FENGGANG TOWNSHIP, Taiwan: Taiwan held an artillery drill Tuesday simulating a defense against an attack as its top diplomat accused Beijing of preparing to invade the island after days of massive Chinese war games.
China launched its largest-ever air and sea exercises around Taiwan last week in a furious response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking American official to visit the self-ruled island in decades.
Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views its neighbor as part of Chinese territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary.
“China has used the drills and its military playbook to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Joseph Wu told a press conference in Taipei on Tuesday, accusing Beijing of using Pelosi’s visit as a pretext for military action.
“China’s real intention is to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and entire region,” he said.
Taipei’s drill started in the southern county of Pingtung shortly with the firing of target flares and artillery, ending just under an hour later, said Lou Woei-jye, spokesman for Taiwan’s Eighth Army Corps.
Soldiers fired from howitzers tucked into the coast, hidden from view of the road that leads to popular beach destination Kenting.
The drills, which will also take place Thursday, included the deployment of hundreds of troops and about 40 howitzers, the army said.
On Monday, Lou said the drills had been scheduled previously and were not in response to China’s exercises.
The island routinely stages military drills simulating defense against a Chinese invasion, and last month practiced repelling attacks from the sea in a “joint interception operation” as part of its largest annual exercises.
The anti-landing exercises come after China extended its own joint sea and air drills around Taiwan on Monday, but Washington said it did not expect an escalation from Beijing.
“I’m not worried, but I’m concerned they’re moving as much as they are. But I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than they are,” Biden told reporters at Dover Air Force Base.
China has not confirmed if its drills in the Taiwan Strait will continue Tuesday.
But Taiwanese foreign minister Joseph Wu condemned Beijing for extending its military exercises around the island, accusing them of trying to control the Taiwan Strait and waters in the wider Asia-Pacific region.
“It is conducting 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,” he said.
Wu went on to thank Western allies, including the US after Pelosi’s visit, for standing up to China.
“It also sends a clear message to the world that democracy will not bow to the intimidation of authoritarianism,” he said.
Taiwan has insisted that no Chinese warplanes or ships entered its territorial waters — within 12 nautical miles of land — during Beijing’s drills.
The Chinese military, however, released a video last week of an air force pilot filming the island’s coastline and mountains from his cockpit, showing how close it had come to Taiwan’s shores.
Its ships and planes have also regularly crossed the median line — an unofficial demarcation between China and Taiwan that the former does not recognize — since drills began last week.
Ballistic missiles were fired over Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, during the exercises last week, according to Chinese state media.
On Tuesday, the Chinese military released more details about the anti-submarine drills it had conducted a day earlier around the island.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater command said the exercises were aimed at enhancing the ability of air and sea units to work together while hunting submarines.
It said maritime patrol aircraft, fighter jets, helicopters and a destroyer practiced locating and attacking targets in the waters off Taiwan.
The scale and intensity of China’s drills — as well as its withdrawal from key talks on climate and defense — have triggered outrage in the United States and other democracies.
The drills have also shown how an increasingly emboldened Chinese military could carry out a gruelling blockade of the island, experts say.
But Beijing on Monday defended its behavior as “firm, forceful and appropriate” to American provocation.
“(We) are only issuing a warning to the perpetrators,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing, promising China would “firmly smash the Taiwan authorities’ illusion of gaining independence through the US.”
“We urge the US to do some earnest reflection, and immediately correct its mistakes.”
Taiwan holds military drill as China accused of preparing invasion
https://arab.news/m2tyt
Taiwan holds military drill as China accused of preparing invasion
- Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China
- Taipei’s drill started in the southern county of Pingtung shortly with the firing of target flares and artillery
Indonesian pilgrims embark on Hajj journey under Makkah Route expansion
- Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route initiative is facilitating travel for pilgrims in Jakarta, Surabaya and Solo
- Over 125,000 Indonesian Hajj pilgrims have already arrived in the Kingdom as of Tuesday
JAKARTA: More than 120,000 Indonesian pilgrims are benefiting from the Makkah Route initiative this year, as they embark on Hajj after the flagship Saudi program was expanded to three cities across the country.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, sends the largest Hajj contingent of pilgrims every year to perform the spiritual journey that is one of the five pillars of Islam.
In 2025, Saudi Arabia granted Indonesia a quota of 221,000 pilgrims. With the Hajj expected to take place on June 4 and end on June 9, special pilgrimage flights from Indonesia started on May 2.
Over half of the pilgrims are departing under the pre-travel program, which was launched by the Kingdom in 2019 to help pilgrims meet all the visa, customs and health requirements at their airport of origin and save them long hours of waiting before and upon arrival in the Kingdom.
“In Indonesia, Makkah Route is implemented in three airports, Soekarno-Hatta in Jakarta, and then in the cities of Solo and Surabaya,” Mohammed Zain, director of domestic Hajj services at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News.
The initiative was only expanded in 2024 to reach more Indonesian pilgrims in different parts of the country.
This year, a total of 122,156 Indonesian pilgrims, who are departing from the three selected cities, are benefiting from the program.
“This is very helpful in sorting all of the pilgrims’ document requirements, like visa and passport, so that when the pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia, they simply head to their buses and go on their spiritual journey safely and comfortably,” Zain said.
“We hope that for Hajj next year, the Makkah Route initiative will be further expanded in Indonesia, so that we can offer more high-quality Hajj service.”
In Jakarta, the program is implemented at the new Hajj and Umrah terminal in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which was inaugurated by President Prabowo Subianto earlier this month.
Over 125,000 pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom as of Tuesday.
Indonesia is among seven Muslim-majority countries — including Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Morocco, Turkiye and Cote d’Ivoire — where Saudi Arabia is operating its Makkah Route initiative.
