Diplomatic solutions can prevent conflicts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday, when asked to give Taiwan advice.
Zelenskiy made the remark in response to media queries following a special address he gave via video link to the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore from Friday to yesterday.
“How do you recommend that Taiwan stand strong as China seeks to impose its control over a free people, by force if necessary?” a reporter asked the Ukrainian president.
Photo: AFP
Pre-emptive measures should be taken against wars, which “no one benefits from,” except for a few political leaders with ever-growing ambitions, Zelenskiy said.
Action should be taken before a war has started and caused “hundreds of thousands of casualties, and even millions of casualties like we have in Ukraine,” he said. “If there is a way out diplomatically, we need to use the diplomatic way.”
Zelenskiy did not directly mention Taiwan or China in his response, but said that Russia’s war against Ukraine is a lesson for the whole world.
Photo: Reuters
“We need a diplomatic resolution to support countries that are in need of help” and not leave them behind to be assaulted by a more powerful country, he said.
Ukraine respects international law and has “no intention or plan” to invade Russian territory, he said, calling on the world to put the Russian leadership in its place — that is, in its own country.
Zelenskiy thanked everyone who backs Ukraine, saying that the support and attention are not only to ensure the safety of Ukraine, but also the safety of the whole world.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,