China congress: Xi Jinping defends zero-Covid as party meeting opens
China's President Xi Jinping has been defending his controversial zero-Covid strategy as a historic Communist Party congress kicks off in Beijing, BBC reported.
In a break in decades-long tradition, delegates are likely to hand Mr Xi a third term as party chief.
Zero-Covid was an "all out people's war to stop the spread of the virus", he said.
The policy has saved lives, but also exacted a punishing toll on the Chinese people and economy.
There is increasing public fatigue over lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Beijing has come under strict security measures ahead of the congress, sparking frustration in the city with a rare and dramatic public proteston Thursday criticising Mr Xi and zero Covid.
Mr Xi also addressed the issue of Taiwan - which China claims as part of its territory. Self-governing Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the mainland.
Speaking slowly and deliberately, he said Beijing would "never promise to renounce the use of force" and that "complete reunification of our country must and will be realised", prompting sustained applause from delegates.
On Hong Kong, Mr Xi said Beijing had exerted control there, turning the situation from "chaos to governance". Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the territory after pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019.
Since reaching top office, he has overseen a wide-reaching corruption crackdown extending to the highest echelons of the party. But critics have portrayed it as a political purge.
Mr Xi's speech dominates the first day of the congress - the choice of words has been workshopped for months and analysts will be poring over it for any signs of policy shifts.
A third term as leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will pave the way for him to become the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, according to BBC.
About 2,300 delegates are meeting to elect party leaders and debate key policies.
Over the course of the congress, delegates are also expected to elect various leaders including the Politburo Standing Committee - China's equivalent of a presidential cabinet - who will present themselves to waiting media during the congress.
In the past, the twice-a-decade congress was seen as a chance for leaders to promote their supporters, as they vied to increase the power of their factions within the party.
But observers say these days there appears to be only one faction at the 20th Party Congress - that of Mr Xi.
In a clear sign of this consolidation of power, top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders released a communiqué days earlier endorsing him as "the core" of the party and leadership. They also called for the party to unite even more closely behind him.
The CCP does not set any term limits. But no leader besides Mao, the founder of communist China, has ever served a third term.
The presidency also used to have a two-term limit in the country's constitution, put in place by reformer Deng Xiaoping to prevent the rise of a Mao-like figure.
But Mr Xi has managed to eliminate this requirement: in 2018 China's rubber-stamp parliament abolished the rule, effectively allowing him to remain president for as long as he likes.
Since taking power in 2012, Mr Xi has led China on a path that has been equal parts ambitious and authoritarian, BBC reported.
He has pushed for "a great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", which saw him pursuing economic reform, reducing pollution and alleviating poverty.
Newly appointed US Ambassador Thompson arrives in Nepal
Newly appointed US Ambassador to Nepal Dean Thompson arrived in Nepal on Thursday. Ambassador Thompson arrived in Nepal, a week after Ambassador Randy Berry returned home completing his four-year term. According to the US Embassy in Kathmandu, newly appointed Ambassador Thompson along with his family would spend some days in get-together with Nepal-based US mission families and then present his letter of credentials to the government of Nepal.
N. Korea fires another missile, flies warplanes near border
North Korea early Friday launched a short-range ballistic missile toward its eastern waters and flew warplanes near the border with South Korea, further raising animosities triggered by the North’s recent barrage of weapons tests.
South Korea’s military also said it detected North Korea firing about 170 rounds of artillery from eastern and western coastal areas near the border region and that the shells fell inside maritime buffer zones the Koreas established under a 2018 military agreement on reducing tensions, Associated Press reported.
The North Korean moves suggest it would keep up a provocative run of weapons tests designed to bolster its nuclear capability for now. Some experts say North Korea would eventually want the United States and others to accept it as a nuclear state, lifting economic sanctions and making other concessions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the missile lifted off from the North’s capital region at 1:49 a.m. Friday (1649 GMT Thursday; 12:49 p.m. EDT Thursday).
While none of the North Korean artillery shells fell inside South Korean territorial waters, the Joint Chiefs of Staff described the firings as a clear violation of the 2018 agreement, which created buffer zones along land and sea boundaries and no-fly zones above the border to prevent clashes.
Friday’s ballistic launch extended a record number of missile demonstrations by North Korea this year as it exploits the distraction created by Russia’s war on Ukraine to accelerate its arms development and increase pressure on Washington and its Asian allies.
In response to North Korea’s intensifying testing activity and hostility, South Korea on Friday imposed unilateral sanctions on the North for the first time in five years, targeting 15 North Korean individuals and 16 organizations suspected of involvement in illicit activities to finance North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the missile flew on an “irregular” trajectory — a possible reference to describe the North’s highly maneuverable KN-23 weapon modeled on Russia’s Iskander missile, according to Associated Press.
“Whatever the intentions are, North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches are absolutely impermissible and we cannot overlook its substantial advancement of missile technology,” Hamada said. “North Korea’s series of actions pose threats to Japan, as well as the region and the international community, and are absolutely intolerable.”
The South Korean and Japanese militaries assessed that the missile traveled 650 to 700 kilometers (403-434 miles) at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (30 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement the North Korean launch didn’t pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to its allies, adding that the U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan remain “ironclad.”
It was the latest in a series of missile launches by North Korea in recent weeks, Associated Press reported.
Ukraine demands Red Cross visits notorious prison
Ukrainian officials have urged the Red Cross to conduct a mission to a notorious prison camp in the Russia-occupied east of the country, BBC reported.
The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, demanded that the Red Cross (ICRC) visit the Olenivka prison in Donetsk within three days.
"We just can't waste more time. Human lives are at stake", he tweeted.
Last month, the Red Cross tried to secure access to the camp, but said it was denied by Russian authorities.
The Olenivka prison has been under the control of Russian-backed authorities in Donetsk since 2014, and conditions are said to be extremely poor.
In July, dozens of Ukrainian prisoners were killed in rocket attacks at the camp, which both sides blamed on each other. Kyiv said the prison was targeted by Russia to destroy evidence of torture and killing, while Moscow blamed Ukrainian rockets.
He has demanded the trip be made by Monday.
"Ukraine... will contribute to this mission in every possible way," he said on Telegram, adding he didn't understand why a mission to inspect Olenivka had not yet been arranged.
President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed the calls, and accused the Red Cross of inaction, saying it "obligations, primarily of a moral nature".
In his nightly address on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said he believed that the Red Cross is "not a club with privileges where one receives a salary and enjoys life."
"But it requires leadership," Mr Zelensky said in a thinly veiled criticism of the Red Cross. "The Red Cross can make it happen. But you have to try to make it happen."
The ICRC has been contacted for comment.
Last month, the organisation's Director-General Robert Mardini said talks were ongoing with Russian authorities about access to Olenivka - but were eventually denied.
"We are negotiating every day to have full access to all prisoners of war," he told reporters. "It is clearly an absolute obligation [of] the parties to give the ICRC access to all prisoners of war."
Also in his Thursday address President Zelensky said Ukraine would celebrate its Defenders Day on Friday, which was made a national holiday in 2014 after Russia's invasion of Crimea, BBC reported.
