Asia
Indian child in custody of Germany's Youth Welfare Office since Sep 2021, court rejects parents’ plea
Ariha Shah was born to Bhavesh Shah, a Gujarati software engineer, and his wife Dhara in Berlin in February 2021. Within seven months of her birth, Bhavesh and Dhara’s days of parenting came to an abrupt halt as Ariha was taken by the Jugendamt, German childcare services, on September 23, 2021, based on allegations of “assault.”
The intervention came after Ariha was taken to the hospital after she sustained injuries in her “outer genital area”. This prompted the Jugendamt to take swift action, immediately taking the child away to foster care, with her parents allowed to visit once every fortnight or so. The authorities swiftly launched an investigation into the matter and registered a case of child sexual abuse against the parents.
Ariha’s mother, however, told the media that the injury was caused by an accident by the child’s grandmother.
Also read: True story behind Rani Mukerji’s latest film “Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway”
The assault charges were withdrawn after an inquiry, but the parents were charged with negligence instead. However, the case was closed in February 2022, with no official charges filed against them, according to NDTV.
Despite this, the baby was not returned to her parents. Instead, the Jugendamt filed a civil custody case for the termination of parental rights and permanent custody of the child. Since then, the parents have been fighting a legal battle for the custody of their child, who is now over two years old.
In a recent hearing, a court in Berlin’s Pankow denied custody of 27-month-old Ariha Shah to her parents and handed her over to Germany's Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt).
Also read: Doctors advise people over 60 to stay indoors as India's northern state swelters in extreme heat
The couple had requested to the German court that their child be given to them or at least to Indian Welfare Services.
Denying the appeal, the court granted Ariha's custody to the German state on Friday and dismissed the claim of her parents that the injury sustained by her was "accidental".
In a desperate attempt to get their child back, Bhavesh and Dhara urged the Indian government to step in.
On June 3, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi urged the German authorities “to do all that is necessary to send Ariha to India at the earliest, which is also her inalienable right as an Indian national”.
Also read: At least 9 killed in ethnic clashes in India's northeast, where 100 have died in month of violence
Meanwhile, 59 members of the Indian parliament from 19 political parties, including the BJP, Congress, and the Trinamool Congress, had written a joint letter to German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann and asked him to do everything possible to ensure that Ariha was repatriated to India at the earliest, insisting that "India can well look after her own children".
This case has been noted for its similarity to that of Sagarika Chakraborty, another Indian national whose two children were taken away and placed in foster care by Norwegian authorities in 2011, accusing her of “improper parenting”. Rani Mukerji’s recent film "Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway" was based on Chakraborty’s struggle to get her children back.
Attempt to cool US-China tensions: Blinken in Beijing on high-stakes diplomatic mission
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing early Sunday on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to try to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge.
Blinken was to begin two days of talks with senior Chinese officials in the afternoon. He is the highest-level American official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years.
The trip comes after he postponed plans to visit in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S.
Yet prospects for any significant breakthrough on the most vexing issues facing the planet’s two largest economies are slim, as already ties have grown increasingly fraught in recent years. Animosity and recriminations have steadily escalated over a series of disagreements that have implications for global security and stability.
Blinken plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, top diplomat Wang Yi, and possibly President Xi Jinping on Monday, according to U.S. officials.
Biden and Xi agreed to Blinken’s trip early at a meeting last year in Bali. It came within a day of happening in February but was delayed by the diplomatic and political tumult brought on by the discovery of what the U.S. says was a Chinese spy balloon flying across the United States that was shot down.
The list of disagreements and potential conflict points is long: ranging from trade with Taiwan, human rights conditions in China to Hong Kong, as well as the Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea to Russia's war in Ukraine.
U.S. officials said before Blinken's departure from Washington on Friday that he would raise each of them, though neither side has shown any inclination to back down on their positions.
Shortly before leaving, Blinken emphasized the importance of the U.S. and China establishing and maintaining better lines of communication. The U.S. wants to make sure “that the competition we have with China doesn’t veer into conflict” due to avoidable misunderstandings, he told reporters.
Biden and Xi had made commitments to improve communications “precisely so that we can make sure we are communicating as clearly as possible to avoid possible misunderstandings and miscommunications,” Blinken said Friday.
