Preparations for SLN’s Red Sea operations will cost USD 40 mn: expert

 

The government will have to spend about USD 40 million to upgrade the offshore patrol vessel to be sent to the Red Sea to take part in operations against the Houthi rebels, Y.N. Jayarathna, retired Rear Admiral and hydrographer, said in a televised interview this week.

The Sri Lanka Navy would be able to operate in the Red Sea if the government was willing to spend necessary funds for upgrading the ships and bear operational costs, Jayarathna said.

“We need to use offshore patrol vessels. We have these ships. During the last phase of the war, Sri Lanka decided to go after the LTTE’s floating armouries, which were almost on the South of the Equator. We sent a taskforce under Commodore Travis Sinnaiah,” he said.

Jayarathna added that the Navy had operated on the high seas to curb drug smuggling from Iran via the Arabian Sea.

When a journalist asked whether it would serve Lanka’s national interest to send ships to the Red Sea to fight someone else’s war, Jayarathna said that by sending a ship to the Red Sea, Sri Lanka was fulfilling international obligations in safeguarding sea lines of communication.

“The government has to word our mission there carefully. It will be disadvantageous if others believe we are fighting someone else’s war. We must come off as a regional Navy with the capacity to contribute to coalition patrols,” he said.

Jayarathna said Sri Lanka would have to invest in the ships to make them able to operate in the Red Sea.

Preparations for SLN’s 

Red Sea operations will 

cost USD 40 mn: expert

The Island 2024/01/13 By Rathindra Kuruwita

“The Head of State wants the SLN to operate in the Red Sea, but does the government want to spend money? There will be operational costs, and there will be maintenance costs. The cost of diesel, alone for an offshore patrol vessel for a one-month patrol, comes to about Rs 60 million. There is a huge cost, and the government has to be ready for it,” Jayaratne said.

The retired Rear Admiral said Navies could not be built overnight and that they had to be maintained. “We have the vessels, but do we have the necessary technology? There is a lot more to be done before we are able to send the ships. We need some new equipment. We need to replace some of our obsolete equipment.”

The Sri Lankan Navy needed detection and stabilisation equipment, he said. If Sri Lanka wanted to buy the equipment quickly, it will have to pay crisis purchase prices, Jayaratne said.

“So, about USD 35 to 40 million will be needed. If the government wants naval ships to be there, the government should pay.”

The Sri Lankan Navy will not be operational in the high-intensity combat zone. But even at the periphery, Houthi rebels are using cruise and ballistic missiles.

“In the power politics of the Indian Ocean, the US and its allies want us to be in their camp. The Chinese want us to be in their camps. It seems that we are siding with the US and its allies. We can’t make decisions on impulse. The decisions we make here have repercussions. So, political masters must make wise decisions. These are not decisions that a single person is taking. A body of people must make these decisions. We don’t know what went on behind the scenes,” he said.

The volume of trans shipment cargo that the Colombo Port received had gone up because ships are taking the long sea route to avoid the Red Sea, he said.

Jayarathna said that Sri Lanka should go and operate on the Northern part of the Arabian Sea, which is a main route for drugs that come here.

“This means we don’t even have to be on the periphery of the conflict area. We will be in the vicinity. This is a good opportunity for us to be there and operate for our national interest while protecting the sea lines of communications,” Jayaratne said.⍐

Taiwan voters rebuff China

 Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim attend a rally,
following the victory in the presidential elections, in Taipei, Taiwan, January 13, 2024.
REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Taiwan voters rebuff China and give ruling party third presidential term

By Yimou Lee and James Pomfret

January 13, 20242:10 PM GMT

TAIPEI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Taiwanese voters swept the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te into power on Saturday, strongly rejecting Chinese pressure to spurn him, as Lai pledged both to stand up to Beijing and seek talks.

Lai's party, which champions Taiwan's separate identity and rejects China's territorial claims, was seeking a third successive four year term, unprecedented under Taiwan's current electoral system.

"We've written a new page for Taiwan's history of democracy," Lai, long the frontrunner in the polls, told reporters after both his opponents conceded defeat.

In the run-up to the election, China denounced Lai as a dangerous separatist, and called on the people of Taiwan to make the right choice while noting the "extreme harm of the DPP's 'Taiwan independence' line". They have also repeatedly rebuffed Lai's calls for talks.

Lai said he would maintain the status quo in cross-strait relations, but that he was "determined to safeguard Taiwan from threats and intimidation from China".

At the same time, he emphasised the need for cooperation and dialogue with Beijing on an equal basis to "replace confrontation", though he didn't give specifics.

Beijing has yet to comment on Lai's victory.

