World

US defense chief slams China’s drive for hypersonic weapons

America’s defense chief rebuked China on Thursday, vowing to confront its potential military threats in Asia and warning that its pursuit of hypersonic weapons intended to evade US missile defenses “increases tensions in the region.”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s stern comments after annual security talks with South Korea, a top US ally, are a window into one of the Biden administration’s top foreign policy worries: How should Washington and its partners contain a Chinese military that is strengthening — both in sheer firepower and in confidence — as it pursues an end of American dominance in Asia?

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China sees much of Asia as its natural sphere of influence. But many in the region warn of a pattern of Chinese interference, accompanied by moves to acquire the weapons needed to dominate its rivals. Austin’s comments were directed at China’s July test of a hypersonic weapon capable of partially orbiting Earth before reentering the atmosphere and gliding on a maneuverable path to its target.

Experts say the weapons system is clearly designed to evade US missile defenses, although China insisted it was testing a reusable space vehicle, not a missile.

“We have concerns about the military capabilities that the PRC continues to pursue, and the pursuit of those capabilities increases tensions in the region,” Austin said about the hypersonic weapons test, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China, the country’s official name.

“We’ll continue to maintain the capabilities to defend and deter against a range of potential threats from the PRC to ourselves and to our allies,” he said.

The Pentagon released on Monday the results of a global posture review that calls for additional cooperation with allies to deter “potential Chinese military aggression and threats from North Korea.”

Last month, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States is also working on hypersonic weapons.

But there is worry in Washington that it is lagging behind China and Russia in pursuing these types of weapons. Russia said Monday its navy successfully tested a prospective hypersonic cruise missile.

Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, could pose crucial challenges to missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability. But some experts argue that hypersonic weapons would add little to America’s ability to deter war and worry that they could trigger a new, destabilizing arms race.

Austin also addressed another major US worry: North Korea.

He said that he agreed with South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook that the North’s growing weapons program “is increasingly destabilizing for regional security.” Austin said the allies remain committed to a diplomatic approach to North Korea.

Suh said the two agreed on a document updating joint contingency plans in the event of a war on the peninsula to reflect changes in North Korean threats and other conditions, but didn’t elaborate on the document’s details.

North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is believed to have grown significantly in recent years.

After a series of high-profile missile and nuclear tests in 2016-17, North Korea claimed to have the ability to launch nuclear strikes on the American homeland. According to a 2018 South Korean estimate, North Korea has built up to 60 nuclear weapons.

Despite severe economic hardships related to the pandemic, North Korea has continuously rebuffed US offers to resume disarmament talks, saying Washington must first abandon its hostility. The Biden administration maintains that international sanctions on North Korea will stay in place until the country takes concrete steps toward denuclearization.

The United States stations about 28,500 soldiers in South Korea to deter potential aggression from North Korea. During Thursday’s meeting, Austin highlighted a US commitment to maintain the current level of US forces, according to a joint statement.

The alliance, forged during the 1950-53 Korean War, was tested in recent years as then-President Donald Trump threatened to pull US troops out of South Korea if Seoul did not drastically increase its financial support for them. Trump also repeatedly complained of the cost of regular military drills between Washington and Seoul.

Such concerns have eased since President Joe Biden took office in January. But the alliance still faces challenges such as Seoul’s historical disputes with Japan, another key US regional ally, and its hesitation to join US-led initiatives targeting China, its biggest trading partner.

Austin and Suh pledged to continue trilateral cooperation involving Japan. But they didn’t elaborate on how South Korea and Japan could overcome tensions stemming largely from Tokyo’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

World

Senegal president orders probe into deadly protests, offers dialogue with opposition

Senegal’s president has ordered an investigation to determine who was responsible for protests by supporters of a political opponent that turned deadly last week but said he was open to consulting with the parties involved.

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President Macky Sall made his first remarks about the unrest while speaking at a council of minister’s meeting on Wednesday. At least 16 people, including members of the security forces, were killed, according to the government. The opposition says at least 19 were killed.

“The president of the republic has strongly condemned these extremely serious attacks against the state, the republic and its institutions,” government spokesman Abdou Karim Fofana said. He said the protests had included violence, looting and cyber-attacks, “the aim of which was undoubtedly to sow terror and bring our country to a standstill.”

Clashes between some protesters and police erupted after opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was convicted of corrupting youth but acquitted on charges of raping a woman who worked at a massage parlor and making death threats against her.

Sall is open to dialogue and consultations with all the “nation’s driving forces, in keeping with the rule of law and our shared desire to live together in peace, stability and solidarity,” Fofana said.

Sonko, who didn’t attend his trial in Dakar, hasn’t been seen or heard from since his conviction and sentencing to two years in prison. Sonko’s house in the capital is heavily guarded by security forces, and his lawyers say they’ve been denied access to him.

The prison sentence could undermine Sonko’s chances of running in Senegal’s presidential election next year. He is considered Sall’s main competition. Sonko has urged Sall to state publicly that he won’t seek a third term in office.

The constitution limits presidents to two five-year terms, but Sall argues that an amendment adopted in 2016 allows him to reset the clock and seek another term.

