DRULAP

New Delhi — India celebrated its 76th Republic Day on Sunday with a colorful parade displaying its military might and cultural diversity on a boulevard in the heart of country’s capital. Indonesian president was the guest of honor. 

Tens of thousands of people lined the road on a cold Sunday morning to watch the long parade to mark the anniversary of the official adoption of India’s Constitution on Jan. 26, 1950, nearly three years after independence from British colonial rule. 

Soldiers from India’s military and paramilitary, along with their bands, marched as the country’s leaders and other guests watched. Various floats displayed India’s cultural diversity with one showcasing the Maha Kumbh festival, the ongoing massive Hindu festival touted as the world’s largest religious gathering. 

The parade took place on Rajpath Avenue, built by India’s former British rulers and lined by huge lawns, canals and rows of trees. The avenue was redeveloped as part of the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Indian independence and renamed Kartavayapath, or the Boulevard of Duty, in 2022. 

Visiting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto attended the event as the chief guest and was flanked by India’s president and prime minister. A 342-member band and marching contingent from the Indonesian National Armed Forces joined the parade, the first time the ASEAN country’s troops have joined any foreign parade. 

India traditionally invites foreign leaders to witness the spectacle. French President Emmanuel Macron was the guest of honor last year and former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015. Ten Southeast Asian leaders watched the parade in 2018. 

Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president and the leader of the country’s independence struggle, was the chief guest at India’s first Republic Day celebration in 1950. 

Thousands of men and women in colorful costumes played marches, performed traditional dances and pulled motorbike stunts during the 90-minute parade. It also showcased India’s domestically built defense equipment and military systems, including tanks, infantry combat vehicles, radar systems and missile systems. 

Some 5,000 artists, carrying traditional props like spears, swords and drums, performed over 40 dance forms from different parts of India in a cultural performance that lasted about 10 minutes. The parade ended with a fly-past by air force fighters, including Rafale jets, transport planes and helicopters. 

The parade was broadcast live by television networks. Republic Day parades also took place in state capitals and other cities across India amid massive security arrangements. 

In Srinagar, the main city of disputed Kashmir, armed police and soldiers patrolled as regional officials celebrated Republic Day. Hundreds of people braved winter chills to witness the parade amid additional security, with police and soldiers checking vehicles and frisking pedestrians. 

India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. 
…

Top Taliban officials met Iran’s foreign minister Sunday to discuss tensions along their shared border, the treatment of Afghan refugees in Iran and water rights. 

It was the first visit by an Iranian foreign minister to the Afghan capital since 2017. 

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was committed to the return of some 3.5 million Afghan refugees and had no intention of interfering in its neighbor’s domestic politics, according to a statement from the Afghan government’s deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat. 

He also called for the full implementation of the Helmand River water treaty, which envisions shared water resources, the statement said. 

Acting Prime Minister Hassan Akhund asked Iran to treat Afghan refugees with respect and said it was not feasible to manage a large-scale repatriation within a short period. He also said incidents such as the execution of Afghans in Iran provoked public sentiment. 

Araghchi also met Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob. 

Earlier Sunday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted Araghchi as saying he hoped for more economic ties and improved relations with Afghanistan, citing some “ups and downs.” 

Iran doesn’t formally recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which seized power in 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country following two decades of war. 

But Tehran maintains political and economic ties with Kabul and has allowed the Taliban to manage Afghanistan’s Embassy in Iran’s capital. 
…

MELBOURNE, Australia — There’s all sorts of ways beyond merely the score to measure just how dominant Jannik Sinner was while outplaying and frustrating Alexander Zverev during the 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory Sunday that earned the 23-year-old Italian a second consecutive Australian Open championship. 

The zero break points Sinner faced. Or the 10 he accumulated. The 27-13 advantage in points that lasted at least nine strokes. Or the way Sinner accumulated more winners, 32 to 25, and fewer unforced errors, 27 to 45. The way Sinner won 10 of the 13 points that ended with him at the net. Or the way he only let Zverev go 14 of 27 in that category, frequently zipping passing shots out of reach. 

Well, here’s is one more bit of evidence: what Zverev said about Sinner. 

“I’m serving better than him, but that’s it. He does everything else better than me. He moves better than me. He hits his forehand better than me. He hits his backhand better than me. He returns better than me. He volleys better than me,” Zverev said. “At the end of the day, tennis has five or six massive shots — like, massive factors — and he does four or five of them better than me. That’s the reason why he won.” 

