washington — The United States on Thursday announced fresh sanctions targeting Chinese and Russian entities for their role in designing, building and shipping attack drones that have resulted in mass casualties in Ukraine.

The sanctions target two Chinese entities, Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co., Ltd., and Redlepus Vector Industry Shenzhen Co Ltd (Redlepus), Russian entity TSK Vektor and TSK Vektor’s General Director Artem Mikhailovich Yamshchikov.

A senior administration official told reporters Thursday that the entities were involved in developing the Russian Garpiya series long-range attack drones, producing them in China and shipping them directly to Russia.

“The Garpiya, designed and produced in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in collaboration with Russian defense firms, has been used to destroy critical infrastructure and has resulted in mass casualties,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

“Today’s action is part of our continued effort to disrupt attempts by PRC-based and Russia-based entities and individuals to support Russia’s acquisition of advanced weapons technology and components. We will continue to impose costs on those who provide support to Russia’s military-industrial base.”

The senior administration official said the U.S. has warned Beijing in the past about the network, contradicting Chinese statements that they are not aware of such networks.

Two Chinese firms are directly “involved in producing and shipping things that are unmistakably part of Russia’s war against Ukraine and are going unmistakably to an actor that the West has already identified and sanctioned as being part of the Russian military industrial base,” said the official.

Since 2022, the U.S. has sanctioned close to 100 entities based in China and Hong Kong. The majority of them are part of the supply chain of dual-use items – components or goods that can be converted by Russia into military items that are then being deployed against Ukraine.

However, Thursday’s sanctions were the first to hit Chinese entities “directly developing and producing complete weapons systems in partnership with Russian firms.”

Also Thursday, the U.K. announced its largest package of sanctions against Russia’s “shadow fleet of oil tankers” – ships that supposedly knowingly operate in defiance of Western sanctions.

London said 18 more shadow fleet ships will be barred from U.K. ports, bringing the total number of oil tankers sanctioned to 43.

Sanctions working

In response to VOA’s question, the official said that Western sanctions are working.

“This is having a direct impact on their economy. It’s having a direct impact on their ability to get war material. It’s having a direct impact on the quality of goods that they are achieving,” the official said.

A second senior administration official said Moscow is feeling “unprecedented external pressure” on its trade and investment projects with China. Growing trade ties between the two countries, though, indicate “they are continuing to innovate and circumvent which is why we are also moving out on sanctions and other tools.”

China says it is not providing weapons for Russia. Beijing maintains it handles its export of dual-use items in accordance with laws and applies strict controls on drone exports.

The sanctioned companies’ transactions are “incompatible” with Beijing’s statements, the second official said. “If China is serious about that commitment, we are asking them to take action to shut down this network.”

Beijing has said in the past it “firmly opposes unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or authorization of the U.N. Security Council.”

Every month, Beijing exports to Russia more than $300 million of those so-called dual-use items that have both commercial and military applications, according to an analysis of Chinese customs data by the Carnegie Endowment think tank.

Ties have grown between Moscow and Beijing. On Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced plans for expanded cooperation during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, summit in Islamabad, Pakistan. The SCO was founded by Russia and China in 2001 to counter Western alliances.

VOA’s Paris Huang and Henry Ridgwell contributed to this story.
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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea confirmed Thursday that its recently revised constitution defines South Korea as “a hostile state” for the first time, two days after it blew up front-line road and rail links that once connected the country with the South.

The back-to-back developments indicate North Korea is intent on escalating animosities against South Korea, increasing the danger of possible clashes at their tense border areas, though it’s highly unlikely for the North to launch full-scale attacks in the face of more superior U.S. and South Korea forces.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday that its recent demolition of parts of the northern sections of the inter-Korean road and rail links was “an inevitable and legitimate measure taken in keeping with the requirement of the DPRK constitution which clearly defines the ROK as a hostile state.”

DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name, while ROK stands for Republic of Korea, the South’s formal name.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry condemned North Korea’s constitutional reference to South Korea as a hostile state, calling it “an anti-unification, anti-national act.” It said the South Korean government will sternly respond to any provocations by North Korea and unwaveringly push for a peaceful Korean unification based on the basic principle of freedom and democracy.

