCLOS while refusing to ratify it can only fail

Many had hoped that under President Joe Biden, the United States would moderate its goals and behaviour vis-à-vis China, especially in the seas near China. That hope had some basis because Kurt Campbell and Jake Sullivan -Pacific coordinator and national security adviser had competitive coexistence – now Biden’s Indo – confrontationadvocated a “ and militarism.Indeed, a” withmain China.But takeaway Biden’s from the China March policy 18-19 is turningAlaska meeting out to be a continuation of the Trump adminstration’s, possibly trumping it in its hypocrisy, condescension, between top US and China foreign policy officials was that the fundamental US goal in Asia is continued hegemony. T multinational resources and sharing the political burden of doing so. With the use of carrots and sticks, it will try to persuadehis means nations the US towill join continue a grand to anti-China try to dilute allian andce, blunt while China’s keeping rise, China combining at bay with its military.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3127180/south-china-sea-biden-outdoing-trump- bluff-and-bluster

As US-China clash endangers our fragile economic recovery, we must do more than just gawk

• The worst-case scenario is an arms race that diverts money urgently needed for pandemic recovery and climate change • We can all do more to force the two biggest economies in the world to behave, especially the US

A former executive of a multilateral development bank once recounted to me how he achieved a minor diplomatic coup in dealing with high-level Chinese officials. Courtesy and subtlety were part of his game plan, and certain members of the US Biden administration would do well to take note. introducing the thorny issue of certain financial outstandings by China to the bank. He was sure, he At a meeting in Beijing, he began by voicing respect for China’s ancient culture and traditions, only then

Hisadded, hosts that smiled this must politely be anand oversight the debts in were a nation cleared. of China’s Contrast standing this with and the achievements. all-guns-blazing entry of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan into the

Alaska meeting

with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office director Yang Jiechi.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3127197/us-china-clash-endangers-our-fragile- economic-recovery-we-must-do

NST Leader: Whose world is it anyway? March 29, 2021 @ 12:01am

Both the US and China may want to revisit Truman’s idea of “one world in which all must get along”

"THERE is one thing we must learn. This is one world and it is a world in which all must get along. And it is my opinion that this great republic will lead the way".

These were the words of United States president Harry Truman in 1945 as captured by The Economist's video clip. And so America did for a good 75 years.

But the global leadership has not always been good. If peace is absence of war, then the 7½ decades since the end of World War 2 have not been peaceful for most parts.

How could it be when the US leadership of the world has meant the shameless parcelling of this or that nation between America and its allies? Now that an ascendant China is extending its long arm to grab the global leadership crown, is a war inevitable?

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had an answer for the nervous world as he spoke to the BBC on March 11: a clash between the US and China is more likely than it was five years ago. There was a Lee qualifier, though: the odds of military conflict are "not yet high". But he added an "if" just as quickly — if the US and China continue to take a hard line because of domestic considerations, they could easily find themselves at an impasse.

Or to frame this in geopolitical analyst Graham Allison's question: Can America and China escape Thucydides' Trap? Thucydides, considered to be a great Greek historian, was writing about the trap that the rising Athens and fearful incumbent Sparta fell into, making the 30-year Peloponnesian War inevitable. There is a problem though with such mixing of ancient history with contemporary geopolitics. It betrays its intent of preventing a war.

Allison has peddled the idea of Thucydides' Trap in print and videos, so much so the hawks in the Pentagon and US Congress are actually preparing for war with China rather than seeking to prevent it. Peking may be doing the same. There is a way out of this impasse, though. Both the US and China may want to revisit Truman's idea of "one world in which all must get along". There needn't be an American century, as the US has been peddling to the world. There needn't be an Asian century either. We must aim for a just world order, one based on the rule of law. Getting along doesn't mean having one global leader.

Nations didn't elect the US to lead the world. It just grabbed the crown for itself. Like the French King Louis XIV's L'état, c'est moi (the state is mine), the US went global with its Le monde est à moi (the world is mine).

The shape and form of the United Nations, the main architect of which was the US, speaks volume of this unearned and unjust leadership. True, the US has set a bad example of global leadership. As bad as the European one in 1884, when 13 nations from the continent gathered in Berlin to shamelessly parcel out Africa.

None of the African nations were invited. China must not aspire to be another meddling European nation or America.

The world is in bad need of a just global leader. If China wants to be that, it must do much better than the US.

For now, as Lee puts it to the BBC, there is uncertainty and anxiety among nations big and small over which way China is going.

https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/leaders/2021/03/677767/nst-leader-whose-world-it-anyway

Walter Lohman On Taiwan: Europe and strategic ambiguity

There is an interesting dispute brewing in Paris over Taiwan. The controversial and acerbic Chinese Ambassador there is objecting to the next visit to Taiwan by the French Senate’s Taiwan Caucus. So far, the president of the caucus, former Minister of Defense Alain Richard, is sticking by his guns.

This is good news. A legislative delegation from France — or from most other countries in the world — is largely symbolic. As symbols go, however, it is powerful. On the other hand, canceling the trip at the demands of the Chinese — who claim to have simply stumbled across it in the minutes of a meeting posted on the caucus’ website — would be a blow to Taiwan’s international profile.

The health of that profile is crucial to Taiwan’s security.

In a recent piece in War on the Rocks, myself and an old friend from the other side of the political spectrum, Frank Jannuzi, president of the Mansfield Foundation, defended the American concept of “strategic ambiguity” in cross-straits policy. We made arguments about the sufficiency and track record of that policy. We also suggested, however, that any alternative to scrapping “strategic ambiguity” must include vigorous diplomatic support for Taiwan from other capitals — particularly in Europe.

