science-and-innovation
German leader seeks Indian support for Russia's isolation
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Saturday that Germany wants to get India to support, or at least not block, Western efforts to isolate Russia for waging a devastating war against Ukraine.
Following his talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Scholz stressed that developing countries were being negatively impacted by energy and food shortages resulting from the war and hopes that India will help secure critical supplies to Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Modi maintained his cautious approach and said India wanted the conflict to be ended through dialogue and diplomacy. "India is ready to make its contribution to any peace initiative," he added.
He has refrained from any overt criticism of Russia as Moscow is a major supplier of arms, oil and India’s other economic needs.
Scholz said that Russia's war against Ukraine "violated the fundamental principle to what we all agree of not changing borders through the use of violence."
Also Read: German leader Scholz arrives in India to boost economic ties
Scholz, who arrived in the Indian capital on Saturday, also discussed with Modi ways to boost bilateral economic cooperation.
He said he supported a free trade agreement between the European Union and India and he “personally will make sure that this does not drag on.”
The trip is Scholz's first official visit to India, though it is his fourth meeting with Modi since taking office in 2021, underlining Germany’s interest in reaching out to Delhi.
“There is huge potential for intensified cooperation in sectors such as renewables, hydrogen, mobility, pharma and digital economy” with India, Scholz said in an interview published by The Times of India newspaper on Saturday.
After a videoconference with fellow leaders from the Group of Seven industrial powers on Friday, Scholz said before leaving Berlin that “internationally, we are endeavoring to make clear that Russia stands alone in the world with its aggression against Ukraine.”
Philipp Ackermann, the German ambassador to India, said he understands why India is buying large quantities of oil from Russia.
"That’s something that the Indian government decides and as you get it at a very, very low price, you know I cannot blame the Indian government for buying it,” New Delhi Television cited Ackermann as saying.
Germany has been pushing to diversify its economic relations as European countries try to decouple from China, a German official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
Modi said the business delegation accompanying Scholz was firming up agreements with India in digital technology, the telecommunication sector and diversification of supply chains.
Scholz reiterated that Germany welcomes skilled workers from India, especially in information technology and software industries.
"We want to benefit from the Indian talent employed in Germany in the industrial sector," he said.
India is set to receive $10.5 billion in aid by 2030 to boost the use of clean energy under agreements the two sides signed in May last year.
The two-day visit will also take Scholz to India’s information technology hub Bengaluru on Sunday.
Russians mark Ukraine war anniversary with flowers, arrests
Russians in Moscow and other cities brought flowers to Ukrainian poets and held one-person pickets with antiwar slogans Friday to mark the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Russian media and civil rights groups reported at least a dozen detentions, part of the Kremlin's sweeping crackdown on dissent that has spiked to unprecedented levels since the start of the war.
At least eight people were detained in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, according to OVD-Info, a legal aid group that tracks political arrests. They all had brought flowers to the city’s monument to victims of political repression, the group said.
Online news outlet Sota filmed at least seven people getting detained in St. Petersburg after they brought flowers to a monument for the renowned Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. Footage posted by the outlet showed a police officer explaining to a couple that they had violated coronavirus restrictions.
Sota also reported a person detained in Moscow, where people flocked to the monument of Lesya Ukrainka, another renowned Ukrainian poet, to lay flowers. A contingent of police officers monitored the group but left mostly didn't interrupt.
Also Read: Pregnant Russians flock to Argentina seeking new passports
Five people were detained in the Siberian city of Barnaul, according to the Sibir.Realii news outlet, including a man who picketed a central square with a placard reading “Stop being silent.” In another Siberian city, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a woman was detained for protesting with a banner that read, “We’re mourning. Forgive us, we screwed up our country,” the outlet reported.
Russians all across the country actively protested against the war in Ukraine during the first week of the invasion. Large rallies quickly fizzled after thousands were detained, but solo pickets -- and detentions -- have persisted throughout the year.
Russian authorities have enforced a law enacted soon after the invasion that effectively criminalizes any public expression against what the Kremlin refers to as a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The Russian parliament rubber-stamped a bill that outlawed discrediting the Russian military or spreading false information a week after Moscow's troops rolled into Ukraine.
OVD-Info said in a statement Friday that “for 305 out of 365 days of the war, security forces detained people for their anti-war position in various cities of Russia and the annexed Crimea.”