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament met for two days last week to rewrite the constitution but state media hadn’t provided many details about the session. Leader Kim Jong Un had earlier called for the constitutional change at that parliamentary meeting to designate South Korea as the country’s main enemy, remove the goal of a peaceful Korean unification and define North Korea’s sovereign, territorial sphere.

Thursday’s KCNA dispatch gave no further details of the new constitution, except the description of South Korea.

“There may still be an internal propaganda review underway about the appropriate way to disclose the constitutional revisions, but this confirmation was expected,” said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Kim’s order in January to rewrite the constitution caught many foreign experts by surprise because it was seen as eliminating the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided Koreas and breaking away with his predecessors’ long-cherished dreams of peacefully achieving a unified Korea on the North’s terms. In the past months, North Korea has torn down monuments symbolizing rapprochement with South Korea and abolished state agencies handling inter-Korean relations.

Some experts say Kim likely aims to guard against South Korean cultural influence and bolster his family’s dynastic rule. Others say Kim wants legal room to use his nuclear weapons against South Korea by making it as a foreign enemy state, not a partner for potential unification which shares a sense of national homogeneity. They say Kim may also want to seek direct dealings with the U.S. in future diplomacy on its nuclear program, not via South Korea.

“North Korea has fallen so far behind the South that any social exchange or financial integration might look like paths to unification by absorption,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

“Pyongyang’s rejection of peaceful Korean unification is thus a strategy for regime survival and maintaining domestic control. This not only bodes ill for diplomacy but could also become an ideology motivating military aggression against Seoul,” Easley said.

KCNA, citing North Korea’s Defense Ministry, reported that North Korea on Tuesday blew up the 60-meter (197 feet)-long sections of two pairs of the roads and railway routes — one pair on the western portion of the inter-Korean border and the other on the eastern side of the border.

Largely built with South Korean money, the road and rail links were once a major symbol of now-dormant inter-Korean reconciliation movements. In the 2000s, the two Koreas reconnected the road and rail routes for the first time since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but their operations were halted later as the rivals bickered over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and other issues.

Last week, North Korea said it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build front-line defense structures. South Korean officials said North Korea had been adding anti-tank barriers and laying mines along the border since earlier this year.

Animosities between the Koreas increased in recent days, with North Korea accusing South Korea of flying drones over its capital Pyongyang three times this month and vowing strong military responses if similar incidents happen again. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned that North Korea will face a regime demise if the safety of South Korean citizens is threatened.

Many observers say North Korea won’t likely launch a full-blown war because it knows its military is outgunned by the U.S. and South Korean forces, and that North Korea ultimately aims to use its advancing nuclear program as leverage to wrest sanctions relief from the U.S. But they say a miscalculation could still lead to border clashes.

Intense outside attention has been on whether the North Korean constitutional change includes new legal, territorial claims around the Koreas’ disputed western sea boundary, the site where several deadly skirmishes and bloodsheds happened in the past 25 years.

“South Korea and the United States need not overreact to North Korean moves. The recent drone incident raises the possibility of miscalculation and escalation,” Panda, the expert, said.
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BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping said a successful partnership between China and the United States is an opportunity for the two countries to be enablers for each other’s development rather than an obstacle, according to state media on Wednesday.

“China is willing to be a partner and friend with the United States. This will benefit not only the two countries, but the world,” Xi said in remarks from a letter to the 2024 annual awards dinner of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, according to a CCTV news report.

Xi pointed out that China-U.S. relations are among the most important bilateral relations in the world, which have a bearing on the future and destiny of mankind, according to the letter.

The two countries have been at odds over national security concerns, ongoing trade spats as well as China’s actions in the South China Sea and intensified military drills around Taiwan.

Trade relations soured over the past year and have centered around issues including restrictions on electric vehicles and advanced semiconductors.

“China has always handled China-U.S. relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and has always believed that the success of China and the United States is an opportunity for each other,” Xi said.
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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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Washington — The National Zoo’s long dark panda drought is coming to an end.

Eleven months after the zoo sent its three wildly popular pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji — back to China, a new pair of bears arrived in the United States on Tuesday. They will be transported from Dulles International Airport in suburban Virginia to the zoo.

A pair of three-year old giant pandas, named Bao Li and Qing Bao, have left a research facility in the southwestern Chinese city of Dujiangyan before being flown to Washington, according to a statement by the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

“Food prepared for the trip includes corn bread, bamboo and carrots, as well as water and medicine,” the statement said, adding that the partnership will “make new contributions in protecting global biodiversity and enhance the friendship of the people from the two countries.”

