MANILA: The Philippine government said Tuesday it has filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing after Chinese jets flew dangerously close and fired a volley of flares in the path of a Philippine air force patrol plane over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
The Chinese air force jets’ hostile actions against the Philippine military’s NC-212i light transport plane Thursday over the Scarborough Shoal was the first such aerial encounter since high-seas hostilities between Beijing and Manila in the busy seaway started to flare last year.
Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. did not report any injuries or damage but condemned the Chinese actions, which he said could have had tragic consequences.
“If the flares came into contact with our aircraft, these could have been blown into the propeller or the intake or burned our plane,” Brawner told reporters. “It was very dangerous.”
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said without elaborating that a diplomatic protest has been transmitted to China.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said over the weekend that the actions by the Chinese air force jets were “unjustified, illegal and reckless.”
“We call on the government of the People’s Republic of China to cease all forms of provocative and hazardous acts that could undermine the safety of Filipino military and civilian personnel in the waters or in the skies, destabilize regional peace, and erode the trust and confidence of the international community in the PRC,” a Philippine government task force overseeing the South China Sea said Monday.
Despite the encounter, Philippine monitoring of its airspace would be intensified, the task force said.
The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said Saturday that a Philippine air force aircraft “illegally” entered the airspace above the shoal, which China claims, disrupting its combat training activities.
The command sent jets and ships to identify, track and drive away the Philippine aircraft, it added.
The command warned the Philippines to “stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up.”
The United States, Australia and Canada have reported similar actions by Chinese air force aircraft in the past in the South China Sea, where those nations have deployed forces to promote freedom of navigation and overflight.
China has bristled at military deployments by the US and its allies in the disputed region, calling it a danger to regional security.
In 2013, China announced a new Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea that covers a chain of disputed islands also claimed by Japan. Beijing said then that all aircraft entering the zone must notify Chinese authorities and they would be subject to emergency military measures if they did not identify themselves or obey orders from Beijing. However, Washington and its allies said the move was invalid and refused to recognize it.
Chinese officials had warned that Beijing could establish a similar air defense zone over the South China Sea if its sovereignty over the sea passage, a key global trade and security route, was threatened.
Jay Batongbacal, a law professor and director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines, said the air defense zone is not an exercise of territorial rights over the area it covers.
“What is happening is that they are flexing their capabilities to intimidate the Philippines, to give the impression to non-Chinese audiences and countries that they have control of the air in the South China Sea,” Batongbacal said.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage,but hostilities have particularly flared between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough Shoal and another hotly disputed atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal, since last year.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
Philippines protests Chinese air force jets’ firing of flares in the path of patrol plane
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Philippines protests Chinese air force jets’ firing of flares in the path of patrol plane
- Chinese jets flew dangerously close and fired a volley of flares in the path of a Philippine air force patrol plane
‘Things might improve’: Young Kashmiris set for first local elections in decade
- Kashmir has been without a local government since 2018
- Unemployment is about 18 percent, nearly double India’s average
NEW DELHI: Nasir Khuehami and his family have never participated in a mainstream election in Jammu and Kashmir, but he is currently campaigning to mobilize others to take part in next week’s vote — the first in a decade and taking place in a new political setting after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the region of its autonomy in 2019.
Polling will be held in stages between Sept.18 and Oct. 1 to elect a local assembly — a truncated government with a chief minister, who will serve as the region’s top official, and a council of ministers — instead of remaining under the direct rule of New Delhi.
The result will be announced on Oct. 8.
“I don’t care which regional party wins, what matters is that the people of Kashmir should have someone who is their own,” Khuehami told Arab News.
The 26-year-old national convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association is visiting different districts of the valley to mobilize students ahead of the vote.
“For the last 10 years there have been no elections in Jammu and Kashmir. In the last five years, after the abrogation of special status, even democracy was suspended, and it is bureaucrats who run the region. There has been no accountability,” he said.
“When we compare these bureaucrats with our own elected leaders, we find that our representatives are accountable, they listen to us, and they understand us ... This accessibility we miss now.”
Kashmir has been without a local government since 2018 when Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party brought down a coalition government, forcing the assembly to dissolve. A year later, Modi’s government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted the region its semi-autonomy, and downgraded it to a federally controlled territory.