Xi offered a hint of a possible willingness to reduce tensions, saying in a meeting with Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates on Friday that the United States and China can cooperate to “benefit our two countries."
“I believe that the foundation of Sino-U.S. relations lies in the people,” Xi said to Gates. “Under the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries, and the entire human race.”
Read: China complains to South Korean ambassador in tit-for-tat move after Seoul summoned Beijing’s envoy
Biden told White House reporters Saturday he was “hoping that over the next several months, I'll be meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have, but also how ... to get along.” Chances could come at a Group of 20 leaders' gathering in September in New Delhi and at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in San Francisco that the United States is hosting.
Since the cancellation of Blinken's trip in February, there have been some high-level engagements. CIA chief William Burns traveled to China in May, while China’s commerce minister traveled to the U.S. And Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Wang in Vienna in May.
But those have been punctuated by bursts of angry rhetoric from both sides over the Taiwan Strait, their broader intentions in the Indo-Pacific, China’s refusal to condemn Russia for its war against Ukraine, and U.S. allegations from Washington that Beijing is attempting to boost its worldwide surveillance capabilities, including in Cuba.
And, earlier this month, China’s defense minister rebuffed a request from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for a meeting on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore, a sign of continuing discontent.
Austin said Friday he was confident that he and his Chinese counterpart would meet “at some point in time, but we’re not there yet.”
Underscoring the situation, China rejected a report by a U.S. security firm, that blamed Chinese-linked hackers for attacks on hundreds of public agencies, schools and other targets around the world, as “far-fetched and unprofessional”
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson repeated accusations that Washington carries out hacking attacks and complained the cybersecurity industry rarely reports on them.
Read: US confirms China has had a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019
That followed a similar retort earlier in the week when China said Qin had in a phone call with Blinken urged the United States to respect “China’s core concerns” such as the issue of Taiwan’s self-rule, and “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and stop harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition.”
Meanwhile, the national security advisers of the United States, Japan and the Philippines held their first joint talks Friday and agreed to strengthen their defense cooperation, in part to counter China's growing influence and ambitions.
This coincides with the Biden administration inking an agreement with Australia and Britain to provide the first with nuclear-powered submarines, with China moving rapidly to expand its diplomatic presence, especially in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific island nations, where it has opened or has plans to open at least five new embassies over the next year.
The agreement is part of an 18-month-old nuclear partnership given the acronym AUKUS — for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Speaking before Blinken's departure, two U.S. officials downplayed hopes for major progress and stressed that the trip was intended to restore a sense of calm and normalcy to high-level contacts.
"We’re coming to Beijing with a realistic, confident approach and a sincere desire to manage our competition in the most responsible way possible,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific.
Kurt Campbell, the top Asia expert at the National Security Council, said "intense competition requires intense diplomacy if we’re going to manage tensions. That is the only way to clear up misperceptions, to signal, to communicate, and to work together where and when our interests align.”
Read more: A US-China war will be an ‘unbearable disaster’, world big enough for both superpowers: Chinese Defence Minister
Pakistani officials say bus accident in Salt mountain range kills 12, injures 8
A bus traveling on a highway in Pakistan's Punjab province overturned after its breaks failed Saturday killing at least 12 people and leaving eight others injured, police and health officials said.
Saqib Waheed, spokesman for the federal Motorway Police, said the bus was traveling from the capital Islamabad to the eastern city of Lahore when its breaks failed about 135 kilometers (85 miles) from the capital on a sharp turn in the Salt mountain range.
Read: Doctors advise people over 60 to stay indoors as India's northern state swelters in extreme heat
According to Kalar Kahar Town Hospital official Amjad Hussain, seven bus passengers died in the hospital. Five of the 12 dead, including women and children, died at the scene of the accident and eight injured passengers were still being treated.
Traffic accidents are common in Pakistan, where safety standards are largely compromised and traffic rules regularly violated and rarely enforced.
Read: G20: IFAD President Alvaro Lario advocates for increased investment in rural transformation
Doctors advise people over 60 to stay indoors as India's northern state swelters in extreme heat
At least 34 people have died in the past two days as a large swath of the north Indian state Uttar Pradesh swelters under severe heat, officials said Saturday, prompting doctors to advise residents over 60 to stay indoors during the daytime.