The election was not only about China, with electors worried about issues as varied as the high cost of housing, low wage growth and unstable power supplies.

Lai won 40% of the vote in Taiwan's first-past-the-post system, unlike current President Tsai Ing-wen who was re-elected by a landslide four years ago with more than 50% of the vote.

The DPP also lost its control of parliament, Lai said, which could hamper his ability to pass legislation and spending bills.

However, he offered an olive branch to his opponents in saying he would include talent from their parties.

Lai said he would cooperate with his electoral rivals, Hou Yu-ih of Taiwan's largest opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) and former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People's Party, in resolving the problems Taiwan faces.

During the polls, hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese youths flocked to rallies held by Ko, who has emerged as a new force in Taiwan's political landscape with roughly a quarter of the vote despite coming last.

The full results of the parliamentary polls were expected later on Saturday evening, with around 70% of the island's 19 million or so eligible voters having cast ballots.

Tsai was constitutionally barred from standing again after two terms in office.⍐

Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; additional reporting by Sarah Wu and James Pomfret; Editing by Toby Chopra, Kirsten Donovan and Mark Potter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Taiwan Elections LIVE: 

Ruling DPP's Candidate Lai Ching-Te Wins 

Presidential Election - First Post

DPP’s William Lai to become next president

The KMT’s presidential candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and the TPP's Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) officially conceded defeat.

8pm: As for the party vote, only the DPP, KMT and TPP have passed the 5% threshold to appoint legislators-at-large. The DPP is ahead with 36.54%, with the KMT close behind with 34.46% and the TPP at 21.84%. At only 2.54%, the NPP looks like it will lose its three current seats.

7:50pm: Taitung County is to flip to the KMT for the first time since 2010 after a split green vote. Incumbent Liu Chao-hao (劉櫂豪) decided to run as an independent after losing the DPP primary to former legislator Lai Kun-cheng (賴坤成).

7:45pm: The KMT has nabbed another seat in Taipei, with City Councilor Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) set to represent the seventh constituency (Xinyi and southern Songshan). Hsu has been a rising star in the KMT, vocal in her criticism of the government’s handling of an egg shortage last year and other hot-button issues.

7:40pm: With 87% of polling locations reporting now, Lai is still comfortably in the lead with 40.73% of the vote. Hou has 33.27% and Ko has 26.01%, according to the official CEC tally.

7:30pm: In another blow to the DPP, Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) was unable to unseat the KMT’s Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) in Taipei’s third constituency (Zhongshan/northern Songshan), who took over the seat vacated by Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安).

7:10pm: Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) of the KMT has upset the DPP’s Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜), who was looking to retain her seat representing Taipei’s fourth district including Neihu (內湖) and Nangang (南港) districts. Kao is known for her advocacy for victims of domestic abuse after she herself successfully brought charges against an ex-boyfriend.

7:05pm: Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷) is to enter the national legislature after declaring victory in Kaohsiung’s sixth district. A former New Power Party member who joined the DPP last year, Huang was nominated after the DPP dropped Legislator Chao Tian-lin (趙天麟) for having an affair with a Chinese woman.

7pm: In an unsurprising result, the DPP looks set to sweep all six districts in the traditional green stronghold of Tainan.

6:50pm: Incumbent KMT Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) declared victory in Nantou County’s first district. Ma has come under fire in recent months for allegedly passing classified materials on Taiwan’s indigenous submarine program to South Korea and attempting to obstruct defense projects.

6:40pm: In Taichung, the KMT looks likely to flip four seats from the DPP, raising their tally from only two out of the city’s eight districts to six.

6:20pm: Voter turnout for the presidential election has hovered around 69% so far. That’s less than the 75% seen in 2020, but would beat the 66% from 2016 if the number holds.

6:10pm: Former KMT legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恆) declared victory in the race to regain his seat representing Taichung’s second district from Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) of the DPP. He was unseated in 2020 by the Taiwan Statebuilding Party’s Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟), who was recalled in 2021 and replaced by Lin.

6pm: Two hours after polling closed, and the official CEC count has Lai comfortably ahead at 43.27%, Hou second with 34.01% and Ko trailing at 22.72%, with 1,841 polling places out of 17,795 (10%) reporting.

5:40pm: The National Police Agency reported 92 legal violations at the polls, 49 of which involved taking photos of a ballot or bringing a phone or recording equipment into the voting booth, and 13 were for campaigning.

5pm: Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) of the DPP was the first to declare victory in his bid for re-election in Tainan’s fifth district over an opponent from the small MiLinguall Party, despite no votes having been counted.

