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IN BRIEF<br />
China fighter jet<br />
claim ‘untrue’: Japan<br />
TOKYO: Japan has lashed out <strong>at</strong> China<br />
over claims its fighter jets obstructed<br />
Beijing’s military aircraft, saying the<br />
alleg<strong>at</strong>ion was “clearly untrue”.<br />
China’s defence ministry said two<br />
Japanese F-15s launched “decoy flares”<br />
in intern<strong>at</strong>ional airspace over the East<br />
China Sea on S<strong>at</strong>urday, actions it called<br />
“dangerous and unprofessional”.<br />
Tokyo denied anything was fired<br />
during the encounter, and said it had<br />
protested to Beijing over the alleg<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
“It is extremely regrettable th<strong>at</strong> the<br />
Chinese defence ministry one-sidedly<br />
made a clearly untrue announcement,”<br />
Japan’s top government spokesman<br />
Yoshihide Suga told reporters on<br />
Sunday. — AFP<br />
School bomb kills<br />
nine-year-old<br />
PESHAWAR: A nine-year-old girl was<br />
killed and three other children were<br />
wounded on Monday when a bomb<br />
exploded near their school g<strong>at</strong>e in a<br />
tribal region in northwestern Pakistan.<br />
The bombing took place outside<br />
a village school in the tense North<br />
Waziristan region where the Pakistani<br />
military has been b<strong>at</strong>tling Taliban<br />
militants since June 2014.<br />
“A nine-year-old girl was killed and<br />
three other children between eight<br />
to 10 years old were wounded when<br />
explosives planted close to their school<br />
g<strong>at</strong>e exploded when they opened it,” a<br />
local government official said.<br />
A local security official also confirmed<br />
the blast. — AFP<br />
Pakistani carrier<br />
grounds ATR planes<br />
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s n<strong>at</strong>ional carrier<br />
on Monday grounded its entire fleet of<br />
ATR planes, in the wake of a f<strong>at</strong>al crash<br />
last week th<strong>at</strong> killed all 48 people on<br />
board, officials said.<br />
“It has been decided to keep all<br />
10 ATR aircraft grounded till they are<br />
cleared after thorough examin<strong>at</strong>ion,”<br />
Pakistan Intern<strong>at</strong>ional Airlines (PIA)<br />
spokesman Danyal Gilani said in a<br />
st<strong>at</strong>ement.<br />
The decision to ground the ATR fleet<br />
was prompted by the Civil Avi<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
Authority (CAA) after another ATR-42<br />
aeroplane encountered technical issues<br />
<strong>at</strong> take-off on Sunday night.<br />
The flight was cancelled. The airline<br />
denied media reports suggesting th<strong>at</strong><br />
one of the engines caught fire. — dpa<br />
Seoul bans poultry<br />
transport<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
SEOUL: South Korea’s agriculture<br />
ministry said on Monday it will issue<br />
a temporary n<strong>at</strong>ionwide ban on the<br />
transport<strong>at</strong>ion of poultry to contain the<br />
spread of bird flu, with 43 outbreaks<br />
recorded in the country.<br />
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and<br />
Rural Affairs said in a st<strong>at</strong>ement th<strong>at</strong> the<br />
movement control order will be effective<br />
for 48 hours, from 1500 GMT on Monday<br />
or midnight in Seoul.<br />
Since the first outbreak of a severe<br />
strain of bird flu known as H5N6 was<br />
reported on November 18, South Korea<br />
ramped up quarantine measures to stop<br />
a wider spread of the virus, including<br />
issuing a 48-hour n<strong>at</strong>ionwide standstill<br />
order three weeks ago. — Reuters<br />
RELIGIOUS FERVOUR<br />
Pakistani residents take part in a march marking Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), in Lahore<br />
on Monday. — AFP<br />
Beijing warns Trump<br />
over One China policy<br />
THREAT: St<strong>at</strong>e media said the Asian giant could back ‘forces hostile to<br />
the US’ if the president-elect follows through with thre<strong>at</strong>s to drop policy<br />
BEIJING: Beijing issued its first clear<br />
warning on Monday over Donald<br />
Trump’s fiery rhetoric, as st<strong>at</strong>e media<br />