The dead were all over 60 years old and had preexisting health conditions that may have been exacerbated by the intense heat. The fatalities occurred in Ballia district, some 300 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh.
Twenty-three deaths were reported Thursday and another 11 died Friday, Ballia’s Chief Medical Officer Jayant Kumar said.
“All the individuals were suffering from some ailments and their conditions worsened due to the extreme heat,” Kumar told The Associated Press on Saturday. He said most of the deaths were because of heart attack, brain stroke and diarrhea.
Diwakar Singh, another medical officer, said these people were admitted to Ballia’s main hospital in critical condition. “Elderly people are vulnerable to extreme heat too,” he said.
Read: Heatwave likely to continue for 5 to 6 days: Met office
India Meteorological Department data shows Ballia reported a maximum temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday, which is 4.7 C (8 F) above normal.
The scorching summer has sparked power outages across the state, leaving people with no running water, fans, or air conditioners. Many have staged protests.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assured the public that the government was taking all necessary measures to ensure an uninterrupted power supply in the state. He urged citizens to cooperate with the government and use electricity judiciously.
“Every village and every city should receive adequate power supply during this scorching heat. If any faults occur, they should be promptly addressed,” he said Friday night in a statement.
The main summer months — April, May and June — are generally hot in most parts of India before monsoon rains bring cooler temperatures. But temperatures have become more intense in the past decade. During heat waves, the country usually also suffers severe water shortages, with tens of millions of its 1.4 billion people lacking running water.
Read: Severe heatwave across 4 northern districts likely to continue
A study by World Weather Attribution, an academic group that examines the source of extreme heat, found that a searing heat wave in April that struck parts of South Asia was made at least 30 times more likely by climate change.
In April, the heat caused 13 people to die at a government event in India’s financial capital of Mumbai and prompted some states to close all schools for a week.
Read more: Heatwave to continue, rain likely in Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions: BMD
G20: IFAD President Alvaro Lario advocates for increased investment in rural transformation
Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), made a strong pitch for increased investment in small-scale farmers and rural communities at the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ meeting in Hyderabad, India, from 15-17 June.
His call for greater investment in rural people echoes the recognition of G7 leaders that we urgently need more support for sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems in response to a worsening global food crisis.
Lario shared IFAD’s vision for development with G20 leaders and argued that investing in rural communities is the most cost-effective way to improve global food security and support stability.
“Despite the fact that the multiple crises are staling global progress on eradicating poverty and hunger, we can still achieve our goals,” said Lario.
Read: IFAD president visits India to advocate for small-scale farmers, rural communities at G20 meeting
“We know what works: climate-smart technologies, improved resilience, and commercially viable nature-based solutions are proven ways to build equitable, sustainable and inclusive food systems. But to realize this potential, we must invest in small-scale producers and boost the role of rural women and youth in value chains,” he added.
While in India, he also met Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar.
They discussed the reform of the financial architecture and the role the global South in this process, as well as the importance of aggregation of food producers to achieve food system transformation in India.
“India is a crucial and long-standing partner in our efforts to address hunger and poverty, empower rural women and build resilience to climate change,” said Lario.
“I am confident that under India’s presidency, the G20 will develop a roadmap to feed a hungry planet sustainably and equitably.”
Under India’s presidency, the G20 is a critical forum to increase investments in small-scale farmers, which will help them adapt to climate change, implement new practices and access markets, technologies and financial services.
Read: Bangladesh, IFAD sign financing deal for USD 31 million project to diversify agriculture
On the sidelines of the meeting, President Lario also met Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Minister of Agriculture, Bangladesh, Kang Hyoung-Seok, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Korea; Mariam Almheiri, Minister for Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates; Abdulrahman A. Alfadley, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia; Saoud Al Habsi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources; and Syahrul Yasin Limpo, Minister of Agriculture, Indonesia, IFAD said on Saturday.
Earlier this year, G7 leaders identified IFAD as a key player for global food security, expressing support to the Fund’s action towards small-scale farmers to strengthen local food production, meet local and regional food demand, build markets and reduce food loss.
