China kickstarts Xiangshan Forum in absence of defence minister - CNA

BEIJING: China's biggest annual show of military diplomacy started on Sunday (Oct 29) although the Asian power is still missing a defence minister, who typically hosts this event.

China hopes to use the Beijing Xiangshan Forum to promote President Xi Jinping's vision for a safer world and draw developing countries closer, as it faces increased coordination between the United States and its allies to curtail its military ambitions.

Russia, which started a war in Ukraine in 2022, is being given centre stage at the forum. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is listed in the forum's agenda as the first guest speaker at Monday's opening ceremony.

The US defence department has sent a delegation led by Xanthi Carras, China Country Director in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense.

This year's forum takes place at an awkward time for China when it is without a defence minister, whose main role is to engage with foreign militaries.

On Tuesday, Beijing sacked its defence minister Li Shangfu but did not name a replacement. Reuters reported last month that Li, who has been missing for two months, was investigated for corruption.

Chinese military leaders more senior than the defence minister have filled in for Li. State media reported that Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, ranked number two and three in the military, separately held bilateral meetings with the defence ministers from Laos, Mongolia and Vietnam on Saturday.

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2023-10-29 06:48:00Z
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Singapore's vote in favour of UN resolution shows clear stand on Israel-Hamas conflict: Shanmugam - CNA

He acknowledged that there is a strong need and desire in the community to do something, but there are ways to do this constructively and by making Singapore's position known internationally.

He also added that people are entitled to express their views online, but they must not cross into incitement or hate speech against other religions and other races. 

Asked about posts by the Israeli embassy that could be advocating for a cause, Mr Shanmugam said: "We don't take lightly any foreign interference in our domestic policies. We expect any ambassador or embassy to respect the way things are done in Singapore."

LOCAL HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS

Mr Shanmugam told the media that Humanity Matter's relief supplies packing session on Sunday was the second humanitarian event that he has attended in two days. 

The first was the launch of a month-long campaign in Nee Soon to collect supplies and donations to help people in Gaza.

Mr Shanmugam said that seeing over 100 volunteers on Sunday come together regardless of race, language or religion showed a strong desire in the community to help. 

"This is unique about Singapore. Everyone comes together to help even though they know most of the help goes towards Muslims in Gaza. They need help, we do what we can," he said. 

The relief supplies packed on Sunday included 10,000 packs of intravenous fluids and infusion sets, 5,000 collapsible jerry cans, painkillers and vitamins. 

The relief cargo, with a value of S$215,000, is scheduled to be airlifted on Oct 31 to Cairo, Egypt, and later transferred via land to Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

This article was originally published in TODAY.

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2023-10-29 08:08:00Z
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Israel presses ground campaign against Hamas in 'second stage' of Gaza war - The Straits Times

JERUSALEM - Israeli forces waged ground operations against Hamas in Gaza on Sunday in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the second phase of a three-week-old war aimed at crushing the Palestinian militant group.

Gaza's besieged residents faced a near-total communications and Internet blackout as Israel's warplanes dropped bombs and its troops and armour pushed into the Hamas-ruled enclave, with Israeli military chiefs signalling they were gearing up for an expanded ground offensive.

Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu warned Israelis to expect a "long and hard" campaign but stopped short of calling the current incursions an invasion. Some of US President Joe Biden's aides have advised Israeli counterparts to hold off on an immediate all-out assault, US officials have said.

Even as initial ground operations appeared limited for now, Mr Netanyahu pledged to spare no effort to free the more than 200 hostages, including Americans and other foreigners, held by Hamas.

"This is the second stage of the war whose goals are clear - to destroy Hamas' governing and military capabilities and to bring the hostages home," Mr Netanyahu told reporters.

"We are only at the start," he said. "We will destroy the enemy above ground and below ground."

Israel has tightened its blockade and bombarded Gaza for three weeks since the Islamist group Hamas' devastating Oct 7 attack. At least 1,400 Israelis were killed in the deadliest day of the nation's 75-year history, Israeli authorities said.

Western countries have generally backed what they say is Israel's right to self-defence. But there has been a mounting international outcry over the toll from the bombing and growing calls for a "humanitarian pause" to allow aid to reach Gaza civilians and ease the humanitarian crisis.

Medical authorities in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.3 million people, say 7,650 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's campaign to obliterate the Iran-backed militants.

President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority governs parts of the occupied West Bank while Hamas rules Gaza, said, “Our people in the Gaza Strip are facing a war of genocide and massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces in full view of the entire world.”

With many buildings reduced to rubble and shelter hard to find, Gazans are short of food, water, fuel and medicines. Their plight got worse from Friday night when phone and internet services were cut - followed by heavy bombing through the night. The communications outage persisted into Sunday.

"God help anyone under the rubble," said one Gaza journalist, who spent a terrifying night in a building stairway as bombs fell and Israeli forces appeared to exchange fire with Palestinian fighters.

Israel's chief military spokesperson declined to say whether Israel was behind the telecommunications blackout in Gaza but said it would do what it needed to protect its forces.