Indian officials have repeatedly said that the move was aimed at tackling separatism and bringing economic development to the region, but Khuehami said people on the ground have yet to witness it.
“All the development agenda has fallen flat,” he said. “How many development activities took place, how many universities were created, how many exams were canceled? This is the reality.” He added that he was hopeful that, after the election, “things might improve.”
Ummar Jamal, a 23-year-old law student from the University of Kashmir was also looking forward to the vote, even though the powers of its elected administration will be limited, as the region is now a union territory.
“There was a sense of despondency after the abrogation of Article 370. I believe people are celebrating the election process (now). They are enjoying the celebration of democracy. I hope that after elections our representatives will be better placed to address our issues,” he said.
“Unemployment is very high. Why are the youth coming out in large numbers to campaign and vote? Somehow, they feel the public representatives may get these unemployment issues addressed.”
Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir is part of the larger Kashmiri territory, which has been the subject of international dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Both countries claim Kashmir in full and rule in part. Indian-controlled Kashmir has, for decades, witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgencies to resist control from the government in New Delhi.
The two main regional parties — the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party — are going to challenge Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress, India’s main opposition party, is in alliance with the NC.
“There is a strong sense of anti-BJP sentiment because people feel that the BJP is trying to alter the regional identity. Youngsters are supporting the regional parties like NC and PDP which are speaking the language of the people and expressing their aspirations,” said Tariq Mir, 33, a PR manager and writer based in Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest city.
“The main issue is the question of the Kashmiri identity ... People want a peaceful life with dignity.”
But they also seek new prospects, as unemployment in the region stands at around 18 percent — nearly double India’s average.
Aqib Manzoor, a law student at Central University of Kashmir, said that while many hope for the restoration of the region’s statehood, the creation of jobs in the private sector, tackling corruption, and giving them more freedom of expression are also key issues.
“Though hopes remain very high, time will tell whether these issues and concerns of youngsters will be addressed, or just remain unaddressed like in the past, when the state assembly had enough powers to bring real changes on the ground,” he said.
“The center and all parties should prepare to seize the new opportunity for the future of a prosperous state that addresses the concerns and aspirations of (those who are) the future of the nation.”
Russia, Ukraine swap 206 POWs in UAE-brokered deal
- Russian troops freed in Saturday’s swap were captured during Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region
- Announcement comes just three weeks after Russia and Ukraine swapped 115 prisoners of war each
Moscow: Russia said Saturday it swapped 103 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian POWs in an exchange deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
The Russian troops freed in Saturday’s swap were captured during Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, which began on 6 August, according to the Russian defense ministry.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Ukrainian side.
“As a result of the negotiation process, 103 Russian servicemen captured in the Kursk region were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” the Russian defense ministry said.
“In return, 103 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over.”
“At present, all Russian servicemen are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, where they are being provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance, as well as an opportunity to contact their relatives,” the ministry added.
Despite ongoing hostilities, Russia and Ukraine have managed to swap hundreds of prisoners throughout the two-and-half-year conflict, often in deals brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia or Turkiye.
The announcement comes just three weeks after Russia and Ukraine swapped 115 prisoners of war each in an exchange deal also mediated by the UAE.
Banned by Taliban, Afghan women’s voices increasingly dismissed abroad
- Afghanistan’s new ‘vice and virtue’ law bars women from raising their voice in public
- International debates on Afghan women’s rights rarely include those living in Afghanistan
KABUL: With a new Taliban law banning women from raising their voice in public, female activists in Afghanistan claim they are also being silenced in the West, where their representation is increasingly dismissed.
Regulations issued last month by the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice introduced stricter dress codes for all Afghans, but the restrictions stipulated that women not only cover themselves completely, including the face, but also conceal their voices in public.
“The government has practically ignored the voice of women and is seeking to eliminate as much of the role of women in society as possible,” Haida Akbari, a women rights activist in Kabul, told Arab News.
“The ban on women’s voices is one of the steps toward the elimination of women’s social role — neither the first nor the last.”
The rights of Afghan women have been curtailed since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, when US-led forces withdrew after two decades of war following the invasion of the country.
Women and girls have been gradually barred from attending secondary school and university, undertaking most forms of paid employment, and attending public spaces such as public parks or gyms.
Each of the restrictions has spurred condemnation and sparked debate in the West. But while these are aimed at defending the rights of women, they rarely include the voices of those facing the reality of life inside Afghanistan.
