Heading towards World War III?

China is using its large-scale militarily exercises around Taiwan to prepare for an invasion of the self-governed island, Taipei’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu claimed on Tuesday.

“China has used the drills and its military playbook to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Wu said during a press conference.

Beijing is engaging in “large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyber-attacks, a disinformation campaign and economic coercion in order to weaken public morale in Taiwan,” the diplomat insisted.

China launched war games including live-fire drills in six maritime areas around Taiwan last week in response to US House Speaker Nanacy Pelosi’s visit to the island.

According to the minister, the drills were still being conducted in the Taiwan Strait on Monday, despite Beijing earlier saying that they would conclude over the weekend.

“China's real intention is to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and entire region,” he claimed.

Wu labeled the exercises a “gross violation of Taiwan’s rights” and an attempt by Beijing to take control of the waters around Taiwan and the wider Asia-Pacific.

The minister was speaking after Taipei staged its own live-fire drills, simulating defence against an attack on the island.

The Chinese Defense Ministry said on Monday that the military was continuing its exercises in the waters and airspace around the island of Taiwan, mainly focusing on anti-submarine and air-to-sea assault operations.

Pelosi’s trip last week, which made her the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan since 1997, prompted a strong reaction from Beijing, which views the island as part of its territory. Aside from announcing its largest-ever military drills in the Taiwan Strait, Beijing slapped trade restrictions on Taipei and sanctioned the House speaker and her family.

Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949, but never officially declared independence from Beijing. Despite officially recognizing the One China policy, the US maintains strong unofficial ties with the island of 23.5 million, selling weapons to Taipei and supporting its push for sovereignty.

www.rt.com/news/560501-china-taiwan-drills-invasion

The war in Ukraine began with Crimea and must end with its liberation, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Ukraine's president was speaking after a string of explosions hit a Russian airbase there, killing one person.

Mr Zelensky did not mention Tuesday's blasts but said: "Crimea is Ukrainian and we will never give it up."

Russia's defence ministry said ammunition detonated at the base. Meanwhile, Ukraine denied any responsibility for the explosions.

In a separate development, Ukrainian officials say 13 people were killed in overnight Russian strikes in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, and another one in the Zaporizhzhia region in the south.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62487303

Russia’s Defense Ministry has released an official statement on the explosions at the Saki military airfield on the Crimean Peninsula, explaining that the incident was caused by the detonation of aviation munitions stored at the site.

The blasts occurred near the city of Novofedorovka on Tuesday afternoon, with locals reporting hearing several explosions coming from the airfield and sharing videos online showing smoke coming from the area. According to eyewitnesses, the blasts had knocked out the windows in houses near the airfield.

Moscow has stated that no one has been injured in the explosion and that none of the aviation equipment at the airfield was damaged by the blasts.

“Measures are being taken to extinguish the fire and find out the causes of the explosion. According to a report from the site, there was no fire impact on the bunded ammunition storage area at the airfield,” the Defense Ministry said.

Local authorities have said that all necessary measures have been strengthened to ensure the safety of infrastructure facilities and of the population near the airfield.


Novofedorovka is located on the coast of Crimea about 40 kilometers northwest of the regional capital, Simferopol. The Saki air base is on the outskirts of the settlement and some personnel live in the town.

During Soviet times the airfield was a training center for pilots of aircraft carrier jets. The Russian navy has been using it to train pilots since Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014.

www.rt.com/russia/560535-crimea-airfield-explosions-russia

The deployment of US atomic weapons on the territory of non-nuclear NATO members goes against the nonproliferation treaty (NPT), increases the risk of conflict, and hinders disarmament efforts. This was the message the Russian delegation delivered to the UN conference on nuclear nonproliferation in New York, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Tuesday.

“NATO openly declared itself a nuclear alliance. There are US nuclear weapons on the territory of non-nuclear allied states in the bloc,” said Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy director for nonproliferation and arms control at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In contravention of Articles I and II of the NPT, non-nuclear members of NATO are taking part in “practical testing” of the use of atomic weapons, Vishnevetsky added. Such actions “not only continue to be a significant factor negatively affecting international and European security, but also increase the risk of nuclear conflict and generally act as a brake on efforts in the field of nuclear disarmament.”

