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12/02/2023

Ottawa, Canada – Unknown object in Canadian airspace shot down, says Trudeau

An unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace was shot down by the US military over northern Canada on Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

"Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled, and a US F-22 successfully fired at the object," Trudeau said in a tweet.

The incident comes a day after US jets shot down an unknown object off the coast of Alaska on Friday afternoon.

Shortly before Trudeau's tweet, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said it detected an object flying at high altitude over Canada, but gave no further details.

In a second tweet, Trudeau added that he had spoken with US President Biden and that Canadian forces would recover and "analyze the wreckage of the object."

The unknown object was the third such known violation in North American airspace over the last two weeks.

What to know about unknown objects detected so far
John Kirby, the spokesman for the US National Security Council, said on Friday at a news conference that an unknown object was downed because it posed a "reasonable threat" to safety of civilian flights.

Kirby said they did not have any information on whether the object, which he described as roughly the size of a small car, was a spying device.

Friday's incident marked a second time that a US fighter aircraft brought down a balloon in less than a week.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters on February 4 that a balloon, which was shot down that day, was being used "in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States."

Biden also broke his silence on February 4, telling reporters that he ordered the surveillance device be taken out but that the US military had to wait till it was safe for them to do so.

China's Foreign Ministry said that week that the suspected surveillance device was an airship used for scientific research including meteorology, a claim that has been dismisssed by US officials.

Last week, the Republican-led House, in a rare display of bipartisanship, passed a resolution condemning China's use of the surveillance balloon.

06/02/2023

Washington, United States – Second Chinese balloon confirmed over Latin America

China on Monday confirmed that a balloon flying over Latin America is Chinese and said it is for civilian purposes. This comes shortly after a similar device was shot down by the United States on Saturday.

"It has come to be understood that the relevant unmanned airship is from China," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

Mao also said the device, with limited self-steering capability, "seriously deviated from its scheduled route, and accidentally strayed over Latin America and the Caribbean."

Earlier, Colombia's air force had released a statement that it had detected possible balloon in its air defense system on Friday.

US searches for debris
After shooting down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, the US military said it is searching for the debris on Sunday off the South Carolina coast.

The Navy is working to recover the balloon and its payload,General Glen Van Herck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command, said on Sunday. He added that the Coast Guard was providing security for the operation.

"Members of the US Military are coordinating to collect debris; however, fragments may make it to the coastline," the Horry County Police Department statement said.

Law enforcement officials have warned people against touching any debris and instead call dispatchers.

CNN quoted a senior US military official as saying that multiple US Navy and Coast Guard vessels are in the area and are securing a perimeter.

According to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the debris field created by the downed balloon was 7-miles (11-kilometers) long.

How did the incident unfold?
Pentagon officials on Thursday revealed that they were tracking a suspected spy balloon belonging to China flying over the US skies for a few days.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the balloon attempted "to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States."

The balloon was shot down a missile from an F-22 fighter after US President Joe Biden authorized the downing of the balloon.

How has China responded?
China expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the US use of force to strike its "unmanned civilian" airship, calling it a "serious violation of international practice."

On Monday, vice foreign minister Xie Feng said: "The United States' actions have seriously impacted and damaged both sides' efforts and progress in stabilising Sino-US relations since the Bali meeting."

He was referring to a summit between Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in November.

China "is paying close attention to the development of the situation" and "reserves the right to make further necessary reactions," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

Beijing on Monday summoned the US charge d'affaires over the incident.

Republicans criticize Biden
Republican lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Biden's handling of the situation saying he waited days to shoot down the balloon. They claimed the delay conveyed weakness toward China.

Meanwhile, Former President Donald Trump refuted claims that similar balloons were seen during his presidency.

"China had too much respect for 'TRUMP' for this to have happened, and it NEVER did," Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social.

Republican Representative Michael Waltz contradicted Trump's claims, telling the Washington Post that during Trump's tenure Chinese balloons were spotted near the US several times.

25/01/2023

Pyongyang, North Korea – North Korea locks down Pyongyang over 'respiratory illness'

The reported government notice ordering the five-day lockdown did not mention COVID-19 but said the symptoms of the "respiratory illness" include common cold.

North Korea has announced a five-day lockdown in the capital due to rising cases of an unspecified "respiratory illness," according to Seoul-based NK News.

This is the first city-wide lockdown since North Korea declared itself COVID-free in August last year.

