WORLD

The air force of Taiwan came into action on Sunday after 10 Chinese warplanes were spotted crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, as the defence ministry of the island further added that combat patrols were carried out by four Chinese warships.

For the second time in a week, renewed Chinese military activity has been reported by Taiwan after 37 Chinese military aircraft flew into the air defence zone of the island on Thursday, some of which then flew into the western Pacific.

Chinese military and civilian teams rehearsed rescue drills with super-heavy class quadcopter drones in a simulated flood disaster following the “overflowing” of a dam in the Hejiang Garden Expo section in Hezhou City in Guangxi. The drill saw local military-civilian joint flood fighting teams initiating a “multi-subject high intensity” rescue effort. 

The exercise aimed to test the “emergency response capabilities of the militia units” of the local military districts, using drones for various purposes like detecting trapped people, dropping relief material, and transporting casualties. 

China, Iran and Pakistan held their first trilateral counterterrorism and regional security consultations on Wednesday in Beijing but Islamabad accused Tehran of providing sanctuaries to insurgents for orchestrating cross-border attacks in a bid to subvert CPEC while Tehran alleged Islamabad of not doing enough to prevent terrorists from conducting cross-border terrorism into Iran, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

Baluch insurgents oppose CPEC, alleging it is helping Pakistan's efforts to deprive the local population of the region's natural resources. "The delegations held detailed discussions on the regional security situation, particularly the threat of terrorism faced by the region," said a post-meeting statement in Islamabad, which shared no further details, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

UK’s security minister stated Wednesday that China has shut down all its ‘secret police stations’ located at various places across Britain.

According to reports, the minister Tom Tugendhat also said that nothing illegal came out in the recently concluded investigation of these stations.

Previously, the presence of undisclosed police stations in the UK had raised significant concerns, with Britain expressing its strong disapproval of any form of intimidation of foreign nationals by China or any other state on British soil.

Characterising India as a "vibrant democracy" the Biden White House on Monday rejected implicit criticism about the health of India's democracy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the context of his upcoming state visit to the US, while suggesting its priority going forward is to foster a "deeper, stronger partnership and friendship" with New Delhi.

"India is a vibrant democracy. Anybody that happens to go to New Delhi can see that for themselves," White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby clapped back at National Public Radio's Asma Khalid, who wanted to know if the Biden administration is "at all concerned about the health of democracy in India."