‘My entire family was gone’: Aceh thrives 20 years after tragic tsunami, but anguish remains

By:
On:
In: Asia

Countries have since improved their earthquake and tsunami planning, including having early warning systems and rigid building codes, according to Earth science professional Don Melgar of the University of Oregon.  

“The truth is that with increasing sea levels, tsunami impacts will become progressively deadlier, ” he told CNA’s Asia First on Monday ( Dec 23 ).  

“That’s things that we’re starting to take into account when we make arrangements and estimates. ”

There is also greater local engagement, including data posting, he added.  

“That’s not something that was happening in 2004,” said Melgar. So that makes it simpler to warn people when quakes occur.  

Additionally, it makes it simpler to exchange knowledge and information in the form of computer models, training, and preparations, but that, nevertheless, the whole region can be strengthened and made more resilient than just this or that nation. ”

He cautioned against complacency when preparing for the next big hazard.  

“We’re in a better place, but we’re not at our place, ” he said.

“We may think about our kids and our children’s children. That’s the kind of thinking that will enable us to prevent tragedies like the one from 2004 from occurring again. ”

Continue Reading

FAQ: Why did SingPost fire three of its senior executives?

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

WHO IS INVOLVED? &nbsp,

SingPost fired its party executives Vincent Phang, Vincent Yik, and Vincent Yik, the group’s chief financial officer, and Li Yu, the group’s executive in charge of the company’s global business system. &nbsp,

Mr Phang initially joined SingPost in 2019 as the CEO for post service and Singapore, which comprises article, piece and shipping. In September 2021, he was sworn in as the SingPost party CEO. &nbsp,

According to his account on SingPost’s website, the team expanded into Australia under his command and developed its cross-border e-commerce transportation business worldwide. &nbsp,

He previously served as the organization’s deputy president, working for the Workplace Safety and Health Council, and held top management positions at ST Logistics and Toll. &nbsp,

In accordance with his legal responsibilities, Mr. Phang was also asked to retire as a producer of SingPost and all of its related companies as a result of the disciplinary trials.

Before joining SingPost in December 2021, Mr Yik was CFO at OUE Lippo Healthcare. &nbsp,

He recently held a number of important administrative positions, including those at Far East Orchard and Australia Properties of Far East Organization, Sydney, as well as the Singapore unit of Australia &amp, New Zealand Banking Group. His page on the SingPost website reveals that he also held these positions.

In September 2022, Mr. Li was appointed as the CEO of SingPost’s global business system. He has worked in North America and Shanghai and formerly oversaw international logistics and supply for Asia-Pacific at the United Parcel Service. &nbsp,

HOW DID THEY RESPOND? &nbsp,

Mr Phang and Mr Yik have indicated that they will “vigorously battle” their termination, both on virtues and on the grounds of legal discrimination, said SingPost. &nbsp,

The two stated in a press statement on Monday night that the SingPost board’s decision to terminate them was disappointing and that they disagree with it. &nbsp,

” It is our place that the dismissal is without qualities, and was also randomly unjust”, the statement read. &nbsp,

According to them, the internal audit of the independent group investigates all reporting cases in accordance with company coverage. &nbsp,

They “dutifully presented the case to GIA to check, providing it with the required room and latitude to do its analysis”, said Mr Phang and Mr Yik in their joint declaration. &nbsp,

The table alleged that the case’s “material information” had not been taken into account. The causal relationship and effect were not immediately established, they claimed, because the facts changed over time.

” We had responded to inquiries based on the information that was being sought at the time while keeping the separate research that was being conducted.” We acted quickly after the relationship and effect had been established” .&nbsp,

The two men said they” absolutely accept” any suggestion that they had acted improperly, had been acting badly, or had attempted to portray facts. &nbsp,

” We have consistently acted in the best interests of the company and adhered to the highest specifications of leadership and management during our time at SingPost,” the firm said.” We does pursue legal action against any claims the contrary.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR SINGPOST? &nbsp,

SingPost stated that it would make an announcement regarding the nomination of a new class CEO in due course. &nbsp,

The latest CFO of its Asian company, Mr Isaac Mah, will be the new team CFO. &nbsp,

Board president Simon Israel may “provide more guidance to and training greater supervision of the top management leadership team in the company” in the interim.

Post services will not be affected, SingPost added. &nbsp,

In the midst of a table review, an acting Director will be chosen to lead the international business unit. A fresh chief professional is not being considered at this time, according to SingPost. &nbsp,

A settlement amount in lieu of penalties has also been agreed upon with the buyer who was the subject of the reporting statement and investigation findings.

Following the settlement, the company said that its relationship with the client “has never suffered a significant loss.” &nbsp,

Continue Reading

‘New approach to addressing corruption’: Indonesia plans to pardon graft convicts who return stolen assets

By:
On:
In: Asia

In what a minister called” a fresh approach” to combating corruption, Indonesia plans to forgive graft criminals and suspects who agree to transfer stolen goods to the state.

According to Chief Legal Affairs Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, the main goal of the new strategy is to recover stolen goods for public use.

We want legislation enforcement to use the stolen funds to benefit the people by returning them to the state’s funds. What is the advantage of our people if bone criminals are just put in jail? Minister Yusril made the announcement to BTV last Friday ( Dec 20 ).