As of mid-December, the group had counted 378 people facing criminal prosecution for their antiwar positions in 69 Russian regions and the Crimean Peninsula that Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014. The group also counted more than 5,500 administrative cases on the charge of discrediting the Russian army.
Pregnant Russians flock to Argentina seeking new passports
Shortly after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Alla Prigolovkina and her husband, Andrei Ushakov, decided they had to flee their Sochi, Russia, home.
Ushakov had been detained for holding up a sign that read “Peace,” and Prigolovkina, a pregnant ski instructor, feared he would soon be drafted and potentially killed, leaving their baby fatherless.
The original plan was to stay in Europe, but anti-Russian sentiment discouraged them.
“We chose Argentina because it has everything we needed: Fantastic nature, a large country, beautiful mountains,” Prigolovkina, 34, told The Associated Press inside the home her family is renting in Argentina’s western Mendoza province. “We felt it would be ideal for us.”
They were hardly alone.
Over the past year, Argentine immigration authorities have noticed flights packed with dozens of pregnant Russians. But whereas Prigolovkina said her family intends to build a life here at the foot of the Andes mountains, local officials believe many of the other recent Russian visitors are singularly focused on receiving one of Argentina’s passports.
Also Read: Europe bans Russian diesel, other oil products over Ukraine
All children born in Argentina automatically receive citizenship and having an Argentine child speeds up the process for the parents to obtain residency permits and, after a couple of years, their own passports.
Crucially, the navy blue booklets allow entry to 171 countries without a visa, a backup plan that Russians believe could come in handy in the ever-uncertain future. Due to sanctions, Russians have also had trouble opening bank accounts in foreign countries, something an Argentine passport could solve.
According to official figures, some 22,200 Russians entered Argentina over the last year, including 10,777 women — many of whom were in the advanced stages of pregnancy. In January, 4,523 Russians entered Argentina, more than four times the 1,037 that arrived in the same month last year.
After an investigation, Argentine officials concluded that Russian women, generally from affluent backgrounds, were entering the country as tourists with the plan to give birth, obtain their documentation and leave. More than half of the Russians who entered the country in the last year, 13,134, already left, including 6,400 women.
“We detected that they don’t come to do tourism, they come to have children,” Florencia Carignano, the national director for migration, said during a meeting with international media.
Although Argentina generally has a relatively permissive immigration process, the recent arrest of two alleged Russian spies who had Argentine passports in Slovenia raised alarms in the South American country, where officials reinforced immigration controls.
“We canceled residencies of Russians who spent more time outside than in,” Carignano said, expressing concern the Argentine “passport will cease to have the trust it enjoys in all countries.”
Immigration authorities have also called on the justice system to investigate agencies that allegedly offer assistance to Russian women who want to give birth in Argentina.
It’s unclear how many women have left Russia to give birth in the last year, but the issue is big enough that lawmakers in Moscow this month raised the question of whether those who choose to give birth abroad should be stripped of the so-called maternity fund that all Russian mothers receive — a financial benefit of almost $8,000 for the first child and about $10,500 for the second.
There is no discussion on whether to cut off access to the maternity fund for Russian mothers who give birth abroad, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
The phenomenon also is not entirely new. Prior to the Russia-Ukraine war, Russian women were part of a wave of “birth tourists” in the U.S. and many paid brokers tens of thousands of dollars to arrange their travel documents, accommodations and hospital stays, often in Florida.
Embarking on a long journey during an advanced pregnancy can be particularly perilous, and Russians in Argentina insist that their decision to leave their homes goes beyond a new passport. Despite the government’s claims, some at least seem eager to make Argentina their new home.
In spite of the language barrier and the unfamiliar, stifling summer heat, Prigolovkina and Ushakov have quickly adopted Argentine customs since their July move. Prigolovkina said they especially enjoy spending time in the park with their dogs. And while the family may not have been interested in soccer in Russia, they happily cheered when their newly adopted country won the World Cup late last year.
Still, she also concedes that obtaining a passport for their newborn son, Lev Andrés, was a motivating factor for the move: “We wanted our baby to have the chance to not just be Russian and have a single passport.”