said the Asian giant could back “forces<br />
hostile to the US” if the president-elect<br />
follows through with thre<strong>at</strong>s to drop<br />
Washington’s One China policy.<br />
It was the strongest signal yet from<br />
Chinese authorities th<strong>at</strong> abandoning<br />
the One China policy, which guides<br />
rel<strong>at</strong>ions with self-ruling Taiwan, would<br />
upset decades of carefully managed<br />
Sino-US rel<strong>at</strong>ions and end cooper<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
between the world’s top two economies.<br />
Beijing has not controlled Taiwan<br />
for more than 60 years but foreign<br />
ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said<br />
it considered the island a “core interest”<br />
th<strong>at</strong> affected China’s sovereignty and<br />
territorial integrity.<br />
The One China policy was the<br />
“political bedrock” for rel<strong>at</strong>ions with the<br />
US, he added, and if it was “compromised<br />
or disrupted”, sound and steady growth<br />
in China-US rel<strong>at</strong>ions and cooper<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
in major fields would be “out of the<br />
question”, he told reporters.<br />
The comments came in response<br />
to Trump’s remarks in an interview<br />
on Sunday th<strong>at</strong> he did not see why<br />
Washington must “be bound by a One<br />
China policy unless we make a deal with<br />
China having to do with other things,<br />
including trade”.<br />
He vehemently defended taking a call<br />
earlier this month from Tsai Ing-Wen,<br />
the democr<strong>at</strong>ically elected president<br />
of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a<br />
rogue province awaiting unific<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
Although the United St<strong>at</strong>es is<br />
Taiwan’s main ally and arms supplier,<br />
Washington has not had official<br />
A magazine fe<strong>at</strong>uring US President-elect Donald Trump is seen <strong>at</strong> a bookstore in<br />
Beijing on Monday. — AFP<br />
diplom<strong>at</strong>ic rel<strong>at</strong>ions with Taipei since<br />
1979, when it switched recognition to<br />
Beijing.<br />
Trump’s decision to take the call<br />
broke with protocol, and seemed<br />
to c<strong>at</strong>ch China’s Communist Party<br />
leadership by surprise.<br />
The official response was initially<br />
muted, and st<strong>at</strong>e media largely blamed<br />
Taiwan for the phone call and advoc<strong>at</strong>ed<br />
a wait-and-see response.<br />
But the remarks on Monday were<br />
more pointed, and a commentary in<br />
the n<strong>at</strong>ionalistic Global Times offered<br />
a more menacing warning to Trump,<br />
calling him “as ignorant of diplomacy as<br />
a child”, in its Chinese-language version.<br />
If the US openly supports Taiwan’s<br />
independence and ramps up arms sales<br />
to the island, it thre<strong>at</strong>ened, China could<br />
aid “forces hostile to the US”.<br />
“In response to Trump’s provoc<strong>at</strong>ions,<br />
Beijing could offer support, even<br />
military assistance to US foes,” it said.<br />
“China would introduce a series<br />
of new Taiwan polices, and <strong>may</strong> not<br />
prioritise peaceful reunific<strong>at</strong>ion over a<br />
military takeover.”<br />
Despite the escal<strong>at</strong>ion in official<br />
rhetoric, many Chinese analysts still<br />
offer a note of restraint, emphasising<br />
Trump’s background in business, not<br />
politics, and the possibility his actions<br />
in office will take a softer line.<br />
“I think this could be his negoti<strong>at</strong>ing<br />
technique because he knows the Taiwan<br />
issue is an extremely sensitive issue, an<br />
issue China is very concerned about,”<br />
Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for<br />
American Studies <strong>at</strong> Fudan University<br />
in Shanghai, said.<br />
Trump was playing the card in hopes<br />
of winning concessions on trade, he<br />
said, adding th<strong>at</strong> China should not be<br />
“too nervous” nor should it react “too<br />
fiercely”.<br />
— AFP<br />
asia<br />
asia<br />
OMANDAILYOBSERVER<br />
7<br />
TUESDAY l DECEMBER 13 l 2016<br />
King pardons prisoners<br />
in ‘first show of mercy’<br />
