INTERNATIONAL MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015

Philippines, to hold joint naval exercise in S China Sea

MANILA: The ’ navy chief The exercise will take place just out- it sees as Chinese aggression in pressing Sea including ownership of the Senkaku The US report said that at four recla- said yesterday it would hold a joint exer- side the former US naval base of Subic, its territorial claims. islands, which Beijing also claims and mation sites China had moved from cise with Japan in the South China Sea, off the archipelago’s west coast, he The regional giant claims most of the calls the Diaoyus. dredging operations to “infrastructure but emphasised the collaboration was added. resource-rich waters, even reefs, shoals There have been regular standoffs in development” that could include har- unrelated to China’s land reclamation The Japanese vessels would be leav- and cays close to the shores of its neigh- the sea and air around the contested ter- bours, communications and surveillance efforts in the disputed waters. ing Subic while a Philippine ship was bours. The claims overlap those of ritory. systems, logistics support and “at least Two warships from the Japan heading there under the training sce- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Earlier this month, Japanese and one airfield”. Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) will nario, he said. Vietnam and . Philippine coast guards held anti-piracy The Philippine military has also cited take part in the exercise with a single Millan said Japanese and Philippine Millan said that practising with the drills in the Philippines, the first such escalating Chinese efforts to drive off Philippine ship after making a port call sailors would have an opportunity to Japanese force would help with mod- joint exercise between the two countries Philippine aircraft from a disputed island in the Philippines this month, said Vice “compare notes” during the exercise, but ernising the poorly-equipped Philippine following a brutal occupation by garrisoned by Manila, which have Admiral Jesus Millan. stressed it had nothing to do with the military, one of the weakest in the Japanese forces during World War II. sparked dangerous confrontations. “This is a port call, a regular port call Philippines’ territorial dispute with China region. US officials said on Friday that China’s Japan in turn has called for interna- of the Japanese navy and while they are over conflicting claims to large parts of rapid construction of artificial islands in tional law to be observed in the South here, it would be good if we can practise the sea. Standoffs the strategic waters amounted to 2,000 China Sea dispute and has previously this code of unplanned encounters at The Philippines has been seeking China and Japan have their own fes- acres (800 hectares), with 75 percent of promised to help in the modernising the sea,” he said. closer ties with regional allies amid what tering territorial row over the East China the total built in the last five months. Philippines’ maritime assets. — AFP Nepal denies entry to British helicopters

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s government said ‘Basically useless’ yesterday it has denied entry to three A US embassy official told AFP that such British military helicopters sent to help the accidents were rare. “We are looking into earthquake relief effort because of fears whether the damage to the roof was they could damage buildings when land- caused by the Osprey or the quake... obvi- ing. A foreign ministry spokesman said the ously such incidents are rare and if it turns Chinook helicopters, which arrived in New out to be true, we will take care of the dam- Delhi last week en route to the quake-hit age,” the official said. So far the Ospreys country, were too big to land. “We have have delivered 21.5 tonnes of aid, he said. told the British authorities that they cannot Steven Bruce Bokan, chief flying instructor fly their Chinook helicopters here because for Nepalese helicopter company Manang our technical team says they are likely to Air, said the British Chinooks and US Ospreys damage the houses and other buildings in were “basically useless” in the Himalayas. the Kathmandu valley,” spokesman Tara “They may work in deserts and other places Pokharel told AFP. which have huge areas for landing and take- “We are worried about broken windows off, but they are too big to land in the and roofs being blown off by these big heli- Himalayas,” Bokan told AFP. copters.” “The Osprey is a massive aircraft-it needs The April 25 earthquake killed more an area the size of a football field to land than 8,000 people and left thousands more safely, otherwise it can blow people over.” “It’s homeless and in desperate need of food, not rocket science-smaller helicopters like clean water and shelter. Getting relief to the French Squirrel helicopters have been the worst-hit villages is a huge challenge flying here for years because they work in because many are in remote mountainous this environment,” added Bokan, an terrain that is only accessible by helicopter Australian who has been flying helicopters or on foot. for 26 years. Asked about the decision to India, China and the United States have reject the twin-rotor Chinooks, Britain’s sent helicopters and are helping take food, defence ministry said: “The Chinook helicop- MANILA: Fishing outrigger boats are anchored at the mouth of a river feeding Manila Bay yesterday, as the Philippine coast guard banned sail- water and tents to affected communities. ters are in the area, and we’re in discussion ing due to nearby Typhoon Noul in the northern part of the country. More than 2,000 people were fleeing their homes as Typhoon Noul But there has been criticism of the US deci- with the Nepalese authorities about their approached the northern Philippines yesterday, triggering warnings of possible flash floods, landslides and tsunami-like storm rges.su — AFP sion to send large Osprey helicopters, needs and basing.” Bokan said that although which experts say are ill-suited to Nepal’s the Chinooks were not suitable to land in the mountainous terrain. Local media reported mountains, they could be useful as aerial that the down-draft from an Osprey relief cranes to transport building materials and Thousands flee as typhoon flight blew the roof off a small building in a other heavy equipment to remote areas quake-hit village as it delivered aid. inaccessible by road. —AFP hits north Philippines