Some experts say a country in which migrants once made up as much as 30% of the population should be particularly sensitive to the plight of Russians trying to start a new life. The South American country was transformed in the late 19th and early 20th century by the influx of millions of European migrants, including many from Italy and Spain.
“Given our history of migration, a country like ours should empathize more with the humanitarian dimension” of these recent immigrants, Natalia Debandi, a social scientist and migrations expert who is a researcher at the publicly funded CONICET institute, said. “They are not terrorists, they are people.”
A study by immigration agents based on interviews with 350 newly arrived Russians concluded that most are married and largely well-off professionals who have remote jobs in finance and digital design or live off savings.
Days before giving birth to a boy named Leo, 30-year-old Russian psychologist Ekaterina Gordienko lauded her experience in Argentina, saying “the health care system is very good, and people are very kind. My only problem is Spanish. If the doctor doesn’t speak English, I use the (Google) translator.”
Gordienko arrived in the nation's capital of Buenos Aires in December with her 38-year-old husband, Maxim Levoshin. “The first thing we want is for Leo to live in a safe country, without a war in his future,” Levoshin said.
In Mendoza, Prigolovkina is excited for her family’s new life in Argentina and optimistic they will be able to give back to the country that has welcomed them.
“We have left everything behind to live in peace. I hope that Argentines understand that Russians can be very useful in different areas of life, in business, the economy, in science,” she said. “They can help make Argentina better.”
German leader Scholz arrives in India to boost economic ties
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in the Indian capital on Saturday where he is expected to discuss with the Indian prime minister Russia's war in Ukraine and ways to boost bilateral economic cooperation, officials said.
"We will discuss intensely all topics relevant for the development of our countries but also the peace in the world, which is important,'' Scholz told reporters after he was received by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the president's palace.
The trip is Scholz's first official visit to India, though it is his fourth meeting with Modi since taking office in 2021.
The German chancellor is expected to seek India’s support for the tough stance taken by Europe and the United States toward Russia over the war in Ukraine.
After a videoconference with fellow leaders from the Group of Seven industrial powers on Friday, Scholz said before leaving Berlin for India that “internationally, we are endeavoring to make clear that Russia stands alone in the world with its aggression against Ukraine.”
“I will advocate once again there (New Delhi) for our stance, our point of view on this conflict,” he told reporters.
Modi has refrained from any overt criticism of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as Moscow is a major arms supplier and also provides India with oil and other economic needs.
"There is huge potential for intensified cooperation, in sectors such as renewables, hydrogen, mobility, pharma and digital economy" with India, Scholz said in an interview published by The Times of India newspaper on Saturday.
Philipp Ackermann, the German ambassador to India, said he understands why India is buying large quantities of oil from Russia.
"That’s something that the Indian government decides and as you get it at a very, very low price, you know I cannot blame the Indian government for buying it,” the New Delhi television news channel cited Ackermann as saying.
Scholz also is expected to press for progress toward India-EU free trade and investment protection agreements. Germany has been pushing to diversify its economic relations as European countries try to decouple from China, a German official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
In May last year, Germany and India signed a series of bilateral agreements focused on sustainable development under which India will receive $10.5 billion in aid by 2030 to boost the use of clean energy.
Some agreements are expected to be signed on Saturday. Details were not immediately available.
The two-day visit will also take Scholz to India’s information technology hub Bengaluru on Sunday.
Trade resumes as Pakistan, Afghanistan reopen Torkham border
The normal trade and movement of people between Pakistan and Afghanistan fully resumed on Saturday after the two sides reopened a key border crossing that was shut nearly a week ago by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, stranding people and thousands of trucks carrying food and essential items.
The Afghan embassy in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, announced the reopening of the Torkham border on Saturday on Twitter. Pakistani officials and Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed administrator in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province also confirmed that the border crossing is open to passengers and trade.
The announcement sparked a wave of joy among those who had been waiting for the reopening of the international trade route since Sunday, when Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers closed the crossing. The Taliban had claimed Islamabad was not abiding by an agreement with Kabul to allow sick Afghan patients and their caretakers to cross into Pakistan without travel documents for medical care.
Last Monday, Afghan Taliban forces and Pakistani border guards exchanged fire, wounding a Pakistani soldier. Since then, officials from the two sides were in talks to resolve the issue amid demands from people on both sides to immediately reopen the crossing.
