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Taiwan to prepare for Chinese blockade in annual war drills

Taiwan’s military will hold annual war game simulations in July to practice intercepting warships and combating a Chinese blockade of the island, according to the defence ministry.

The drills will include computer war games in May tackling “various possible actions of the enemy’s invasion of Taiwan” and partial live-fire exercises in July. The military will practice “joint anti-blockade on the main external waterways to maintain the safety of marine transportation routes and counter the enemy’s blockade,” said Major General Lin Wen-huang.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory that must be reunified with the mainland.

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan’s military will practise intercepting warships and combating a Chinese blockade of the island during annual war game simulations in July, the defence ministry said Wednesday.

Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat of an attack by Beijing, which views the island as part of its territory that must be reunified.

The annual “Han Kuang” (Han Glory) drills will be divided into computer war games in May tackling “various possible actions of the enemy’s invasion of Taiwan” and partial live-fire exercises in July, the ministry said.

“Our scenarios are based on the enemy’s current threats to invade Taiwan and its recent military exercises harassing Taiwan,” Major General Lin Wen-huang told reporters when asked whether China’s Shandong aircraft carrier would factor into this year’s scenarios.

The Shandong was used by Beijing during military exercises this month simulating targeted strikes and a blockade of Taiwan.

The five-day exercises in July will help bolster Taiwan’s ability to intercept China’s naval and amphibious fleets, Lin said.

The military will also practise “joint anti-blockade on the main external waterways to maintain the safety of marine transportation routes and counter the enemy’s blockade”, he said.

Taiwan also incorporated lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into last year’s Han Kuang drills and planned to do so again, the ministry said.

Beijing’s sabre-rattling has intensified in recent years.

Its most recent war games were a response to a meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

On the last day of the drills, Beijing sent 54 aircraft into the island’s southwestern and southeastern air defence identification zone (ADIZ), the highest number recorded in a single day since October 2021.

Beijing launched its largest-ever military exercises around the island last August, following a visit to Taiwan by McCarthy’s predecessor Nancy Pelosi.

Taiwan and mainland China are separated by the Taiwan Strait, a narrow waterway that Beijing claims as its own.

The presence of Chinese warships and ADIZ incursions by jets has become a routine occurrence in recent years.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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