Latest news with #BenBlanchard
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Exclusive-China flexes military muscle with East Asian naval activity, sources say
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard (Reuters) -China has flexed its muscles this month by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals. Since early May, China deployed fleets larger than usual, including navy, coast guard and other ships near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, according to three regional security officials and documents of regional military activities reviewed by Reuters. On May 21 and May 27, for instance, China deployed nearly 60 and more than 70 ships, respectively, around three-quarters of them naval, the documents show. These included guided-missile frigates, destroyers and coast guard boats. Beijing also dispatched two aircraft carrier groups, with the Shandong now in the busy waterway of the South China Sea and the Liaoning off the southeastern coast of Taiwan, the documents show. "They are exerting pressure on the whole of the first island chain amid global geopolitical uncertainties," said one security official. The reference is to waters stretching from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing the seas around China's coast. "They are trying to reinforce their dominance," the source said, adding that drills this month by the Liaoning, the oldest of China's three aircraft carriers, simulated attacks on foreign ships and aircraft around the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. There was an "obvious" stepped-up Chinese naval presence this month, added a second source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as did the first, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence assessment. "China clearly wants to show these are its home waters and it can operate when and where it wants," the source said. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. LIVE FIRE DRILLS Over the past two weeks China declared several live-fire drill areas off its coast, including last week one directly facing southwestern Taiwan. Last Wednesday, Chinese state television showed images of amphibious drills in the southern province of Fujian, across the strait from Taiwan, but did not give an exact location. This week, Japan has been tracking the Liaoning and its accompanying warships through the southern Japanese islands and into the Western Pacific. China seems to be trying to improve its capacity to operate far from the Chinese coast, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. "The Japanese government intends to keep a close eye on relevant movement and do its utmost in carrying out monitoring and surveillance activities," he told reporters on Wednesday. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the ships' activities were in line with international law and practice and Japan should "look at them objectively and rationally". China has kept up its stand-off with the Philippines in the South China Sea, where its foreign ministry on Friday urged the Philippines to immediately stop "infringement and provocation". The Philippine Navy's spokesperson on South China Sea issues, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, told Reuters that China's "illegal presence" in the maritime zones of Southeast Asian states "has been disturbing the peace in the region and is contrary to pronouncements of its 'peaceful rise'." The spike in Chinese military activity has also come as Taiwan President Lai Ching-te marked the anniversary this month of a year in office. China has staged three major rounds of war games since the inauguration of Lai, whom it calls a "separatist". On Wednesday, Taiwan's defence ministry said the Liaoning was off the island's southeast coast, adding that Taiwan would raise its combat preparedness in line with the threat level.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Exclusive-China flexes military muscle with East Asian naval activity, sources say
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard (Reuters) -China has flexed its muscles this month by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals. Since early May, China deployed fleets larger than usual, including navy, coast guard and other ships near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, according to three regional security officials and documents of regional military activities reviewed by Reuters. On May 21 and May 27, for instance, China deployed nearly 60 and more than 70 ships, respectively, around three-quarters of them naval, the documents show. These included guided-missile frigates, destroyers and coast guard boats. Beijing also dispatched two aircraft carrier groups, with the Shandong now in the busy waterway of the South China Sea and the Liaoning off the southeastern coast of Taiwan, the documents show. "They are exerting pressure on the whole of the first island chain amid global geopolitical uncertainties," said one security official. The reference is to waters stretching from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing the seas around China's coast. "They are trying to reinforce their dominance," the source said, adding that drills this month by the Liaoning, the oldest of China's three aircraft carriers, simulated attacks on foreign ships and aircraft around the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. There was an "obvious" stepped-up Chinese naval presence this month, added a second source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as did the first, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence assessment. "China clearly wants to show these are its home waters and it can operate when and where it wants," the source said. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. LIVE FIRE DRILLS Over the past two weeks China declared several live-fire drill areas off its coast, including last week one directly facing southwestern Taiwan. Last Wednesday, Chinese state television showed images of amphibious drills in the southern province of Fujian, across the strait from Taiwan, but did not give an exact location. This week, Japan has been tracking the Liaoning and its accompanying warships through the southern Japanese islands and into the Western Pacific. China seems to be trying to improve its capacity to operate far from the Chinese coast, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. "The Japanese government intends to keep a close eye on relevant movement and do its utmost in carrying out monitoring and surveillance activities," he told reporters on Wednesday. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the ships' activities were in line with international law and practice and Japan should "look at them objectively and rationally". China has kept up its stand-off with the Philippines in the South China Sea, where its foreign ministry on Friday urged the Philippines to immediately stop "infringement and provocation". The Philippine Navy's spokesperson on South China Sea issues, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, told Reuters that China's "illegal presence" in the maritime zones of Southeast Asian states "has been disturbing the peace in the region and is contrary to pronouncements of its 'peaceful rise'." The spike in Chinese military activity has also come as Taiwan President Lai Ching-te marked the anniversary this month of a year in office. China has staged three major rounds of war games since the inauguration of Lai, whom it calls a "separatist". On Wednesday, Taiwan's defence ministry said the Liaoning was off the island's southeast coast, adding that Taiwan would raise its combat preparedness in line with the threat level.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Taiwan president rallies the troops ahead of possible Chinese drills
By Ben Blanchard KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) - Taiwan President Lai Ching-te offered his support and encouragement to the armed forces on Friday ahead of what the government has warned could be a new round of Chinese military exercises near the island from as early as next week. Taiwan cannot rule out that China will hold more military drills to "stir up trouble" around Tuesday's one-year anniversary of Lai taking office, a senior government spokesperson said on Thursday in Taipei. China calls Lai a "separatist" and has rebuffed his multiple offers for talks. Lai rejects China's sovereignty claims over the democratic and entirely separately governed island, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future. Lai visited army engineers and anti-submarine helicopter crews at bases in the southern city of Kaohsiung to thank them for their efforts before the traditional Dragon Boat festival at the end of the month. Both the army engineers and the navy's anti-submarine aviation command are the "cornerstones of the nation's armed forces' military strength, and also indispensable to the overall national defence strategy", he told a group of helicopter crew at a lunch at Kaohsiung's Zuoying navy base. "It is only because of your hard work and dedication that the military continues to thrive and the nation's people can live and work in peace and happiness," he added. "Let's work together to protect national security." Lai, who made no direct mention of China or potential for more drills, was accompanied by Defence Minister Wellington Koo and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu, two of his most senior defence officials. China's Defence Ministry and Taiwan Affairs Office said this week that Lai was a "Taiwan Strait crisis maker" who had increased antagonism and confrontation and undermined peace and stability. Last month, China held war games code-named "Strait Thunder-2025A" around Taiwan, the "A" at its end suggesting there could be more to come. China called its May 2024 drills "Joint Sword - 2024A", held shortly after Lai took office, and in October of that year staged "Joint Sword - 2024B".