BANGKOK: Thailand’s new King<br />
Maha Vajiralongkorn has issued a<br />
mass prisoner pardon, a first act of<br />
“mercy” as monarch as he reaches<br />
out to his subjects following the<br />
de<strong>at</strong>h of his beloved f<strong>at</strong>her.<br />
Revered King Bhumibol<br />
Adulyadej died in October aged<br />
88 after a seven-decade reign,<br />
leaving the politically febrile n<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
without its unifying figure.<br />
His only son, 64-year-old<br />
Vajiralongkorn, was proclaimed<br />
king in early December.<br />
But the thrice-divorced<br />
monarch is yet to draw the same<br />
level of devotion from a public<br />
well-versed in rumours over his<br />
priv<strong>at</strong>e life.<br />
The prisoner pardon was<br />
Vajiralongkorn’s “first chance since<br />
he succeeded the throne to show<br />
the king’s mercy”, according to a<br />
st<strong>at</strong>ement published on Sunday<br />
in palace mouthpiece the Royal<br />
Gazette.<br />
Pardons were annual events<br />
under Bhumibol.<br />
Women jailed for first offences,<br />
some inm<strong>at</strong>es who have served<br />
one third of their sentences, and<br />
prisoners with disabilities or<br />
serious illness were among those<br />
pardoned.<br />
The decree did not say how<br />
many prisoners will be freed.<br />
Ritual, propaganda and law<br />
underpin the st<strong>at</strong>us of Thailand’s<br />
monarchy.<br />
TUGBOAT CREW<br />
ZAMBOANGA: Abu Sayyaf militants<br />
in the southern Philippines have freed<br />
two Indonesian hostages, the military<br />
said on Monday, as the army mounted<br />
an offensive against the insurgent<br />
kidnapping group.<br />
The two were among seven crew<br />
seized from a tugbo<strong>at</strong> off the southern<br />
Philippines in June. The others have<br />
already been released.<br />
They were undergoing medical<br />
checks and would l<strong>at</strong>er be turned<br />
over to Indonesian government<br />
represent<strong>at</strong>ives, the military said in a<br />
st<strong>at</strong>ement.<br />
It said the Abu Sayyaf handed<br />
the two over to the Moro N<strong>at</strong>ional<br />
Liber<strong>at</strong>ion Front (MNLF), another<br />
armed group in the strife-torn island<br />
of Jolo, who in turn passed them to a<br />
local official.<br />
They were then handed over to the<br />
military on Monday, the st<strong>at</strong>ement<br />
added.<br />
“Indonesian (hostages) Mohammad<br />
Nazer and Robin Peter were released<br />
by the (Abu Sayyaf) captors to MNLF<br />
Commander Tahir Sali... after being<br />
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn<br />
Thai schoolchildren are taught<br />
the primacy of the institution,<br />
while huge portraits of key royals<br />
adorn virtually every main street.<br />
Like his f<strong>at</strong>her, Vajiralongkorn<br />
is shielded from criticism by a<br />
harsh royal defam<strong>at</strong>ion law th<strong>at</strong><br />
carries up to 15 years in jail per<br />
charge.<br />
Th<strong>at</strong> has embedded a culture of<br />
self-censorship across the media,<br />
academia and the arts.<br />
The prisoner pardons follow a<br />
slew of public appearances by the<br />
new king, whose four decades as<br />
design<strong>at</strong>ed heir were characterised<br />
by publicity-shyness and long trips<br />
overseas.<br />
Since he was proclaimed King<br />
Rama X, the new monarch has<br />
offered flood relief, opened a town<br />
hall and been honoured in a video<br />
tribute played in cinemas. — AFP<br />
Philippine militants free<br />
2 Indonesian hostages<br />
pressured by non-stop oper<strong>at</strong>ions of<br />
(military joint task force) Sulu and<br />
pressure by the MNLF,” a military<br />
st<strong>at</strong>ement said.<br />
The MNLF is a former separ<strong>at</strong>ist<br />
rebel group th<strong>at</strong> has forged a truce<br />
with the government to negoti<strong>at</strong>e an<br />
autonomous region in the south of the<br />
country.<br />
Meanwhile, Philippine troops killed<br />
10 suspected militants in an offensive<br />
against the Abu Sayyaf group on Jolo,<br />
the military said on Monday.<br />
Air strikes were launched against<br />
about 150 members of the group on<br />
