Commentary: What's going on with China's surprise military shake-up? - CNA

LATEST PURGES WILL NOT HAMPER THE ROCKET FORCE’S DEVELOPMENT

Given that Mr Xi had presided over the formation of the PLA Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force, the wisdom of his earlier personnel appointments has inevitably come under the spotlight.

The latest decision to parachute in General Wang, a naval officer, to take charge of the country’s strategic missile forces is unprecedented in the Rocket Force’s recent history and has likewise met with derision. Indeed, previous commanders were promoted from within the service.

As it is, the redeployment of officers across the different service branches has been a recurring theme in the PLA.

Famously, the father of the modern Chinese navy, Admiral Liu Huaqing, had in fact been an army officer for much of his career. More recently, the retired commander of the People’s Armed Police, Wang Ning, neither had any prior experience in the paramilitary outfit before his appointment.

To be sure, had generals from the ground forces instead been appointed to lead the Rocket Force, some critics would have seized on that as a sign of the PLA remaining stuck with its traditional “Big Army’ mentality.

It is likely that Wang Houbin and Xu Xisheng do in fact have some familiarity with Rocket Force operations. Since Mr Xi’s major shake-up of the military, Rocket Force assets have become more integrated under the revamped joint Theatre Command system to enable joint operations with their army, navy, and air force counterparts in each respective Theatre Command.

As the biggest winner among the conventional services amid the reforms - both in terms of retaining its control over its operations bases and missile brigades and seeing their numbers expand - the determination shown by Beijing to boost the effectiveness and lethality of the Rocket Force is obvious.

As the trump card in the PLA’s arsenal, the ongoing purges in the Rocket Force are more a symptom of the party army’s internal clean-up, rather than a sign of China’s incumbent leader losing his grip on the military.  

James Char is a Research Fellow with the China Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.

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2023-09-13 22:00:00Z
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India's Kerala state closes schools, banks in seven villages due to Nipah deaths - CNA

Strict isolation rules were adopted, with medical staff being quarantined after direct contact with the infected.

The first victim was a small landholder in the district's village of Marutonkara, a government official said. The victim's daughter and brother-in-law, both infected, are in an isolation ward, with other family members and neighbours being tested.

The second death followed contact in hospital with the first victim, doctors' initial investigation has shown, but the two were not related, added the official, who sought anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Three federal teams, including experts from the National Virology Institute, were set to arrive on Wednesday for more tests, the official said.

The Nipah virus was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak of illness among pig farmers and others in close contact with the animals in Malaysia and Singapore.

In Kerala's first Nipah outbreak, 21 of the 23 infected died, while outbreaks in 2019 and 2021 claimed two more lives.

A Reuters investigation in May identified parts of Kerala as among the places most at risk globally for outbreaks of bat viruses. Extensive deforestation and urbanisation have brought people and wildlife into close contact.

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2023-09-13 08:22:41Z
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Japan replaces foreign, defence ministers in major reshuffle - CNA

A majority of voters are not satisfied with the government's policy to address inflation, according to a Yomiuri poll published last month.

Kishida's cabinet has also been hit by scandals including "inappropriate behaviour" by his son, who was removed from the position of his secretary earlier this year.

A magazine reported that Shotaro Kishida had invited relatives to the official residence for a party last year, with photos of some pretending to hold a press conference and one lying down on red-carpeted stairs.

Five women, up from two in the previous cabinet, is the joint highest record in Japanese politics.

In June, Kishida's government set numerical targets of female executives for companies listed on the prestigious Prime section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

By 2025, companies should appoint at least one woman director, and by 2030, they should increase the ratio of female directors to at least 30 per cent, it said.

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2023-09-13 07:50:59Z
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North Korea's Kim meets Putin as missiles launched from Pyongyang - CNA

"SENSITIVE AREAS"

Asked whether the leaders would discuss weapons, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two countries cooperate in "sensitive" areas, which would not be made public, according to the Interfax news agency.

On Tuesday, Peskov said that Kim's visit would be a "fully fledged" one and that the two sides would conduct "negotiations". Humanitarian aid to North Korea and UN Security Council resolutions imposed on Pyongyang may also be discussed, Russian officials have said.

Russia's foreign ministry said the talks are important considering geopolitical changes in the world.

"Bilateral contacts are very important. And the situation on the Korean Peninsula is, of course, of utmost importance for security and stability in the region," state news agency RIA quoted ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.