Making clear European interest in Taiwan would help foster stability in two ways.

First, it lets Beijing know that if it makes a move on Taiwan, even on its outlying islands, the world will not continue business as usual with China. Taiwan is not Hong Kong, where the CCP’s takeover is proceeding apace, despite Washington’s — and especially London’s — best efforts. The battle for Hong Kong was lost decades ago when the handover was negotiated. Since 1997, Hong Kong has been a part of China. Its autonomy has been on borrowed time ever since.

By contrast, Taiwan is, for every practical purpose, independent. Beijing should know that armed aggression aimed at it will spark massive international blowback, in addition to provoking a concerted armed response from Washington. European countries can make this clear through their ties to Taiwan. They can also lead Beijing to believe that, even if they are unable to contribute forces to Taiwan’s defense, they will openly side with Washington and do what they can to support its response.

Second, clear signals about the importance of Taiwan from Paris, Berlin, London, Rome, Brussels, will take pressure off the US policy debate. For the last five years, China has used extraordinary methods to intimidate Taiwan. This has accelerated criticism of “strategic ambiguity” and, at the margins, the American one-China policy. Abandoning those positions would aggravate already tense relations with Beijing, perhaps escalating into conflict, before the US is best prepared for it. Greater international concern for Taiwan expands the policy space. It makes Taiwan’s security less about the efficacy of “strategic ambiguity” and the last resort of a US-led defense.

European countries are already making their presence felt. It is happening no faster or slower than the general European awakening to the China challenge that began in 2016, and accelerated in 2019 with Brussels’ designation of China as a “systemic rival.” But it is happening nevertheless.

Before the blow-up over Senator Richard’s plans, the most remarked upon recent delegation was one last year led by Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil, who declared himself “Taiwanese” in front of the Legislative Yuan. Before that, in 2019, the British-Taiwan All-Party Parliamentary Group made one of its regular visits to Taiwan.

Europeans and Taiwan are also looking to upgrade permanent representation in one another’s countries. Taiwan, last year, opened a new branch representative office in the south of France. Lithuania is poised to become the 23nd European country — including the Vatican, which operates the equivalent of an embassy — to be formally represented in Taiwan.

Then there are the naval demonstrations in the Taiwan Straits. In the last couple of years, both the British and the French have transited the Taiwan Straits in defiance of Chinese threats. The Europeans don’t have anything approaching the capabilities of the US Pacific fleet. But that is not what these transits are about. They are about exercising the international right to sail in the Straits, showing in the process that it is not sovereign PRC territory.

Following the Czech legislative delegation to Taiwan, the country’s own president slammed the leader of it — no doubt, delighting the Chinese. The Macron government in France is taking a near opposite approach. The French foreign ministry reacted to Chinese objections to Senator Richard’s prospective visit by saying legislators are free to make their own travel plans and contacts.

We’re going to need much more government support, as well as new initiatives from parliamentarians like those from France, the UK, and the Czech Republic, if we are going to protect Taiwan and avoid a conflict in the Taiwan Straits.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2021/03/29/2003754666 times

PhilippineBishop Daily Pabillo’sInquirer / 04:01 AM voice: March 29, 2021 Source of light, hope in dark

Bishop Broderick Pabillo deserves praise not just from Catholics, but from all Filipinos. He has contributed a valuable element lacking in today’s national governance — a reasonable approach to solving crises. The bishop’s indignant and firm riposte at the latest move of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases comes from a critical and creative mind that seeks the spiritual good of his flock. His approach can be useful in pursuing not merely the spiritual aspect, but also the other facets surrounding this present crisis.

The good bishop has pointed out the flaws of the system now in use in proposing solutions and tactics. He was right in demanding clarity of concepts and strategies. How do you define “mass gatherings” in the first place, for example? Is a worship service, kept to the minimum of participants and adhering to health protocols, necessarily an illegal mass gathering? He was also correct in insisting that actions, before being imposed, should go through open, enlightened, and participative consultations. Decisions from above that do not take into account the actual situations and do not involve the people who will be affected are oppressive, if not unrealistic, prejudiced, and ineffective.

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It was clear that the bishop was unfazed by the negative reactions of regime supporters and even of bullying threats from a spokesman who should be reminded that he is a mere mouthpiece and not a decision-maker. What mattered most to Bishop Pabillo was doing his responsibility as a cleric and as a citizen. His pastoral statement consisted neither of vitriol nor empty rhetoric, if you return to the text itself. Nowhere did he call for defiance, since he himself vigorously enforces to this day the protocols in the churches under his care. He, however, did challenge the concerned officials to think and act rightly this time, and hopefully in the future. Surprisingly, they responded to his challenge positively.

The Church, imperfect and far from spotless, nevertheless has 500 years of direct encounter and experience in helping the sick and the dying, the hungry and the homeless, the depressed and the unemployed, and it has done more than its responsible share during this pandemic. It has also not failed to add its voice to the clamor for the rights of marginalized, indigenous, targeted, and tagged individuals and groups. In an atmosphere that tries to quell the opinions, suggestions, and questions of people, and that tries to dismiss dissenters as nonpartners in dialogue, the bishop’s voice and directive to his church come as a source of light and hope. Bishop Pabillo not only spoke out; he first provoked his own people to be seriously decisive, participative, and reasonable. Those in power who heard his voice learned a valuable lesson, too.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/138888/bishop-pabillos-voice-source-of-light-hope-in-dark-times