Amid rising tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea, China has released videos showing military drills that appeared to simulate a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

The drills showcased the Type 075, a 40,000-tonne amphibious warship that is understood to carry up to 30 helicopters and nearly 1,000 personnel, Express.co.uk reported. It was not clear where or when the drill was conducted. The videos were released in response to joint military drills carried out by the US, Japan, Australia and France. Chinese military expert Song Zhongping said the PLA was targeting its combat training to prepare for a possible war over Taiwan. A Chinese military official told the state-run Global Times: “Many on the island of Taiwan and foreign countries for a long time believe the Chinese mainland does not possess what it takes to organize a proper large-scale, joint amphibious landing operation on the island due to this kind of mission’s high complexity.”

“Exercises like this one and daily routine warplane drills near the island, could serve as a deterrent and give secessionist and foreign forces a clear look at the real situation that the PLA is fully determined and capable of safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the official added. He warned that China could carry out “many more amphibious landing tactics, including the involvement of missile, artillery and aviation forces if secessionists insist on provoking Beijing”.

Since mid-September of last year, Beijing has stepped up its gray-zone tactics by regularly sending planes into Taiwan’s ADIZ, with most instances occurring in the southwest corner of the zone and usually consisting of one to three slow-flying turboprop planes.

Over the past few months, Taiwan has reported incursion by Chinese warplanes into ADIZ almost daily. Last month, Taiwanese premier Su Tseng-chang termed the incursion by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADZ) as “unnecessary” and “thoughtless”.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that “Taiwan’s independence” means war.

WITH ANI INPUTS

A Bengal tiger named “India” that went missing in the US state of Texas has been found unharmed and now transferred to one of the animal shelter in Houston.

“We got him and he is healthy,” said Houston Police Department (HPD) Major Offenders Commander Ron Borza. “In no way shape or form, should one have an animal like that in any household. That animal is only nine months old and already wrights 175 pounds. Full-grown that animal can get to 600 pounds. It still has its claws and could do a lot of damage if it decided to. Luckily for us, he is very tamed and he will be going to a sanctuary tomorrow,” Borza added.

On Monday morning, a Bengal tiger named India was last spotted prowling around the front yard of a house in Texas’ west Houston neighborhood.

Earlier, a panicked resident had told police that the tiger had a collar around its neck and was staring at the residents, while some neighbours had guns drawn out and started to come out on the street.

Previously, 26-years-old Victor Hugo Cuveas was taken into custody by authorities after being identified as the tiger’s owner.

According to Texas law, tigers can technically be owned as pets as long as the owner is able to obtain a certificate of registration. Cuevas also owns two monkeys, but they are under 30 pounds and therefore are abiding by Texas state law.

Jonathan Zadka, consul general of Israel to South India, on Sunday extended condolences to the family of Kerala woman Soumya Santhosh, who lost her life during the Hamas strike in Israel.

“CG, @Jonathan_Zadka, paid a visit to the family of Soumya Santhosh who lost her life during #Hamasattack on #Iseael. On behalf of the Israeli people, @israelinbenguluru extends its condolences to the family at loss. We hope peace restores soon,” the Consulate General of Israel to Bengaluru said in a tweet. “Honoured to pay my respects and convey our sympathies to the family and friends of Soumya Santosh as she was laid to rest in her home town Keerithod, Kerala. May she RIP our prayers are with the family that lost an angel in a cowardly hamas terror attack,” Zadka tweeted.

The 30-year-old Indian woman, hailing from Idukki in Kerala, was among those killed in a rocket attack by a Palestinian Islamist group on Tuesday. She was working as a caretaker to an elderly woman at a house in the Ashkelon, which borders the Gaza strip. According to her family, she was living in Israel for the last seven years. Her husband and nine-year-old son stay in Kerala.

China fears that the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan could lead to a rise in terrorism in the region and affect its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

A commentary in the Global Times has elaborated on Beijing’s concerns that the US pull-out “could leave chaotic situations and the region could become a breeding ground” for three evils—terrorism, separatism and religious extremism, reported Asia Times. Besides, the Chinese experts are also worried that the hasty US pull-out might stall the Afghan peace process and engender civil-war conditions. While the US allowed the region to become a “breeding ground” for the “Three Evils” and poppy cultivation “now Washington wants to leave this mess to the regional countries”.