Rescue efforts underway for 260 workers trapped in a South African gold mine
JOHANNESBURG: Rescue efforts are underway in South Africa to bring 260 workers trapped in a gold mine for a day back to the surface, the Sibanye Stillwater mining company said on Friday.
According to the company, an initial investigation showed that a sub-shaft rock winder skip door opened at the loading point and caused some damage to the mineshaft at the Kloof mine, west of Johannesburg.
“Following a detailed risk assessment, it was decided that employees should remain at the sub-shaft station until it is safe to proceed to the surface, in order to avoid walking long distances at this time,” the company said in a statement.
The National Union of Mineworkers, which represents workers at the Kloof mine, said the miners have been trapped for almost 24 hours, with the company repeatedly changing the estimated time for them to return to the surface.
“We are very concerned because the mine did not even make this incident public until we reported it to the media,” said NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu.
The company said all miners were accounted for and safe, adding that it expected to hoist them back to the surface on Friday.
China criticizes US ban on Harvard’s international students
BANGKOK: The Chinese government said Friday that the Trump administration’s move to ban international students from Harvard would harm America’s international standing, and one university in Hong Kong looked to capitalize on the uncertainty by promising to take them in.
Chinese students make up a large part of Harvard University’s international student population. The university enrolled 6,703 international students across all of its schools in 2024, according to the school’s data, with 1,203 of those coming from China.
The Trump administration’s move, announced Thursday, was a hot topic on Chinese social media. State broadcaster CCTV questioned whether the US would remain a top destination for foreign students, noting Harvard was already suing the US government in court.
“But with the long litigation period, thousands of international students may have trouble waiting,” the CCTV commentary said.
It went on to say that it becomes necessary for international students to consider other options “when policy uncertainty becomes the norm.”
Educational cooperation with the US is mutually beneficial and China opposes its politicization, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing in Beijing.
“The relevant actions by the US side will only damage its own image and international credibility,” she said.
She added that China would firmly protect the rights and interests of Chinese students and scholars abroad but she didn’t offer any details on how it would do so in this situation.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology extended an open invitation to international students already at Harvard and those who have been admitted. The institution posted a news release saying it would provide unconditional offers, streamlined admission procedures and academic support to facilitate a seamless transition.
Some people in China joked online about having the university open a branch in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, whose name shares the same character as Harvard’s name in Chinese.
The issue of Chinese students studying overseas has long been a point of tension in the relationship with the United States. During Trump’s first term, China’s Ministry of Education warned students about rising rejections rates and shorter terms for visas in the US
Last year, the Chinese foreign ministry protested that a number of Chinese students had been interrogated and sent home upon arrival at US airports.
Chinese state media has long played up gun violence in the US and portrayed America as a dangerous place. Some Chinese students are opting to study in the UK or other countries rather than the US.
Swedish intelligence lowers terror threat level
STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s intelligence service said Friday it was lowering its terror alert level from “high threat” to “elevated threat,” saying the risk of an attack had subsided.
The Swedish Security Service (Sapo) raised the level in August 2023 to “high threat” — the fourth level on a scale of five — after angry reactions to a series of protests involving desecrations of the Qur'an made the country a “prioritized target.”
“Propaganda against Sweden has subsided and Sweden is not specifically mentioned as a target,” Fredrik Hallstrom, head of operations at the Swedish Security Service, told a press conference.
“We do not see the same intense flow of attack threats directed at Sweden,” he added.
Sapo said it now considered the terror alert level to be at “elevated threat” — the third level on its five-point scale.
Hallstrom cautioned that with “an elevated threat, there is room for a terrorist attack to occur.”
A series of Qur'an burnings across the country — most notably by Iraqi Christian Salwan Momika — in the summer of 2023 sparked outrage in the Muslim world.
It strained relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries, and Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.
Momika ended up facing charges of inciting ethnic hatred, but in January of this year he was fatally shot in an apartment just hours before the court was due to deliver its ruling.
His co-protester Salwan Najem, also of Iraqi origin, was ultimately found guilty of inciting ethnic hatred during four Qur'an burnings in 2023.
Despite the lowered threat level, Charlotte von Essen, head of Sapo, stressed that “Sweden is in a serious security situation.”
“The worst in many years,” von Essen told reporters.
The Sapo chief pointed to the fact that the war in Ukraine was still ongoing.
“Foreign powers — and Russia in particular — are carrying out extensive security-threatening activities in and against Sweden,” she said.
Congo votes to lift immunity of former president Kabila
Congo’s senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of lifting former President Joseph Kabila’s immunity from prosecution in a late night vote on Thursday over his alleged links to the M23 rebel group.
Kabila is wanted in Congo for alleged crimes against humanity for supporting the insurgency in the east, including a role in the massacre of civilians and personnel. Congo has also moved to suspend his political party and seize the assets of its leaders.
Kabila, who denies any ties to the rebel group, stepped down after almost 20 years in power in 2018, yielding to protests. He has been out of the Central African country since late 2023, mostly in South Africa.
The senate backed lifting his immunity by 88 votes to 5 in a secret ballot.
Kabila has been threatening to return to Congo for weeks to help find a solution to the crisis in the east, where Rwandan-backed M23 rebels now control large swathes of territory.
A return to Congo by Kabila could complicate the bid to end the rebellion in eastern Congo, which contains vast supplies of critical minerals that President Donald Trump’s administration is keen to access.
Washington is pushing for a peace agreement between the two sides to be signed this summer, accompanied by minerals deals aimed at bringing billions of dollars of Western investment to the region, Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, told Reuters earlier this month.
Kabila came to power in 2001 after his father’s assassination. He refused to stand down when his final term officially ended in 2016, leading to deadly protests, before agreeing to leave office following an election in 2018.