Some critics have disputed the idea, which President Prabowo Subianto brought up on Wednesday ( 18 December ) during his trip to Egypt ). &nbsp,

Mr. Prabowo said his government does offer ways for graft suspects and convicts to covertly returning what they stole in the coming weeks or months.

I’m allowing them to turn their heads. Hey you corrupters, or those who feel that you have stolen from the people, if you return what you stole, we may pardon you, but please return it”, Prabowo said in a statement at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University that was attended by thousands of Indonesian college students. &nbsp,

The government is working on a presidential order, which will include a date, according to Minister Yusril.

According to Yusril,” The political pardon may be granted if they return the stolen goods by August 1, 2025 at the latest,” according to news outlet Jakarta Globe. The president has the authority to forgive criminals or suspects under Article 14 of the 1945 Constitution, which supersedes legal norms, noted Yusril.

He claimed that the broader program aimed at addressing the nation’s overcrowded prisons is the cause of the proposed forgive of bone criminals. &nbsp,

Earlier this month, it was reported that Prabowo plans to give asylum to over 40, 000 individuals, or about 30 per cent of the region’s prison population. Pharmaceutical criminals, those with mental illnesses, and those imprisoned in Papua province for criticizing the government are among those who may be pardoned. &nbsp,

Without providing figures, Yusril said bone defendants make up only a small percentage of the 44, 000 prisoners who could receive a political pardon.

He said that transplant suspects under investigation who agree to return the stolen funds may be eligible for pardons as well, noting that those who do so won’t face charges and won’t be identified.

According to him,” Those who are being investigated or tried for corruption will get cleared of charges if they return the stolen position assets,” according to the Jakarta Globe. &nbsp,

” After years of focusing on disciplinary measures, it’s obvious that we need a fresh approach to address this enduring issue”, added Yusril, highlighting Indonesia’s “worsening” efficiency in global problem positions.

Continue Reading

How much Chinese cyber sabotage will Trump tolerate? – Asia Times

By:
On:
In: Asia

US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the people of his suggested case. But, he’s still to reveal important appointees to America’s effective cyber warfare and cleverness institutions.

These positions include those held by the National Security Council’s computer lead, the director of the CISA, and the national security council’s cyber director. These figures may be crucial to ensuring the safety of the United States ‘ computer protection at a crucial time.

For the coming leadership, we think there are three potential trouble spots:

  • how Trump does compromise his security and economic interests.
  • how his presidency can effectively stop the electric disturbance in China
  • how it will handle the suspicions that some MAGA supporters have of the intellect “deep state” powers.

Intensifying Chinese digital spy

Foreign electronic surveillance and spy actions against the US have reached an all-time large in terms of level of effort and, most importantly, success.

These spy actions have succeeded in capturing:

  • the most important intellectual property that gives the US a competitive advantage in terms of both financial and national security
  • older US government and military personnel’s private communications, as well as
  • the specific information of tens of millions of Americans.

According to recent reports, the Chinese government has targeted key state systems by utilizing flaws in the country’s aging telecommunications infrastructure.

Hackers from the” Salt Typhoon” organization were able to gain access to the personal contacts of senior officials, including Trump, and to reveal the names of US intelligence agencies both domestically and internationally.

Additionally, it appears that Salt Typhoon has allegedly extorted US telecommunication companies ‘ call data files. These provide a detailed record of all network users ‘ calls and related phone numbers.

These powerful breaches come after years of vicious cyberattacks that have harmed US patents and state secrets involving crucial technologies. These include unnatural knowledge, next-generation plane, biology and power systems.

However, according to research, the majority of Chinese spy operations against the US have been centered on the theft of proprietary information and technologies since 2000.

In addition to this, the US government thinks Beijing is trying to improve its ability to track electronic data on Americans.

A number of steps were taken by the Biden administration to protect America’s tech ecosystem from Chinese-made devices and software that might have hidden security features. The reaction included restrictions and bans on products produced by TikTok, the social media platform, and Hikvision, Dahua, and Hytera.

All of this sets the stage for confrontations between Trump and China, as well as Trump and the technology industry in America.

For instance, the Trump presidency will almost certainly have to convince communications giants AT&amp, T, Verizon, T-Mobile and others to tackle longstanding deficits in their system. This includes the frequent use of unshielded parts that date back to the 1970s and 1980s.

Together, the individual targeting of Trump, his Cabinet, and senior government officials and their solutions will require a violent reaction to deter potential businesses.

How much will the Trump presidency become willing to do in response to Chinese aggression, though?

President Joe Biden has responded to China by criticizing its semiconductor sector and restricting its ability to access another important systems. Beijing is likely to try to have these steps removed in any conversations between Trump and Taiwanese leader Xi Jinping regarding business and taxes.

If it does, Trump’s wish for a better financial “deal” with China does come into conflict with national safety issues.

Cyber damage on critical equipment

Chinese organizations have also been sabotage-infiltrating critical infrastructure in the United States and other countries ( including the cyber security facilities in the” Five Eyes” partners ).

The goal is to install powerful ransomware that can be activated to destroy and destroy necessary systems in order to pre-position themselves in the target sites. This includes in a time of conflict.

The most prominent of these initiatives has come from Volt Typhoon, a Chinese state-sponsored thief party.

