North Korea 'test-fires missiles'

• 3 April 2015
 
• From the sectionAsia

North Korea frequently tests missiles at times of heightened tensions with South Korea

North Korea has test-fired four short-range missiles into the sea off its west coast, say South Korean military officials.

In a statement, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles had a range of about 140km (87 miles).

They were fired from Dongchang-ri in the north of the country on Friday afternoon local time, it said.

The North often conducts missile tests in protest at US-South Korean military drills, one of which is ongoing.

The US and South Korea say the annual exercises are for defence training purposes, but Pyongyang calls them a rehearsal for invasion. They are always a trigger for a surge in tensions between the two Koreas.

When a drill began in March, the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles, and on 13 March it fired seven ground-to-air missiles into the sea to coincide with the end of one part of the drill, Operation Key Resolve.

The current drill, Foal Eagle, is continuing.

A JCS spokesman said Friday's test "appeared to have been supervised by Kim Jong-Un", the AFP news agency reports.

The two Koreas are technically still at war as the 1950-53 conflict ended with a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.

Xi extends condolences

Xi

extends condolences to Russia over fishing trawler sinking

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a message of condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the sinking of a trawler off Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, which has led to the deaths of at least 56 people.

US Attempts to destabilise Asia bound to fail

Commentary: New U.S. attempts to stir trouble in South China Sea doomed to fail

English.news.cn   2015-04-04 13:35:44

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Recently, some U.S. military officers have repeatedly made inflammatory comments on what they called "China threat" over the South China Seaissue, aiming to stir troubles in the region. However, theses efforts are doomed to fail.

Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Harry Harris, whose country is not a party to the South China Sea disputes, claimed this week that China is "creating a great wall of sand" through land reclamation in the South China Sea.

Robert Thomas, commander of the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet has advised ASEAN countries to form a combined maritime force for joint South China Sea patrols and even called for more Japanese involvement.

In fact, it is not China, but the U.S. high-profile remarks that aroused regional concerns and threatened further instability.

China has abundant historical and legal evidence for its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea and is committed to resolving the disputes through negotiations and consultations with the countries directly concerned.

While the United States, an outsider, is itching to get involved in the South China Sea disputes despite its promise not to take sides on the issue.

It is clear that deeper U.S. involvement in the South China Sea issue and its preaching of "China threat" and efforts to drive wedges between China and some Southeast Asian nations are aimed at strengthening its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region in line with its "Pivot to Asia" strategy.

Such intentions will by no means benefit any party directly involved in the South China Sea issue nor help resolve the disputes properly.

First, Southeast Asian countries know fully well the hidden agenda behind Washington's overt enthusiasm, and thus they would not be led astray by the United States.

Second, even the countries, which have territorial and maritime disputes with China in the region, prefer seeking peaceful settlement through dialogue and consultation, rather than confrontation with China.

ASEAN and China have already proposed a joint initiative, in which they will safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea independently of other nations.

Instead of causing trouble, the United States should do something that is conducive to regional stability.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn meets Chinese Officials 3/4/2015

China's top political advisor meets Thai princess                 English.news.cn | 2015-04-03 21:44:46 | Editor: huaxia

Yu Zhengsheng (R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with visiting Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2015. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor, Yu Zhengsheng, met with visiting Thai crown princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in Beijing on Friday. Yu welcomed Sirindhorn to visit China on the eve of the 40th anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic ties. He voiced appreciation for Sirindhorn's work on strengthening the China-Thailand friendship and her contribution to deepening mutual understanding between the two peoples. Since the establishment of the new Thai government in August, the development of China-Thailand relations has maintained good momentum, Yu said, highlighting "important progress in cooperation in railways." The political advisor said the two countries have also conducted effective cooperation in trade, technology, culture and law enforcement. Sirindhorn said she will exchange views with Chinese parties on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the areas of education, culture and technology. Sirindhorn is visiting China from Friday to Monday at the invitation of the Chinese government. Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao also met with her later on Friday.

Chinese Soldiers eat pickles

Chinese soldiers: let them eat pickles?

• 4 April 2015

Passengers on the ship were apparently offered an eight course meal

A group of Chinese soldiers who only ate pickles - while the citizens they were protecting ate like kings - has prompted a wave of scorn on Chinese social media. And now the state-controlled press is fighting back.

It was supposed to be a story about heroism. This week two giant warships rescued 571 Chinese nationals stranded in Yemen, where a crisis appears to be escalating fast. The ships were manned by Chinese soldiers, who sailed their countrymen home to safety.

On Wednesday Beijing News interviewed one of the evacuees as they returned home. "While on the navy ship, the soldiers ate pickles, but we had an eight course meal, and beer as well," one man is reported to have said. "I am moved, I feel the warmth of the motherland," he went on. China's state controlled media seized on the story, seeing it as a chance to celebrate the stoicism and bravery of their troops. The government's Xinhua News Agency and other commercial outlets reworked the article and gave it a punchy new headline: "An Evacuee's experience: we eat eight courses, soldiers have pickles." Images of the passengers' feast were published as well.