In recent discussions on the impact of the new “vice and virtue” law, a Canadian broadcaster sought a comment from a former Afghan minister, a former member of parliament, and a former government official — all living in exile.
Another international media outlet focused its coverage on comments by a male activist, and while it also invited three Afghan women to comment, not one was living in Afghanistan.
For Akbari and other female activists, such practices further erode their representation and struggle for empowerment.
“There is no doubt that a woman living inside Afghanistan who wants to continue her life inside the country is very different from someone who is outside the country,” Akbari said.
“Women inside the country want the problem to be solved, but that does not mean welcoming another war in the country ... These issues are not covered in the media.”
Adina Ranjber, director of a women-led organization OTUF, which provides skill development and employment opportunities for women in Afghanistan, said it was important that international forums offer a voice to Afghan women, especially when they were being silenced at home.
“Women’s views and demands in the country are often ignored and suppressed. It seems that there is still a long way to go for Afghan women’s views to be heard and considered. There’s a need for continued support from the international community and the media,” she told Arab News.
“Representation of women from Afghanistan in human rights discussions demonstrates respect for human rights and gender equality. This can help create a more just and equal society for both women and men.”
Ranjber said that it is not only the West that is contributing to the voices of Afghan women being sidelined on international platforms.
“One of the most important factors in the neglect of women in Afghanistan is the silence of Islamic countries and the world Muslim scholars’ unions about the issues of women in Afghanistan,” she said.
“This also gives the Western media an excuse to ignore Afghan women and add to the problem instead of solving anything.”
India’s Modi campaigns in Kashmir polls after latest soldier deaths
- Indian-administered Kashmir has been without elected government since losing its special status in 2019
- Modi claims the change has ushered in a new era of peace and economic progress to the dispute region
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Narendra Modi said “terrorism is on its last legs” in Kashmir while campaigning in the disputed territory on Saturday, a day after two soldiers were killed in a gunfight with suspected militants.
Indian-administered Kashmir has seen a rise in clashes between rebels and security forces ahead of the region’s first local assembly polls in a decade, which begin next week.
The Himalayan region in India has been without an elected local government since 2019, when Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government canceled the region’s semi-autonomy.
“The changes in the region in the last decade are nothing short of a dream,” Modi told thousands of supporters at the rally in Doda, part of Kashmir’s Hindu-majority southern region of Jammu.
“The stones that were picked up earlier to attack the police and the army are now being used to construct a new Jammu and Kashmir. This is a new era of progress, terrorism is on its last leg here,” he said.
Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claim that the government’s changes to the territory’s governance have brought a new era of peace to Kashmir and rapid economic growth.
The implementation of those changes in 2019 was accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long Internet and communications blackout to forestall protests.
Many Kashmiris are resentful of chafing restrictions on civil liberties that followed, and the BJP is only fielding candidates in a minority of seats concentrated in Hindu-majority areas.
Modi pledged at Saturday’s rally that his party would “build a secure and prosperous” Kashmir “that is free of terrorism and a haven for tourists.”
But this year’s local polls, which begin on Wednesday before results are announced next month, follow a spike in gunfights between security forces and rebels.
In the past two years, more than 50 soldiers were killed in clashes with rebels, mostly in the Jammu region.
The Indian army on Friday said that another two soldiers had died Friday during a firefight in the Kishtwar region, paying tribute to the “supreme sacrifice of the bravehearts” in a post on social media platform X.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947 and is claimed in full by both countries.
Rebels have fought Indian forces for decades, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.
About 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in the region, battling a 35-year insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels since 1989.
India accuses Pakistan of backing the region’s militants and cross-border attacks inside its territory, claims Islamabad denies.
The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought several conflicts for control of the region since 1947.
Russian forces take over village in eastern Ukraine, TASS says
Russia said on Saturday it had recaptured another village in eastern Ukraine, where it has made a string of advances.
“The locality of Jelannoe Pervoe (Jelanne Perche in Ukrainian) was freed thanks to the active and decisive operations of the southern units,” the defense ministry said.
The village is located in the Pokrovsk district, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army.
Russian forces has advanced rapidly in the eastern region of Donetsk in recent weeks, putting pressure on a Ukrainian army that is short of both soldiers and weapons.