It’s unclear exactly when the bears will arrive in Washington, but there will likely be an extended quarantine and acclimation period before they are introduced to the public. On Monday evening, the zoo’s website posted an alert that the entire facility would be closed Tuesday, without giving a reason. The lead article on the site still said the pandas would be coming sometime before the end of the year.

Bao Li (precious vigor) and Qing Bao (green treasure) arrive in Washington as part of a new 10-year agreement with Chinese authorities. The previous deal expired last year, leading to some concern among American panda-lovers that Beijing was gradually pulling its furry friendship ambassadors from American zoos amid rising diplomatic tensions.

Breeding pairs in zoos in Memphis and San Diego had already returned to China earlier and the four pandas in the Atlanta zoo left for China last week.

That anxiety turned to optimism last November when Chinese President Xi Jinping publicly stated a desire to continue the panda exchange programs. This year, a new pair of bears has been delivered to the San Diego Zoo, while another pair has been promised to San Francisco.

In Washington, National Zoo officials remained conspicuously silent about negotiations for a new panda agreement, but they expressed optimism about striking a new deal and launched a multimillion-dollar renovation of its panda enclosure in anticipation. Then in late May, zoo director Brandie Smith teamed up with first lady Jill Biden to announce that Bao Li and Qing Bao would be arriving by the end of this year.

The Chinese announcement said the National Zoo had sent “three experienced keepers and veterinary experts” to China to assist the transport and accompany the bears.

Zoo officials on Monday declined to confirm the Chinese announcement. Zoo spokesperson Jennifer Zoon said in an email, “For the safety of animals and staff, we are not able to confirm any details at this time.” But signs at the zoo and on its social media site have heralded the planned return of the pandas and panda-themed merchandise still dominates the gift shops.

“The giant pandas are an iconic part of the Washington, D.C., story, both for locals and incoming travelers alike,” said Elliott L. Ferguson, II, president and CEO of Destination DC. “The interest and excitement associated with their return directly benefits the entire city, bringing further interest and visitors to our hotels, restaurants and other attractions.”

The exact terms of the deal are still unclear; under previous 10-year agreements the Chinese government receives $1 million per year, per bear. Any cubs born in overseas zoos are typically returned to China before they reach age four.

Pandas have become one of the unofficial symbols of the nation’s capital, dating back to 1972 when the first pair — Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing — were sent as a gift from Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai following President Richard Nixon’s historic diplomatic visit to China. Later, a rolling series of 10-year cooperation agreements was struck.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, credited the decades of cooperation with advancing research into panda preservation and breeding. During the lifespan of these agreements, giant pandas have been reclassified from an endangered species to merely vulnerable.

“The current round of cooperation will focus on prevention and treatment of major diseases, and protection of habitats and wild giant panda populations,” Liu said in an email. “We hope the arrival of the pandas will inject fresh impetus into exchanges between China and the U.S., and help to stabilize the broader bilateral relationship as well.”
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SINGAPORE — The youngest child of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said on Tuesday he would apply to demolish the statesman’s home in line with his wishes, following the death of Lee’s daughter last week.

Lee Kuan Yew’s three children, one of whom is Singapore’s third Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, were split on what to do with their father’s home after his death in 2015, in a public spat that saw the siblings estranged.

Eldest son Lee Hsien Loong, who stepped down as Singapore’s prime minister earlier this year, thought it should be up to the government to decide what to do with the property, including potentially retaining it as a heritage landmark.

However his sister, Lee Wei Ling, who died on Oct. 9, and younger brother Lee Hsien Yang said the single-story bungalow, built in 1898 in central Singapore, should be demolished in accordance with their father’s wishes.

“After my sister’s passing, I am the only living executor of my father Lee Kuan Yew’s estate,” Lee Hsien Yang wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

“In his will, he wished for the house to be demolished ‘immediately after’ Wei Ling moved out of the house. It is my duty to carry out his wishes to the fullest extent of the law.”

He said he would apply to demolish the house and planned to build a small private dwelling to be retained by the family, adding that it was time for the government to approve the demolition.