Pictures of exhausted soldiers were published alongside images of the feast

Rather than being impressed, however, many Chinese people online seemed to be furious about the story. The scenes were either a misjudged publicity stunt, or simply a reflection of incompetence among senior army officials, they said. "Where is military expenditure going?" read one comment on Sina Weibo, the Chinese social network. If an eight course meal was on offer, the passengers and soldiers could've had four courses each, many pointed out, and "pickles aren't nutritious" one added. The story attracted tens of thousands of comments on Sina Weibo and on Tencent QQ, another Chinese social network.

Official media outlets didn't back away from their praise of the military, though. On Thursday the Global Times, another government-controlled newspaper, published an article via WeChat, a mobile messaging service, justifying the army's actions, and telling people to stop being "cynical". There are no shops at sea, and there's nothing wrong with good manners, it said, adding that cynics ought to hold fire. Perhaps predictably, China's net users were not amused. When the article was republished on the Tencent QQ website, it triggered 11,000 comments from readers who found the reaction bemusing.

The People's Liberation Army is the world's largest standing army. Regular BBC Trending readers will remember a similar story published last summer, in which soldiers arriving in Yunnan province in the wake of an earthquake were pictured eating dirty instant noodles because of a lack of clean water, and many online were furious at what the soldiers had to put up with . Both episodes appear to suggest a growing rift between what traditional state-controlled news media are portraying about soldiers sacrifices - and the genuine demands of its citizens to see their soldiers better provided for, at a time when spending on the Chinese military, especially on hi-tech equipment, is rising.

Reporting by Sam Judah and Zhuang Chen

Kamchatka News

Russian trawler sinks off Kamchatka with 56 dead

• 2 April 2015
 
• From the sectionEurope

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Media captionFootage showed survivors being winched into a helicopter from the deck of one of the vessels involved in the rescue

A Russian trawler has sunk off the Kamchatka peninsula, with 56 people so far confirmed dead.

Sixty-three people have been rescued, many suffering from hypothermia, according to officials in Russia's Far East, but 13 are reported missing.

The Dalniy Vostok freezer trawler had 132 people on board when it sank.

Seventy-eight of those on board were Russian and 42 were from Myanmar. The remainder were from Vanuatu, Latvia and Ukraine.

The Dalniy Vostok went down in the Sea of Okhotsk, 330 km (205 miles) west of Krutogorovsky settlement, at around 06:30 local time (20:30 GMT Wednesday).

The captain was reported to be among the dead.

The trawler sank within 15 minutes

Ice theory

A captain of one of the 26 rescue ships taking part in the search said weather conditions were poor when the trawler went down, with snow, wind and waves of up to three metres (10ft) high. The water temperature was around freezing (32F).

A spokesman said survival in such waters was possible for up to 20 minutes.

"At this time we do not know what might have caused the tragedy."

Water flooded the engine compartment and the trawler then sank within 15 minutes, a local branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.

The most likely theory, according to Russian investigators, is that the trawler may have hit some sort of obstacle because of damage near its engine room.

Emergency services suggested that drifting ice may have holed the vessel.

But a senior official in Kamchatka was quoted by Tass news agency as saying the boat foundered while trawling a 100-tonne dragnet.

Sergei Khabarov said that safety rules might have been flouted with cargo limits being exceeded.

The ship did not send out a distress call before sinking, according to local media.

The 13 people who are still missing are thought to have been in the ship's hold as the trawler sank, reported Tass.

China Protests Emergency Landing Of U.S. Warplanes In Taiwan

APRIL 02, 2015 3:12 PM ET

SCOTT NEUMAN

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U.S. F-18 fighter jets fly over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during fly exercises in the Persian Gulf. A pair of this same type of aircraft landed in Taiwan, reportedly with mechanical problems.

Hassan Ammar/AP

China is strongly protesting the apparent emergency landing of two U.S. Navy F-18 fighters at an airbase in Taiwan — the first time such an incident has occurred in three decades.

Beijing has long considered Taiwan part of its territory and the presence of U.S. warplanes there has caused unease.

"We have already made solemn representations to the U.S. side," China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told a regular news briefing.

"We require the U.S. to abide by the 'One-China Policy' ... to prudently deal with the relevant issue," Hua added.

Media in Taiwan have portrayed the incident as a first since the mid-1980s.

Taiwanese military expert Lin Yu-fang, who is also a member of parliament with the ruling Kuomintang party, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying the two jets were escorting an EA-6B Prowler, an electronics warfare aircraft, en route to the Philippines.

"Taiwan must have been considered by the United States a trusted place to make the emergency landing," Lin told AFP.

Reuters offers a bit of background:

"U.S. weapons sales in recent years to Taiwan, or indeed any formal contact between the two armed forces, have provoked strong condemnation by China, but have not caused lasting damage to Beijing's relations with either Washington or Taipei.

"China views Taiwan as a renegade province and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control.

"While Taiwan and China have signed a series of landmark trade and economic agreements since 2008, political and military suspicions still run deep, especially in democratic Taiwan, where many fear China's true intentions."