High praise from a guy who is, after all, ranked No. 2. Sinner has held the No. 1 spot since last June and is not showing any signs of relinquishing it. This was the first Australian Open final between the men at No. 1 and No. 2 since 2019, when No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal — also in straight sets. 

“It’s amazing,” Sinner said, “to achieve these things.” 

The “things” include being the youngest man to leave Melbourne Park with the trophy two years in a row since Jim Courier in 1992-93, and the first man since Nadal at the French Open in 2005 and 2006 to follow up his first Grand Slam title by repeating as the champion at the same tournament a year later. 

Sinner was asked later whether he felt more relief or excitement when he raised his arms after the last point was his. 

“This one was joy. We managed to do something incredible this time, because the situation I was in was completely different from a year ago here,” he said. “I had more pressure.” 

Probably true, but it’s hard to tell. 

Go to the start of 2024 and take stock. In that span, Sinner has won three of the five major tournaments, including the U.S. Open in September, meaning he now has claimed three straight hard-court Slams. His record is 80-6 with nine titles. His current unbeaten run covers 21 matches. 

“There’s always something that can get better,” said one of his two coaches, Simone Vagnozzi. “He is playing really well right now and everything comes easily. But there will be tough moments ahead.” 

The only thing that’s clouded the past 12 months for Sinner, it seems, is the doping case in which his exoneration was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He tested positive for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid twice last March but blamed it on an accidental exposure involving two members of his team who have since been fired. Sinner initially was cleared in August; a hearing in the WADA appeal is scheduled for April. 

“I keep playing like this because I have a clear mind on what happened,” Sinner said Sunday. “I know if I would be guilty, I would not play like this.” 

While he became the eighth man in the Open era (which began in 1968) to start his career 3-0 in Grand Slam finals, Zverev is the seventh to be 0-3, adding this loss to those at the 2020 U.S. Open and last year’s French Open. 

Those earlier setbacks both came in five sets. This contest was not that close. Not at all. 

“I’ll keep doing everything I can,” Zverev said, “to lift one of those trophies.” 

Just before Zverev began speaking into a microphone during the trophy ceremony, a voice cried out from the stands, making reference to two of the player’s ex-girlfriends who accused him of physical abuse. 

During the match, there truly was only one moment that contained a hint of tension. It came when Zverev was two points from owning the second set at 5-4, love-30. But a break point — and a set point — never arrived. 

A year ago, Sinner went through a lot more trouble to earn his first major, needing to get past Novak Djokovic — who quit one set into his semifinal against Zverev on Friday because of a torn hamstring — before erasing a two-set deficit in the final against 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev. 

This time, Sinner applied pressure with an all-around style that does not really appear to have holes. 

“The facts speak for themselves,” Zverev said. “He’s in a different universe right now.” 
…

Seoul — South Korean prosecutors indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol Sunday for being the “ringleader of an insurrection” after his abortive declaration of martial law, ordering the suspended leader to remain in detention. 

Yoon plunged the country into political chaos with his December 3 bid to suspend civilian rule, a move which lasted just six hours before lawmakers defied armed soldiers in parliament to vote it down. 

He was impeached soon after, and earlier this month became the first sitting South Korean head of state to be arrested. 

That came after a weekslong holdout at his residence, where his elite personal security detail resisted attempts to detain him. 

In a statement, prosecutors said they had “indicted Yoon Suk Yeol with detention today on charges of being the ringleader of an insurrection.” 

He has been held at the Seoul Detention Center since his arrest, and the formal indictment with detention means he will now be kept behind bars until his trial, which must happen within six months. 

The indictment was widely expected after a court twice rejected requests by prosecutors to extend his arrest warrant while their investigation proceeded. 

“After a comprehensive review of evidence obtained during investigations [prosecutors] concluded that it was only appropriate to indict the defendant,” they said in a statement. 

The need to keep Yoon behind bars was justified by a “continued risk of evidence destruction,” they said. 

The specific charge — being the ringleader of an insurrection — is not covered by presidential immunity, they added.  

‘Process of accountability’ 

The opposition hailed the indictment. 

“We need to hold not only those who schemed to carry out an illegal insurrection, but also those who instigated it by spreading misinformation,” said lawmaker Han Min-soo. 

Without providing evidence, Yoon and his legal team have pointed to purported election fraud and legislative gridlock at the opposition-controlled parliament as justification for his declaration of martial law. 

