Australia to investigate reports that its former pilots trained Chinese military - CNA

SYDNEY: Australia's defence minister said the military was investigating reports its former pilots were accepting training roles in China, as Britain said it could take legal action to stop its pilots from being similarly recruited on national security grounds.

The British government said on Tuesday (Oct 18) it was taking steps to stop China from trying to recruit serving and former British military pilots to train the Chinese armed forces. The BBC reported up to 30 former military pilots had gone to train China's People's Liberation Army.

Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles said he had asked the defence department to investigate claims that former Australian military pilots had also been recruited to join a South African flight school that operated in China.

"I would be deeply shocked and disturbed to hear that there were personnel who were being lured by a paycheck from a foreign state above serving their own country," Marles said in a statement.

"I have asked the department to investigate these claims and come back to my office with clear advice on this matter."

Britain's Ministry of Defence wrote on Twitter the British pilots involved had been told they risked prosecution under the Official Secrets Act, and a national security Bill would provide other paths to prosecution.

The South African company, Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA), did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether it had hired Australian pilots to work in China.

In an undated advertisement with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) available online, TFASA said it was seeking a number of fixed-wing and helicopter test pilot instructors to work at an undisclosed location in "Far East Asia" with an initial contract commitment of four years.

The requirements included having graduated from military test flight schools in the United States or Britain.

The ad was sent to all SETP members, said one based in Australia, who could not recall the date.

"I don't know anyone who has gone, but they're clearly targeting Western/Five Eyes test pilots," the SETP member told Reuters on condition of anonymity, referring to the intelligence group of Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

"We all go to the schools they listed."

TFASA also runs a flight school for Chinese airline pilots in South Africa as a joint venture with one of China's largest state-owned aeronautic companies, AVIC, according to its website.

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2022-10-19 04:47:00Z
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China sees 'much faster timeline' on taking Taiwan, Blinken warns - CNA

SAN FRANCISCO: Beijing wants to seize Taiwan "on a much faster timeline" than previously considered, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday (Oct 17), warning that President Xi Jinping was leading China in a more aggressive direction.

Xi is on the cusp of securing a third five-year term at the helm of the world's most populous nation, delivering a landmark Communist Party Congress speech on Sunday that hailed his decade in power and restated his vow to one day "reunify", or forcefully take, Taiwan.

"We've seen a very different China emerge in recent years under Xi Jinping's leadership," Blinken told a forum at Stanford University with former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.

"It is more repressive at home; it's more aggressive abroad. And in many instances that poses a challenge to our own interests as well as to our own values," he added.

Blinken accused Xi of "creating tremendous tension" by changing the approach toward self-ruled Taiwan, which China's Communist Party has never controlled but claims as its own.

He said China had made a "fundamental decision that the status quo was no longer acceptable, and that Beijing was determined to pursue reunification on a much faster timeline", though he gave no hard estimate or date.

Senior US military figures have previously sounded the alarm that China has expanded its military forces to the point where it could soon have the capability to pull off an invasion of Taiwan.

China's stance has long been that it seeks "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan but reserves the right to use force if necessary, especially if the island ever formally declares independence.

But the rhetoric and actions towards Taiwan have become more pronounced under Xi, China's most assertive leader in a generation.

He has tied taking Taiwan to his landmark "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" and has previously said the goal of reunification cannot continue to be passed indefinitely from generation to generation.

In Sunday's speech, he repeated similar themes, saying the "wheels of history are rolling on towards China's reunification" and that "we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary".

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2022-10-18 05:08:59Z
CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluYS1zZWVzLW11Y2gtZmFzdGVyLXRpbWVsaW5lLXRha2luZy10YWl3YW4tYmxpbmtlbi13YXJucy0zMDEyNjM20gEA

BN's days of fielding a 'songkok' and expecting easy election wins in Malaysia are gone: Ismail Sabri - CNA

Mr Ismail Sabri also said that parliament was dissolved so that the people could elect a new government. But this decision has been misunderstood by the opposition, he said. 

“When parliament is dissolved, the opposition should be pleased as there were many accusations about the government’s legitimacy,” he said, according to Bernama.  

“So, let the people now decide who should form the government. Out of the blue, they (the opposition) are not agreeing to parliament being dissolved to the extent that they want the matter taken to court. I do not understand what they really want.” 

According to local media, former Klang member of parliament Charles Santiago took the issue to court last week to stop the Election Commission (EC) from holding GE15, claiming that the caretaker prime minister breached several provisions in the Federal Constitution. 

An election is not due until September 2023, but Mr Ismail Sabri has been under pressure from some factions of his ruling coalition to hold the vote earlier.

UMNO’s call for an early GE15 has been criticised by the opposition and Mr Ismail Sabri’s own Cabinet members as Malaysia’s Meteorological Department has warned of floods during the north-east monsoon season. 

The EC will have a special meeting on Oct 20 to discuss and set important dates for GE15 and the state by-election for Bugaya in Sabah. 

Separately, it was reported that Mr Ismail Sabri remains the BN candidate for the post of prime minister in GE15.

