Taiwan scrambled to warn away the Chinese planes and deployed missile defense systems to monitor them. While Washington publicly urged Beijing to stop (Reuters) its “provocative” actions on Sunday, China’s foreign ministry said it was the United States’ warships in the Taiwan Strait and arms sales to the island that were provocative.
Analysis
“Analysts said while the large-scale sorties were a show of force to Taiwan and the United States, they also showed the [Chinese military’s] joint combat abilities, including the ability to mobilise warplanes from different military zones on the mainland and to operate at night,” the South China Morning Post’s Lawrence Chung writes.
“Amid almost daily intrusions by the [Chinese] People’s Liberation Army, our position on cross-strait relations remains constant: Taiwan will not bend to pressure, but nor will it turn adventurist, even when it accumulates support from the international community,” Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen writes in Foreign Affairs.
Japan’s Kishida Announces Cabinet, Calls Elections October 31
Kicking off his tenure as prime minister yesterday, Fumio Kishida also spoke with (Kyodo) U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The approval for Kishida’s cabinet stands at 55.7 percent, compared to 66.4 percent when his predecessor Yoshihide Suga took office, Kyodo found.
South and Central Asia
China to Invest $3.5 Billion in Pakistani Port Project
The project in Karachi represents a shift away (Nikkei) from China’s investments in the Pakistani city of Gwadar, which is in a region beset by separatist violence.
This Independent Task Force report discusses China’s massive infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative.
Sri Lanka: Prosecutors indicted (AFP) the alleged planner of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings as well as twenty-four of his alleged collaborators.
Middle East and North Africa
UN Probe Finds Grounds for War Crimes Allegations in Libya
Investigators commissioned by the United Nations’ human rights body said they found evidence (AP) of murder, torture, extrajudicial executions, rape, and enslavement committed since Libya’s civil war began in 2011.
Lebanon: The country has resumed talks (FT) with the International Monetary Fund about reforms to address its economic crisis, government officials said. Previous talks with creditors stalled after the August 2020 Beirut port explosion.
Sudanese Officials Say Suspected Islamist Militants Died in Raid
The Sudanese military said that four people killed in a raid (Al Jazeera) in the capital, Khartoum, yesterday were suspected members of the self-declared Islamic State.
Ethiopia: Seven UN officials that Ethiopia ordered to leave the country for “meddling” in internal affairs departed for safety reasons (VOA), a UN spokesperson said.
Blinken, Macron Discuss U.S.-France Security Coordination at OECD Talks
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French President Emmanuel Macron met on the sidelines of today’s meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and discussed possible joint security projects that could be announced later this month, an unnamed U.S. official told the Associated Press.
France: An inquiry commissioned by the French Catholic Church found that clergy members have sexually abused (BBC) 216,000 children, mostly boys, since 1950.
Americas
Venezuela to Reopen Border With Colombia
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said it is time to “turn the page” (AFP) after Caracas closed land borders with Colombia two years ago amid diplomatic tensions.
Canada: Officials invoked a 1977 treaty with the United States in an effort to shut down (Bloomberg) the U.S. state of Michigan’s challenge to a Canadian company’s planned gas pipeline.
For Foreign Affairs, Darren Linvill and Patrick Warren argue that companies such as Facebook can do more to expose the actions of authoritarian regimes.