Israel sent troops and tanks into Gaza on Friday night, focusing on infrastructure including the extensive tunnel network built by Hamas, the Israeli military said. It provided no details on the size of the deployment.

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2023-10-28 23:06:23Z
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Two Singaporean men among three arrested for murder in Johor Bahru - The Straits Times

JOHOR BAHRU – The police have apprehended three individuals believed to be involved in the murder of a 25-year-old Malaysian man.

Johor Bahru South Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said that the suspects, who are in their 20s, were arrested at about 5.30am on Friday.

“At 3.41am on Friday, we received information from the public about a fight involving sharp objects that had occurred in the Johor Bahru area, which resulted in the death of a local man.

“Based on preliminary investigation, we found stab marks on the victim’s chest, stomach, ribcage, shoulder, and back as well as wounds on his fingers and cheek.

“We are still investigating the cause of the fight,” he said in a statement.

He added that the police later detected the three suspects in a car at Jalan Tanjung Puteri in Johor.

“While attempting to locate them, we found a suspicious car. When the police tried to make further checks on the vehicle, the driver sped off until Jalan Tun Dr Ismail before losing control and skidding. The car crashed into two other vehicles and the front gate of Istana Besar.”

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2023-10-28 04:58:38Z
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Ground battles rage in Gaza after Israel escalates bombing - CNA

"We have completely lost contact with the operations room in the Gaza Strip and all our teams operating there," it said on X, formerly Twitter.

Lynne Hastings, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, also stressed on X that "hospitals & humanitarian operations can't continue without communications".

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf, whose inlaws are trapped in Gaza, voiced alarm at the communications shutdown.

"Telecommunications have been cut. We can't get through to our family who have been trapped in this war zone for almost 3 weeks," he wrote on X.

"We can only pray they survive the night."

"STOP THE WAR"

The reports of ground fighting came after the UN General Assembly called on Friday for an "immediate humanitarian truce" in Gaza.

The non-binding resolution received overwhelming support, with 120 votes in favour, 14 against and 45 abstentions.

"Today the General Assembly declared a call: Stop the war," the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

It was also welcomed by Hamas, but it was harshly criticised by Israel and the United States for failing to mention Hamas, with Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan calling it an "infamy".

Washington had earlier said it supports a "humanitarian pause" so aid can get into Gaza.

Israel's bombardment has displaced more than 1.4 million people inside the crowded territory, according to the UN, even as supplies of food, water and power to Gaza have been almost completely cut off.

And Israel has blocked all deliveries of fuel, saying it would be exploited by Hamas to manufacture weapons and explosives.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that misery was "growing by the minute".

"I repeat my call for a humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the delivery of life-saving supplies," Guterres said.

"Without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering."

"NOTHING MORE THAN CRUMBS"

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has cautioned that "many more will die" in Gaza from catastrophic shortages.

"People in Gaza are dying, they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege," said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.

A first tranche of critically needed aid was allowed in last weekend, but only 74 trucks have crossed since then. The UN says an average of 500 trucks entered Gaza every day before the conflict.

"These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference," Lazzarini said.

Between the bombardments and the fuel shortages, 12 of Gaza's 35 hospitals have been forced to close, and UNRWA said it has had to "significantly reduce its operations".

Israel's military accused Hamas of using hospitals in Gaza as operations centres for directing attacks, an allegation Hamas swiftly denied.

The growing toll in Gaza has spurred demonstrations in the occupied West Bank and across the Muslim world, but also in a number of Western countries.

Late Friday, hundreds of people were arrested when police broke up a large demonstration of mostly Jewish New Yorkers who had taken over the main hall of Grand Central station to protest Israel's bombardment of Gaza and demanding a ceasefire.

Violence has also risen sharply in the occupied West Bank since the Oct 7 attacks, with more than 100 Palestinians killed and nearly 2,000 wounded, according to the UN

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2023-10-28 07:12:00Z
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US, China agree to work toward an expected Biden-Xi summit - CNA

Wang told Biden that the objective of his visit was to help "stem the decline" in US-China ties "with an eye on San Francisco", without giving any details, according to a brief statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.

The foreign ministry readouts for Wang's meetings with Blinken and Sullivan said that "both sides agreed to work together to achieve a meeting between the two heads of state in San Francisco".

"China attaches importance to the US side's hopes of stabilising and improving US ties with China," Wang was quoted as saying in his meeting with Biden.

The Biden administration has seen direct leader-level engagement with Xi as particularly important in managing tensions as it seeks to prevent relations from veering into conflict.

"A big part of a potential meeting would be the two leaders sitting down together and having those conversations on strategic intent," the US official said.

On Thursday, Wang told Blinken that the two countries have disagreements and need "in-depth" and "comprehensive" dialogue to reduce misunderstandings and stabilise ties.

"Not only should we resume dialogue, the dialogue should be in-depth and comprehensive," Wang said.

Wang's three-day visit follows a flurry of bilateral diplomatic engagements in recent months, largely at US request, aimed at salvaging what were rapidly deteriorating ties early in the year following the US downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon.