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s defense minister, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, and secret service chief, Lt. Gen. Anjum Nadeem, traveled to Kabul on an unannounced but previously scheduled visit and met senior Taliban officials to discuss the closure and other issues.
After the visit, the crossing was briefly reopened by the Afghan Taliban to allow some of the thousands of trucks that had lined up for days at the border — many with vegetables, fruits and other perishable food items — to cross over and ease the backlog. But Pakistan shut the border on Thursday, saying it needed an explanation from the Afghan side about the abrupt closure of the border on Sunday.
Pakistani and Taliban officials on Friday held talks and finally agreed to reopen the border.
On Saturday, Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, a director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said “we are happy to confirm that Torkham is fully open for trade and movement of people." He said jubilant Afghan and Pakistani truck drivers were crossing the key trade route with supplies.
Although the Torkham border crossing is a vital commercial artery and a trade route to Central Asian countries for Pakistan, the Islamic nation has also accused the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary for Pakistani militants whose cross-border attacks have led to a spike in violence in Pakistan.
Pakistan recently warned that it has the right to target Pakistani Taliban sanctuaries in Afghanistan if the Afghan Taliban administration fails to rein in the militants, increasing the prospect of more cross-border violence. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power more than a year ago as U.S. and NATO troops withdrew from the country after 20 years of war.
The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has emboldened the TTP, which in recent months has stepped up attacks in Pakistan, where security forces often raid their hideouts.
13 people killed as bus hits van on Pakistan motorway
A speeding passenger bus rammed into a van on a motorway in eastern Pakistan, killing 13 people and injuring several others, a police spokesman said Saturday.
The accident happened overnight in Rahim Yar Khan, a district in Punjab province, according to Mohammad Awais, a district police spokesman. He said the dead and injured had all been moved to a hospital.
Awais provided no further details, saying officers were still investigating the cause.
Traffic accidents in Pakistan generally happen due to traffic rules violations, resulting in thousands of deaths or injuries every year. Last month, a bus crashed into a pillar and fell off a bridge, catching fire and killing 40 passengers in the southern district of Lasbela.
N. Korea food shortage worsens amid COVID, but no famine yet
There’s little doubt that North Korea’s chronic food shortages worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and speculation about the country’s chronic food insecurity has flared as its top leaders prepare to discuss the “very important and urgent task” of formulating a correct agricultural policy.
Unconfirmed reports say an unspecified number of North Koreans have been dying of hunger. But experts say there is no sign of mass deaths or famine. They say the upcoming ruling Workers’ Party meeting is likely intended to shore up support for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he pushes ahead with his nuclear weapons program in defiance of intense U.S.-led pressure and sanctions.
“Kim Jong Un can’t advance his nuclear program stably if he fails to resolve the food problem fundamentally because public support would be shaken,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. “The meeting is being convened to solidify internal unity while pulling together ideas to address the food shortage.”
An enlarged plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party is slated for late February. Its specific agenda is unknown, but the party’s powerful Politburo earlier said that a “a turning point is needed to dynamically promote radical change in agricultural development.”
The meeting will be the party’s first plenary session convened just to discuss agricultural issues, though they often are a key topic at broader conferences in North Korea. Raising grain output was one of 12 economic priorities the party adopted during a plenary meeting in December.
It is difficult to know the exact situation in the North, which kept its borders virtually closed during the pandemic. Food shortages and economic hardships have persisted since a famine killed an estimated hundreds of thousands of people in the mid-1990s.
In his first public speech after taking over from his father as leader in late 2011, Kim vowed that North Koreans would “never have to tighten their belts again.”
During the first several years of his rule, the economy achieved modest growth as Kim tolerated some market-oriented activities and increased exports of coal and other minerals to China, the North’s main ally and biggest trading partner. More recently, however, tougher international sanctions over Kim’s nuclear program, draconian pandemic-related restrictions and outright mismanagement have taken a severe economic toll.
South Korean estimates put North Korea’s grain production last year at about 4.5 million tons, a 3.8% decrease from a year earlier. Annual grain output has plateaued at about 4.4 million tons to 4.8 million tons in the past decade.
North Korea needs about 5.5 million tons of grain to feed its 25 million people, so it’s usually short about 1 million tons each year. About half of the gap is typically offset by unofficial grain purchases from China. The rest is an unresolved shortfall, said Kwon Tae-jin, a senior economist at the private GS&J Institute in South Korea.