An exclusive op-ed in the Communist Party of China organ People’s Daily on Friday was titled “US can’t just get away from it all in Afghan issues”. It concludes, “At present, the US is the biggest exterior factor of the Afghan issues. The White House shall not duck its responsibilities and get away from it all,” reported Asia Times. “Its withdrawal must be implemented in an orderly and responsible manner, and aim at preventing further escalation of violence in the country and preventing terrorist forces from ramping up and creating trouble. It shall create a favourable exterior environment for the Intra-Afghan negotiations, not the other way around.”

Meanwhile, as reported by ANI, M.K. Bhadrakumar, writing in Asia Times views second session of meeting of foreign ministers of China and the five Central Asian states on May 11 at Xian as symbolic. The ancient city of Xian used to be the starting point of the Silk Road. And, perhaps, the timing too, as this is the 25th anniversary of the Shanghai Five process, where China, quietly but steadily, began building up its economic, military, and diplomatic relations with Central Asia and presented itself as a viable partner.

The Xian meeting was a watershed event as it created an “institutional guarantee” for the nascent “C+C5” framework. The participants agreed on a memorandum of understanding to establish a regional cooperation mechanism, promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road and establish three research centres to carry out cooperation, reported Asia Times.

The Shanghai Five, consisting of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, also had a modest beginning in 1996 as it emerged from a series of border-demarcation and demilitarisation talks that the four former Soviet republics held with China. The institutionalization of the C+C5 also marks a turning point in regional security—as the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan gets under way amid speculation that the Pentagon is looking to base facilities in Central Asian countries, wrote Bhadrakumar.

The death toll in Palestine due to Israeli airstrikes has reached 188 as the conflict entered its seventh day on Sunday. According to the Israeli military, most of those killed in Gaza since the start of the current round of violence were either members of terror groups or were killed by errant Palestinian rockets.

On the other hand, more than 2,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards Israel since Monday, killing 10 people in the Jewish nation, including an Indian national, The Times of Israel reported citing the country’s military. This comes as Israel launched the latest round of airstrikes on Gaza earlier on Sunday, which have killed 33 Palestinians, while numerous buildings were destroyed.

The situation on the border between Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip has been deteriorating for the last week. Earlier this month, the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict started when the unrest began in East Jerusalem over an Israeli court’s decision to evict several Palestinian families from the area.

Israeli warplanes on Saturday destroyed a building in Gaza City with offices of various media groups, including Al Jazeera and the American Associated Press. Al-Jala Tower is the fourth multi-storey building targeted by Israeli warplanes since Monday, reported Anadolu News Agency.

The offices of Mayadeen Company for media services, radio station of Voice of Prisoners, and Doha Media Center were among the media offices destroyed by the shelling.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden held telephonic conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reaffirmed his strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Biden noted in his conversation with Netanyahu that “this current period of conflict has tragically claimed the lives of Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including children”, according to a readout of the call released by the White House. “The President reaffirmed his strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. He condemned these indiscriminate attacks against towns and cities across Israel,” the White House said in a statement.

He raised concerns about the safety and security of journalists and reinforced the need to ensure their protection. The President shared his grave concern about the inter-communal violence across Israel.

Biden also spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed the violence in Gaza, in which he called for Hamas, the authority’s rival, to stop firing rockets into Israel.

It was the first phone call between the two leaders since Biden assumed office.

President Biden “stressed the need for Hamas to cease firing rockets into Israel”, and the two men “expressed their shared concern that innocent civilians, including children, have tragically lost their lives amidst the ongoing violence,” the White House said.

The White House says Biden “expressed his support for steps to enable the Palestinian people to enjoy the dignity, security, freedom, and economic opportunity that they deserve” and highlighted the recent US decision to resume assistance to the Palestinian people, including economic and humanitarian assistance to benefit Palestinians in the West bank and Gaza.

Subramanian Swamy is like the dark chocolates in an assortment, some are hard and chewy, while some are soft-centred or sweet, Swamy can be all of these. He is hard and chewy as an opponent, soft-centred to his friends and sweet to his dogs; around the world, dark chocolate is considered better for you and a more sophisticated taste.