The office of current Prime Minister Lawrence Wong did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lee Kuan Yew told the Straits Times newspaper in 2011 that he wanted the house demolished because it would “become a shambles” if it were opened to the public, and he hoped its removal would improve land values in the neighborhood.

In 2018, a ministerial committee set up to consider the future of the house laid out three options, and said the decision would be left to a future government.

The options were to retain the property by officially categorizing it as a national monument or for conservation, retain the basement dining room, which has the greatest historical significance and tear down the rest of the property, or allow the property to be fully demolished for redevelopment.

At that time, Lee Hsien Loong said he accepted the committee’s conclusion and the range of options laid out.
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SEOUL, SOuth Korea — North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un convened a top national security meeting Monday, state media reported, directing a plan of “immediate military action” at a time of spiking tensions with the South.  

The meeting in Pyongyang was attended by the country’s top security officials, including the army chief and other military officials, as well as the ministers of state security and defense. 

“He set forth the direction of immediate military action and indicated important tasks to be fulfilled in the operation of the war deterrent and the exercise of the right to self-defense,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The meeting comes as the nuclear-armed North has accused Seoul of flying drones over its capital and moved troops to its border, with South Korea saying Monday it was “fully ready” to respond if fired upon.

Officials at the meeting in Pyongyang heard a report on the “enemy’s serious provocation,” KCNA reported, an apparent reference to the drone flights.

Kim “expressed a tough political and military stand” at the meeting, state media said.

The North has accused Seoul of being responsible for the drones, which dropped propaganda leaflets filled with “inflammatory rumors and rubbish,” and warned on Sunday that it would consider it “a declaration of war” if another drone was detected.

Seoul’s military initially denied it was behind the flights, with local speculation centered on activist groups in the South that have long sent propaganda and U.S. currency northward, typically by balloon.

The United Nations Command, which oversees the armistice that ended active fighting in the 1950 to 1953 Korean War, said it was aware of the North Korean claim.

“The command is currently investigating the matter in strict accordance with the Armistice Agreement,” it said.

The two Koreas remain technically at war.
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Prague — Former Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen is among the world leaders calling for the release of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai from jail in Hong Kong, where he is standing trial on national security charges that are widely viewed as politically motivated.

“They should release him,” Tsai told VOA about Jimmy Lai. She made the statement shortly after she delivered a speech at the Forum 2000 democracy conference in the Czech capital Prague on Monday. It was Tsai’s first international trip since leaving office in May.

Tsai’s call for Lai’s release comes just weeks before Lai’s trial is set to resume on November 20, when he is expected to take the stand for the first time.

Lai, the founder of Hong Kong’s now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, has been held in solitary confinement since late 2020. The 76-year-old British national is standing trial on charges of collusion with foreign forces and sedition. The charges, which Lai rejects, are widely viewed as politically motivated.

The British government recently asked to defer Tsai’s visit to the United Kingdom due to concerns that her visit would anger Beijing, according to media reports. British Foreign Minister David Lammy is expected to visit China next week in his first trip to the country as foreign secretary.

A Foreign Office spokesperson told The Guardian: “Ministerial travel will be confirmed in the usual way. We do not comment on speculation.”

Jimmy Lai’s son Sebastien told VOA he hopes Lammy will raise his father’s case with the Chinese government during his upcoming visit.

“I’ll expect him to raise the case,” Sebastien said. “At the end of the day, this is about saving my father’s life, and the foreign secretary is in a unique position to do that.”

Although the United Kingdom has called for Jimmy’s release, the British government has faced criticism from rights groups and activists who say it isn’t doing enough to advocate on behalf of Jimmy, who is a British national.

“They’ve only been in power for four months,” Sebastien said, referring to Britain’s new Labour government. “Dad’s been in jail for four years. So it’s not an excuse.”

Sebastien spoke to VOA at Forum 2000, which he attended to advocate for his father’s release. “Getting as much global attention on my father to put pressure on the government of Hong Kong so that they can’t keep essentially persecuting my father,” Sebastien said.

Lai’s plight has come to symbolize the rapid deterioration of press freedom and other civil liberties in Hong Kong since China’s harsh national security law came into effect in 2020.

Lai’s trial, which began in December 2023, was originally estimated to last around 80 days.