Read more: North Korea says it is suffering worst drought in decades
Kwon says curbs on cross-border trade due to the pandemic have likely hindered unofficial rice purchases from China. Efforts by North Korean authorities to tighten controls and restrict market activities have also worsened the situation, he said.
“I believe this year North Korea is facing its worst food situation since Kim Jong Un took power,” Kwon said.
Koo Byoungsam, a spokesperson at the South Korean Unification Ministry, said that an unknown number of North Koreans have died of hunger, but said the problem is not as serious as the mid-1990s famine, which stemmed from natural disasters, the loss of Soviet assistance and mismanagement.
The current food problem is more an issue of distribution than of an absolute shortage of grain since much of the grain harvested last year has not yet been eaten, ministry officials said. Food insecurity has worsened as authorities tightened controls over private grain sales in markets, instead trying to confine the grain trade to state-run facilities.
Severe steps taken by the Kim government to contain the pandemic provided effective tools for imposing a tighter grip on the kinds of market activity that earlier helped foster stronger economic growth but might eventually erode the government’s authoritarian rule, analysts say.
Kwon said current food shortages are unlikely to cause mass deaths because food is still available in markets, though at high prices. During the famine in the mid-1990s, grain was hard to come by, he said.
North Korea monitoring groups have reported increases in the prices of rice and corn — the two most important staples — though the price of corn has stabilized recently in some regions.
“If North Korea indeed sees people dying of hunger and faces a chaos, it won’t publicly say things like ‘a very important and urgent task’ for an agricultural policy,” said Ahn Kyung-su, head of DPRKHEALTH.ORG, a website focusing on health issues in North Korea.
The North’s plenary meeting is “typical propaganda” meant to show Kim is working to improve living conditions and comes at a time when the leadership needs new fodder to burnish his image, on top of the nuclear program and assertions of a victory over the pandemic, Ahn said.
During the plenary meeting, Kwon said that leaders will likely pressure local farm officials to raise grain output without presenting any effective solutions for the food crisis. Targets will be set and officials may be punished for failing to meet them if food shortages worsen, Ahn said.
Yi Jisun, an analyst at the state-run Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul, said in a report in January that North Korea recently imported large amounts of rice and flour from China, though it is unlikely to accept food assistance from the United States, South Korea and Japan.
While declaring that food problems must be improved at any cost, the state-run media in the North have continued to tout its longstanding policy of “self-reliance,” a strategy that shuns Western help.
“The assistance by imperialists is a trap for plundering and subjugation meant to wrest 100 things after giving one,” the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary Wednesday. “Building up the economy by receiving this ‘poisoned candy’ would be a mistake.”
Modi urges G20 finance leaders to focus on ‘most vulnerable’
Policymakers of the Group of 20 leading economies should focus on helping the world’s most vulnerable people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as top-level financial talks kicked off in the Indian technology hub of Bengaluru.
“You represent the leadership of global finance and economy at a time when the world is facing serious economic difficulties,” Modi said in a video address to the finance ministers, central bank governors and other leaders attending the meetings, which wrap up Saturday.
“It is up to you, the custodians of the leading economies and market systems ... to bring back stability, confidence and growth to the global economy,” he said.
As countries deal with slew of challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic, including unsustainable debt, conflict, inflation and eroding trust in international financial institutions, Modi said, “I urge you to focus on the most vulnerable people in the world.”
Rear more: What is China’s peace proposal for Ukraine War?
The meetings in Bengaluru are due to touch on a wide range of issues including digital currencies and payments, reform of institutions like the World Bank, climate change and financial inclusion.
Multiple meetings between various leaders were also scheduled, including talks between U.S. and British officials and meetings of India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, with her counterparts from France and Brazil.
As is usually the case, broader issues such as the war in Ukraine are overshadowing the talks.
On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed she would push for stronger sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and better enforcement of restrictions meant to hinder Moscow’s war effort.
The G-20 meetings offer a chance for leaders to consider how to coordinate their policies: many central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve have been raising interest rates sharply to try to rein in decades-high inflation brought on by various factors including the war and rebounding demand for travel, goods and services following the COVID-19 pandemic.