Residents to remain indoors for five days
According to a government notice cited by NK News, residents in Pyongyang have been told to stay indoors from Wednesday to Sunday. They are also required to submit to multiple temperature checks each day.

The government notice did not mention COVID-19 but said the symptoms of the "respiratory illness" include common cold, according to the Seoul-based website.

The order by North Korea comes a day after NK News reported that residents were stocking up supplies in anticipation of a lockdown.

It is unclear if similar lockdowns have been announced in other parts of the country.

According to state news agency KCNA, the administration in Kaesong, a city near the border with South Korea, has ramped up public communication campaigns "so that all the working people observe anti-epidemic regulations voluntarily in their work and life."

North Korea's COVID-19 record
North Korea had reported its first COVID-19 case in April last year but declared itself COVID-free just three months later.

The country has remained secretive about its COVID case loads, deaths and policies. The World Health Organization has also questioned Pyongyang's conduct in dealing with the pandemic.

It is believed that its population of 25 million has not been vaccinated although reportedly it may have received some vaccines from China.

20/01/2023

Daegu, South Korea – South Korea to lift indoor mask mandate this month

South Korea will drop a face mask mandate for most indoor public places later this month, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Friday, though coverings will still be required on transport and in medical facilities.

The lifting of the face-covering rules will take effect on Jan 30, Han said, in the country's latest step to ease COVID-19 rules as new cases show signs of a slowdown.

"The daily number of new infections is continuing to decline and despite concerns over a spike in cases in China, the situation here is under control without major troubles," the prime minister said during a COVID response meeting.

South Korea has ordered COVID tests for travelers arriving from China after Beijing abandoned a strict anti-virus regime of mass lockdowns in an abrupt policy U-turn.

Friday's announcement comes exactly three years after South Korea reported its first outbreak of COVID infection on Jan. 20, 2020 and as it is set to mark the Lunar New Year holidays during which many South Koreans return to their home towns.

The easing of mask rules coupled with the upcoming holidays could result in a temporary surge in new cases, Han warned, urging health authorities to stay vigilant especially for those more vulnerable to infection.

South Korea has scrapped most of its pandemic-related precautions, but it maintains a seven-day isolation rule for those testing positive for COVID.

14/01/2023

Jakarta, Indonesia – Indonesia sends warship to monitor Chinese coast guard vessel

Indonesia has deployed a warship to its North Natuna Sea to monitor a Chinese coast guard vessel that has been active in a resource-rich maritime area, the country's naval chief said on Saturday of an area that both countries claim as their own.

Ship tracking data shows the vessel, CCG 5901, has been sailing in the Natuna Sea, particularly near the Tuna Bloc gas field and the Vietnamese Chim Sao oil and gas field since Dec. 30, the Indonesian Ocean Justice Initiative told Reuters.

A warship, maritime patrol plane and drone had been deployed to monitor the vessel, Laksamana Muhammad Ali, the chief of the Indonesian navy, told Reuters.

"The Chinese vessel has not conducted any suspicious activities," he said. "However, we need to monitor it as it has been in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for some time."

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Jakarta was not immediately available for comment.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) gives vessels navigation rights through an EEZ.

The activity comes after an EEZ agreement between Indonesia and Vietnam, and approval from Indonesia to develop the Tuna gas field in the Natuna Sea, with a total estimated investment of more than $3 billion up to the start of production.

In 2021 vessels from Indonesia and China shadowed each other for months near a submersible oil rig that had been performing well appraisals in the Tuna block.

At the time, China urged Indonesia to , saying the activities were happening in its territory.

Southeast Asia's biggest nation says that under UNCLOS, the southern end of the South China Sea is its exclusive economic zone, and named the area as the North Natuna Sea in 2017.

China rejects this, saying the maritime area is within its expansive territorial claim in the South China Sea marked by a U-shaped "nine-dash line," a boundary the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague found to have no legal basis in 2016.

10/01/2023

Washington, United States – U.S. Marines to set up unit on Okinawa for remote island defense

The United States will set up a rapid reaction unit of the Marine Corps in Okinawa for the defense of remote islands in southwestern Japan, Japan-U.S. diplomatic sources said Monday.

A Marine Littoral Regiment, or MLR, will be established within a few years as part of a realignment of the Marine Corps in the southern island prefecture, according to the sources, amid China's intensifying military activities in the East China Sea.