Jonathan Price, a member of Jimmy’s international legal team, said he was concerned the trial could be delayed again. “It doesn’t seem, to us, likely to finish anytime soon,” Price told VOA at Forum 2000.

Price added that Lai’s trial highlights the lack of rule of law in Hong Kong.

“The proof about the rule of law in Hong Kong is in the pudding. If you’re shocked that there are 1,500 political prisoners in Russia, a country of 150 million people, you’d be staggered to learn that there are more political prisoners in Hong Kong,” Price said.

The Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council estimates that there are more than 1,800 political prisoners in Hong Kong, which has a population of about 7.4 million.

“That itself is symptomatic of the total destruction of the rule of law,” Price said.

Hong Kong’s Security Bureau acknowledged receipt of VOA’s email requesting comment for this story but did not provide a comment by time of publication.

But in an October email to VOA, a Hong Kong government spokesperson denied that civil liberties and the rule of law have declined there. The spokesperson added that “rights and freedoms are not absolute” anywhere in the world.

“In particular, journalists, like everyone else, have an obligation to abide by all the laws. Their freedom of commenting on and criticizing government policies remains uninhibited as long as they do not violate the law,” the spokesperson said.

Hong Kong authorities have also previously denied that Jimmy’s trial is unfair.

Also at Forum 2000 in Prague, Miriam Lexmann, a Slovakian Member of European Parliament, told VOA that the European Union should do more to push for Lai’s release.

“It’s very important to talk about Jimmy Lai because it represents the case of Hong Kong very clearly. And what is absolutely vital now is that we address the issue of Hong Kong as Europeans,” said Lexmann, who also serves as co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, or IPAC.

IPAC is a coalition of global lawmakers that is focused on relations with the Chinese government.

Lai’s case is especially important, Lexmann said, because he could have left Hong Kong, but he decided to stay in order to stand up for freedom.

“He decided to stay and suffer just to show the case of what’s going on in Hong Kong,” Lexmann said. “We have a moral responsibility to help those who fight for freedom worldwide.”

With his father’s trial set to resume shortly, Sebastien says now is an especially important time for governments to place more pressure on Hong Kong and China to release the publisher.

“We do see this as a critical time to raise attention for my father’s case,” Sebastien said. “My goal is to release him as soon as possible because at his age, he could die at any moment.”
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TAIPEI — China’s military launched a new round of war games near Taiwan on Monday, saying it was a warning to the “separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces,” drawing condemnation from the Taipei and U.S. governments.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, had been on alert for more war games since last week’s National Day speech by President Lai Ching-te, an address Beijing condemned after Lai said China had no right to represent Taiwan even as he offered to cooperate with Beijing.

The Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command said the “Joint Sword-2024B” drills were taking place in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan.

“The drill also serves as a stern warning to the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces. It is a legitimate and necessary operation for safeguarding state sovereignty and national unity,” it said in a statement carried both in Chinese and English.

The command did not state when the drills would end.

It published a map showing nine areas around Taiwan where the drills were taking place – two on the island’s east coast, three on the west coast, one to the north and three around Taiwan-controlled islands next to the Chinese coast.

Chinese ships and aircraft are approaching Taiwan in “close proximity from different directions,” focusing on sea-air combat-readiness patrols, blockading key ports and areas, assaulting maritime and ground targets and “joint seizure of comprehensive superiority,” the command said.

However, it did not announce any live-fire exercises or any no-fly areas. In 2022, shortly after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China fired missiles over the island.

In rare operations, China’s coast guard circled Taiwan and staged “law enforcement” patrols close to Taiwan’s offshore islands, according to Chinese state media.

Taiwan’s China policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said that China’s latest war games and refusal to renounce the use of force were “blatant provocations” that seriously undermined regional peace and stability.

In the face of the further political, military and economic threats posed by China to Taiwan in recent days, Taiwan would not back down, Taiwan’s China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement.

“President Lai has already expressed his goodwill in his national day speech and is willing to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait together with the Chinese communists,” it added.

Lai’s National Day speech highlighted the current state of cross-strait relations and the will to safeguard peace and stability and advocated future cooperation in coping with challenges like climate change, the ministry added.

“The Chinese communists’ claim of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ is a complete departure from the truth,” it added.

Joseph Wu, the secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, said Taiwan would “stay alert” but would remain “moderate and responsible, maintain status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”

“Leaders around the world talk more than ever about the need for peace and stability across Taiwan Strait,” Wu said during a forum on Chinese politics in Taipei.