Yoon has vowed to “fight to the end”, earning the support of supporters who have adopted the “stop the steal” rhetoric associated with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

“This indictment will provide a sense of relief, reaffirming that the constitutional order is functioning as it should,” said Bae Kang-hoon, co-founder of political think tank Valid. 

Yoon also faces a series of Constitutional Court hearings, to decide whether to uphold his impeachment and strip him formally of the presidency. 

If the court rules against Yoon, he will lose the presidency and an election will be called within 60 days. 
…

BANGKOK — Southeast Asia is bearing the mounting brunt of U.S. trade curbs aimed at stemming the forced labor of ethnic minority Uyghurs in China, with billions of dollars in blocked exports, the latest U.S. trade figures show.

Economists and human rights experts ascribe the heavy hit the region is taking to global supply chains shifting to reroute exports from China through Southeast Asia and to China’s persistent dominance in key commodities.

With both powerful forces at play, Southeast Asia is “caught in the middle,” Jayant Menon, a senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, told VOA.

The United States has detained $3.56 billion worth of imports in all since its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, or UFLPA, took effect in mid-2022, according to recent figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some 86% of those, more than $3 billion worth, arrived from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Only $395 million arrived directly from China.

The act forbids imports of any products made in whole or in part in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region, the Uyghurs’ historic homeland, presuming they have been made with forced labor. While many of the shipments are eventually allowed to enter the United States, the burden is on the importer to secure their release by proving the products are produced without forced labor, a process that can take months.

The United States and other governments have accused China of genocide over its treatment of the mostly Muslim Uyghurs for subjecting them to not only forced labor but mass surveillance and detention, religious persecution and forced sterilization — all denied by Beijing.

Xinjiang is a major source of some commodities crucial to the global supply chain, including 12% of the world’s aluminum, more than a third of the polysilicon for solar panels and 90% of the cotton produced by China, according to the Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region, a global network of rights groups.

Many of those supply chains now flow through Southeast Asia for reasons beyond just the UFLPA, said Nick Marro, principal Asia economist and global trade lead analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“For years, multinational companies — both Chinese and non-Chinese owned — have been pouring investment into Southeast Asia to construct supply chains aimed at dodging U.S. tariffs,” he told VOA.

While far from the only reason for the influx, he said, “shifting some production chains to Vietnam or Thailand, for example, can obfuscate whether a good might originally be produced in China.”

“This isn’t necessarily a fool-proof strategy,” Marro said. “U.S. trade authorities are very sensitive to illegal transshipments and other efforts aimed at circumventing U.S. duties. But for some supply chains, cracking down on these activities can be challenging — especially for products like cotton, which is notoriously difficult to trace.”

Evolving supply chains now require looking beyond exports arriving directly from China to catch what’s made there, said Menon, a former lead economist for trade with the Asian Development Bank.

“Increasingly there’s production and value addition in multiple countries,” he said. “Simply looking at goods that emanate from Xinjiang to the U.S. will not capture the intended objective.”

Of the slightly more than $3 billion worth of exports the United States has detained from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam because of the UFLPA, the vast majority, $2.96 billion, have been electronics, including solar panels.

Louisa Greve, global advocacy director for the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project, ascribes that to the surge of investment from Chinese solar panel makers into Southeast Asia starting more than a decade ago.

“We don’t know of any Uyghurs working in Southeast Asia in solar, but we do know where the polysilicon has to come from. That’s the issue,” she told VOA. “It’s about the components.”

Greve added that the Southeast Asian countries and companies involved in importing and incorporating that polysilicon into the solar panels they help make and export also risk being complicit in the state-sponsored forced labor that goes into producing it in China.

“Thirty-five percent of the world’s polysilicon, or solar-grade polysilicon, is coming from China. It’s up to every manufacturer, like the plants that are actually making solar panels in Southeast Asia … to say, ‘We have to be responsible for the raw materials that we’re using,’” she said.

Menon asserted the UFLPA could benefit low-wage countries less tainted by forced labor than China by driving more business their way, but he said that Southeast Asia will still struggle to wean itself off Chinese supplies.

“China is still the hub or the center of ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] supply chains. That hasn’t changed. There’s been some reconfiguration taking place, but by and large, China’s not going away,” he said.

Menon said that “blunt” trade tools like the act can also hurt the countries in the middle of those supply chains by driving existing production and investment away, leaving local workers with less work or fewer jobs.

