Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

In troubled Taiwan China waters, a swimming race provides rare hope

In troubled Taiwan China waters, a swimming race provides rare hope

Kinmen, Taiwan – On Taiwan’s sandy shores, Liu Xi Jiu puts on his goggles as he prepares to race across one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world. Originally from Beijing, he is competing in the only event of its kind, a seven-kilometre (4.3-mile) swimming race across a geopolitical hotspot, from Taiwan’s offshore Kinmen Islands to the city of Xiamen on China’s east coast. Around him, 200 athletes from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau laugh and joke as they warm up. In front of them, past the rows of anti-invasion spikes that line Kinmen’s golden beaches, Xiamen’s distinctive skyscrapers glint in the morning sun. But the warm weather and sense of friendly competition mask the increasingly tense relations across the strait that separates democratic Taiwan from China, which claims the island as its own. The swimmers, preparing to make the gruelling 90-minute crossing, hope their camaraderie can serve as an example for smoother exchanges across these choppy waters. Kinmen and its residents have always had a close relationship with China, Wu Zeng Yun, CEO of the Kinmen-Matsu Joint Services Centre, told Al Jazeera. While Wu’s workplace now serves as the local branch of Taiwan’s central executive, the building still bears the name Fujian Provincial Government. Emblazoned in gold above the imposing entrance, the characters are a reminder of the time when Kinmen was part of China’s Fujian Province. “In the past, my uncles did business in Tong’an on the mainland,” Wu said, referring to the historic district visible across the waters from just outside his office. The city of Xiamen is clearly visible from the beaches of KInmen [Jan Camenzind Broomby/Al Jazeera] “It was a shared living area,” he added. “You simply went to the pier, boarded a ship to Tong’an, and paid the fare.” But after the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, everything changed. Facing defeat at the hands of the Communists, the nationalist Republic of China government fled Beijing and established itself in Taiwan. It also retained control of the Kinmen Islands, more than 300km (186 miles) from Taipei. The island’s residents were cut off from the province they had once been part of and soon found themselves on the front lines of a political battle between Taipei and Beijing that at times erupted into violence. With China regularly shelling the island until 1979, residents can remember hiding in the bunkers that dot the island, taking cover as bombs rained down on their villages. China reaffirmed its willingness to use force to take control of Taiwan, which considers the territory its own, in a white paper as recently as 2022. The government in Taipei says the people of Taiwan should be the ones to decide their future. Heightened tensions Standing in Kinmen’s Shuitou Pier Ferry Terminal, Legislator Chen Yu Jen said her father was on board one of the first boats that reconnected Kinmen with China in 2001. At the time, it was hoped such connections could help improve relations between Taipei and Beijing, but as Chen makes her way to the departure gate, preparing to follow in her father’s footsteps, that hope has yet to materialise. In mid-February, Kinmen was once again the focus of cross-strait tensions after a clash between the Taiwanese coastguard and a Chinese ship caught fishing in Kinmen’s waters. Two of the fishermen died. To make matters worse, it was discovered that the Chinese boat had capsized after it collided with the Taiwanese ship, a fact that Taipei had initially omitted from its account of the incident. In response, the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG), indirectly under the command of Beijing’s Central Military Commission, stepped up its presence in the region. Fisherman Lu Wen Shiung says Chinese Coast Guard ships have chased him in waters near Kinmen [Jan Caemnzind Broomby/Al Jazeera] Looking out across the troubled waters from his small boat, local fisherman and business owner Lu Wen Shiung says the fishing community has already felt the impact. “When cross-strait relations were less tense, we had good relations with the coastal fishermen from the mainland,” he recalled. “If the mainland fishermen had a good catch, they would share with us.” But with CCG ships beginning to regularly cross into Kinmen’s territorial waters, a line that was largely respected until February, Lu now faces pressure from Chinese ships even when his boat is motoring closer to Kinmen’s shores. “The activities of the Chinese Coast Guard have changed significantly. They now frequently patrol our waters,” explained Lu. In an unprecedented move, the CCG even boarded a Taiwanese tour boat in February. Three months later, it announced a series of military exercises around Kinmen for the first time. “Whenever we go out to sea, we often encounter them,” fisherman Lu said, referencing the CCG. “This year, I’ve already been chased three times.” In early July, a Taiwanese fishing boat with two Taiwanese and three Indonesian nationals on board was also seized by the Chinese Coast Guard and taken to the mainland, accused of violating a summer fishing ban. The boat’s captain remains under investigation, but the crew was released this week. “Some fishermen who work nearby are worried that any misstep could result in their boat being detained,” Kinmen county councillor, Tung Sen Pao, told Al Jazeera. While analysts say China’s incursions are part of Beijing’s “grey zone” tactics to exert pressure on Taipei, some in Kinmen worry about the potential risk of escalation and accidental conflict. An old tank is a reminder of past outbreaks of conflict on Kinmen [Jan Camenzind Broomby/Al Jazeera] Recognition and respect for Kinmen’s restricted waters is “crucial for maintaining peace”, said Wu of the Kinmen-Matsu Joint Services Centre. “If the mainland unilaterally denies it, it increases the risk of conflict.” “If border units, coast guards and coast police clash during their duties … it might lead to unnecessary disputes and accidents, potentially sparking military conflicts, which would be detrimental to both sides,” Councillor Tung said. Silver linings Despite the upset caused by the

