Year: 2022

North Korean Drones Befuddle South, Highlight Growing Role for Tiny UAVs

Chin@Strategy

Seoul, South Korea —  South Korea’s military expressed regret that it failed to shoot down any of the five North Korean surveillance drones that intruded into South Korean airspace, as Seoul officials vowed Tuesday to prevent future incursions. One of the drones flew as far as the northern Seoul metropolitan area Monday afternoon before returning to North Korea about three hours later. But the South’s military lost track of the other four aircraft and they have not been found, according to officials. In a statement Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs…

‘Tragic Battle’: On the Front Lines of China’s Covid Crisis

Chin@Strategy

Slumped in wheelchairs and lying on gurneys, the sickened patients crowd every nook and cranny of the emergency department at the hospital in northern China. They cram into the narrow spaces between elevator doors. They surround an idle walk-through metal detector. And they line the walls of a corridor ringing with the sounds of coughing. China’s hospitals were already overcrowded, underfunded and inadequately staffed in the best of times. But now with Covid spreading freely for the first time in China, the medical system is being pushed to its limits.…

Taiwan extends compulsory military service amid mounting tensions with China

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Taiwan will extend its compulsory military service from four months to one year amid mounting military tensions with China, the island’s president has announced. Under the plans due to come into effect in 2024, conscripts will undergo more intense training, including shooting exercises and combat instruction used by US forces. Conscripts will be tasked with guarding key infrastructure, enabling regular forces to respond more swiftly in the event of any attempt by China to invade. The announcement of the change came after Taiwan’s defence ministry reported that 71 Chinese air…

Philippine Death Toll From Christmas Rains and Floods Rises to 13

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Manila —  The death toll from Christmas Day rains in southern Philippines has risen to 13, authorities said on Tuesday, with the search still on for 23 people as floods started to recede. Most of the deaths were caused by drowning from flash floods after two days of heavy rains disrupted Christmas celebrations and forced more than 45,000 people to take shelter in evacuation centers, the disaster agency said. Images on social media show coast guard, police and fire personnel wading through waist-deep floods and carrying residents along landslide-hit areas.…

Why China’s selective Covid data adds up to public distrust

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The gap between lived reality and the official line could not have been greater. Then, in a brief statement on Sunday, the NHC said it would no longer release its case numbers. It has yet to offer a more realistic way of assessing the progress of the disease across the country, leaving residents to find their own course through an information-free zone. Advertisement The unverified document says that about 248 million people around the country were infected from December 1 to 20, accounting for around 17.56 per cent of the…

Rush to book flights as China eases Covid rules and borders set to open

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Chinese people, cut off from the rest of the world for three years by Covid-19 curbs, flocked to travel sites ahead of borders reopening, even as rising infections further strained the health system and hurt the economy. In a major step, China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from 8 January the National Health Commission said late on Monday. Asian markets rose on Tuesday on hopes for the revival of the world’s second-largest economy. Data from travel platform Ctrip showed that within half an hour of the…

Jubilant Chinese Plan Trips as Inbound COVID Quarantine Set to End

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Beijing —  People in China reacted with joy and rushed to book flights overseas Tuesday after Beijing said it would scrap mandatory Covid quarantine for overseas arrivals, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation. In a snap move late Monday, China said from January 8 inbound travelers would no longer be required to quarantine on arrival in a further unwinding of hardline coronavirus controls that had torpedoed its economy and sparked nationwide protests. Cases have surged nationwide as key pillars of the containment policy have fallen away, with authorities acknowledging…

Taiwan to Extend Conscription to One Year, Citing Rising China Threat

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Taipei, Taiwan —  Taiwan will extend compulsory military service to one year from four months from 2024 due to the rising threat the democratically governed island faces from its giant neighbor China, President Tsai Ing-wen said Tuesday. The move, which had been well-flagged ahead of time, comes as China ramps up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan to assert its sovereignty claims, including almost daily Chinese air force missions near the island over the past three years. Tsai, speaking after a national security council meeting of senior security officials,…

Taiwan to Extend Mandatory Military Service Over China Threat: Reports

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Taipei, Taiwan —  Taiwan is expected to announce Tuesday an extension in mandatory military service from four months to one year, citing the threat from an increasingly hostile China, local media reported. Self-ruled, democratic Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which considers the island a part of its territory, to be taken one day, by force if necessary. Beijing’s saber-rattling has intensified in recent years under President Xi Jinping, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine deepened fears in Taiwan that China might move similarly to annex the…