S<strong>at</strong>urday in the town of P<strong>at</strong>ikul, 1,000<br />
kilometres south of Manila, according<br />
to Major Filemon Tan, a regional<br />
military spokesman. Three soldiers<br />
were also killed and 21 were wounded<br />
in the oper<strong>at</strong>ion, he said.<br />
Abu Sayyaf is holding several<br />
hostages captive on Jolo, including<br />
a 70-year-old German man who<br />
was abducted from his yacht off the<br />
southern province of Tawi-Tawi on<br />
November 5.<br />
— AFP/dpa<br />
Hwang has sought to calm anxiety over n<strong>at</strong>ional security and to reassure financial markets while Park’s presidency is in limbo<br />
S Korea PM gets official briefings after Park impeached<br />
SEOUL: South Korean Prime Minister<br />
Hwang Kyo-Ahn began getting official<br />
briefings from aides of President Park<br />
Geun-Hye on Monday, having assumed<br />
presidential authority in a caretaker<br />
role following her impeachment by<br />
parliament last week.<br />
Hwang has sought to calm anxiety<br />
over n<strong>at</strong>ional security and to reassure<br />
financial markets while Park’s presidency<br />
is in limbo pending the outcome of<br />
a Constitutional Court review of her<br />
impeachment, which <strong>may</strong> take up to 180<br />
days.<br />
Until then, Park will remain in the<br />
presidential Blue House a few blocks<br />
north of the main government complex<br />
where Hwang’s office is loc<strong>at</strong>ed.<br />
Eight of the Constitutional Court’s<br />
nine judges met on Monday to discuss<br />
how to proceed with the case but<br />
has not set d<strong>at</strong>es for public hearings,<br />
its spokesman, Bae Bo-Yoon, told a<br />
briefing. The ninth was away from the<br />
country on business.<br />
At least six of the nine judges have to<br />
concur for the motion to be upheld.<br />
The court will next week decide on<br />
the d<strong>at</strong>e for the two sides’ lawyers to<br />
appear for a preliminary hearing, he<br />
said.<br />
Park, whose f<strong>at</strong>her ruled the country<br />
for 18 years after seizing power in a 1961<br />
coup, has been accused of colluding<br />
with a friend and a former aide, both of<br />
whom have been indicted, to pressure<br />
big businesses to don<strong>at</strong>e to found<strong>at</strong>ions<br />
set up to back her policy initi<strong>at</strong>ives.<br />
She has denied wrongdoing but<br />
apologised for carelessness in her ties<br />
with her friend, Choi Soon-Sil.<br />
Park has yet to announce her defence<br />
team, which is expected to be made up<br />
of <strong>at</strong> least four lawyers, including an<br />
<strong>at</strong>torney she had retained last month.<br />
Park’s term was set to end in<br />
February 2018. If the court upholds<br />
her impeachment, she will become the<br />
first elected South Korean leader to be<br />
ejected from office in disgrace.<br />
If th<strong>at</strong> were to happen, a new election<br />
would be held within 60 days to pick a<br />
successor who will serve a full five-year<br />
term.<br />
Hwang will get briefings from senior<br />
presidential secretaries on foreign policy,<br />
judicial, personnel and economic affairs<br />
on Monday and Tuesday, the Blue House<br />
said, giving no further details.<br />
Hwang has chaired a N<strong>at</strong>ional Security<br />
Council meeting, met the cabinet twice<br />
and visited the military headquarters<br />
since assuming presidential powers l<strong>at</strong>e<br />
on Friday. Hwang was expected to keep<br />
Finance Minister Yoo Il-Ho to ensure<br />
continuity of policy instead of replacing<br />
him with the head of the financial<br />
regul<strong>at</strong>or, who Park last month had<br />
design<strong>at</strong>ed as his replacement, Yonhap<br />
news agency reported.<br />
On Sunday, st<strong>at</strong>e prose<strong>cut</strong>ors<br />
charged two more former senior<br />
officials as part of their investig<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
of a corruption scandal th<strong>at</strong> has led to<br />
Park’s impeachment and the indictment<br />
of former aides and a friend, Choi Soon-<br />
Sil. Park herself has immunity from<br />
indictment while she is in office but<br />
could face prose<strong>cut</strong>ion if she is removed.<br />
— Reuters