Thailand’s ruling coalition nominates Paetongtarn as PM, parliament to vote

Thailand’s ruling coalition nominates Paetongtarn as PM, parliament to vote

The 37-year-old daughter of tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra would become the third member of the family to lead Thailand. Thailand’s parliament is set to vote on whether 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra should become the country’s next prime minister after the ruling Pheu Thai party nominated her to replace dismissed leader Srettha Thavisin. Parliament is due to convene in Bangkok at 10am (03:00 GMT) on Friday, two days after the country’s top court sacked Srettha over his decision to appoint a minister who had a criminal conviction. Paetongtarn is the youngest child of billionaire tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra and would become the third member of the family after her father and aunt to hold the nation’s top job if she secures parliamentary backing. Srettha’s removal was the latest chapter in a long-running battle between the military, pro-royalist establishment and populist parties linked to Thaksin, who shook up the country’s staid politics when he was first elected prime minister in 2001. He spent years in exile after being removed in a military coup in 2006 and returned to Thailand only last year, on the day Pheu Thai formed the government. The grouping chose Paetongtarn as its replacement candidate at a meeting on Thursday night after none of the 10 other parties in the coalition put forward an alternative. Bhumjaithai – the third-largest party in parliament – said it had “agreed to support a candidate” from Pheu Thai in Friday’s vote. The ruling coalition holds 314 seats, and the approval of more than half of the current 493 lawmakers is needed to become prime minister. “We are confident that the party and coalition parties will lead our country,” she said after the party announced her candidacy. Paetongtarn was chosen at a meeting of the ruling coalition on Thursday night [Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP] Paetongtarn helped run the hotel arm of the family’s business empire before entering politics three years ago and has never held elected office. She was a near-constant presence on the campaign trail in the 2023 elections when she was one of Pheu Thai’s prime minister candidates, giving birth just two weeks before polling day. The reformist Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in parliament but was blocked from forming a government by the Senate, which at the time was appointed by the military and had a veto of prime ministerial appointments. Last week, the constitutional court also voted to dissolve MFP and ban its executive board members from politics for 10 years over its promise to amend strict royal defamation laws. The party has since regrouped as the People’s Party. Its leader, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, said the party would not vote to approve a candidate from Pheu Thai on Friday and would continue its duty as an opposition. Adblock test (Why?)

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 903

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 903

As the war enters its 903rd day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Friday, August 16, 2024. Fighting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had taken full control of the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region, after sending thousands of troops across the border in a surprise attack that began on August 6. Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskii said its forces had moved forward by 1.5km (0.93 miles) over the previous 24 hours, advancing some 35km into Russia’s Kursk region since the start of the incursion. Its forces were now in control of 1,150 square kilometres (444 square miles) of Russian territory and 82 settlements, he added. Russia’s Ministry of Defence did not respond to the Ukrainian claims about Sudzha. The ministry said earlier that Russian forces had blocked Ukrainian attempts to take several settlements in the region and that they had retaken the village of Krupets. Kursk acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, ordered the evacuation of the Glushkovo district, about 45km (28 miles) northwest of Sudzha. Authorities say more than 120,000 Kursk region residents have already been evacuated because of the fighting. Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said Ukrainian special forces captured a group of 102 Russian soldiers on Wednesday in the Kursk region. Russia said it would beef up its border defences, improve the command and control system and send in additional forces as a result of the Kursk incursion. At least two people were killed and 12 injured in a Russian-guided bomb attack on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said on Telegram. Serhiy Tsehotskiy, an officer with Ukraine’s 59th Motorized Brigade, told national television there had been no letup in Russian military pressure in Ukraine’s partially-occupied eastern Donetsk region. “The enemy, despite what is happening on the territory of Russia, is still … keeping the bulk of its troops in this direction and trying to achieve success,” Tsehotskiy said. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it captured the Donetsk village of Ivanivka, a frontline village about 15km (nine miles) from the strategically important town of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force said it shot down all 29 Russian drones targeting eight Ukrainian regions, and the attack caused only minor damage. Politics and diplomacy A court in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg jailed 32-year-old Ksenia Karelina, a dual United States-Russian citizen, for 12 years after finding her guilty of treason for donating $51.80 to a New York-based charity that provides aid to children and the elderly in Ukraine. Karelina, who lives in Los Angeles where she made the donation, was arrested earlier this year when she flew to Russia to see family. Mykhailo Podolyak, aide to Ukraine’s president, rejected suggestions Kyiv was involved in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. The Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday that Ukraine’s then-top military commander, Valerii Zaluzhny, oversaw the plan to blow up the pipelines in September 2022. The report came after Germany issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian over the attacks. Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko, a key Russian ally, told Russian state television Moscow and Kyiv should negotiate an end to the war. Lukashenko claimed only “high-ranking people of American origin” wanted the war to continue. Weaponry The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence said Ukraine was allowed to use British weapons in operations on Russian territory, but restrictions remained on the use of long-range Storm Shadow missiles. Sky News and other UK media outlets reported Challenger 2 tanks donated by the UK to Ukraine were being used in the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk. Adblock test (Why?)