Taiwan warns sailors of strong winds, evacuates 1,000 tourists

MANILA: More than 2,000 people were fleeing ambulances,” she told AFP. main killers as Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged their homes as Typhoon Noul struck the north- More than 2,000 were expected to flee but the central Philippines, leaving more than 7,350 ern Philippines yesterday, triggering warnings of Talosig expressed fears that some people would people dead or missing. possible flash floods, landslides and tsunami-like refuse to go due to complacency. Several hundred people living in a farming storm surges. “The weather was good there earlier so it was hamlet below the restive Bulusan volcano on The storm’s movement has slowed slightly a bit hard to get the message out,” she said. have also been evacuated due to the but it has also strengthened to pack gusts of 220 “Some people were worried out the security of potential for rain to mix with volcanic ash accu- kilometres (137 miles) per hour, said Esperanza the belongings they may leave behind. We have mulated on its slopes and form deadly, fast-mov- Cayanan, chief of the government’s weather been trying our best, aiming for zero casualties ing mudflows. The civil defence office also cited monitoring division. but our efforts will be useless if some people numerous areas that could be hit by landslides The storm hit province on the north- don’t listen,” she added. or flash floods due to the “heavy to intense rain- ern edge of the main island of Luzon yesterday fall” brought by the typhoon. afternoon and was expected to move northwest, Take no chances The government has suspended ferry servic- towards Japan, the government weather station National civil defence chief Alexander Pama es in affected areas and some domestic flights KATHMANDU: Nepali police and residents remove rubble from the site of the Rato said. In Taiwan, which is also in the storm’s pre- said that given the possibility of storm surges of have also been cancelled. About 20 typhoons Machindranath temple at Bungamati on the outskirts of Kathmandu in Nepal yester- dicted path, authorities warned sailors of strong up to two metres (6.5 feet), they were taking no and storms hit the Philippines each year, many day. —AFP winds and high waves and evacuated almost chances. “There is no exact science in this. So we of them deadly. 1,000 tourists from an island off the southeast will stay on the safe side” by ordering evacua- In Taiwan nearly 1,000 tourists had been coast. “This is a very dangerous storm. It is the tions in vulnerable areas, he said. evacuated from scenic Green Island by noon, an strongest so far this year,” said Rene Paciente, “Even as we speak, our armed forces are official from the county government said. Almost 500 Rohingya head of the Philippines’ marine weather division. already moving... to help in the evacuation. So “Tourists would otherwise be stranded there More than 1,680 people in Cagayan have too are our police forces who are conducting for at least two days,” he said. All ferries and rescued off Indonesia already been evacuated from coastal villages, evacuations in their municipalities,” he told flights to Green Island and another tourist said Norma Talosig, regional civil defence chief. reporters. Storm surges-tsunami-like waves gen- attraction, , were suspended and JAKARTA: Rescuers yesterday brought were in Indonesia,” he added. According to “They have to evacuate to higher ground, not in erated by powerful typhoons-have become a people were urged to stay away from coastal ashore 469 migrants from Myanmar and the migrant, five boats had departed from their village. They are being assisted by the local major concern during storms. areas, with the storm expected to pass to the Bangladesh after their wooden boat arrived Myanmar last week to escape the conflict governments using buses and trucks, even In November 2013 storm surges were the east of Taiwan today. —AFP off Aceh in northwest Indonesia, an official in their country, Darsa said.“He said the said. “We received a report from fishermen Muslims were beaten and had hot water this morning that there were boat people poured on them and they just wanted to stranded in the waters off north Aceh,” get out of Myanmar as soon as possible, to Aceh provincial search and rescue chief anywhere where they could seek refuge,” Thai king leaves Bangkok Budiawan told AFP. he said. Buddhist-majority Myanmar views “We despatched teams there and evacu- its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya ated 469 migrants who are Rohingya from as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, and they hospital for coastal palace Myanmar and Bangladeshis. There are have been targeted in outbreaks of sectari- women and