These intrusive and destructive measures of destruction of essential equipment are in line with China’s long-standing policy of secret action, which states that “win without fighting”

As we get closer to 2027, these destroy initiatives are commonly anticipated to get worse. This is the most important time when the People’s Liberation Army of China is anticipated to be ready to launch an conquest of Taiwan.

A potential escalation into a military discord between the US and China poses the greatest threat to this electric damage campaign.

If Foreign malware is used to target the events for America’s 250th day in 2026 or the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, for example, how many restraint had Trump had?

Renewing America’s computer spy law

The last point will be one that is congressional.

The US has long been the subject of heated debate about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ( FISA ). The majority of this is centered on Area 702, which is the foundation for America’s extensive selection of unusual intelligence.

This section enables US intelligence agencies to catch phone calls, letters, and other electronic communications from non-Americans outside the US.

Congress has mandated these firms to “minimize” the money collection of data on Americans. In practice, but, this has been difficult to achieve in the age of modern secrecy and international challenges.

FISA is viewed as necessary to national protection organizations that are battling to keep America and its allies protected by nonpartisan supporters. The MAGA-aligned House Freedom Caucus, nevertheless, has cast the work in a different light. They think it gives rise to an inexplicable heavy state that wants to spy on regular people.

Trump has, at times, aligned himself with this perspective. He claimed in April of this year that Congress should “kill FISA” because it was suspected of allowing spying on his political campaign for 2020.

If Congress doesn’t pass a new part 702, Section 702 will expire in April 2026. Although there will be Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, the divergent viewpoints within the party do not maintain passage.

The growing threats to national security that a second Trump administration may encounter are even more dangerous. According to intelligence officials, the need for FISA-sourced knowledge has never been greater.

However, outsiders like Tulsi Gabbard ( presumptive director of national intelligence ), Kash Patel ( presumptive FBI director ), Pam Bondi ( presumptive attorney-general ) and Kristi Noem ( presumptive secretary of homeland security ) may oppose re-authorizing the legislation.

However, America’s allies rely greatly on knowledge shared by US companies using FISA warrants.

Trump may want to compel NATO and other allies to spend more money on their own protection, just as he may require that Five Eye and other intelligence organizations also conduct more surveillance.

William A Stoltz is teacher and specialist associate, National Security College, Australian National University and Michael Rogers is older brother and alternative doctor, Kellogg Executive Leadership Institute, Northwestern University

This content was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original post.

Continue Reading

Zelensky retirement would be a final act of heroism – Asia Times

By:
On:
In: Asia

The American diplomat Henry Kissinger, who passed away almost precisely a year ago, said he wished both sides of the Iran-Iraq battle of the 1980s was shed. As 2024 comes to an end and everyone is preparing for Donald Trump’s returning to the White House on January 20, Kissinger’s saying looks dreadfully fitting for the Russian combat in Ukraine: both sides are losing.

The previous 12 months of terrible, protracted conflict have left both flanks exhausted, and neither has gained a major advantage. Russia’s forces have gained some province in eastern Ukraine.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, by early December, Russian troops had seized 2, 700 square meters of Ukraine this year, which is a huge boost on the 465 square kilometers it seized in 2023 but represents a simple 0.4 % of Ukraine’s total land area.

Russia has seized less than half a percentage of Ukraine at an estimated value of 350, 000 deaths. Russia lost 1,500 soldiers every time, according to the UK Ministry of Defense, which is a much lower fatality rate than it experienced in 2022 or 2023, according to a report from the ministry of defense. Media critics have often predicted that in the face of this stress Ukraine’s threats were about to decline, but so far, this has not happened.

In August, Ukraine launched its own invasion of Russia by crossing the Russian frontier and capturing roughly 1,400 square kilometers of place in the Kursk region. This forced Russia to give an estimated 50, 000 soldiers, including 12, 000 Northern Korean soldiers, to try to push the Ukrainians out, which thus far they have failed to accomplish. However, the place occupied by Ukraine has shrunk to about 800 sq km.

At the same time, the two factors have been attacking deep inside each other’s land. Ukraine has focused on attacking hands shops, oil refineries, and the management of Russia’s causes, while Russia has continued to focus its missile strikes on Ukraine’s electricity grid and its cities.

In the biggest coup of the year, Ukrainian spies have recently spied on Moscow, killing a top missile designer and the head of the country’s chemical, biological, and imaging forces, as well as this week.

The battle is between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties are aware that the first few months of the year could see democratic transitions that might be beneficial for them: President Putin may become anticipating Donald Trump’s resumption of the US president, given that this makes it unlikely that the US Congress will grant any additional authorization for the use of American-provided weapons for long-range strikes inside Russia.

For whatever it may be fair, the Financial Times later reported that Trump’s” near foreign policy aides” had informed European counterparts that their employer is presently inclined to continue military aid to Ukraine.

According to polls, President Zelensky may become anticipating Germany’s February 23 general election, in which Olaf Scholz may be replaced by Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democrats, who is much more popular.

New social changes among his own allies have weakened President Putin: the decline of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria was triggered by the failure of either of Assad’s major supporters, Iran or Russia, to engage physically.

Iran has had a bad time, as the violent groups it wings and funds have been crushed or weakened, one by one, by Israel: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iran’s personal forces in Syria. Putin was unable to send planes or soldiers to Syria because Russia’s forces are so stretched out by the conflict in Ukraine.