"At the party level, the decision that Ismail Sabri is our 'poster boy' and candidate for the post of prime minister is final as decided by the UMNO supreme council,” the party’s president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was quoted as saying by The Star last Sunday. 

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2022-10-18 04:56:00Z
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New UK finance minister scraps tax plan, reins in energy support - CNA

LONDON: New finance minister Jeremy Hunt sought to rebuild investor confidence in Britain on Monday (Oct 17) by reversing nearly all of Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini-budget that had sparked market turmoil, and reining in a vast energy subsidy plan.

Tasked with halting a bond market rout that has raged since the government announced huge unfunded tax cuts on Sep 23, Hunt said the country now needed to increase taxes and cut spending to rebuild stability and confidence.

The former health and foreign minister has now reversed nearly all of the programme that helped Truss win the leadership of the ruling Conservative Party just over a month ago, leaving the prime minister fighting for her future.

A two-year energy support scheme for households and businesses, expected to cost more than £100 billion, will now end in April and be replaced by a more targeted scheme that will "cost the taxpayer significantly less than planned".

The pound soared by as much as 1.4 per cent to a session high of US$1.1332, after the statement. It was last up just under 1 per cent broadly where it was just before the announcement.

British government bonds rallied aggressively on Hunt's statement and looked on course for one of their biggest daily price increases since records began.

"We will reverse almost all the tax measures announced in the Growth Plan three weeks ago that had not started parliamentary legislation," Hunt said.

He said changes to planned tax cuts would raise £32 billion pounds (US$36 billion) every year.

"I remain extremely confident about the UK's long term economic prospects as we deliver our mission to go for growth," Hunt said in a televised clip. "But growth requires confidence and stability, and the United Kingdom will always pay its way."

TOTAL REVERSAL

The government has been forced to reverse course after markets reacted violently to Truss's plan, hammering the value of the pound and government bond prices and forcing the Bank of England to intervene to protect pension funds.

Adding to the pressure, the Bank stuck to its schedule of ending the support on Friday, meaning Hunt had been racing to reverse policies and find spending cuts to appease the markets and prevent borrowing costs from rising further on Monday morning.

He said government spending cuts would be required to narrow a hole in public finances that the Sunday Times reported was as big as £72 billion pounds.

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2022-10-17 10:52:00Z
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President Xi puts China in crisis mode, even as his continuing rule is secure - The Straits Times

BEIJING - In President Xi Jinping's political report at the opening of the 20th national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), there was no dearth of justification for him to secure a rare third five-year term.

Mr Xi had no qualms about patting himself and the party on the back for a job well done in the past 10 years of his rule - from the economy to the environment, from battling Covid-19 to corruption, from modernising the military to sinicising Marxism, and from poverty to prosperity, albeit moderate.

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2022-10-16 16:40:19Z
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China's plan to tackle social inequality sees fresh push, despite early shocks - CNA

The swift crackdowns on businesses sparked concern among investors as it wiped out some industries, while driving high-net-worth individuals to park their assets abroad. 

CRIPPLING INDUSTRIES

A ban on after-school tutoring, for instance, effectively crippled the US$100 billion industry, as part of China’s double-reduction education reform to reduce students’ stress from schoolwork and extra classes outside. 

Career development advisor Chen Duanfa said the policy’s sudden introduction forced many tutors to turn elsewhere for stability.

In the past year, he has seen a surge in queries from private tutors looking to work in international schools. 
  
“Some teachers may consider how they have work experience in large tutoring companies, like New Oriental Education and Technology, and are thinking of how they can get a job in an international school,” said the 36-year-old, who works for an international school in Hangzhou and runs a WeChat account offering career advice to over 9,600 followers. 

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2022-10-14 22:23:41Z
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Potential shake-up in Xi Jinping's leadership team at China's 20th Communist Party Congress - CNA

The role is especially important as China faces economic headwinds with an ailing property sector and fallout from its zero-COVID policy.

Analysts said that frontrunners for the role are typically among those who have experience as vice premier.

POSSIBLE CONTENDERS FOR PREMIER

If age is not a factor, experts suggest that 70-year-old Vice Premier Liu He, who has led trade negotiations with the US and is a close confidante of Mr Xi, could be a contender.

Executive Vice Premier Han Zheng, 68, could be another pick if he does not retire.

Wang Yang, 67, chairman of political advisory body the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and ranked fourth on the Standing Committee, is also expected to be in the running.

Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, the youngest member of the Politburo at 59, also appears to be a potential candidate, according to analysts. Despite coming from a rival faction – the Communist Party Youth League – the former Guangdong party secretary rose through the ranks and spearheaded Mr Xi’s poverty alleviation programme.

“Inside the Communist Party, factions have always been existing, and I don't think they will vanish in a short time,” said Dr Chen Gang, an assistant director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore.

“Because they have organisational support and interest support, they represent different systems, different regions, and different kinds of thinking ideology inside the party.”

However, Mr Chen said that as Mr Xi further consolidates his power and enters his third term, no faction is really tied to him anymore and therefore “they will all show their loyalty”.

The remaining vacancies on the Standing Committee are likely to go to rising stars who enjoy close ties with Mr Xi.

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2022-10-14 22:12:00Z
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