Taiwan missile upgrades pose a threat to China’s “sovereignty and security,” officials say
Beijing strongly condemned a possible $100mn deal between the US and Taiwan, aimed at improving and sustaining its missile system.
During a Tuesday press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the US government should immediately ditch its plans to sell military equipment and services to Taiwan.
He urged Washington to respect the “one China” principle and stressed that an arms deal between the US and Taiwan is a threat to China’s sovereignty and security interests, as well as ties between China and the US.
“China will take appropriate and forceful measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and security interests,” he stated, as quoted by Reuters. While asked about concrete measures China could take, he told the reporters to “wait and see.”
On Monday, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it had approved and delivered the required certification for a sale of $100mn worth of equipment and services to Taiwan in order to “sustain, maintain, and improve” its Patriot Air Defense System. The agency said the sale would “help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability” in the region.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry highly welcomed the decision, saying that the island would strengthen its national security and deepen its cooperation with the United States “in the face of China’s continued military expansion and provocative actions.”
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has repeatedly accused ‘secessionists’ of ramping up tensions by receiving military aid from abroad. Like most countries, the US has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but acts as its biggest backer, and provides the island nation with varios means of defense.
The US sold weapons systems, including missiles, sensors, and artillery with a total value of $1.8 billion, to Taiwan in 2020. As a response, Chinese officials sanctioned US weapons companies, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense, and Raytheon. However, what form these sanctions had taken was not disclosed to the media.
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 08 (IPS) – Calls, even screams, to fight inflation above all else are getting shriller. Thankfully, even The Economist (5 Feb. 2022) reminds all, Fighting inflation could put the world in a slump.
No inflation consensus
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva doubts the world faces a runaway inflation threat. She urges policymakers to carefully calibrate fiscal and monetary policies, with more “specificity”, as not ‘one size fits all’.
Whether NATO should expand to include countries once under Soviet influence — including Ukraine — is a question that has dogged U.S. and Russian officials for 30 years.
US President Joe Biden’s top science adviser has apologized after an internal investigation found he was “demeaning” to subordinates
US President Joe Biden’s top science adviser, Eric Lander, bullied and demeaned dozens of White House staffers since joining the administration, according to audio recordings from an internal investigation first reported by Politico.
The two-month investigation found “credible evidence” that Lander, who is director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), was “bullying” to staff members, including OSTP general counsel Rachel Wallace.
The investigation also found numerous instances of female staffers complaining about Lander speaking “disrespectfully” to them, especially in front of colleagues.
“The investigation found credible evidence of instances of multiple women having complained to other staff about negative interactions with Dr. Lander, where he spoke to them in a demeaning or abrasive way in front of other staff,” Christian Peele, the White House’s deputy director of management and administration for personnel, reportedly said in an audio recording outlining the investigation’s findings.
According to Rachel Wallace, Lander “retaliated against staff” – even claiming he demoted her – when they spoke up about problems, and he would allegedly take to “calling them names, disparaging them, embarrassing them in front of their peers, laughing at them, shunning them, taking away their duties, and replacing them or driving them out of the agency.”
She added that numerous women who have worked with the man “have been left in tears, traumatized, and feeling vulnerable and isolated.” The investigation concluded he had violated the White House’s ‘Safe and Respectful Workplace Policy,’ though Peele said in a recording that no gender bias was found.
Lander sent an email on Friday to staffers, reportedly after learning about Politico’s reporting. The official apologized for his behavior and said he had not “lived up to” his responsibility to “set a respectful tone for our community.” He promised regular forums to discuss employee and employer relationships going forward.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed an investigation had been conducted and said senior officials had directly spoken to Lander about his behavior. A number of “corrective actions” were required of Lander, “which the White House will monitor for compliance, moving forward,” she added.
Biden promised on the day of his inauguration to have a no-nonsense policy when it came to a toxic work environment in his administration, promising to fire anyone “on the spot” if he found they “treat another colleague with disrespect” or “talk down to someone.”
Lander is currently scheduled to appear before the House Committee on Health and Human Services biomedical research subcommittee on Tuesday to speak on an unrelated matter. He is also the leader of the ‘Cancer Moonshot’ initiative, which is aimed at lowering cancer deaths in the US.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 07 (IPS) – The Mexican government is prioritizing the construction and modernization of mega water projects, without considering their impacts and long-term viability, according to a number of experts and activists.