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Airlines re-route, cancel flights due to India-Pakistan fighting
By Ben Blanchard, Abhijith Ganapavaram and Dan Catchpole TAIPEI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Several Asian airlines including Taiwan's China Airlines and Korean Air said on Wednesday they were re-routing or cancelling flights to and from Europe, and about a dozen Indian airports were shut after fighting erupted between India and Pakistan. India attacked Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir and Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian fighter jets amid tensions over an attack by Islamist militants that killed 26 people in Indian Kashmir last month. Images from flight tracking websites after the attack showed a long line of airlines passing over Oman, UAE and Kuwait, raising the possibility of airspace congestion. Pakistan authorities said there were 57 international flights operating in Pakistan's airspace when India struck, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said in a statement India's action "caused grave danger to commercial airlines" belonging to Gulf countries and "endangered lives". India's civil aviation ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pakistan's remarks. In the last few days, India and Pakistan had shut their airspaces to each other's airlines. Global airlines like Lufthansa have also been avoiding Pakistan airspace. Domestic flights in both countries were also disrupted. India's top airline IndiGo said it was cancelling 165 flights till Saturday morning. Its shares were down 1.1%. Flights belonging to Air India, SpiceJet and Akasa Air were also cancelled as India shut several airports. Images from Flightradar24 showed that the northwestern part of India and Pakistan's airspace was nearly free of civilian aircraft, barring a few flights. CHANGING SCHEDULES The changing airline schedules are set to further complicate operations in the Middle East and South Asia regions for carriers, who are already grappling with a fallout from conflicts in the two regions. A spokesperson for Dutch airline KLM said it was not flying over Pakistan until further notice. Singapore Airlines said it had stopped flying over Pakistani airspace since May 6. Korean Air said it had begun rerouting its Seoul Incheon–Dubai flights on Wednesday, opting for a southern route that passes over Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India, instead of the previous path through Pakistani airspace. Thai Airways said flights to destinations in Europe and South Asia would be rerouted starting early on Wednesday morning, while China Airlines said flights to and from destinations including London, Frankfurt and Rome had been disrupted. Flights from India to Europe were also seen taking longer routes. Lufthansa flight LH761 from Delhi to Frankfurt took about half an hour more to reach its destination compared to Tuesday, according to FlightRadar24. The Association Of Asia Pacific Airlines voiced concern over the impact of conflicts on airline operations. "Apart from cost and operational disruption, there are safety concerns as GPS spoofing interfering with flight operations over conflict zones is one of highest risks the industry faces," it said in a statement. GPS spoofing is a malicious technique that manipulates Global Positioning System (GPS) data, which can send commercial airliners off course. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Abhijith Ganapavaram, Dan Catchpole and Ariba Shahid; Additional reporting by Jin Hyun Joo in Seoul, Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Bart Meijer and Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by Michael Perry, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ed Osmond)
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Citing military threats, Taiwan's Palace Museum says no China cooperation planned
By Ben Blanchard TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's National Palace Museum, home to one of the world's biggest collections of imperial Chinese treasures, does not plan any joint events with China for its 100th anniversary due to Beijing's military threats, its director said on Wednesday. The museum was re-established in Taiwan in 1965 after the Republic of China government lost a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists and fled to the island in 1949, taking with them thousands of cases of antiques once owned by China's emperors. A competing institution remains in Beijing, the similarly named Palace Museum. Speaking to reporters at the museum in the Taipei foothills, National Palace Museum Director Hsiao Tsung-huang said cooperation with Beijing's museum needed both sides to be willing to work together. "Whether it's fighter jets, navy or civilian ships going up and down the Taiwan Strait, there is no opportunity like there was before for mutual friendliness or cooperation," he said, referring to China's almost daily military activities around Taiwan. "We'd be happy to see it, but at the moment the other side hasn't taken the initiative to talk, and we even more cannot take the initiative to talk to them," Hsiao added. The Palace Museum in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Instead, Taipei's museum will send some of its collection to Prague and Paris this year, with the Qing dynasty Jadeite Cabbage, one its most famous pieces which rarely leaves Taiwan, going on display at the Czech Republic's National Museum. Next month, the National Palace Museum will also host an exhibition of French impressionist and modernist art from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The National Palace Museum holds more than 690,000 items. More than 80% of them are from China's last dynasty, the former Qing court, which was overthrown in 1911. A second branch of the museum opened in the southern county of Chiayi in 2015, and is being expanded to enable the public to see even more of the collection's artefacts. It will have a special focus on some of the museum's rarest pieces which Taiwan terms "national treasures". (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