If both sides are losing, both are now putting forward conditions for peace talks, which both must know are unrealistic. Putin made the claim at his annual press conference on December 19 that he was open to compromise, but that the end result of negotiations must be the complete reversal of Russia’s territorial claims.

Zelenskyy insisted at a meeting with EU and NATO leaders in Brussels on the same day that a peace deal could only be reached if the US received a security guarantee and Ukraine received a NATO membership in the future.

Negotiations always begin with extravagant, unrealistic claims. The most likely scenario is that if real discussions do occur next year, there will be stronger bargaining positions in Ukraine than in Russia, but that President Zelensky will have to step down in order for Ukraine to get the best possible outcome.

Trump will enter office with a Russia that has been weakened by Syria, no longer has a strong ally in Iran, and will look an easy target for a self-declared deal-maker like him to push around, which makes its position look more likely to be stronger.

If, between now and late January, Ukraine’s intelligence agencies and military forces can pull off more surprises like their Moscow assassinations, Russia will look all the weaker. Trump will be aware that he can use Putin’s authorization to launch long-range Ukrainian strikes [or continued weapons deliveries ] as a bargaining chip.

Trump will go a long way in favor of allowing Ukraine to join NATO, or even to aspire to join, because it goes against his long-held desire for America to lessen its responsibilities to defend Europe.

He won’t interfere with European NATO members ‘ offering Ukraine security guarantees, but whether Germany, France, the UK, Italy, or Poland will feel compelled to do so must be a subject for debate.

President Zelensky has played a heroic role in Ukraine’s fight for survival. Although he continues to enjoy a lot of support, the country’s martial law continues as a result of the invasion of 2022, which required the waiver of any presidential elections scheduled for April 2024. This enables Putin to assert that Zelensky’s position is unsupported, and that no peace agreement could be reached.

Which opens the door to a final act of heroism: that Zelensky could choose to announce his retirement in order to demonstrate what a resilient democracy it really is by holding presidential elections in which he would not run.

Nobody can dispute Zelensky’s and his family’s right to a holiday and a respectable retirement.

This is the English translation of an article La Stampa published in Italian that was originally published in English on Bill Emmott’s Global View. It is republished with permission.

Continue Reading

Biden’s arms dump won’t ease Taiwan’s Trump trepidation – Asia Times

By:
On:
In: Asia

China has firmly objected to US President Joe Biden’s approval of Taiwan’s$ 571.3 million in security funding and service, accusing the country of “playing with fire” with its most recent donation of military equipment and services. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Individually, the US Defense Department announced that it approved$ 295 million fair of military equipment for Taipei in response to rising regional conflicts, which many people believe could become the center of global political conflicts with the anticipated ending of the Ukraine war under the approaching Donald Trump administration.

The$ 571 million in military assistance tops up Biden’s authorization of$ 567 million for the same purposes in late September. In October, He approved$ 2 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, including the first-time distribution of an advanced surface-to-air missile defense system.

A statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which was released on Sunday ( December 22 ), urged the US to stop arming Taiwan and stop making what it called “dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

China’s largest maritime drills around Taiwan since 1996 have resulted in the most recent US military package, with the People’s Liberation Army ( PLA ) stationing more than 90 warships in nearby waters stretching from the East China Sea to the Taiwan Straits and South China Sea.

The Taiwanese foreign ministry stated in a statement that “taiwan and the United States will continue to work closely together on safety issues to preserve stability, peace, and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”

Due to the sensitivity of the situation, Taipei declined to provide information on the” content” of the assistance “based on the tacit agreement between Taiwan and the United States.”

The stakes don’t get higher. A lately released report by the US Pentagon has warned that China has “amplified” its full-spectrum force on Taiwan over the past month, underscoring Beijing’s danger to “reunify” the area with the island.

War drum

Xi Jinping, the country’s most powerful chief, apparently instructed the Army to be prepared to launch a successful conquest of Taiwan by 2027, if needed.

If Trump follows through on his pledge to impose 60 % tariffs on all Chinese products, a move that would put pressure on China’s now troubled economy and potential ruling Communist Party, as well. &nbsp,

If something, China is determined to create a “world-class” defense that can rival America’s by 2049. With a defence resources of$ 450 billion, China is well positioned to focus its extremely powerful army features on its own garden, such as the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

Now in possession of the world’s largest military, with as many as 395 battleforce ships to travel on vapor next year, China is also deploying&nbsp, DF-27 anti-ship nuclear missiles that could drastically harm America’s military presence in the Western Pacific, including the proper outpost of Guam. &nbsp,

Washington has the obligation to help prevent any forcible takeover of the self-ruling island nation in accordance with the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, despite adhering to a “one China” policy that calls for Beijing to be the diplomatic representative of the so-called” Greater China.”

Even if the two parties no longer have a mutual defense pact, Biden has repeatedly pledged to come to Taiwan’s defense in the event of a conflict with China.

However, there are some concerns about the incoming Trump administration’s desire to support Taiwan’s defense and even consider entering a potential grand bargain with China at the expense of Taiwan’s self-proclaimed sovereignty and regional partners ‘ security.

By signing a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA ), which would increase military interoperability and strengthen a joint response to any significant emergency in the area, including over Taiwan, US allies Japan and the Philippines have accordingly doubled down on their own defense cooperation.