G20 Presidency: India to invite Bangladesh as guest country
With increases in income lagging far behind, rising costs for food, housing, fuel and fertilizer impose huge burdens, especially on the poor and in developing nations, where debt burdens have surged both at the national and household levels.
As the G-20 host this year, India is taking the opportunity to showcase its ascent as an economic power.
Modi suggested the gathering could “draw hope from the vibrant Indian economy,” which is forecast to grow at a more than 6% annual pace this year, making it one of the fastest growing in the world. He also pointed to the country’s digital payments technology as a model to be emulated.
Read more: Dhaka wants removal of tariff, non-tariff barriers to reduce trade deficit with Delhi
What is China’s peace proposal for Ukraine War?
One year into Russia’s war against Ukraine, China is offering a 12-point proposal to end the fighting.
The proposal follows China’s recent announcement that it is trying to act as mediator in the war that has re-energized Western alliances viewed by Beijing and Moscow as rivals. China’s top diplomat indicated that the plan was coming at a security conference this week in Munich, Germany.
With its release, President Xi Jinping’s government is reiterating China’s claim to being neutral, despite blocking efforts at the United Nations to condemn the invasion. The document echoes Russian complaints that Western governments are to blame for the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion and criticizes sanctions on Russia.
Read more: China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks
At the Munich meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed skepticism about Beijing’s position before the plan’s release. He said China has provided non-lethal assistance that supports Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort and said the U.S. has intelligence that Beijing is “considering providing lethal support.” China has called the allegation a “smear” and said it lacks evidence.
WHAT HAS CHINA PROPOSED?
China’s proposal calls for a ceasefire and peace talks, and an end to Western sanctions against Russia. It says “relevant countries should stop abusing unilateral sanctions” and “do their share in de-escalating the Ukraine crisis.”
It says sovereignty of all countries should be upheld, though it doesn’t specify what that would look like for Ukraine, and the land taken from it since Russia seized Crimea in 2014.
The proposal condemns a “Cold War mentality,” a rebuke of the United States and NATO, the U.S.-European military alliance. “The security of a region should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs,” the proposal says. Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded a promise that Ukraine will not join the bloc before the invasion.
Read more: Russia, China show off ties amid maneuvering over Ukraine
Other points call for a cease-fire, peace talks, protection for prisoners of war and stopping attacks on civilians, keeping nuclear power plants safe and facilitating grain exports.
DOES CHINA BACK RUSSIA IN ITS WAR ON UKRAINE?
China has offered contradictory statements regarding its stance. It says Russia was provoked into taking action by NATO’s eastward expansion, but has also claimed neutrality on the war.
Ahead of Russia’s attack, Xi and Putin attended the opening of last year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing and issued a statement that their governments had a “no limits” friendship. China has since ignored Western criticism and reaffirmed that pledge.
Putin has said he expects Xi to visit Russia in the next few months. China has yet to confirm that.
China is “trying to have it both ways,” Blinken said Sunday on NBC.
“Publicly, they present themselves as a country striving for peace in Ukraine, but privately, as I said, we’ve seen already over these past months the provision of non-lethal assistance that does go directly to aiding and abetting Russia’s war effort.”
HAS CHINA PROVIDED SUPPORT TO RUSSIA?
China’s support for Russia has been largely rhetorical and political. Beijing has helped to prevent efforts to condemn Moscow at the United Nations. There is no public evidence it is currently supplying arms to Russia, but the U.S. has said China is providing non-lethal support already and may do more.
Blinken, at the Munich conference, said the United States has long been concerned that China would provide weapons to Russia. “We have information that gives us concern that they are considering providing lethal support to Russia,” he said.
Blinken said he expressed to the Chinese envoy to the meeting, Wang Yi, that “this would be a serious problem.”
NATO’s chief said Wednesday he had seen some signs that China may be ready to provide arms and warned that would be it would be supporting a violation of international law.
Russian and Chinese forces have held joint drills since the invasion, most recently with the South African navy in a shipping lane off the South African coast.
Ukraine’s defense minister Oleksii Reznikov expressed doubt about U.S. concerns Monday.
“I’m not sure because Russia needs also helmets, life vests, etc., etc. And I think that if China will help them … it will not (be) the weaponry. It will (be) some kinds of like clothes,” Reznikov said in Kyiv.
