Russia raises accusation at UN of Ukraine 'dirty bomb' plans - CNA

With Ukrainian forces advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson province, threatening a major defeat for Moscow, Russian officials phoned their Western counterparts on Sunday and Monday to air their suspicions.

Russia accused the Kyiv government of ordering two organisations to create a dirty bomb, an explosive device laced with radioactive material, without giving any evidence.

France, Britain and the United States said the allegations were "transparently false" and Washington warned Russia there would be "severe consequences" for any nuclear use.

"Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake for it (to) use a tactical nuclear weapon," US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday. "I'm not guaranteeing you that it's a false flag operation yet, we don't know. But it would be a serious mistake."

INSPECTORS

Britain's Deputy UN Ambassador James Kariuki told reporters: "This is pure Russian misinformation of the kind of we've seen many times before and it should stop."

Russia's defence ministry said the aim of a dirty bomb attack by Ukraine would be to blame Moscow for the radioactive contamination, which it said Russia had begun preparing for.

In an apparent response to Moscow's allegation, the UN nuclear watchdog said it was preparing to send inspectors to two unidentified Ukrainian sites at Kyiv's request, both already subject to its inspections.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters the inspectors would receive full access, and he called on Moscow to demonstrate the same transparency as Ukraine.

Russia's state news agency RIA has identified what it said were the two sites involved - the Eastern Mineral Enrichment Plant in the central Dnipropetrovsk region and the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv.

President Vladimir Putin has not spoken publicly about the dirty bomb allegations but on Tuesday said Russia needed to streamline decision-making in what it calls its "special military operation" to rid its neighbour of extremists. Ukraine and its allies accuse Moscow of an unprovoked war to grab territory.

Putin, speaking at the first meeting of a new council to manage the government's work, said increased coordination of government structures and regions was necessary.

MORE HELP FOR UKRAINE?

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday on his first visit since Russia invaded on Feb 24 as Berlin hosted what it said was a conference on a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild Ukraine, a reference to the US initiative to rebuild Western Europe at the end of World War II.

Thousands have been killed, and homes and factories destroyed, since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Since Russian forces suffered major defeats in September, Putin has doubled down, calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists, announcing the annexation of occupied territory and repeatedly threatening to use nuclear weapons.

Steinmeier said Berlin was working to help Ukraine with air defence equipment and would focus on assisting with repairs to infrastructure such as power grids before winter arrives.

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2022-10-25 21:41:00Z
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PM Lee congratulates Chinese President Xi on reappointment as Communist Party leader - CNA

"SUBSTANTIVE RELATIONSHIP"

Congratulating Mr Li on his appointment to the 20th CPC Central Committee Politburo Standing Committee, Mr Lee wrote of the "substantive relationship" between Singapore and China.

"Our three Government-to-Government projects – the Suzhou Industrial Park, the Tianjin Eco-City and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative – continue to be successful examples of what our countries can achieve together," he said. 

"Our multifaceted and forward-looking cooperation has progressed steadily over the years, expanding into new areas such as the digital and green economies.

"I am confident that Singapore-China relations will continue to flourish with the incoming Chinese leadership and as our countries work towards the full restoration of air connectivity."

Mr Lee recalled his last meeting with Mr Li as he rounded off his letter.

"I warmly recall our discussions when we last met in Shanghai in 2018," he said, adding that he looked forward to meeting Mr Li again and working closely with him and his colleagues to strengthen bilateral relations. 

"I wish you every success in your new appointment."

The CPC Central Committee elected Mr Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term on Oct 23.

The 69-year-old is expected to officially secure a historic third term as China's president, due to be formally announced during the government's annual legislative sessions next March.

Mr Li, a former Shanghai party chief and a confidante of Mr Xi's, was elevated to the number two position on the seven-man Standing Committee, making him likely to be named premier during the same sessions.

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2022-10-25 13:52:04Z
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Russia brings Ukraine 'dirty bomb' claim to UN as West rejects it as false - CNA

The foreign ministers of France, Britain and the United States rejected Moscow's allegations as "transparently false" and reiterated their support for Ukraine.

"The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation," they said in a joint statement.

Later, the US issued a warning to Moscow.

"We've been very clear with the Russians ... about the severe consequences that would result from nuclear use," State Department spokesman Ned Price said. "There would be consequences for Russia whether it uses a dirty bomb or a nuclear bomb."