But some in Washington have questioned whether a slate of mostly unreciprocated US cabinet-level official visits to Beijing over the past six months, including by Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, played into Beijing's hand.

The trips by Yellen and Raimondo led to new bilateral economic and commercial working groups, which critics worry will only pull US focus away from - and possibly delay - sanctions, export controls and broader measures intended to enhance US competition with China.

US officials have maintained that increased diplomacy does not mean a let up in policy.

CONCERN OVER MIDDLE EAST

The Israel-Hamas conflict has added a fresh dynamic to the testy relationship between the superpowers, and Washington is hoping Beijing can use its influence with Iran to prevent an escalation into a wider war in the Middle East.

US officials said the issue came up frequently during Wang's meetings but it was unclear whether Washington was able to get Beijing on board to commit to using its influence to help contain the conflict.

"We expressed our deep concern with the situation and pressed China to take a more constructive approach, and that would include, of course, their engagements with the Iranians, to urge calm," another of the senior administration officials said.

China has condemned violence and attacks on civilians in the conflict, and while Wang has declared Israel's actions "beyond the scope of self-defence" he has not named Hamas in his comments.

The second official said Blinken raised US concerns about China’s recent actions in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, including its “dangerous and unlawful obstruction” of the Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea and its unsafe intercept of a US aircraft. 

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2023-10-28 04:55:00Z
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Li Keqiang’s sudden death ‘a total surprise’ to China’s top leaders - South China Morning Post

But it was another 10 hours before Beijing released an official obituary. Published by Xinhua around 6.30pm, the document was signed by the ruling Communist Party leadership, who praised Li’s contribution to the party and state.

China’s Communist Party mourns Li Keqiang’s death, praises achievements

Chen Daoyin, a political commentator and former professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said Beijing seemed underprepared in its messaging.

“I think Li’s death was a total surprise to Beijing’s top leaders, as the state media obviously did not prepare his full obituary, unlike what they will do in the case of party leaders who are known to be very ill,” Chen said.

About the brief first official message, Chen said Beijing chose to announce Li’s passing “as soon as possible, because it wants to curb all the conspiracy theories that might arise from this”.

“Beijing will never divulge the full details of Li’s death. But it looks like they are trying to manage the situation by announcing whatever can be made available to the public domain and moving quickly on the arrangement of Li’s funeral.”

Li, 68, died at 00.10am on Friday during a “rest” visit to Shanghai, according to Xinhua. He had stepped down as premier in March after 10 years on the job.

Medical experts tending to Li Keqiang had done everything in their power to revive Li, sources and analysts told the South China Morning Post.

Two sources based in Shanghai said Li suffered a heart attack on Thursday after swimming at the Dong Jiao State Guest Hotel, where he was staying. He was rushed to nearby Shuguang hospital by his security and healthcare team, a comprehensive support system provided for former senior leaders.

03:31

‘People’s Premier’: former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of a heart attack at age 68

‘People’s Premier’: former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of a heart attack at age 68

The hospital mobilised “all the resources available and called for top experts in Shanghai” to tend to Li, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

“They tried everything. Unfortunately, they failed to bring him back,” said a second source with direct knowledge of the matter, adding that Li had previously undergone coronary artery bypass surgery.

Both sources said Li’s body had been flown back to Beijing on Friday night.

Deng Yuwen, former deputy editor of Study Times, the official newspaper of the Central Party School where cadres are trained, said funeral arrangements of former state leaders had to be endorsed by the party’s top decision making Politburo, which was holding a regular meeting on Friday.

“[Li’s death] should have been one of the most important agendas of the meeting, as the party needs to decide on the composition of the funeral committee and make sure the proceedings go smoothly. Xinhua can only announce the full obituary after the Politburo meeting approves it,” Deng said.

Li is among very few retired Chinese leaders to have died before reaching the age of 70. Most stay healthy and live well beyond 90, or even 100, their longevity attributed to the comprehensive medical care and security privileges provided to party and state leaders even after retirement.

But former executive vice-premier Huang Ju, like Li, was only 68 when he died in 2007. Then, too, official media released a short announcement on the day of his death, with a full obituary published later.

China’s charismatic, truth-telling ex-premier mourned as reforms hang in the air

Song Ping, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the oldest surviving party elder, is 106 this year. Former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and prime minister Li Peng were 96 and 90 when they passed away in 2022 and 2019, respectively.

Special diet plans and dedicated organic food supply are also believed to contribute to their longevity. As early as 1941, the party set up a strict hierarchical supply system based on the Soviet model, giving high-level officials various “special supplies” including food items, tobacco, alcohol, tea and medicine.

Zeng Xuyuan, former director of the nutrition department of Beijing Hospital, who served as a nutrition and health expert for top leaders, and Li Ruifen, former director of the nutrition department of the Beijing Military Region General Hospital, revealed the special dietary principles of leaders in a 2012 interview with party mouthpiece People’s Daily.

According to Zeng, Chinese leaders’ dietary priorities include eating 25 kinds of food every day so that they can have the right mix of balanced nutrition.

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2023-10-28 00:00:17Z
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