“This [act] is quite a big move, quite a massive measure, and so I’d be surprised if it doesn’t have some impact in moving production around,” he said. “If you ban imports in this way, inevitably there will be some shifts that move production in a way that tries to circumvent those bans.”

Marro said the same pressures that drove companies to “de-risk” by moving production from China to Southeast Asia years ago could yet prove a “double-edged sword.” While the shift has boosted Southeast Asia’s economies, the costs may mount as the United States and others start taking a harder look at countries helping China evade their trade curbs.

Even with only 11 months of the 2024 fiscal year reported, U.S. customs figures show the UFLPA blocked more imports from Southeast Asia over the past year than the year before.

Marro said enforcement efforts were at a “very real risk” of picking up but added that geopolitics could also intervene.

“As much as U.S. officials want to crack down on Chinese tariff circumvention, there’s an equal effort to avoid isolating Southeast Asia when it comes to the U.S.’s increasingly hawkish strategy towards China,” he said. “This balancing act will characterize the future of U.S. policy to the region.”
…

KYIV, UKRAINE — The involvement of North Korean regular troops to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would be a serious escalation of the war, France and Ukraine’s foreign ministers said at a joint press conference in Kyiv on Saturday.

France’s Jean-Noel Barrot, who was making his first trip to Ukraine since becoming foreign minister in September, is also set to visit the east of the country, where France will finance new two new centers for the protection of children affected by the war, on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused North Korea on Thursday of deploying officers alongside Russia and of preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow’s war effort, although NATO chief Mark Rutte said there was no evidence of Pyongyang’s presence at this stage.

“It would be serious and push the conflict into a new stage, an additional escalatory stage,” Barrot said in Kyiv, adding that such a move would signal that Moscow was struggling in the war.

His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, said the risk of escalation from the move was “huge.”

“This is a huge threat of further escalation of Russian aggression against Ukraine. There is a big risk of it growing out of its current scale and borders,” he said.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy presented his victory plan, which he said would enable Ukraine to end the war no later than next year. The first step of this plan was unconditional NATO membership for Ukraine.

France’s foreign minister said that Paris was open to the idea of an immediate invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, but that talks would continue on the subject with allies.

“Regarding the invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, we are open to it and it’s a discussion that we are having with our partners,” Barrot said.
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KATHMANDU, Nepal — A Nepali teenager, the youngest person ever to scale all 14 of the world’s tallest peaks, says he wants to use his skills to benefit the Himalayan nation’s Sherpa community and turn out world-class athletes.

Sherpas, an ethnic group living mainly in the vicinity of the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, are known for climbing skills that make them the backbone of mountain expeditions.

They fix ropes, ladders, carry loads, cook and guide foreign climbers, earning from a single expedition amounts that range from $2,500 to $16,500 or more, depending on experience.

“I want to see Sherpas as global athletes, not just guides,” said Nima Rinji Sherpa, 18, who last week climbed Shishapangma, the world’s 14th-highest peak at 8,027 meters, in Tibet.

“We deserve the same privilege as Western climbers,” added the 12th grader, who began climbing at the age of 16, and scaled all 14 peaks exceeding 2,438 meters in the last two years.

He said he planned to exploit his climbing skills to build contacts with donor agencies, mobilizing funds and support for schools, hospitals and activities to benefit the mountain community.

“I want to be a medium between the community and donor agencies,” Nima said on Wednesday, the lower portion of his face still black from burns caused by the sun’s reflections off the snow during his climb.

The son of a veteran Everest climber who now runs his own company organizing expeditions, Nima bested the record of Mingma Gyalu Sherpa of Nepal, who was 30 when he achieved the feat in 2019.

His most demanding effort was the 8,034-meter climb of Pakistan’s Gasherbrum II last year directly after having scaled Gasherbrum I, the world’s 11th highest peak at 8,080 meters, in 25 hours without proper rest and food, he said.

Nima said muscle cramps were his biggest physical challenge as his “fragile” teenage body had not finished growing, adding, “I am not as strong as I should be.”

He was caught in a small avalanche on Nepal’s Annapurna I peak this year after a fall of about 5-10 meters on Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat last year, but luckily escaped serious injury both times.

“I never push myself beyond my bounds,” he said. “There is (the need for) good judgment. There is (the need for) safety.”

This winter, Nima aims for an alpine-style climb of Nepal’s Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest peak at 8,163 meters.

