Our territorial rights in South China Sea in line with UN Charter: China

China and the US have been at loggerheads since the start of pandemic on several issues pertaining to the information sharing on Covid-19

China on Wednesday said that its territorial claims in the South China Sea is legitimate and were established throughout a long course of history which is in line with the international law including the United Nations Charter. “China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea have been formed in a long historical process and claimed by all Chinese administrations, which are also in line with UN Charter & UNCLOS. Accusations of China’s lawful claims are groundless,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a press conference.

This remark came after US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo tweeted on June 2 that the US has sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General to protest China’s “unlawful South China Sea maritime claims”. Pompeo wrote: “We reject these claims as unlawful and dangerous. The Member States must unite to uphold international law and freedom of the seas.”

ALSO READ: Border situation with India stable; no need of third party mediation: China

China and the US have been at loggerheads since the start of a pandemic on several issues pertaining to the information sharing on Covid-19. Reaffirming China’s stand, Zhao Lijian has said, “China has never delayed releasing coronavirus information. China’s timeline on Covid-19 information sharing is clear and open to the world. It can stand the test of time.” Meanwhile, the United States on Wednesday said it will block Chinese airlines from flying into or out of the US starting on June 16, The New York Times reported…

China must use diplomacy to settle border issues with India: US House panel

We see increasing forces of China moved up to the north of India on the Line of Actual Control there on the Indian border, says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

China has moved up its forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said, asserting that authoritarian regimes take these kinds of actions.Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies recently, in a clear signal of escalating tension and hardening of respective positions by the two sides even two weeks after they were engaged in two separate face-offs.

Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies recently, in a clear signal of escalating tension and hardening of respective positions by the two sides even two weeks after they were engaged in two separate face-offs.

India has said that its troops fully abide by the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border and it is the Chinese side that has undertaken activity hindering India’s normal patrolling patterns.”We see even today increasing forces of China moved up to the north of India on the Line of Actual Control there on the Indian border,” Pompeo told Marc Thiessen and Danielle Pletka of AEI’s ‘What The Hell Is Going On’ Podcast…Read More

Typhoon Phanfone leaves 28 dead in Philippines; thousands flee their homes

One disaster response officer described the battered coastal town of Batad in Iloilo province as a “ghost town” on Christmas Day

A strong typhoon that barreled through the central Philippines left at least 28 dead and 12 missing, and forced thousands to flee their homes, devastating Christmas celebrations in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Typhoon Phanfone stranded many people in sea and airports at the peak of holiday travel, set off landslides, flooded low-lying villages, destroyed houses, downed trees and electrical poles and knocked out power in entire provinces. One disaster response officer described the battered coastal town of Batad in Iloilo province as a “ghost town” on Christmas Day.

“You can’t see anybody because there was a total blackout, you can’t hear anything. The town looked like a ghost town,” Cindy Ferrer of the regional Office of the Civil Defense said by phone. The storm weakened as it blew into the South China Sea with sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour and gusts of 150 kph, after lashing island after island with fierce winds and pounding rain on Christmas Day, the weather agency said.

Most of the deaths reported by police and local officials were due to drowning, falling trees and accidental electrocution. A father, his three children and another relative were among those missing in hard-hit Iloilo province after a swollen river inundated their shanty….

Protesters in Hong Kong trample a Chinese flag, set street fires

Some put a Chinese flag on the floor and took turns running over it, before defacing it and putting it in a dumpster outside, which they then pushed into a nearby river

Protesters in Hong Kong have trampled a Chinese flag, vandalized a subway station and set a fire across a wide street, as pro-democracy demonstrations took a violent turn once again.

Sunday’s action began peacefully, as protesters filled a shopping mall and, in a new twist, folded paper “origami” cranes that they tied onto a large rigging that they assembled in the mall in the Shatin district.

Some put a Chinese flag on the floor and took turns running over it, before defacing it and putting it in a dumpster outside, which they then pushed into a nearby river. Police used tear gas as they tried to advance on the protesters. Hong Kong protests, now in their fourth month, have often descended into violence late in the day and at night.

Transit authorities closed the two intermediate stations on the airport express train to guard against a possible disruption of transportation to the transportation hub. Separately an afternoon protest has been called at a shopping mall in the outlying Shatin district…

US- backed ‘Quad’ quietly gathers steam as way to balance China’s might

The resurgence of the Quad — first conceived more than a decade ago during the Bush administration — reflects growing unease over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s more assertive foreign policy

International News |Potentially the most important meeting in Asia this week isn’t on any official summit agenda, features no head of state and certainly doesn’t include China.

Senior officials from Australia, India, Japan and the US — a set of countries known as “the Quad” — plan to meet Thursday on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore. It will be only the third meeting of the group since its revival last year as a counterweight to China’s growing economic and military might.

The resurgence of the Quad — first conceived more than a decade ago during the Bush administration — reflects growing unease over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s more assertive foreign policy. The four countries aim to provide an alternative model to China’s authoritarian rule and state-directed lending for infrastructure projects, which has in some cases saddled poorer nations with debt and increased their dependence on Beijing.(BUSINESS STANDARD OR BS)

Australia sees the Quad as an “important sort of architecture in the region” that can cooperate economically, militarily and strategically, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters Wednesday. The Quad’s origins date back to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that devastated large parts of Asia, after which the four countries joined together to provide humanitarian relief. Key early advocates included Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had a brief stint as leader more than a decade ago, and then US Vice President Dick Cheney…Read More