“Taiwan will continue to seek possibilities for talks with China.”

Taiwan’s defense ministry and coast guard said both agencies had dispatched their own forces.

In Washington, an official from the administration of President Joe Biden said they were monitoring the drills and there was no justification for them after Lai’s “routine” speech.

The official said they urged China “to avoid any further action that may jeopardize peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region.”

A senior Taiwan security official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation, said they believed China was practicing blockading Taiwanese ports to the north and south of the island and international shipping lanes as well as repelling the arrival of foreign forces.

Taiwan on Sunday had reported a Chinese aircraft carrier group sailing to the island’s south through the strategic Bashi Channel which separates Taiwan from the Philippines and connects the South China Sea to the Pacific.

Chinese state media has since Thursday run a series of stories and commentaries denouncing Lai’s speech, and on Sunday the Eastern Theatre Command released a video saying it was “prepared for battle.”

The PLA’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper wrote on Monday that “those who play with fire get burned!”

“As long as the ‘Taiwan independence’ provocations continue, the PLA’s actions to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity will not stop,” the paper said.

China held the “Joint Sword-2024A” drills for two days around Taiwan in May shortly after Lai took office, saying they were “punishment” for separatist content in his inauguration speech.

Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed. He says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future and rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
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Colombo, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s police have arrested 198 Chinese men on suspicion of operating a cybercrime ring from the South Asian nation, a police spokesperson said Sunday. 

Deputy Inspector-General Nihal Thalduwa said the men were taken into custody at four locations during raids carried out since October 6, with 129 arrested in one location Saturday. 

Thalduwa said that a large number of mobile phones and laptop computers were also seized. 

“We suspect that they were operating online scams from these locations,” Thalduwa told reporters in the capital, Colombo. 

“Their victims include people in Sri Lanka as well as those overseas.” 

He said investigations were moving slowly due to language issues in questioning the suspects, but the authorities have sought help of officials from the Chinese Embassy in Colombo. 

Forensic experts were analyzing the electronic devices that were seized, he said. 

In June, police arrested another 200 suspects, mainly Indians, who were also accused of operating online financial scams. 

Thalduwa said the suspects had entered the island as tourists and, in most cases, were overstaying their visas. 
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BANGKOK — China agreed Sunday to assist Vietnam on cross-border railway development and take steps to expand agricultural imports from its smaller neighbor, Vietnam’s official media said.

Premier Li Qiang, on an official visit to Vietnam, pledged that China would further open its market to high-quality fruits, seafood and other Vietnamese products, a state media report said.

China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner and second-largest export market after the U.S. Trade between the two countries reached $172 billion in 2023. Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, signaled the importance of the relationship when he made China his first overseas visit after assuming his post last year.

Li came to Vietnam from neighboring Laos, where he had pushed back against calls at a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders to respect international law in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told Li that both sides should respect each other’s legitimate rights and interests, resolve disputes through peaceful means and properly address issues related to fishers and their vessels, the state media report said.

Vietnam condemned China two weeks ago for what it described as an assault by Chinese law enforcement personnel that injured several Vietnamese fishers near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The islands have been under the de facto control of China since 1974, when Beijing seized them from Vietnam in a brief but violent naval conflict.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Southeast Asian leaders gathered in Laos last week that the U.S. is concerned about China’s “increasingly dangerous and unlawful” activities in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

In their talks on Sunday, Chinh and Li agreed to deepen exchange and cooperation in diplomacy, national defense and public security, the state media report said.

They also witnessed the exchange of 10 cooperation agreements, including the establishment of a working group to develop cross-border economic cooperation zones and the implementation of QR-code, cross-border payment services.

The railway agreements covered a technical plan and feasibility studies to improve train connectivity between Vietnam and China.

On trade, Chinh asked for greater access for a range of products including tropical fruits, meat products, farm-raised spiny lobster and plant-based traditional medicines.

Li said that China stands ready to resolve trade issues and work with Vietnam on quarantine and customs procedures, according to the Vietnamese report.
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KAMPONG PHLUK, Cambodia — Em Phat, 53, studies his eel tanks with the intensity of a man gambling with his livelihood.