IFAD supports small-scale farmers and rural small enterprises to boost agricultural productivity, adapt to climate change and build solid, reliable and pro-poor food supply chains. Between 2019 and 2021, IFAD investments raised the incomes of 77.4 million rural people while improving food security for 57 million people.
Small-scale farmers produce at least one third of the world’s food and up to 70 per cent of the food produced in low- and middle -income countries.
They are key to global food security and stability more generally, as hunger and poverty can also fuel forced migration and conflict.
Read more: Placing small-scale farmers, rural populations at heart of climate discussions: IFAD at COP 27
They are increasingly impacted by climate change, conflicts and economic shocks. But official development aid (ODA) directed at agriculture has been stagnant at 4 to 6 per cent of ODA for at least two decades, and small-scale farmers receive less than 2 per cent of global climate finance globally.
Shooting, fire at Tennessee home leads to 6 dead including 3 children
Six people including three children were found dead in a Tennessee home where police responded to a shooting and arrived to find the residence ablaze, authorities said.
A seventh person who had suffered gunshot wounds was found alive at the home in Sequatchie on Thursday night after firefighters extinguished the flames and was hospitalized in Chattanooga, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
Read: Nusrat Choudhury appointed first Bangladeshi-American federal judge
It appeared to be domestic situation that turned into a murder-suicide, Marion County Sheriff Bo Burnette told WTVC-TV.
The person authorities think is responsible is among the deceased, the bureau said.
The sheriff later identified the suspect as Gary Barnett and one of the victims as his estranged wife, Regina Barnett.
Court documents obtained by WTVC show a judge granted Regina Barnett an order of no contact against Gary Barnett that was still active after she said he had threatened to shoot her and verbally abused her.
Read: IMF slams new Pakistan budget proposal, says government failing to implement a more fair tax system
“He also has anywhere from 50 to 60 guns in his room. I am afraid he will get drunk and shoot me,” she wrote in an affidavit in December.
Autopsies on all six people will be performed in Nashville.
IMF slams new Pakistan budget proposal, says government failing to implement a more fair tax system
The International Monetary Fund slammed Pakistan's government on Thursday over its proposal for the new annual budget, saying it failed to implement a more fair tax system in the draft.
The harsh criticism by Esther Perez Ruiz, IMF's representative for Pakistan, raised new concerns about the success of monthslong talks between the cash-strapped Islamic nation and the lender over a stalled bailout tranche.
Also read: IMF slashes cash-strapped Pakistan's growth outlook to 0.5%
However, Perez Ruiz also said the IMF was offering to "work with the government in refining its strategy" for the budget.
The government in Islamabad last week presented the budget in the National Assembly, or lower house of the parliament, for the next fiscal year, starting July 1. The draft also introduced a new tax amnesty scheme and skipped some of the anticipated taxes.
The proposal was likely an attempt by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to avoid anti-inflation protests and bring relief to the poorest people.
Also read: IMF head expects less than 3% global economic growth in 2023
However, it also envisages an up to 35% increase in salaries for government employees, drawing criticism as experts questioned how the administration would generate resources for development projects and salaries at a time when the fiscal deficit was widening to an alarming level.
Lawmakers are expected to debate and vote on the budget sometime later this month.
According to Perez Ruiz, the Pakistani government is missing "an opportunity to broaden the tax base in a more progressive way, and the long list of new tax expenditures reduces further the fairness of the tax system and undercuts the resources needed for greater support for vulnerable" people.
Also read: Despite many challenges, Bangladesh remains one of the fastest growing economies in Asia-Pacific: Visiting IMF team
Pakistan had agreed with the IMF on the revival of a $6 billion bailout package, originally signed in 2019 by the former Prime Minister Imran Khan. His government was ousted in a no-confidence vote in the parliament in April 2022 and was succeeded by Sharif's Cabinet.
Perez Ruiz also said the new tax amnesty announced in the budget proposal runs against IMF program's "conditionality and governance agenda and creates a damaging precedent."
Pakistan is only two weeks left to meet IMF's conditions to qualify for the much-needed $1.1 billion tranche, on hold since November.
