TAIPEI: China’s local maritime authorities have issued a warning for possible rocket debris in waters northeast of Taiwan, saying ships would be banned from entering the area on April 16.
Southern Fujian province’s Maritime Safety Administration said that vessels would be prohibited from entering the waters from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on that day, according to a press release on Thursday.
The announcement comes after China held large-scale military drills that formally ended Monday in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s transit visit last week to the United States, where she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. Tensions remain high and China sent warplanes flying toward Taiwan more than 200 times over the weekend, while its navy ships circled the self-ruled island.
The announcement designates a rectangular area northeast of Taiwan in the East China Sea.
The notice sheds more light on the no-fly zone that China had warned it was setting up earlier this week. Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation said Wednesday it had received a notice from China’s Civil Aviation Administration that it would establish a control zone to “restrict flights” in parts of northern Taiwan from April 16-18, in effect setting up an area where flights would not be allowed to go.
Taiwan said it strongly protested the notice and was able to get China to reduce the flight ban time from three days to 27 minutes on the morning of April 16. It is unclear what China plans to do at that time. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it was looking into the matter but could not provide further details.
China claims Taiwan as part of its own territory, and the claim is a point of contention in Beijing’s relationship with the US, which is the island’s biggest unofficial ally. The US sells Taiwan weapons and a slew of US lawmakers have visited the island in the past year in a demonstration of support.
China warns of rocket debris in area northeast of Taiwan
https://arab.news/rraam
China warns of rocket debris in area northeast of Taiwan
- The announcement comes after China held large-scale military drills that formally ended Monday
- Tensions remain high and China sent warplanes flying toward Taiwan more than 200 times over the weekend
Sweden plans to tighten rules for gaining citizenship
- The country has for years struggled to integrate migrants, with many not learning the language and living in disadvantaged areas with higher crime and jobless rates
STOCKHOLM: Sweden said Monday it planned to tighten rules to acquire citizenship, introducing “honest living” and financial requirements, a language and general knowledge test and raising the residency requirement from five to eight years.
If approved by parliament, the new rules would enter into force on June 6, Sweden’s national holiday, and would apply even to applications already being processed.
Migration Minister Johan Forssell, whose right-wing minority government holds a majority with the backing of the far-right Sweden Democrats, told reporters it was currently too easy to acquire Swedish citizenship.
“Citizenship needs to mean more than it does today,” he said.
“Pride is something you feel when you’ve worked hard at something. But working hard is not something that has characterised citizenship.
“It has been possible to become a citizen after five years without knowing a single word of Swedish, without knowing anything about our Swedish society, without having any own income.”
Referring to a case that recently made headlines, he said: “You can even become one while you’re sitting in custody accused of murder.
“This obviously sends completely wrong signals, both to those who do right by themselves and those who are already citizens.”
Following a large influx of migrants to Sweden during the 2015 migrant crisis, successive left- and right-wing governments have tightened asylum and migration rules.
The country has for years struggled to integrate migrants, with many not learning the language and living in disadvantaged areas with higher crime and jobless rates.
Under the new rules, those who have criminal records — in their home country or in Sweden — and who have served their sentence would have to wait up to 17 years before being allowed to apply for citizenship, up from the current 10 years.
In addition, those deemed to not adhere to “honest living” requirements would not be granted citizenship.
That could include racking up mountains of debt, being served restraining orders or even having a drug addiction.
Applicants would also have to have a monthly pre-tax income of 20,000 kronor ($2,225), excluding pensioners and students.
The citizenship tests would be similar to those used in neighboring Denmark and the United States, the government said, with the first tests due to be held in August.