Key regional players are hedging their bets ahead of a potentially disruptive second Trump presidency, while hoping for continuity in America’s China policy.

Far from a passive actor, Taiwan is preparing for all eventualities. The self-governing island nation is increasing its imports of cutting-edge American weapons systems after ratifying a record$ 20 billion defense budget in August.

This month, Taiwan received the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams tanks, underscoring its preparation for a possible all-out of war, including attrition warfare, in the near future.

Midway through December, the new American-made tanks were delivered to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County, southwest of Taipei. For next year, Taiwan is planning to allocate NTD70.6 billion ($ 2.2 billion ) for the acquisition of new US-made platforms.

Atop Taiwan’s shopping list, according to a proposal submitted by Taiwan’s legislature, are 100 Harpoon land-based missile systems, 66 F-16V fighter jets, 29 HIMARS rocket systems and a total of 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks.

” Taipei has signed contracts with the US for 21 procurement projects, totaling NT$ 716.6 billion, with final payments scheduled to be made in 2031″, Taiwan’s defense ministry said last month.

” Of this total, approximately NT$ 373.1 billion has already been paid, while NT$ 343.5 billion remains unpaid and will be disbursed according to the payment schedule”, the ministry added. Next year, Taiwan is allocating up to NT$ 70.6 billion on portable short-range air defense missiles and radar system upgrades.

Taiwan has historically adopted a “porcupine strategy,” which would significantly increase the cost of any full-scale invasion by the Asian superpower given its power asymmetry with China. &nbsp,

Thanks to Taiwan’s sophisticated industries, robust defense budget and acquisition of modern weapons systems from the West, some military experts have proposed a “honey badger” strategy, which relies on a more proactive and” smart” deployment of state-of-the-art platforms to foil any Chinese invasion.

A second Trump presidency, however, introduces new uncertainties to US support for that strategy. Trump has stated abundantly that he favors allies shouldering more of their own defense expenses and paying more for US “protection.”

In fairness, Trump’s first term is fondly remembered in Taipei, a period that saw a historic phone call between then-Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Trump, a rapid expansion in high-level contacts and joint visits, and Taipei’s purchase of$ 18 billion worth of US weapons,$ 4 billion more than the combined two terms of the Obama administration.

Trump is expected to take a more “isolationist” stance in light of rising public outcry in the United States over the massive funding of the Ukraine war, especially since he won’t be restrained by veteran and more multilateralist generals.

Trump has gone so far as to criticize Taiwan’s alleged underspending for its own defense throughout the year and has adopted more blatantly transactional language on foreign policy. ( Taiwan spends around 2.5 % of annual GDP on defense. ) Trump has referred to as” stupid” any military action that might lead to a war with China.

Trump stated in an interview earlier this year that he would “never say” whether America would stand by Taiwan and that he would maintain a” good relationship” with Chinese President Xi. ” I never say because I have to negotiate things ]with China ], right”? Trump stated this in an interview with Kristen Welker, a Meet the Press host on NBC.

Taiwan is reportedly cautious of the influence of influential figures in Trump’s plans, including billionaire Elon Musk, who has significant business interests in China. He has parodied Beijing’s position by calling Taiwan an “integral part of China.” &nbsp,

” I think most people are anxious…Because of Trump’s unpredictability, we don’t know if Taiwan will be safer or more dangerous under his second term”, Chen Ming-chi, a former senior advisor to Taiwan’s National Security Council, told the media.

Dealing with Trump

Likely to Trump’s liking, Taiwan is reportedly mulling a$ 15 billion weapons package in the coming years. But, according to a report by the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank, Taiwan has yet to receive$ 20.53 billion worth of military equipment from the US due to production and delivery delays. In the past year, the Pentagon has already been stretched by significant arms transfers to Israel and Ukraine.

According to prominent Taiwanese defense expert Shu Hsiao-Huang, an associate research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research,” some new equipment encountered integration issues, which required system adjustments to meet customer demands.” This was in response to competing demands from conflicts elsewhere, making it difficult to obtain key US-made weapons like Stinger missiles.

At the same time, US regional allies are also preparing for potential contingencies. Japan has consented to reorganize US forces in Japan into a larger joint force headquarters under the US Indo-Pacific Command ( INDOPACOM) in Hawaii.

A Joint Operations Command is also being established by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces ( JSDF) to better coordinate with the consolidated INDOPACOM.

In response to growing concerns among US allies about a potential Taiwan war, Japan is expanding its cooperation with the Philippines. The Philippine Senate finally approved a visiting forces agreement-style pact after years of negotiations, which highlights growing strategic convergence between the two key US allies.

The Philippine Senate said in a statement that “ratifying the agreement further affirms the strategic partnership between the two countries and their shared goal of enhancing contributions to regional and international peace, security, and stability.

For his part, Japan’s ambassador to Manila, Kazuya Endo, emphasized how the new pact will “facilitate the implementation of cooperative activities between the forces of the two countries, further promote security and defense cooperation, and firmly support peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region”.

Trump and Taiwan were not directly mentioned by either side, but both are actively preparing for a new era of strategic uncertainty and hot great power rivalry closer to home than under Biden, as with other important US allies in the region.