Also read: Safeguards are needed to protect vulnerable people under IMF-backed reforms: Debapriya
"Pakistan is still in talks" with the IMF, a visibly annoyed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said following Perez Ruiz's statement.
Pakistan is grappling with one of the worst economic crises amid higher food costs and an alarming annual inflation of nearly 30% while the weekly inflation last month was close to 45%. It is also still struggling with the aftermath of last summer's devastating floods, which killed more than 1,700 people and caused a staggering $30 billion in losses.
Also Thursday, the government in southern Sindh province, one of the worst affected by the floods, braced for Cyclone Biparjoy after it made landfall in neighboring India and was expected to reach Pakistan within hours. The government said 73,000 people had been evacuated so far from the danger areas in the cyclone's path.
Also read: Bangladesh’s GDP growth rate will overtake China’s in current fiscal year, IMF predicts
India, Pakistan brace for winds, flash flooding as Cyclone Biparjoy makes landfall
Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall on Thursday evening as a vast swath of western India and neighboring southern Pakistan braced for flash floods, heavy rain and high winds.
Rain pelted the shores and skies darkened along the Arabian Sea, while dust storms hampered evacuation and rescue work on land. Authorities expect conditions to worsen for two or three days as Biparjoy was expected to reach wind speeds gusting up to 140kmph (86mph) before slowing down in India’s Gujarat province.
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In India’s Kutch district, near Jakhau port where the cyclone made landfall, authorities were expecting significant inundations of the area. In Pakistan, Keti Bandar in the country’s flood-ravaged southern Sindh province, also lies in Biparjoy’s path.
The bazaars and beaches in Mandvi, India, usually a bustling coastal town known for its wooden boat-makers, were deserted Thursday under government shutdown orders. Heavy winds and rains uprooted some trees in the area. Local media reported that a pregnant woman was brought from Shiyalbet island to shore and admitted to a hospital.
Amid dust storms and rain, displaced families were visibly shocked at relief camps in southern Pakistan. One of the evacuees, 82-year-old Bachai Bibi from Badin district in Sindh province, said “I don’t know what will happen to my home.”
Read: Suicide rate for young adults in US was worst in over 50 years during pandemic: Study
Mohammad Ashraf, 35, said local officials helped him, his wife and three children escape from the Pakistani village of Sheikh in the storm zone.
The World Health Organization said it was supporting Pakistan’s efforts to deal with the impact of the cyclone. Pakistan's government and local aid groups delivered free food and clean drinking water to displaced people.
Thousands of people in India were evacuated, bringing the total number of people brought to relief camps there to 100,000. In Pakistan, Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik, head of the National Disaster Management Authority, said 73,000 people have been evacuated to safer places so far, and authorities were providing them with shelter and food.
The agency said Thursday the cyclone was packing winds of up to 120 kph (about 75 mph) as it barreled toward Pakistan's Sindh province, the site of one of historic deadly floods last summer. At least 1,739 people were killed and 33 million were displaced when flooding, partly induced by climate change, inundated the country, causing $30 billion in damage.
On Thursday morning, authorities said the storm had lost some of its intensity and was expected to have a maximum sustained wind speed of between 115 kph and 125 kph (71 mph to 78 mph), gusting up to 140 kph (87 mph), a slight decrease in predictions from a day earlier.
Gujarat in India was also experiencing heavy rainfall and strong winds. Indian authorities warned that the cyclone, classified as a “very severe cyclonic storm,” has the potential to inflict heavy damage.
A storm surge of two-to-three meters (two-to-three yards) above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate low-lying areas in the storm's path. The tides could rise as high as six meters (more than six yards) in some places, the India's Meteorological Department has said.
Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel told the Press Trust of India news agency that detailed preparations have been made "for post-cyclone work like restoration of electricity infrastructure, mobile networks and other infrastructure.”
The government said major religious sites in coastal Gujarat such as the Dwarkadhish temple in Devbhoomi Dwarka and Somnath temple in Gir Somnath district will remain closed Thursday. Indian railways said 76 trains have been canceled on account of the cyclone.
Because mobile networks would be among the first to be affected once a cyclone hits land, the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority engaged six ham radio teams across the coastal districts to keep communications going.