children among them. So far, an violence there in recent years, prompt- BANGKOK: Thailand’s revered but ageing King No return to politics Yingluck and her elder brother Thaksin, who was all of them are safe,” he added. ing many to flee. Darsa said there were 83 Bhumibol Adulyadej yesterday left a Bangkok No official statements were issued about the also deposed in a coup in 2006. He said the group would be taken to a women and 41 children on board. One of hospital where he has been recuperating since king’s health yesterday. Most Thais have only Thailand’s generals have said they will hand detention centre in north Aceh district, the women was pregnant and some of the October for his coastal palace, as hundreds of ever known Bhumibol on the throne, and anxi- back power once the country’s constitution has where police and immigration officials children were aged under 10. well-wishers cheered him on his journey. ety over the future once his six-decade reign been rewritten and corruption has been would carry out “further processing” which “There was little food and water on the The 87-year-old king, the world’s longest- ends is seen as an aggravating factor in expunged. would include investigating their motives. boat. Some of them were not doing too serving monarch, is treated as a near-deity by Thailand’s bitter political schism. But critics say the military has used its self- Darsa, a disaster management agency well and needed medical attention,” he many Thais and his health is a subject of public Last May the military took over in a coup fol- designated status as the defender of the monar- official who like many Indonesians goes by said. Thousands of Muslim Rohingya have concern in the politically turbulent country. lowing months of street protests that led to the chy as a pretext to grab power and ensure the one name, told AFP the group had arrived braved the dangerous sea crossing from The convoy carrying Bhumibol left Siriraj toppling of former premier Yingluck Shinawatras-whose populist parties have won near a beach in north Aceh district early Myanmar to southern Thailand and beyond Hospital for his home in the southern town of Shinawatra’s elected government. every election since 2001 — never return to poli- Sunday and were told to swim to shore. in recent years. Many hope to go on to It was the latest chapter in Thailand’s long- tics. Junta chief and premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha “One of the migrants who could speak mainly Muslim Malaysia but the migrants Hua Hin shortly after 2 pm, with Queen Sirikit, 82, and their daughter Princess Sirindhorn, 60, drawn political conflict, which broadly pits a was also seen being driven past royal well-wish- Malay told me that their agent had told have often fallen prey to people-traffickers Bangkok-based middle class and royalist elite- ers yesterday after the king’s convoy had depart- them they were in Malaysia, and to swim to in Thailand. The UN considers the Rohingya travelling behind the monarch, all three in sepa- rate vehicles. backed by parts of the military and judiciary- ed, putting his hands together in a traditional shore,” he said. “Some of them did. But later to be one of the world’s most persecuted against rural and working-class voters loyal to greeting to those still gathered. —AFP they found out from fishermen that they minorities. —AFP Hundreds of Thais, many dressed in the royal colour yellow, waved flags and held up photos of Bhumibol as some cheered “Long Live the King!”, an AFP photographer at the scene said. Bhumibol, formally known as King Rama IX, has spent most of the past few months in hospi- tal after undergoing an operation to remove his gall bladder in October. He made a rare public appearance last week at a ceremony to mark his official coronation in 1950 at the sprawling Grand Palace in the heart of the capital’s old quarter. Before that in the past two months the monarch had made two brief trips from his hos- pital bed, one in early May to a nearby palace and one last month to view the Chao Praya river that runs through Bangkok. He had been expected to appear publicly for his birthday in December, a time when the BANGKOK: Well-wishers hold portraits of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej and wave nation- monarch traditionally addresses his people. But al flags as they line up the streets outside the Siriraj hospital in Bangkok waiting for the ACEH: Migrant women and children from Myanmar and Bangladesh wait at a shelter the audience was cancelled at the last minute on King to pass by in a convoy on his way to the coastal palace in the southern city of Hua Hin in Matang Raya village, Baktya, in northern Aceh yesterday. — AFP the advice of his doctors. yesterday. — AFP