An 8,000-meter mountain has never been climbed in winter in alpine style, he said, referring to the technique in which climbers tackle the summit in one go, without oxygen and relying chiefly on themselves, with minimum support.
…

Termez, Uzbekistan — The Amu Darya, one of two main rivers that for millennia fed the now rapidly shrinking Aral Sea, no longer does.

Reporting by VOA along the length of the river in Uzbekistan has confirmed that every drop of water from the Amu Darya — formed by the convergence of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers in the mountains between Afghanistan and Tajikistan — is now diverted for human use.

“The Amu Darya is now fully utilized for agriculture and other economic needs,” said Rustam Saparbayev, deputy chairman of the parliament of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan’s northwestern part, where the river ends its journey to nowhere.

Saparbayev told VOA that all the river’s water is directed into five canals in southern Karakalpakstan, lamenting that there isn’t enough water for both the sea and the population.

“This is the hardest decision for us. Our priority is the immediate needs of our people. We rely on the Amu Darya to grow our crops and livestock. Water is extremely scarce in this environment, and we must prioritize food and water security,” he emphasized.

In a region already strapped for water, Karakalpakstan faces the most severe environmental challenges and the devastating impact of climate change. The Aral Sea, located largely within its territory, has dramatically shrunk over the past few decades.

Over 30,000 people live in Muynak, which was once a bustling Aral Sea port with a thriving fishing industry, but it now lies a dusty several-hour drive from the water. Since the 1970s, many residents have left because of the environmental disaster.

Nevertheless, VOA noted significant construction and business growth in the area, which the central government in Tashkent cites as evidence of increased investment in the region.

“The conditions here have improved,” said Murod Jumaboyev, Muynak’s deputy mayor. “We have been adapting to the climate challenges.

“We still face enormous difficulties with the sea essentially deserted, but we are trying to preserve what remains. With help from our government and the international community, we are revitalizing the area, hoping to turn it into sustainable groves, adopt alternative crops and create a new ecosystem — both environmental and economic,” Jumaboyev said.

There is a local “artemia season,” during which aquatic crustaceans living in the extremely salty waters of what remains of the Aral Sea are harvested for pharmaceutical use. Locals skilled at collecting them sell them to Chinese firms for several hundred dollars per pack.

Muynak residents told VOA that their situation has slightly improved but said they rely heavily on remittances from relatives working abroad.

“We are the people of the Aral Sea. The sea may have largely left us, but this is still our land. It may be harder here, but I know it’s not easy anywhere,” said Maksudbek, who works for a travel firm but declined to give his last name.

According to Muynak officials, more than 20,000 tourists visited last year, marking a significant increase over previous years.

What used to be the shores and shipyards of the Aral Sea are now more than 200 kilometers from the remaining water. It took VOA about four hours in a special jeep to reach the sea.

No population inhabits the area — it is too dry and salty even for most wildlife. A couple of campsites, powered by solar energy, have been built in recent years.

Workers there told VOA that the water receded by about 50 meters over the past year. Very few tourists make it to the sea; most only tour the former Muynak port, particularly the “graveyard of ships,” where rusting vessels sit on a desert landscape.

The Aral Sea appears passive and eerily calm at night. No fish are left, with only a few birds, visible mainly at sunrise and sunset. The gray mud is thought to have therapeutic properties, but the sea’s remoteness makes it difficult to access.

Kazakhstan has succeeded in reviving parts of the sea’s northern shores, but from the perspective of the Karakalpaks, who oversee most of it, the Aral Sea is rapidly vanishing.

“We can still save the Aral Sea, but it will require a global effort. No matter what we hear from the U.N. and other organizations, and despite current assistance, there won’t be significant change without concrete action,” said Saparbayev.

“There are international missions to save exotic animals and historic sites. The Aral Sea needs similar attention. In our view, the solution is bringing water — but from outside our region, as it can no longer come from the Amu Darya,” he said.

Further upstream, water from the Amu Darya is drawn off for use in the Bukhara, Khorezm and Surkhandarya regions, which have a combined population of 9 million. Farmers and officials there told VOA that water availability currently meets their basic needs.

But Afghanistan’s construction of a canal off the Amu Darya is cause for concern. Local leaders hope that the governments of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan can persuade the Taliban to join a water-sharing agreement, something a regional working group is expected to draft.

“We trust that our government is doing everything possible,” said Umid Akhmedov, Surkhandarya’s lead specialist on water resources. “We haven’t felt the impact of the Afghan canal yet, but if and when it draws more water, we will have to adapt. We are already implementing new water-use and preservation methods.”

