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Russia suspends deliveries of S-400 missiles to Beijing
World

Russia suspends deliveries of S-400 missiles to Beijing

In a major setback to China, Russia has announced suspension of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to Beijing and said the resumption of further deliveries is yet to be ascertained.The Russian side could not name the timing for the resumption of deliveries. It has been almost five months since the supplies have stopped,” UAWire reported quoting Chinese newspaper Sohu.“This time, Russia announced the postponement of the delivery of missiles for the Chinese S-400 system. To a certain extent, we can say that it is for the sake of China. Getting a gun is not as easy as signing an invoice after receiving a weapon,” it further said.“They say that the work on delivering these weapons is quite complicated. While China has to send personnel for training, Russia also needs to send a lot of technic
No contradictions between PM Modi’s remarks and Defence Ministry’s report
World

No contradictions between PM Modi’s remarks and Defence Ministry’s report

There are no contradictions between the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in June and the Defence Ministry's report about the situation along LAC in Eastern Ladakh, top government sources said. The sources said confusion was being created by the parties with vested interests to misrepresent Prime Minister Modi's remarks at the All-Party Meeting on June 19 Such anti-national elements are using the Defence Ministry report for "insidious purpose" and efforts are being made to conflate the MoD report with PM's statement of June 19 "are obviously politically motivated". This report has information about the transgressions by China into Indian territory at different locations in eastern Ladakh. Sources said such attempts by miscreants just bolster the power of the adversaries who are rattl
South China Sea is not China’s maritime empire, says Pompeo backing ASEAN
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South China Sea is not China’s maritime empire, says Pompeo backing ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) statement calling out China to resolve the South China Sea dispute in line with the international law was welcomed by the United States with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo tweeting about it.“The United States welcomes ASEAN Leaders’ insistence that South China Sea disputes be resolved in line with international law, including UNCLOS (United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea). China cannot be allowed to treat the SCS as its maritime empire. We will have more to say on this topic soon,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter.After the 36th ASEAN summit, a joint statement was issued by the members of ASEAN expressing concerns over the current situation in the South China Sea.The bloc leaders stressed the importance of maintaining and promotin
Australia backs US in declaring Chinese claims over South China Sea ‘illegal’
World

Australia backs US in declaring Chinese claims over South China Sea ‘illegal’

In a formal declaration to the United Nations, Australia has backed the United States in declaring Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea as illegal, aligning itself more closely with Washington in the escalating row.Australia said there was "no legal basis" to several disputed Chinese claims in the sea including those related to the construction of artificial islands on small shoals and reefs."There is no legal basis for China to draw straight baselines connecting the outermost points of maritime features or 'island groups' in the South China Sea, including around the 'Four Sha' or 'continental' or 'outlying' archipelagos."Australia rejects China's claim to 'historic rights' or 'maritime rights and interests' as established in the 'long course of historical practice' in the S
US says Chinese fugitive researcher taken into its custody, was part of espionage network
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US says Chinese fugitive researcher taken into its custody, was part of espionage network

United States government officials have revealed that the Chinese fugitive researcher, who had been hiding in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco following visa fraud allegations is now in custody.Tang Juan, the scientist who said that she was focusing on biology, "was a fugitive from justice until last night," a senior Justice Department official said. While Tang has been charged, the circumstances of her arrest were unclear. However, she has not been charged with espionage.The development came hours before the US' deadline for China to shut down its consulate in Houston, leading to a retaliatory move from Beijing by demanding Washington to shutter its consulate in Chengdu.In July, prosecutors said that Tang hid her connection to the Chinese military for entering the US, by lying to fe...
Give Thai youth movement a chance
World

Give Thai youth movement a chance

Give Thai youth movement a chance A large number of students turn up at a rally at Democracy Monument in the capital organised by Free Youth on July 18.(Photo by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul) The coronavirus reprieve for the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is ironically over as Thailand's youth movement for political change has resumed in earnest. When the virus pandemic peaked in March and April, it necessitated a hard-line government response that featured lockdowns and severe restrictions on public assembly and other civil liberties. The younger voices who had earlier called for change in flash mobs on campuses nationwide had no choice but to look after themselves and bide their time. Now, they are back because local Covid-19 infections are under control, thanks to the gov...
Monetary policy should remain accommodative, says BoT
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Monetary policy should remain accommodative, says BoT

Monetary policy should remain accommodative, says BoT The central bank has advised that monetary policy should remain accommodative for some time to support Southeast Asia's worst performing economy through the coronavirus pandemic and help inflation return to target. The Monetary Policy Committee expects headline inflation - projected at minus 1.7% this year - to get back to the 1%-3% target range in the second quarter of 2021, the The Bank of Thailand said in an open letter to the finance minister dated July 8 and released late on Thursday. Over the next 12 months, average inflation was projected at minus 0.9%, the BoT said, adding supply-side pressures would remain low as a slow global economic recovery continued to weigh on world energy prices. "The accommodative monetary policy sh...
‘Slave monkey’ scandal forces rethink of coconut trade
World

‘Slave monkey’ scandal forces rethink of coconut trade

‘Slave monkey’ scandal forces rethink of coconut trade A monkey picks coconuts at the Khlong Noi Monkey Training School in Muang district, Surat Thani province, in October last year. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill) Thailand, the world’s top producer of coconut milk, said it will enable retailers and consumers to trace coconuts back to their source to show whether monkeys have been used for harvesting. The $400-million industry, which relies on monkeys at some plantations, is facing possible boycotts in the US, Europe and Australia after the People of the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known as Peta, alleged that monkeys are being abused and “treated like coconut picking machines” for Thai growers and producers. Officials from the country’s commerce ministry, animal welfare agency
Chinese Consulate in Houston epicenter of espionage: Texas Congressman
World

Chinese Consulate in Houston epicenter of espionage: Texas Congressman

Texas Congressman Michael McCaul has alleged that China’s Consulate General, which the US has ordered to close, is the epicenter of Beijing’s espionage in terms of stealing US’ bio-medical research.“We had three scientists at M.D Anderson that were fired due to allegations of espionage,” McCaul said.The Congressman said the Chinese are actively trying to steal the vaccine for COVID-19.“We also have vaccine research going on at the Texas Medical Centre. We know that they are actively trying to steal that vaccine so that they can claim to the world they have saved them from the very virus they are responsible for,” said McCaul.“…Just like in San Francisco case where you have a scientist under the PLA, their military, come in and now take refuge in that consulate is really unprecedented, but
Singaporean pleads guilty to working for Chinese intelligence
Singapore, World

Singaporean pleads guilty to working for Chinese intelligence

The US Department of Justice in a statement on July 24 said that a Singaporean national has pleaded guilty to using his political consultancy in the United States as a front to collect information for Chinese intelligence.The department said that Jun Wei Yeo, who is also known as Dickson Yeo, entered his plea in federal court in Washington, DC to one charge of operating illegally as a foreign agent. “Yeo was central to a Chinese government scheme to obtain sensitive information from US citizens,” the department said."In response to taskings from his Chinese intelligence contacts, Yeo worked to spot and assess Americans with access to valuable non-public information, including US military and government employees with high-level security clearances," it said.“He then paid some of those indi