Before I met Subramanian Swamy for the first time, I was informed that he had impeccable manners and that he was very fussy about politeness and correct etiquette, all this giving me the impression he might be a rather scary character. Our first meeting was at his family home over tea and halwa, I was a little bit nervous but Dr Swamy was welcoming and immediately launched into an introduction of himself.

Subramanian Swamy was born at sunrise on 15 September 1939 under the star of Hasta. His father Sitaram was the Director of the Central Statistical Organisation of India and a mathematician. His mother Padmavathi was the daughter of a policeman who married at fourteen, she was/is the source of his strength. Padmavathi’s unconditional love for and support of young Swamy’s ambitions gave him the confidence to become the man we know today. I believe his relationship with his mother is why he is so comfortable with and promoting of women; he has said his mother was a determined woman, who even learnt English from a book so she could write to him in English at Harvard. Padmavathi was also in some respects his tutor and introduced him to the revolutionary reign and theories of Mao Zedong, henceforth China has been a theme running throughout his career.

Swamy was educated at Hindu College in Delhi, Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata and Harvard University in the US on a full scholarship PhD in Economics. Swamy’s original aspirations did not tend towards politics, after graduating he lent toward academia becoming a Professor first at Harvard, then following a hiccup about the Chair of Chinese Studies at the Delhi School of Economics he became Professor of Mathematical Economics at IIT, he always was and still is very studious. Maths, economics, transparency, and accuracy are in his blood.

Like his father who dared to confront Prime Minister Nehru, Swamy is not afraid of confrontation. I might go as far as to say he enjoys an argument as he has the skills of a barrister when arguing a point, like many in the judiciary he does not suffer fools or fakes gladly. He has a razor-sharp wit, which can occasionally cut to the quick, but he is loyal and generous with his friendship and wisdom.

Notwithstanding his academic early years, Swamy soon embraced politics with Indian characteristics, his advocacy was for free markets and the rule of law, his blend of cultural conservatism and liberal economic ideas have made him both popular and controversial. Nevertheless, he rapidly established a reputation as a formidable leader and opponent. He knows India North to South and East to West; he speaks four languages fluently and can get by in several others thanks to the many Sanskrit words they hold.

His political biography is wide-ranging and impressive, beginning with Sarvodaya, the people’s movement begun by J.P. Narayan (JPN), whom he met at Harvard in 1968. Post Harvard, Swamy undertook a sabbatical in rural areas in an attempt to persuade landlords to donate a piece of land to the poor; unsurprisingly he had to report to JPN that for this mission to be successful Sarvodaya needed political clout. It took three years for JPN to come back in agreement, and when Dr Swamy became an MP with Jan Sangh in 1974 he took JPN around India with him but never persuaded JPN to join Jan Sangh or any other organisation. Thanks to Swamy, the RSS provided a nominee for General Secretary of the Jan Sangh and this provided the organisation the JPN anti-corruption movement that turned India against Indira Gandhi and toppled the Emergency.

Swamy has been a Minister with a double portfolio twice and been official or unofficial advisor to six Prime Ministers. His experience in law, commerce, labour standards, and international trade, is pretty comprehensive by anyone’s reckoning. He has been in the Lok Sabha three times and this is his third stint in the Rajya Sabha. 

He attributes his basic knowledge of the law to his Parsi in-law P.R.Vakil and later his learned wife Roxna, a lawyer, who taught him how to file public interest litigations. Swamy is no stranger in the courts, I think it is fair to say he is driven by injustice. His fearsome intelligence, unrivalled ability, and aggressive perseverance to justify his point are legendary. By the way, this ability to debate extends from the courtroom and into his political and private life, he is quite comfortable thrashing out differences of opinion with politicos, friends, and family. When agreement cannot be reached, he cordially accepts and respects the difference of opinion without umbrage. 

I have previously written about his meeting with the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham and other leaders. I have also written about the various exciting episodes in his political career and the one thing that strikes me is the consistency of his mission, what it means to be a Hindu. Swamy is both popular and populist, interacting with 10.3 million Twitter followers, reaching out through TV shows, and the VHS network to his supporters. On many issues, he is the voice of much of the nationalist population and it is remarkable how he is prepared to help expecting no reward across so many situations. After ages of being a politician, he is a pragmatist and a strategist, extraordinarily well connected and best of all accessible, which is how over the years I have come to know more about him.