Follow Richard Javad Heydarian on X at @Rich Heydarian

Continue Reading

‘Finally, we made it!’: Ho Chi Minh City celebrates first metro

By:
On:
In: Asia

It took 17 times for Vietnam’s professional money to reach this point. The initiative, funded mainly by Chinese state funding, was first approved in 2007 and slated to cost only US$ 668 million.

When construction began in 2012, officials promised the series would be operational in five years.

But as difficulties mounted, vehicles and scooters multiplied in the area of 9 million people, making the district greatly congested, increasingly polluted and time-consuming to understand.

According to deputy president Bui Xuan Cuong, the rail “meets the growing travel requirements of people and contributes to reducing transportation congestion and economic waste.”

Cuong acknowledged that” many obstacles” had to be overcome by the authorities in order to move forward with the job.

“FRUSTRATING” DELAYS

According to state media reports, the metro was delayed because of” slower capital allocation, unexpected technical difficulties, staff problems and the COVID-19 pandemic”.

With only 14 place ceases, the route’s “impact may be limited in the little work,” warned Professor Vu Minh Hoang of Fulbright University Vietnam, who “has been frustrated by the difficulties and cost overruns.”

Nevertheless, it is still a “historic success for the city’s industrial advancement”, he added.

With instructions learnt,” the development of future lines may be extremely easier, faster, and more cost-efficient”, Hoang told AFP.

Continue Reading

Germany’s AfD is the key to European defense – Asia Times

By:
On:
In: Asia

You may shut down the Biden Administration’s flailing German nut gallery, President Trump, for the sake of dealing with the clutter in Ukraine. Your friends and allies in Europe want to bear the cost of their own protection, but they don’t want to waste any of the money and run the risk of World War III in Ukraine. Getting a quick peace in Ukraine, a conflict that no reasonable European would want to fight, and allow the New Right’s sovereigntist parties to uproot the globalist Left. Contrary to the Brussels progressives cowering behind the skirts of Mother America, they believe in their states and may fight for their protection.

Without an arrangement to keep Ukraine balanced and out of NATO, the conflict didn’t end. The Deep State will try to persuade you that Russia is bleeding up and prepared to slide, and that NATO cannot afford to rear down on a potential Ukraine account. The opposite is true: Europe’s capacity to defend itself depends on the restoration of populism and the rise of the right-wing sovereigntist events. Freeze the conflict and grant a political victory to European revolutionaries whose motto is” Make Europe Great Again.”

A&nbsp, new poll&nbsp, found most Germans probably doesn’t fight to defend their region, and that two-fifths doesn’t battle under any circumstances. Most impressive is the break by party involvement. The most fervent supporter of the Ukraine War was Germany’s Green Party, but only 9 % of its supporters, the lowest percentage of any group by party affiliation, said they would personally take up arms to defend their nation. Led by the foolish, malapropism-prone Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the Greens behave like the European branch of the Biden State Department.

Supporters of the Alternative für Deutschland ( AfD ), the conservative upstart party currently polling at 20 % of the vote, made up the majority of those who were ready to fight for their country. In a&nbsp, more recent poll, 68 % of AfD members said they would defend their country” with a weapon in their hand” if Germany were attacked, compared to just 22 % of Green Party supporters.

The Washington Blob confuses the “let’s you and him fight” war celebration with the sovereigntists who are willing to stand up for their nation but don’t want to see anything wrong with the Blob’s failed attempt to invade Ukraine.

The Continental war party pledged both their life nor their sacred pride ( they don’t have any ), but rather their careers, base grants, scholarships, and consulting gigs on the Ukraine War. They began their careers with the dual goal of expanding NATO to the Soviet border and mocking Western institutions as federal organizations.

The nationalist wave that started last year with Geert Wilders ‘ unexpected victory in the Netherlands hit Western liberals hard. It continued through previous September’s state elections in Germany, the regional elections in the Czech Republic, the Freedom Party’s first-place end in Austria, and the decline of the European state. But even so, the country’s liberals may struggle to the last Ukrainian to keep their social protections.

Western liberals are aware that their symbolic heads will roll if their substitute war breaks out. They have no action other than to maintain the conflict going as long as possible. And they are doing it by attempting to discredit Americans with a focused propaganda campaign. The American Ministry of Defense and the Pentagon, for instance, allege that Russia has taken 600, 000 deaths in the Ukraine War, and is losing 1, 000 to 2, 000 men a day in the current battle. The 600,000-plus figure was also spotted in a Trump social media post next week.

The most extensive databases on Russian casualties, &nbsp, Mediazona, counts 82, 000 Russian killed, which it calculated by scraping data from death presentations and social media posts. The number may rise to 120, 000 if a quantitative analysis of excess deaths were used. Assuming three crippled for every man killed, Russian deaths are good anywhere between 246, 000 and 360, 000.

A senior US official who tracks Ukrainian battle casualties observes:

Ukrainian casualties from separate sources are not as closely monitored as Russian deaths, but anecdotal reports and works on graves suggest that the number is higher than those from Kyiv, London, or Washington, DC, according to empirical reports. Estimates run between 105, 000 and 160, 000 KIA (killed in action ). Using the same ratios for KIA to WIA, this places total Ukrainian casualties at between 105, 000 KIA, and 365, 000 WIA ( wounded in action ), or 470, 000 total casualties, to 160, 000 KIA and 640, 000 WIA, or 800, 000 total casualties.