Kim arrived in Russia by private train on Tuesday with top defence industry and military aides and said his visit highlighted the "strategic importance" of the two countries' ties, the North's state news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday.

The make-up of Kim's delegation, with the notable presence of Munitions Industry Department Director Jo Chun Ryong, suggested an agenda heavy on defence industry cooperation, analysts said.

Kim could offer artillery rounds from North Korea's large stockpile, which could replenish Russia's capabilities in the short term, but questions about the ammunition's quality may limit the overall impact, military analysts said.

South Korea and the United States have warned such a deal would violate UN Security Council resolutions, which Russia as a permanent member of the council voted to approve.

North Korea is one of the few countries to have openly supported Russia over the Ukraine conflict, and Putin pledged last week to "expand bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts".

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2023-09-13 05:45:57Z
2397605581

Libya floods wipe out quarter of city, thousands dead - The Straits Times

DERNA - Thousands of people were killed and at least 10,000 were missing in Libya in floods caused by a huge Mediterranean storm that burst dams, swept away buildings and wiped out as much as a quarter of the eastern coastal city of Derna.

A senior medic in Derna told Reuters that more than 2,000 people were dead, while eastern Libya officials cited by local television were estimating a toll above 5,000.

Storm Daniel barrelled across the Mediterranean into a country divided and crumbling after more than a decade of conflict.

In Derna, a city of around 125,000 inhabitants, Reuters journalists saw wrecked neighbourhoods, their buildings washed out and cars flipped on their roofs in streets covered in mud and rubble left by a wide torrent after dams burst.

Wahda Hospital’s director Mohamad al-Qabisi said 1,700 people had died in one of the city’s two districts and 500 had died in the other.

Reuters journalists saw many bodies laid out on the ground in the hospital corridors. As more bodies were brought to the hospital people looked at them, trying to identify missing family members.

"Bodies are lying everywhere - in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings," Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that controls the east, told Reuters by phone shortly after visiting Derna.

"I am not exaggerating when I say that 25 per cent of the city has disappeared. Many, many buildings have collapsed."

The local al-Masar television said the eastern administration's interior minister had said more than 5,000 people died.

Other eastern cities, including Libya's second-biggest city Benghazi, were also hit by the storm. Mr Tamer Ramadan, head of a delegation of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the death toll would be "huge".

"We can confirm from our independent sources of information that the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 so far," he told reporters via video link.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said emergency response teams had been mobilised to help on the ground.

As Turkey and other countries rushed aid to Libya, including search and rescue vehicles, rescue boats, generators and food, distraught Derna citizens rushed home in search of loved ones.

‘Never felt as frightened’

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2023-09-12 22:42:00Z
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Japan PM to replace foreign and defence ministers: Reports - CNA

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1. Japan PM to replace foreign and defence ministers: Reports  CNA
2. Japan PM Kishida to replace foreign and defence ministers in Cabinet reshuffle: Media  The Straits Times
3. Japan finance minister Suzuki seen retaining post in cabinet reshuffle - Kyodo  Reuters
4. Japan PM Kishida to replace foreign, defence ministers in expected cabinet reshuffle  CNA
5. Japan PM Kishida to replace foreign, defense ministers  Nikkei Asia
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-09-12 14:17:19Z
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North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Russia amid US warnings not to sell arms - CNA

Kim could offer artillery rounds from North Korea's large stockpile, which could replenish Russia's capabilities in the short term, but questions about the ammunition's quality may limit the overall impact, military analysts said.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's office said many countries were watching with concern the summit between "North Korea which has been sanctioned by the United Nations, and Russia, which is a permanent member of the Security Council".

"As the president has said, we hope Russia will act responsibly as a permanent member of the UN Security Council," a presidential official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On Monday, Washington urged Pyongyang North to abide by its promise not to sell arms to Russia that could be used in the Ukraine war, which it said would violate Security Council resolutions.

North Korea is one of the few countries to have openly supported Russia over the Ukraine conflict, and Putin pledged last week to "expand bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts".

In a striking display, Kim gave a personal tour of an arms exhibition to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu when he visited Pyongyang in July, and Shoigu saluted when banned ballistic missiles rolled by at a military parade.

Both Russia and China voted for Security Council resolutions as late as 2017 punishing Pyongyang for ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests.

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2023-09-12 10:25:44Z
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