“Ham radios don’t require any mobile towers, electricity or internet to make calls and we can communicate emergency requirements using the radios. They are really useful during disaster such as this,” Kausal Jani, a ham radio operator told PTI news agency.
During 2021’s Cyclone Tauktae, ham radios proved invaluable as large sections of coastal Gujarat was without electricity for six days.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, tweeted on Wednesday that his government had taken all possible measures to ensure the safety of those at risk in southern Sindh province.
“Preparations have been made to handle any kind of emergency as a result of rains and strong winds in Karachi, while the evacuation of fishermen from the sea and the population on the coastal areas is going on rapidly,” he said.
Pakistani Climate Minister Sherry Rehman advised against panic and said Karachi, the country's largest city with 20 million people, was safe and would not be where the cyclone makes landfall, as was feared earlier.
Pakistan has so far not asked for assistance from the United Nations, which has said it was monitoring the situation. Local charities and aid agencies in both India and Pakistan were helping.
Experts say climate change is leading to an increase in cyclones in the Arabian Sea region, making preparations for natural disasters all the more urgent. Pakistan is among the top 10 countries most affected by climate change, although the country’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is less than 1%.
A 2021 study found that the frequency, duration and intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea had increased significantly between 1982 and 2019.
In 1998, a cyclone that hit Gujarat state claimed more than 1,000 lives and caused excessive damage. A cyclone that hit Sindh province and the city of Karachi in 1965 killed more than 10,000 people.
6.2 magnitude earthquake shakes part of Philippines southwest of the capital
A deep earthquake shook part of the Philippines southwest of the capital on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.
The 6.2 magnitude morning earthquake was near Hukay and about 120 kilometers (75 miles) below the surface, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Also read: Philippine villagers flee ashfall, sight of red-hot lava from erupting Mayon volcano
Deep quakes are often widely felt but with less potential to cause major damage. Hukay is about 140 kilometers (87 miles) from Manila.
The Philippines' National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries, but its assessment was ongoing.
Also read: Philippines’ Mayon Volcano spews lava down its slopes in gentle eruption putting thousands on alert
The Philippines experiences regular earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean.
Also read: Philippines evacuates people near Mayon Volcano, where more unrest indicates eruption may be coming
Mayon Volcano, the Philippines' most active, is currently erupting and though it has been gentle so far, it has still forced some 18,000 people to flee the area in the northeastern Albay province.
Taiwanese foreign minister asks for support from European countries to maintain peace, stability
Taiwan needs support from European countries to help maintain peace in the self-governed island and in the Indo-Pacific region, its foreign minister said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said China has ambitions to expand its power in the region and may not limit them to Taiwan.
“I think we need to unite with each other to curb this Chinese ambition, to ensure peace and stability over the Taiwan Strait,” Wu told reporters in the Czech capital of Prague.
Read: China defends buzzing American warship in Taiwan Strait, accuses US of provoking Beijing
Wu declined to say what other European countries he is planning to visit on his trip.
Ahead of Wu’s trip, China’s Foreign Ministry urged European countries to refrain from supporting Taiwanese separatist activities. Beijing claims Taiwan is part of its territory, to be united by force if necessary.
The Czech Republic, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognizes the “one China” principle, but maintains robust informal contacts. Taiwan’s high-tech companies are also significant investors in the Czech Republic.
Wu gave a speech at a conference on China organized by a Czech think tank immediately after it was opened by Czech President Petr Pavel. Pavel left right after his remarks without meeting Wu.
Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu said it was the "first time that a Taiwanese official has shared the stage with a head of state of a European country that has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan.“
Read: China defends buzzing American warship in Taiwan Strait, accuses US of provoking Beijing
Pavel angered China in January by having a phone conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
“I believe the world should stay fully in support of preserving the democratic arrangement in Taiwan,” Pavel said in his speech Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Wu met with Czech Senate Speaker Milos Vystrcil, who angered China by visiting in 2020.
Earlier this year, Marketa Pekarova Adamova, the speaker of the Czech Parliament’s lower house, visited Taiwan to boost ties, further angering China.
Read more: Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warns of China threats during Taiwan visit