North Korea says it test-fired long-range cruise missiles
North Korea said Friday it test-fired long-range cruise missiles in waters off its eastern coast a day earlier, adding to a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations as its rivals step up military training.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries didn’t immediately confirm the North Korean launches, which state media said were intended to verify the reliability of the missiles and the rapid-response capabilities of the unit that operates those weapons.
Read more: China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks
The launches would have taken place as the United States and South Korea held a simulated military exercise in Washington aimed at sharpening their response to North Korean nuclear threats.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said the exercise involved four missiles, which flew for nearly three hours after being launched from a northeastern coastal area, drawing oval and figure-eight patterns above the sea, and showed that they can hit targets 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away.
North Korea first tested a long-range cruise missile system in September 2021 and has implied they are being developed to be armed with nuclear warheads.
It also test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile Saturday and a pair of short-range missiles Monday to demonstrate a dual ability to conduct nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S. mainland.
Read more: Fears, questions about N. Korea's growing nuclear arsenal
North Korea said Monday’s short-range launches were a response to the United States flying B-1B bombers to the region for joint training with South Korean and Japanese warplanes on Sunday in a show of force following the North’s ICBM test.
Prior to the ICBM launch, North Korea vowed an “unprecedentedly” strong response over a series of military drills planned by Seoul and Washington. North Korea for decades has described the annual U.S.-South Korea drills as rehearsals for a potential invasion, although the allies say their exercises are defensive in nature.
Long-range cruise missiles are among a growing number of North Korean weapons and are designed to be maneuverable in flight to better evade missile defenses.
Since the collapse of nuclear negotiations with the United States in 2019, North Korea has been accelerating its development of short-range solid-fuel ballistic missiles targeting South Korea, including those that travel on low trajectories that theoretically make them harder to intercept.
Read more: N Korea calls UN chief's remarks on missile test 'unfair'
North Korea is also trying to develop solid-fuel ICBMs, which could be easier to move on vehicles and can be fired faster than the North’s existing liquid-fuel ICBMs, reducing opportunities for opponents to detect the launches and counter them.
The KCNA said Thursday’s tests were aimed at verifying the war readiness of its nuclear combat force, which is “bolstering up in every way its deadly nuclear counterattack capability against the hostile forces.”
North Korea is coming off a record year in weapons demonstrations with more than 70 ballistic missiles fired, including ICBMs with potential to reach the U.S. mainland. It also conducted what it described as simulated nuclear attacks against South Korean and U.S. targets in response to the allies’ joint military exercises.
Leader Kim Jong Un doubled down on his nuclear push entering 2023, calling for an “exponential increase” in nuclear warheads, mass production of battlefield tactical nuclear weapons targeting “enemy” South Korea and the development of more advanced ICBMs.
Read more: Russia, China show off ties amid maneuvering over Ukraine
The U.S. Department of Defense and South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the U.S. and South Korean militaries conducted a simulation at the Pentagon on Wednesday that was focused on the possibility of the North Korean use of nuclear weapons. The allies also discussed various adoptions to demonstrate their “strong response capabilities and resolve to response appropriately” to any North Korean nuclear use.
The Americans during the meeting highlighted the Biden administration’s 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, which states that any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies and partners is “unacceptable and will result in the end of that regime,” the U.S. Department of Defense said. It was referring to a legislatively mandated document that spells out U.S. nuclear policy and strategy for the next five to 10 years.
Read more: North Korea confirms ICBM test, warns of more powerful steps
The U.S. and South Korean delegations also visited U.S. nuclear submarine training facilities at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, where they were briefed on the mission of Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. U.S. officials at the base described such forces as key means of providing U.S. extended deterrence to allies, referring to a commitment to defend them with the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear ones.
In face of the North’s growing threats, South Korea has been seeking stronger reassurances from the United States that it would swiftly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to defend its ally from a North Korean nuclear attack.
“The United States will continue to work with (South Korea) to ensure an effective mix of capabilities, concepts, deployments, exercises, and tailored options to deter and, if necessary, respond to coercion and aggression by (North Korea),” the Department of Defense said in a statement.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries have another joint computer-simulated exercise and field training scheduled in March, which South Korean officials say would involve the allies’ biggest live-fire training in years.