Moscow’s position is that “US nuclear weapons must be withdrawn to national territory, the infrastructure for their deployment in Europe must be eliminated, and NATO’s ‘joint nuclear missions’ must be terminated,” Vishnevetsky told the UN conference, according to a transcript posted by the Foreign Ministry.

The US Air Force currently has an estimated 150 nuclear bombs at NATO bases in Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands.

www.rt.com/news/560554-russia-nato-nuclear-conflict

Beijing wants peaceful reunification with Taiwan, but foreign powers meddling in Chinese domestic affairs and encouraging secession on the self-ruled island may make this impossible, a Chinese white paper has said.

“We will work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification. But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures,” said the policy document, which was released on Wednesday.

The contingency is necessary “to guard against external interference and all separatist activities,” according to the paper, and does not target “our fellow Chinese in Taiwan.” Beijing stated that it would resort to violence only if forced to do so in the event of other parties crossing its red lines.

The white paper sets out China’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan, based on history, international law and the aspirations of the people of China. It said cross-strait relations have vastly improved over the decades. Beijing sees peaceful reunification under the “one country, two systems” arrangement – which would allow Taipei to preserve its domestic policies – as the ultimate goal of its Taiwan policy.

The ongoing escalation of tensions goes against the objectively beneficial path of reconciliation, the Chinese government said, blaming it on anti-Chinese forces in the US. They work “to incite groups inside Taiwan to stir up trouble and use Taiwan as a pawn against China,” it said.

“Left unchecked, [this effort] will continue to escalate tension across the straits, further disrupt China-US relations, and severely damage the interests of the US itself,” the paper warned. Beijing “will leave no room for separatist activities in any form” in Taiwan, it added.

Taiwan’s administration under the ruling Democratic Progressive Party has “adopted a separatist stance, and colluded with external forces in successive provocative actions designed to divide the country,” the paper asserted.

It compared the separatist drive to the capture of Taiwan by Imperial Japan at the end of the 19th century, which became a rallying point for Chinese nationalism. Any attempt to take the island from China would go against the will of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, including the 23 million living in Taiwan itself, the document stated.

Taiwan was the last bastion of Chinese nationalist forces during the civil war of the 1940s, which their communist opponents won. The US backed the nationalists and maintained informal relations with Taipei even after switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.

The white paper was published a week after the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, paid a visit to Taiwan despite objections from Beijing. The trip triggered a diplomatic crisis between the two nations and prompted China to launch military exercises around the island.

www.rt.com/news/560572-taiwan-reunification-white-paper

Helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia comes at a price for Europe, which citizens should be willing to pay, the EU’s foreign policy chief has said. A Russian victory would be Europe’s loss, Josep Borrell believes.

“We must explain to our citizens that this is not someone else’s war,” the diplomat said in an interview published by newspaper El Pais on Thursday. “The public must be willing to pay the price of supporting Ukraine and for preserving the unity of the EU.

“We are at war. These things are not free,” he added, acknowledging that the cost should be distributed “equitably.”

Borrell was referring to surging inflation and potential power shortages faced by European nations after deciding to punish Russia for attacking Ukraine by refusing to buy its energy. Brussels wants member states to cut consumption to be better prepared for peak demand this winter, but some countries have resisted the proposal.

Spain, Borrell’s home country, was among the dissenting voices. Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said last month that “imposing unfair sacrifices” was not the best way to deal with the crisis. She argued that, unlike people in some other nations, “Spaniards have not lived beyond our means from an energy point of view.”

Europeans “cannot show a lack of solidarity” with such squabbles, Borrell said in the interview. He admonished Madrid for not appreciating “what this war represents to countries closest to it,” like Poland. Spain may benefit from the EU’s decoupling from Russia in the long run by becoming a major hub for supply of liquified natural gas to Europe, he added.

Borrell warned that Europe should be prepared for the conflict in Ukraine to continue for a long time. Commenting on European goals in the conflict, he said that “if Russia wins this war and occupies part of the Ukrainian territory, then we Europeans will have lost and will face a much greater threat.”

www.rt.com/news/560627-eu-pays-ukraine-price