During the course of the war, Russia experienced about 9, 000 causalities. More than 100, 000 Russian soldiers face&nbsp, formal charges of abandonment, and the real number is twice that. According to NATO knowledge sources, forty-twenty-eight thousand Ukrainians have been killed or injured while defending&nbsp, an intrusion into Russian place close to Kursk, and the nation has now lost half of the place it gained in the August 2024 attack.

The events that make up Europe’s sovereigntist celebrations are aware of this and want to end the conflict right away. The AfD supports a negotiated option and wants to stop arms sales to Ukraine. It is labeled as a neo-Nazi homage by the establishment push, and it has been quarantined by tradition parties with a small portion of its voting base. The Greens, represented by Annalena Baerbock and Economics Minister Robert Habeck, are surprisingly Germany’s most vocal war eagles. Though they didn’t battle for their own country, they want to fight the war to the last Ukrainian.

Next February, President-elect Trump told a South Carolina march, “NATO was busted until I came on,” sending ripples through the German Establishment. I said,’ Everybody’s gonna earn.’ They said,’ Well, if we don’t give, are you still going to protect us?’ I said,’ Totally never.’ They don’t believe the answer”.

Trump claimed that “one of the leaders of a large state” once inquired whether the US had also support Ukraine if Russia invaded the country, even if they “don’t pay.”

” No, I do not protect you”, Trump recalled. In truth, I would encourage them to accomplish whatever they please. You got to pay. You got to pay your payments”.

That sparked a frenzy of protests against Trump, who was accused of inviting Russia to attack Western Europe. But that’s not what he said: Trump maintained that Europe may justify itself. It used to. In 1989 Germany fielded 12 battle-ready groups, 3, 000 primary challenge tank, and a fierce soldier army that may remain off the Warsaw Pact. It doesn’t have a second battle-ready sector today. And Angela Merkel’s government eliminated recruitment in 2011 at the top of post-Cold War confidence.

The single German social group that explicitly supports reviving it is the AfD, which is in Germany. Its location papers, obtainable on the party site, says:

Military support is virtuous services. It should not be understood as a violation of a citizen’s fundamental rights initially, but as a civic duty to defend peace and security and ensure the stability of our nation’s politics. Conscription has had a significant impact on this relationship in just a few times because the federal army should be established in society.

The AfD, like the ruling parties of Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia, is never afraid of fighting. Because the Ukraine War is meaningless and insurmountable, it opposes it. Germany’s Greens, by contrast, &nbsp, oppose enlistment — in Germany, that is. They’re all for enlistment in Ukraine. However, Germany’s Social Democrats and Christian Democrats believe it might be wise to revisit the concept of conscription in the near future, but they didn’t say anything at the moment or in any important time frame.

Some Brussels hawks have floated the idea of&nbsp, German conscription&nbsp, to provide men for Ukraine, a request denounced by Hungary’s Foreign Minister, who declared,” We do not like Hungarian young folks dragged into the Ukrainian-Russian battle front. This is not our conflict”. Another issue is the regional recruitment to protect the nation’s borders.

Maligned as an extremist border party, the AfD stands to receive 20 % of the ballot in Germany’s February 23 regional elections. In three Eastern European states that held the elections in September, its candidates received about 30 % of the votes. Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats are running at just 17 % of the vote, and the Greens, who had 20 % of the vote in Germany’s last national election, are at just 11.5 %. The AfD supports strict immigration handles, tax breaks, and the end of the Ukrainian War right away. Its perspective of Ukraine is the same as that of Hungary’s Viktor Orban, whom Trump has consulted frequently.

The AfD is the most popular gathering among Germany’s 18-24 year-olds. Its concept is that being German is acceptable. Maximilian Krah, a part of the European Parliament who is currently running for a Bundestag chair, delivered that information on TikTok. ” One in three young German gentlemen doesn’t include a girl. Are you one of them”? he asked in one picture. ” Don’t watch movie, don’t vote for the Greens, get out into the new air…. True men have principles, real people are patriots — and that’s how you find a girl”.

True gentlemen, the AfD claims, are willing to defend their land. If the United States wants companions instead of toys, it may consider them among Europe’s sovereigntist events.

Continue Reading

Waymo self-driving taxis coming to Tokyo – Asia Times

By:
On:
In: Asia, Technology

In the largest metropolitan market for autonomous driving outside China, Waymo has announced plans to introduce its self-driving vehicles to Tokyo in earlier 2025, beating Chinese manufacturers to the limit and taking Tesla’s robot ad.

This past week the Alphabet ( Google ) subsidiary revealed a partnership with Nihon Kotsu, the top taxi and limousine service company in Tokyo, and GO, Japan’s most popular taxi app. The maintenance and maintenance of Waymo cars will be handled by Nihon Kotsu. GO provides easy-to-understand guidance in English.

Second, Nihon Kotsu owners will run Waymo’s cars mechanically to chart the key areas of the city – the heavily traveled and often visited districts of Shinjuku-ku, Shibuya-ku, Minato-ku, Chiyoda-ku, Shinagawa-ku and Koto-ku.

The automatic Jaguar I-PACE autonomous cars will then take their first street excursion outside the US.