Russia's defence ministry said the aim of a "dirty bomb" attack by Ukraine would be to blame Russia for the resulting radioactive contamination. The ministry has begun preparing for such a scenario, it said, readying forces and resources "to perform tasks in conditions of radioactive contamination".

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Monday it was preparing to send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites at Kyiv's request, in an apparent reaction to the Russian "dirty bomb" claims. It said both sites were already subject to its inspections and one was inspected a month ago.

Russia's state news agency RIA had earlier identified what it said were the two sites involved in the operation - the Eastern Mineral Enrichment Plant in central Dnipropetrovsk region and the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv. The IAEA statement did not name the facilities it would inspect.

US officials said there was no indication Moscow had made the decision to use a dirty bomb or any nuclear weapon.

"We continue to see nothing in the way of preparations by the Russian side for the use of nuclear weapons," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian accusation was a sign Moscow was planning such an attack itself and would blame Ukraine.

"If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this," Zelenskyy said in an overnight address.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on late Monday he had a detailed discussion with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on "ways to end Russia's nuclear blackmail".

EVACUATION

Russia has ordered civilians to evacuate territory it controls on the western bank of the Dnipro River, where Ukrainian forces have been advancing this month shortly after Moscow claimed to have annexed the area.

A Russian defeat there would be one of Moscow's biggest setbacks yet since its invasion eight months ago.

Kherson's regional capital is the only big city Russia has captured intact since its Feb 24 invasion, and its only foothold on the west bank of the Dnipro, which bisects Ukraine. The province controls the gateway to Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized and claimed to annex in 2014.

The Russian-installed authorities in Kherson announced on Monday that men who stay behind would have the option of joining a military self-defence unit. Kyiv accuses Russia of press-ganging men in occupied areas into military formations, a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

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2022-10-24 23:58:36Z
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Commentary: Xi cements power at Chinese Communist Party congress, but is still exposed on the economy - CNA

ECONOMIC WOES STILL LOOM LARGE

In all of this, the critical question is whether Xi will become a more abrasive global figure unbound by restrictions on his tenure and surrounded in the leadership by allies who are unlikely to challenge him.

Are there risks that his reach on issues like Taiwan will exceed his grasp?

The short answer is we don’t yet know. But Xi will likely have been further emboldened by his continued rise.

Xi is also a relentless aggregator of power. Since his elevation in 2007 to the Standing Committee, he has moved relentlessly.

In the decade since he was confirmed in 2012 as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party he has, step by step, consolidated power.

This all comes with the important caveat that behind the scenes in an opaque Chinese system, politicking can be brutal. Power struggles, sometimes violent, have scarred Chinese Communist Party history since its founding in Shanghai in 1921.

Xi would not need reminding that what the Communist Party giveth, it can also taketh away.

His own family’s experience is a case in point. Xi’s father Xi Zhongxun, a member of the first generation, with Mao Zedong, of Communist leaders, was purged in 1962. He was accused of being a member of a rightist clique.

Xi Jinping tasted the bitterness of that experience. He was shipped off to Shaanxi province, south-west of Beijing, in the early 1960s, where he spent six years in the countryside.

Xi senior was rehabilitated after the Cultural Revolution. Xi junior completed a degree in chemical engineering at Tsinghua University, one of China’s premier universities, before making his way up party ranks with various provincial assignments.

History will not be absent from Xi’s calculations, nor will he overlook the historical significance of the National Party Congress just concluded in Beijing.

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2022-10-24 22:06:00Z
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Hu Jintao's dramatic China Congress exit fuels speculation, official silence - CNA

"FEELING UNWELL"

China's only comment came in a pair of tweets in English late on Saturday by its official Xinhua news agency saying that Hu had been feeling unwell, an explanation that has been met with scepticism by some China-watchers.

Twitter is blocked in China, and there has been no mention of the incident in domestic media.

State TV's Saturday night news broadcasts included images of Hu at the congress, before his exit.

Asked at a regular news conference on Monday about the incident and the global attention it has gained, China's foreign ministry referred to the Xinhua tweets.

China's State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

"This episode probably tells us much more about China's information environment than it does about any power struggles within elite Chinese politics," said Benjamin Herscovitch, a research fellow at the Australian National University.

Chinese politics, always opaque, have become even more secretive under Xi's decade-long tenure.

"Despite the plausibility of a mundane explanation of ill-health, the CCP's secretiveness vis-a-vis senior Chinese leaders and elite Chinese politics lends itself to many more salacious explanations," he said.