The plan is expected to be brought up at a "two-plus-two" security meeting involving foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the United States, to be held in Washington on Wednesday, the sources said.

During the talks, the two sides also plan to agree on including outer space within the remit of Article 5 of their bilateral security agreement, as Japan seeks to prevent attacks on its satellites amid an increasing need to use them for monitoring and gathering information on the military movements of other countries, they said.

Article 5 states Washington will defend territories under Tokyo's administration from armed attack.

The plans to set up a new unit in Okinawa could trigger a backlash from locals, however, as the island prefecture already bears the heavy burden of hosting about 70 percent of the total amount of land used exclusively for U.S. military installations in Japan.

The move comes as Tokyo and Washington have been making efforts to beef up deterrence and response capabilities in southwestern Japan near Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing regards as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

China has been increasing its military assertiveness in the South and East China seas, with its coast guard vessels repeatedly entering Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, a group of Tokyo-controlled uninhabited islets, which China claims and calls Diaoyu.

U.S. President Joe Biden has said the Senkakus fall under Article 5.

Consisting of about 1,800 to 2,000 personnel per unit, MLRs are capable of flexibly deploying small groups of marines to remote islands for securing footholds to attack enemies and support U.S. or allied warships.

The new unit in Okinawa is hoped to counter potential advances by the Chinese military.

In March, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it established an MLR in Hawaii, the first of its kind in the Marine Corps. Biden's administration is also considering creating another MLR in Guam by reforming two existing regiments in the prefecture, according to the sources.

The MLR deployment in Okinawa is unlikely to affect a current U.S. Marine Corps transfer plan of relocating around 9,000 personnel to Guam and Hawaii among other locations while leaving some 10,000 in Okinawa, the sources said.

In its three key defense documents updated last month, the Japanese government pledged to strengthen Self-Defense Forces units in Okinawa to defend the southwestern remote islands, while calling China "the greatest strategic challenge."

08/01/2023

Karlsruhe, Germany – Germany advises against travel to China amid COVID surge

Germany discouraged nonessential trips to China, two days after the country said it would impose testing requirements for arrivals from China.

Germany advised nationals against nonessential travel to China given a surge in coronavirus infections there, the German Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"The number of infections in China is currently at its highest level since the pandemic began in 2020. The Chinese health system is overburdened, and adequate care in medical emergencies is also affected," the ministry said in a statement on the website.

"Unnecessary trips to China are therefore currently not recommended," the ministry added.

Germany will require a negative COVID-19 test for travelers arriving from China beginning January 9.

EU recommends testing passengers from China
Diplomats from the European Union recommended earlier this week that countries introduce coronavirus testing requirements.

France, Italy, Sweden, Spain and the UK have testing requirements in place already.

Besides the European countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan and India are among countries that require negative tests for passengers from China.

China has been overwhelmed by a burgeoning number of coronavirus cases since it removed many of the measures it imposed to contain the virus for the past three years.

Health experts believe that China has been underreporting cases, with EU diplomats earlier this week encouraging member states to also test and sequence wastewater samples from aircraft from China to detect COVID-19.

Beijing suspends social media accounts critical of government COVID-19 policies
On Saturday, Beijing suspended or shut down more than 1,000 accounts critical of the government's coronavirus policies on China's alternative to Twitter.

Sina Weibo said it addressed 12,854 violations, including attacks on experts and medical workers.

China's ruling Communist Party had largely relied on the medical community to justify its tough lockdowns and quarantine measures and allows no direct criticism of its policies.

04/01/2023

Brussels, Belgium – EU wants systematic COVID testing for passengers from China

The "overwhelming majority" of EU nations want passengers arriving from China to be tested for COVID-19. China has called new testing rules "unacceptable" after the country opens up following years of strict lockdowns.

EU health ministers reached a consensus over how to handle travelers from China, as the country is gripped by a surge of COVID-19 infections.

Following a meeting Tuesday in Brussels, the European Commission said that the "overwhelming majority" of the 27-member states of the EU want passengers arriving from China to receive systematic testing for COVID-19 prior to their arrival in the EU.

A crisis meeting is now scheduled for Wednesday to coordinate a response across the bloc.

It all comes in the wake of China lifting its "zero COVID" policy following mass protests opposing what was the world's most stringent lockdowns amid the global pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China.

For nearly three years, the Chinese people faced lockdowns and border closures.