Analysts said that Sall’s comments were a positive step toward quelling tensions but he would need to go further to restore calm.

“His statement last night seemed to be a part of a strategy that worked well in the past, staying silent at the height of the protests to not inflame tensions and then sending a conciliatory message to the public,” Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at global risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft said.. “(But) Sall’s statement hasn’t addressed the elephant in the room. The question of whether he will pursue a third term, which is the root cause of the tension, has been left unanswered.”

Since the clashes erupted, critics have accused Sall’s government of a heavy-handed response.

It temporarily suspended mobile phone data and access to some social media sites, such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, which it said was being used to incite violence. Rights groups, civilians and the opposition accused security forces of violently cracking down on protestors, arbitrarily arresting people and deploying armed civilians along with the regular officers.

The Associated Press spoke to two families that said that had relatives die gunshot wounds as a result of the demonstrations. The AP cannot independently verify either cause of death. The government said armed men infiltrated the protests and were not part of the security forces.

“The recent deaths and injuries of protesters set a worrying tone for the 2024 presidential elections and should be thoroughly investigated, with those responsible held accountable,” said Carine Kaneza Nantulya, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should end the repression against protesters and critics, and guarantee freedom of assembly.”

The international community has called on Senegal, regarded as a beacon of political stability in a region rife with coups, to find a way to restore the peace.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated US support for Senegal’s people and its democratic values, according to a State Department spokesperson.

While a cautious calm returned to the country this week, with meditations being facilitated by religious leaders, who hold strong sway, there are fears that if Sonko is taken to jail, or if Sall announces that he’ll run for a third term, deadly fighting will erupt again.

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World

Russia accuses Ukraine of ‘blatant lies’ about Crimea discrimination, MH17

Russia on Thursday denied Ukrainian accusations that it backed pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and discriminates against ethnic Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea, accusing Kyiv instead of “blatant lies” at the UN’s top court.

Ukraine has asked the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Russia to halt alleged discrimination against the Tatar ethnic group in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014.

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“Ukraine is constantly turning to blatant lies and false accusations leveled against the Russian federation,” the Russian ambassador to the Netherlands, Alexander Shulgin, said at the second day of hearings at the ICJ.

“Nothing could be further removed from the truth,” he said.

In the same case, a panel of 16 judges at the ICJ this week began hearing Ukraine’s assertion that Moscow violated a UN anti-terrorism treaty by equipping and funding pro-Russian forces, including militias who shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, killing all 298 passengers and crew in 2014.

Last November, a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist in absentia for their role and sentenced them to life in prison. It found that Russia had “overall control” over the separatist forces.

Russia rejected what it called the “scandalous” decision by the Dutch court. On Thursday Russia’s ambassador-at-large Gennady Kuzmin told the ICJ the Dutch judgment was biased against separatist forces in the Donetsk region.

“At the end of the day, Ukraine’s MH17 case boils down to nonsense,” Kuzmin said.

The hearings in the case at the ICJ, which stems from 2017, marked the first time lawyers for Ukraine and Russia met at the ICJ since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

On the first day of the hearing Ukraine accused Russia of being a terrorist state who knowingly funded and equipped pro-Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine and tried to erase the culture of ethnic Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea.

Russia denies systematic human rights abuses in Ukrainian territory that it occupies.

Ukraine will have a chance to reply to Russia’s case next week. The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, is expected to rule on the whole of the case before the end of this year.

The ICJ is the United Nations top court for disputes between states and its rulings are binding but have no enforcement mechanism.

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World

Indian police intensify sexual abuse probe against wrestling chief

Indian police have questioned more than 155 people in a widening investigation of sexual harassment accusations against the chief of the national wrestling body, a police source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

The government has set a June 15 deadline to wrap up the investigation after the accusations made by the country’s wrestlers in January against the official, who is also a member of parliament from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political party.

The wrestlers camped outdoors in New Delhi for months to protest against a lack of action, but police cleared the site and detained some of the Olympic medalists when they threatened to march on India’s new parliament building last month.

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“We are recording statements and gathering evidence from everyone directly and indirectly attached with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI),” said a New Delhi police official who is overseeing the investigation.

“The aim is to wrap up all sides of the police inquiry this week,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He added that 155 people had been examined as the effort widens.

A police spokesman declined to comment on the figure during a continuing investigation.

A lawyer for Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the WFI, said his client was innocent and rejected the accusations. A six-time MP, Singh is set to hold a rally in his northern constituency on Sunday to seek public support.

The protest, and police action against top athletes, shone a spotlight on the government’s delay in tackling the complaint against a member of the ruling party.

Police complaints reviewed by Reuters showed seven female athletes, including a minor, detailed harassment by Singh.

At a meeting with the protesting wrestlers on Wednesday, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur promised swift action and efforts to boost safety for female wrestlers, along with fair elections to appoint a new chief of the body.

“It’s been a deeply humiliating experience at multiple levels but we will continue our fight if the government fails to provide justice,” said protest leader Bajrang Punia, who took the men’s 65 kg freestyle bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Punia, another Olympic medalist, Sakshi Malik and Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat had to be talked out of plans to dump their medals in a river in protest on May 30.

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