On China's Twitter-like Weibo, a few social media users alluded to the incident by commenting on old posts featuring Hu. By Saturday night, the comments sections of almost all Weibo posts with Hu's name were no longer visible.

"I don't know what happened," said Victor Shih, associate professor at the University of California, San Diego. "Obviously, the timing is a bit suspicious."

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2022-10-24 11:17:00Z
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What to expect from Xi's next five years in power - CNA

ZERO COVID

Xi will also need to decide the future of China's strict zero-COVID policy - and whether the country is now ready to open up to the outside world after two years of closed borders and strict quarantines.

The policy is dragging on the economy, with officials this week blaming the epidemic for rising unemployment.

"Consumption is unlikely to recover to pre-COVID level with the current scale of COVID control," said Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China.

And with pandemic rules in China's semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong slowly being relaxed in a bid to attract more international capital, Xi could decide the economic costs outweigh the benefits of keeping controls tight.

But the Chinese leader's speech to the party faithful last week gave no sign that the rigid policy - which has forced millions into lockdowns over just handfuls of cases as the rest of the world learns to live with the virus - would relent anytime soon.

And with the success of the zero-COVID policy so entwined with Xi's legitimacy, it appears unlikely that a relaxation will take place anytime soon - no matter the cost to the economy.

HUMAN RIGHTS

China under Xi has seen the almost-total eradication of civil society, with scores of activists having fled the country and opposition to the government all but snuffed out.

And in the far-western region of Xinjiang, rights groups say more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are detained in what the United States and lawmakers in Western countries have said amounts to genocide.

The situation looks unlikely to improve over the next five years as Xi's power grows increasingly impossible to challenge and the leadership digs in its heels against international pressure.

Xi's next term will likely see him "continue his profound assault on human rights across the country and around the globe", Sophie Richardson at Human Rights Watch wrote.

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2022-10-24 08:51:00Z
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Sunak favourite to be Britain's PM after Johnson drops comeback bid - The Straits Times

LONDON - Rishi Sunak looked set to become Britain’s next prime minister after Mr Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest on Sunday, saying that although he had enough support to make the final ballot, he realised the country and the Conservative Party needed unity.

Mr Johnson had raced home from a holiday in the Caribbean to try and secure the backing of 100 lawmakers to enter Monday’s contest to replace Ms Liz Truss, the woman who succeeded him in September after he was forced to quit over a string of scandals.

He said he had secured the backing of 102 lawmakers and could have been “back in Downing Street”, but that he had failed to persuade either Mr Sunak, or the other contender Penny Mordaunt, to come together “in the national interest”.

“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time,” Mr Johnson said late on Sunday.

The former prime minister had secured the public backing of just under 60 Conservative lawmakers by Sunday, well under half of the nearly 150 endorsements Mr Sunak had received.

Sterling rose more than half a cent against the dollar in early trading in Asia.

Mr Johnson’s statement likely paves the way for his arch rival, the 42-year-old former finance minister Sunak, to become prime minister, possibly as soon as Monday. If confirmed, he would replace Ms Truss, who was forced to resign after she launched an economic programme that triggered turmoil on financial markets.

According to the rules, if only one candidate secures the backing of 100 Conservative lawmakers, they will be named prime minister on Monday.

If two candidates pass the threshold, they will go forward to a vote of the party membership, with the winner announced on Friday, just days before new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt lays bare the state of the country’s finances in a budget plan due to be released on Oct 31.

That had raised concerns that Mr Johnson would return to Downing Street with the backing of the party members, and not a majority of lawmakers in Parliament, leaving the party badly divided. Mr Hunt declared his backing for Mr Sunak late on Sunday.

Some Johnson supporters could switch to Ms Mordaunt, who has presented herself as the unity candidate, but many immediately switched to Mr Sunak. A source close to the Mordaunt campaign said the former defence minister would continue in the contest.

“She is the unifying candidate who is most likely to keep the wings of the Conservative Party together,” the source said.

Mr Johnson has loomed large over British politics ever since he became mayor of London in 2008 and went on to become the face of the Brexit vote in 2016. While he led the Conservative Party to a landslide election in 2019, he was forced out just three years later by a rebellion of his ministers.

Mr Sunak said he hoped Mr Johnson would continue to contribute to public life “at home and abroad”.

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2022-10-23 20:49:02Z
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