The Amu Zang canal is the first channel formed as the Amu Darya enters Uzbekistan. Speaking to VOA from this area, Akhmedov explained that Surkhandarya depends on this water.

“We don’t use it for drinking since it’s very muddy, but for everything else, it’s a critical resource.”

In Khorezm, with its desert climate, summers are cooler along the Amu Darya and traditional tea houses and restaurants — sometimes on boats — are popular, particularly around the regional capital, Urgench, and the historic city of Khiva.

VOA saw a similar scene in Karakalpakstan, specifically in Amu Darya District, where a new bridge over the river has eased transit and expanded business opportunities.

However, fishermen told VOA that fish are now scarce in the river, with most of what is sold as “Amu fish” coming from the farms drawing water from the river.

Scarcity, extreme depletion, and decline — these words dominate every conversation about water in Uzbekistan, reflecting a challenging reality and growing concern about the future. People blame Soviet-era irrigation and emphasize the need for regional cooperation to produce solutions.

“We are doing our part by using the water for our most critical needs. The Amu Darya still reaches us, but it no longer feeds the Aral Sea. We hope the world will help us save it,” said Saparbayev.

In addition to the Surkhandarya region, reporting for this story also took place in Khorezm and Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. This report originated from VOA’s Uzbek Service.
…

BEIJING/TAIPEI — China will not promise to renounce the use of force over Taiwan but this is aimed at external interference and a small minority of separatists, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said on Wednesday following the country’s latest war games around the island.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, staged a day of large-scale drills around the island on Monday it said were a warning to “separatist acts” following last week’s national day speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

“We are willing to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and endeavor,” Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told a regular press briefing in Beijing.

“But we will never commit ourselves to renouncing the use of force,” he said.

That is, however, aimed at the interference of “external forces” – a reference to the United States and its allies – and the very small number of Taiwan separatists not the vast majority of Taiwan’s people, Chen said.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei earlier on Wednesday, Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said China’s drills had backfired given the international condemnation they generated, especially from Washington.

“The Chinese communists’ military exercise has created a negative effect in that it made the international community more supportive of Taiwan,” he said.

Lai, in his Oct. 10 speech, said China has no right to represent Taiwan, but the island was willing to work with Beijing to combat challenges like climate change, striking both a firm and a conciliatory tone which Taiwan officials said was a show of goodwill towards Beijing.

Chen, the Chinese spokesperson, said Lai had stuck to his “stubborn separatist position.”

“There was no goodwill to speak of,” he added.

Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but been rebuffed.

China’s military on Monday held open the possibility of more drills around Taiwan depending on the level of “provocation.”

Tsai said the government remained on alert for further military actions.

“We cannot rule out any possibilities,” he added.

China has over the past five years sent warships and warplanes in the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis.

On Wednesday morning, in its daily update of Chinese activities in the previous 24 hours, Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had detected 22 Chinese military aircraft and five navy ships.
…

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean state media said on Wednesday around 1.4 million young people had applied to join or return to the army this week, accusing Seoul of a provocative drone incursion that had brought the “tense situation to the brink of war.”

The young people, including students and youth league officials who had signed petitions to join the army, were determined to fight in a “sacred war of destroying the enemy with the arms of the revolution,” the KCNA report said.

Photographs published by KCNA showed what it said were young people signing petitions at an undisclosed location.

North Korea’s claim of having more than one million young people volunteering to enlist in the country’s Korean People’s Army in just two days comes at a time when tensions on the Korean peninsula are running high.

North Korea has made similar claims in the past when there have been heightened tensions in the region.

Last year, state media reported on 800,000 of its citizens volunteering to join the North’s military to fight against the United States.

In 2017, nearly 3.5 million workers, party members and soldiers volunteered to join or rejoin its army, the reclusive state’s state media said at that time.

It is very difficult to verify the North’s claims.

According to data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), North Korea has 1.28 million active soldiers and about 600,000 reservists.

The IISS also said it had 5.7 million Worker/Peasant Red Guard reservists with many units unarmed.

In the latest sign of the growing tensions, North Korea blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas on Tuesday, prompting South Korea’s military to fire warning shots.

Pyongyang had said last week it would cut off the inter-Korean roads and railways entirely and further fortify the areas on its side of the border as part of its push for a “two-state” system, scrapping its longstanding goal of unification.