Why is the EU concerned?
A sudden influx of passengers from China coupled with Chinese government reticence to permit the World Health Organization (WHO) to test for new variants has sparked various levels of concern among EU officials regarding the emergence of new forms of the potentially legal virus.

The lack of transparency and incomplete data on infections has led to an "overwhelming majority" of EU countries "in favor of pre-departure testing," a spokesperson for the European Commission said following Tuesday's meeting.

Stella Kyriakides, the EU health commissioner, said officials also opted to recommend monitoring of wastewater on flights and at airports to detect traces of new variants along with increased surveillance measures. Kyriakides also emphasized "unity" ahead of Wednesday's meeting.

France, Spain and Italy are among the EU nations that have already imposed new testing requirements on passengers arriving from China prior to a coordinated approach from the EU.

While Italy, hard hit at the start of the pandemic, was first to introduce testing, France requires masks be worn on flights from China and has asked French citizens to curb nonessential travel to the Asian nation. France has also introduced PCR testing on arrival for flights from China. Spain has mandated that travellers from China be vaccinated, tested or recovered.

However, in an impact study published Tuesday, the EU's European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said the situation in China did not present an immediate overall health threat to the bloc.

"The variants circulating in China are already circulating in the EU, and as such are not challenging for the immune response," the agency said.

Earlier Tuesday, the European Commission offered to provide expertise and vaccines to Beijing, offers thus far admonished by China's one-party state.

Many EU countries are contending with stockpiles of the mRNA vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, widely considered more effective against the virus and its variants than vaccines developed by China.

How has China reacted to the new measures?
Beijing has expressed its displeasure over new measures imposed by the US, Japan and Australia. China insists the COVID-19 situation in the country is "under control."

Government spokesperson Mao Ning insisted medical provisions are "in adequate supply."

Mao added, "We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity."

According to official Chinese government statistics, only 22 new deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded since restrictions were lifted last month.

Why are Beijing's statistics considered unreliable?
Official statistics provided by Beijing are widely regarded with suspicion as they are unlikely to reflect the reality of the virus' spread and reach within China, the world's most populous nation with a population of over one billion people.

For over a week, the WHO has not provided new numbers on infections or deaths from China. The EU relies on statistics from the WHO to make its decisions.

In a statement, Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency as of the start of the new year, noted that "travelers from China need to be prepared for decisions being taken at short notice."

30/12/2022

Washington, United States – Chinese jet came within 10 feet of U.S. military aircraft
By Idrees Ali

A Chinese military plane came within 10 feet (3 meters) of a U.S. air force aircraft in the contested South China Sea last week and forced it to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision in international airspace, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

The close encounter followed what the United States has called a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by Chinese military aircraft.

The incident, which involved a Chinese Navy J-11 fighter jet and a U.S. air force RC-135 aircraft, took place on Dec. 21, the U.S. military said in a statement.

"We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law," it added.

A U.S. military spokesperson said the Chinese jet came within 10 feet of the plane's wing, but 20 feet from its nose, which caused the U.S. aircraft to take evasive maneuvers.

The United States has raised the issue with the Chinese government, a separate U.S. official said.

The Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the past, China has said that the United States sending ships and aircraft into the South China Sea is not good for peace.

U.S. military planes and ships routinely carry out surveillance operations and travel through the region.

China claims vast swathes of the South China Sea that overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Trillions of dollars in trade flow every year through the waterway, which also contains rich fishing grounds and gas fields.

In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in November, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raised the need to improve crisis communications, and also noted what he called dangerous behavior by Chinese military planes.

Despite tensions between the United States and China, U.S. military officials have long sought to maintain open lines of communication with their Chinese counterparts to mitigate the risk of potential flare-ups or deal with any accidents.

Australia's defense department said in June that a Chinese fighter aircraft dangerously intercepted an Australian military surveillance plane in the South China Sea region in May.

Australia said the Chinese jet flew close in front of the RAAF aircraft and released a "bundle of chaff" containing small pieces of aluminum that were ingested into the Australian aircraft's engine.

In June, Canada's military accused Chinese warplanes of harassing its patrol aircraft as they monitored North Korea sanction evasions, sometimes forcing Canadian planes to divert from their flight paths.

Relations between China and the United States have been tense, with friction between the world's two largest economies over everything from Taiwan and China's human rights record to its military activity in the South China Sea.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan in August infuriated China, which saw it as a U.S. attempt to interfere in its internal affairs. China subsequently launched military drills near the island.

The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

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