For millennia, fishermen like him have relied on the bounty of the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, Southeast Asia’s largest lake and the epicenter of the world’s most productive inland fishery. But climate change, dams upstream on the Mekong River that sustains the lake, and deforestation in the region have changed everything.

There aren’t enough fish and living by the lake has become dangerous as storms intensify due to global warming. “Being a fisherman is hard,” he said.

Phat hopes that raising eels — a delicacy in Asian markets like China, Japan and South Korea — will provide a way forward. He raises eels in different tanks: translucent eel eggs bob gently in small glass aquariums. Voracious glassy larvae swim in plastic tanks. Larger tubs have bicycle tires to provide places for juvenile eels to hide.

Raising eels can be profitable but it’s risky. Eels are notoriously difficult and expensive to raise. They need constant pure, oxygenated water and special food and are susceptible to diseases. Phat lost many eels when a power cut stopped his oxygen pumps, killing the fish. But he’s optimistic about the future. Living on land, instead of on the lake, also means that his wife, Luy Nga, 52, can grow vegetables to eat and sell, so they are making enough money to get by.

“The eels have value and can also be exported to China and other countries in the future,” he said.

That fishermen like Phat can no longer rely on the Tonle Sap, literally the “Great Lake,” for their livelihood reflects how much has changed. The lake used to more than quadruple in size to an area larger than the country of Qatar during the rainy season, inundating native forests and creating the perfect breeding ground for diverse fish to thrive.

The “flood pulse,” a natural process of periodic flooding and droughts in the river system helped make the Mekong Basin the world’s largest freshwater fishery, with nearly 20% of all freshwater fish worldwide caught there, according to the think tank Stimson Center in Washington. More than 3 million people live and fish by the lake: a third of all 17 million Cambodians rely on the fisheries sector and up to 70% of Cambodia’s intake of animal protein is from fish.

But dams upstream in China and Laos are cutting the Mekong’s flow, weakening that flood pulse. The lakes have been depleted by overfishing and much of the forest surrounding it has been logged or burned for farmland. Cambodian authorities are reluctant to estimate the extent that fish stocks have declined.

This year, the flood pulse was delayed by about two months, according to the Mekong Dam Monitor, a research project.

In this shattered ecosystem, raising eels or other fish can provide fishermen like Phat with a “buffer,” said Zeb Hogan, a fish biologist at the University of Nevada who has worked in the region for decades. “Aquaculture, such as eel farming, is a way for people to take more control over their income source and livelihood,” he said, adding that it also allows them to raise fish that they know will fetch higher prices.

Phat is one of more than thousands helped by a program run by the Britain-based nonprofit VSO to boost incomes of people living by Tonle Sap. VSO provides his baby eels and has taught him how to raise them.

Eels are in high demand in Cambodia and elsewhere, said Sum Vy, 38, a coordinator at VSO, so they’re profitable. When fishermen know how to farm eels and hatch the babies, others can follow.

“Not only can he or she earn the money to support their family, they can share this knowledge and skill with other people,” he said.

Expanding aquaculture is helping increase Cambodian exports. Its fish production increased 24-fold in the two decades leading up to 2021 and, unlike its neighbors, most of its fish catch is inland, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization or FAO. Much of it is consumed domestically and exports have grown sluggishly. Earlier this year, the government launched a scheme to improve fish processing technologies and address food safety concerns, hoping to begin exporting more fish to Europe next year.

Cambodia has signed trade agreements with China and began shipping frozen eels to Shanghai last year.

“This export will contribute to economic growth, creating jobs for our farmers and fishermen,” Heng Mengty, the export manager of the Cambodian fish exporter told China’s official Xinhua news agency.

The promised growth can’t come soon enough for Cambodians living in fishing communities around the lake. Some families live in homes that float year round, others on homes built on stilts up to 8 meters high, to keep them above floodwaters during the rainy season. Fishing is the only form of subsistence for many, but signs of decay are evident. Fishing nets catch only very small fish, or worse, nothing at all. Families speak of giant fish that are now rarely seen. The catch is a fraction of what it used to be.

Even 10 years ago, Som Lay, a 29-year-old fisherman said, the lake was teeming with fish. But illegal fishing has increased and some families have already given up fishing and are trying to find land where they can grow rice.

“The entire village — my family and others — is facing these difficulties,” he said.
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