Waymo boasts. The business goes on to explains:” The Waymo vehicle is our autonomous driving tech that always gets crazy, tired or distracted”, Waymo boasts. ” We prioritize health and are wary of our footprints every time we test the Waymo Driver in locations far from where we usually operate.” The business describes its process as follows:

First, we transport a little fleet of vehicles carrying the Waymo Driver to a new town. Testing warships are limited and are not accessible to the general public. The vehicles can start driving independently after the Waymo Driver has an understanding of the landscape. People specialists give our executive teams feedback on the driving experience during these trips and highlight novelnuances that may arise from operating in new areas.

Together, our engineering team can analyze the Waymo Driver’s efficiency in a virtual replica of the new location to determine how it generalizes. Our teams continue improving the Waymo Driver’s abilities and support experience using the new insights and learnings gained during this time.

Driving in dozens of different locations over the years has helped shape the capabilities and design of our detecting technology, enhance Waymo Driver’s efficiency in the cities where we now operate, and safely transfer our technologies to new locations.

Enjoy a picture of a Waymo vehicle moving through traffic here. &nbsp,

Tokyo’s road map is quite complex and, like the British, the Chinese pull on the left-hand side of the road. This may require some adjusting. However, Waymo would be able to qualify its knowledge from Tokyo to London and other major cities, such as Delhi and Mumbai, where they drive left.

Waymo has a somewhat low injury rate, with about one incident resulting in harm per million miles of travelling, as noted by computer professor Timothy Lee.

In Waymo’s estimation, compared with the average human driver over 25 million miles of driving in Phoenix and San Francisco, the Waymo Driver had 81 % fewer airbag deployment crashes, 72 % fewer injury causing crashes and 57 % fewer police-reported crashes. So far, no fatalities have been reported.

But Waymo Driver does make mistakes. Last June, while on the way to pick up a passenger in Phoenix, a Waymo self-driving taxi crashed into a telephone pole. The company recalled all 672 autonomous vehicles it was using at the time for a software update, but no one was hurt. Additionally, 444 vehicles were earlier this year and 2 vehicles were recalled in December 2023 for software updates.

Waymo vehicles were involved in 17 crashes and five other instances of potential violations of traffic safety in the six months leading up to 2024. There were no injuries reported.

According to an analysis of US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA ) data made by Craft Law Firm, a total of&nbsp, 3, 979 accidents&nbsp, involving autonomous vehicles were reported between 2019 and June 17, 2024. After more than doubling to 1, 450 in 2022, the number dropped to 1, 353 in 2023 and was down to 473 in the first half of 2024, demonstrating that safety has improved while the number of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles on the road, and the number of miles driven, has greatly increased.

In October 2024, Waymo reported that its self-driving taxis were providing more than 150, 000 paid rides per week– up from about 100, 000 in August and 50, 000 last May – over a total distance of more than one million miles.

Of the 3, 979 accidents reported to the NHTSA, Tesla accounted for 2, 146, Waymo for 415, GM for 219, Cruise for 187, Honda for 155, and Subaru, Toyota, Ford, BMW, Kia, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and some 40 other companies for the remainder. Cruise was sold to GM in 2016 and discontinued in December 2024. This was also a setback for Honda, which had collaborated with GM to create self-driving vehicles and had invested in Cruise.

According to a report from the iSeeCars website, Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate among US automakers, according to a study by the iSeeCars website. There is even a tesladeaths .com website, which says it “is a record of Tesla accidents that involved a driver, occupant, cyclist, motorcyclist, or pedestrian death, whether or not the Tesla or its driver were at fault”, with” as much related crash data as possible”. The website, which was updated on October 20, notes 51 fatalities related to Tesla Autopilot and two related to FSD ( Full Self-Driving ).

This is important because, as The Wall Street Journal reported in August,” Since 2021, Tesla has reported over 1, 200 crashes related to its driver assistance system called Autopilot to federal regulators”, and the NHTSA has “tied at least 14 fatalities to the tech]nology ]. However, because NHTSA’s reports are heavily redacted, it’s been difficult for the public to comprehend the significance of Autopilot in crashes. Important details like the crash narrative and even the precise date are omitted from public reports because Tesla views information about Autopilot as proprietary.

In the US, Waymo’s self-driving taxis are currently operating in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with commercial service in Austin, Atlanta and Miami scheduled to start in 2025. In Austin, a limited test service began in October.

Tesla’s much-hyped robotaxi, which it also calls Cybercab, probably won’t be on the road until late 2026 at the earliest. Elon Musk, CEO, announced the product’s release date in October, saying it would be “before 2027.” Cybercab has been driving Tesla’s stock price higher, but not much else. Furthermore, Tesla has been in Japan since 2014, but there are very few of its vehicles on the road.

A Japanese company called Turing is also developing autonomous driving software that is “equipped with human-like knowledge and decision-making capabilities” and uses neural networks to convert camera images directly into driving commands to enable a self-driving vehicle to travel anywhere and under any circumstances.

Turing is working on generative AI that “directly issues driving instructions from camera images… without using many sensors or high-precision maps.” He believes that “what is necessary for autonomous driving is not good eyes but a good brain. Its current biggest challenge appears to be catching up with and keeping up with Waymo.

Follow this writer on&nbsp, X: @ScottFo83517667

Continue Reading