The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

North Korea has also accused Seoul of sending drones over its capital and the two Koreas have clashed over balloons of trash floated since May from North Korea. Pyongyang has said the launches are a response to balloons sent by anti-regime activists in the South.

South Korea’s government has declined to say whether its military or civilians had flown the alleged drones over Pyongyang.

“If a war breaks out, the ROK will be wiped off the map. As it wants a war, we are willing to put an end to its existence,” the KCNA report said, referring to the South’s official name the Republic of Korea.

South Korea’s defense ministry warned on Sunday “if North Korea inflicts harm on the safety of our people, that day will be the end of the North Korean regime,” Yonhap news agency reported.
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washington — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s tour of Southeast Asian countries shows Seoul has stepped up the country’s role in supporting regional security, but there are limits to what it can do to help them push back against China’s growing aggression, analysts say.

Yoon made several pledges to support regional security during visits to the Philippines, Singapore and Laos, where he attended the closing ceremony of the ASEAN summit on Thursday.

He promised South Korea’s help in modernizing the Philippine military, agreed to South Korea’s active participation in multilateral drills with ASEAN countries, and upgraded ties with ASEAN to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Yoon also affirmed the importance of maritime security and promoting freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.

The pledges are seen by analysts as part of Yoon’s plan to make South Korea a pivotal global state by demonstrating a greater commitment to the defense of a rules-based world order.

Pivotal state

A South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson told VOA Korean on Tuesday that steps taken by Yoon during the trip reflect the country’s “willingness to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN countries across the board,” including “bolstering cooperation on the defense sector.”

The spokesperson added that South Korea will continue to help maintain maritime security based on the rules-based order in the South China Sea as it builds trust and enhances strategic communications with China.

China claims most of the South China Sea as its sovereign maritime territory, and its vessels have repeatedly engaged dangerous maneuvers against the vessels of countries — such as the Philippines — that dispute that claim.

South Korea “can play a niche role in contributing towards the defense capabilities of regional countries to protect their maritime domain against China’s intrusions,” said Rahman Yaacob, research fellow in the Southeast Asia program at the Lowy Institute.

“South Korean weapons systems are cheaper than those of the U.S. and are being used by some NATO countries,” Yaacob said. “Therefore, Seoul could be an important arms supplier to regional countries” as an alternative to U.S. weapons.”

In a joint press conference with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after their meeting on October 7, Yoon said Seoul will support Manila’s military modernization plan.

The Philippines is seeking to procure advanced fighter jets, submarines and missiles in its third phase of a five-year modernization plan that began in 2023.

South Korea has sold FA-50 fighter jets, anti-ship cruise missiles, frigates and corvettes to the Philippines in the past decade.

South Korea is also expected to deliver FA-50 fighter jets to Malaysia in 2026 after a deal was signed last year.

Facing hurdles

While these efforts are noteworthy, analysts say they are not enough to push back against China’s growing military might.

South Korea “is unlikely to play an operationally or strategically meaningful role on the South China Sea beyond the occasional coordinated joint maritime cooperative activities,” said Evan Laksmana, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

South Korea has participated in multilateral military drills with Southeast Asian countries, such as the annual U.S.-led Cobra Gold held in Thailand in March and the Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training exercises held in Singapore and other participating countries in August.

In delivering the 47th Singapore Lecture on October 9, Yoon said South Korea will actively participate in multilateral drills with ASEAN countries as it expands engagement with China to seek common interests based on a rules-based international order.

“Yoon has been more willing to increase South Korea’s support for regional security” than his predecessor Moon Jae-in, “but he has also recognized the need for restraint in calling out China directly,” said Terence Roehrig, professor of national security affairs and a Korea expert at the U.S. Naval War College.

“South Korea can help along the margins,” but “offsetting China’s strength is near impossible” in the region, Roehrig said.

VOA contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington for its comments on South Korea’s efforts to increase security cooperation with ASEAN countries and was referred to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which has not yet replied.

China and Russia on Friday blocked a joint declaration issued at the East Asian Summit in Laos, according to Reuters, citing an unnamed U.S. official. The participating countries comprised the 10 ASEAN countries and eight partners, including China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

Beijing and Moscow objected to a clause that says the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea “sets out the legal framework” for carrying out all maritime activities.

A U.N. tribunal ruled in 2016 that China was in violation by operating within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, a maritime area that extends 200 nautical miles beyond a nation’s territorial sea.
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