4:50pm: Results have begun to trickle in, with most tallies putting the DPP’s William Lai slightly ahead of the KMT’s Hou You-yi. But with only 50 minutes since the polls closed, it’s still too early to say.

4pm: Polls close

People line up to vote in New Taipei City’s Banciao District on Saturday. Photo: CNA

Overview below:

Millions of Taiwanese went to the polls on Saturday to choose a new president and legislators, with results expected later tonight.

 

Polls were open from 8am to 4pm. Votes are to be counted at polling stations in a process open to public observation.

A total of 19,548,531 people are eligible to cast their ballots for president, with an additional 17,476 eligible to do so for legislators-at-large, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Up for grabs are the presidential office and 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan, including 73 directly elected district lawmakers, six seats of indigenous representatives and 34 legislators-at-large granted to political parties that receive no less than 5 percent of a separate party vote.

The presidential race is between three main parties: Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and running mate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) of the newer Taiwan People's Party (TPP), William Lai (賴清德) and running mate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) of the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and running mate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) of the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). ⍐

 

Biden, Sunak face backlash over 'unconstitutional' attack on Yemen

Officials blasted the US and UK leaders for bypassing legislative process that are constitutionally required to conduct military operations in foreign nations

TC News Desk JAN 12, 2024

US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are facing internal criticism for approving joint airstrikes across Yemen during the early hours of 12 January, with lawmakers calling the decision a “violation” of the nation's constitutions.

“The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against … Yemen and involving us in another Middle East conflict. That is Article I of the Constitution," US lawmaker Ro Khana said just as news broke that the strikes were in progress.

“Only Congress has the power to declare war,” Republican official Thomas Massie declared. At the same time, Democrat Rashida Tlaib also charged Biden with “violating Article I of the Constitution by carrying out airstrikes in Yemen without congressional approval.”

Similarly, Senator Mike Lee stressed that “The Constitution matters, regardless of party affiliation." "President Biden must come to Congress and ask us to authorize this act of war," posted Republican Anna Paulina Luna.

The White House has provided no details on the constitutional or legal justification used to drop bombs on over 60 targets inside Yemen. However, under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), the president is granted the authority to use military force without the approval of Congress.

Per the Congressional Research Service, the controversial law has been used to justify more than 40 military interventions overseas in at least 22 countries. 

In May 2023, the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute revealed that over 4.5 million people have died from wars launched by the US in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks and the approval of the 2001 AUMF.

Furthermore, US strikes in Yemen are not unprecedented; according to the Council on Foreign Relations, the US has conducted nearly 400 airstrikes in Yemen since 2002. 

 

Officials blasted the US and UK leaders for bypassing legislative process that are constitutionally required to conduct military operations in foreign nations.

Across the Atlantic, some within the Labour Party called Sunak's decision “shameful” for bypassing parliament. The Scottish National Party and some Labour lawmakers also demanded answers from the premier, saying that a vote in parliament should be “vital” for any attack.

For his part, the leader of the Labour Party, Rodney Starmer, said he wanted to see a summary of London's legal position “published as soon as possible, and I would hope that that can be published today.”

As US and British warplanes took to the sky from aircraft carriers in the Red Sea, Biden and Sunak argued that the attacks against the Arab world's poorest nation – located 11,000 and 6,000 kilometers away from Washington DC and London, respectively – were being launched in “self-defense.”

“These attacks have endangered US personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” Biden said. “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”

“We've seen a significant increase in the number of Houthi attacks ... that's putting innocent lives at risk. It's disrupting the global economy, and it's also destabilizing the region,” Sunak said.

The western attacks countering Yemen's pro-Palestine actions in the Red Sea were launched just hours after South Africa presented its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.⍐

Anyone opposing Yemen support of Gaza will face response: Ansarullah

"International navigation in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea is safe, and Americans must stop misleading the world about dangers threatening international navigation in these seas," the Ansarullah official asserted.

 "We urge all countries to be cautious of falling into America's trap aimed at militarizing the Red Sea in service of Israel and to encourage it to continue its brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip".

Anyone opposing Yemen operations in support of Gaza will face response: Ansarullah

Anyone opposing Yemen operations in support of Gaza will face response: Ansarullah

Press TV Wednesday, 10 January 2024 11:24 PM

Yemen's Ansarullah popular resistance movement vows that any party opposing the Yemeni Armed Forces' anti-Israeli naval operations in support of the Gaza Strip "will face a response."

The movement's spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam sounded the warning in a statement on Wednesday.

During recent months, the Armed Forces have been staging missile and drone attacks against vessels linked to the Israeli regime or those heading to Israeli ports in support of Palestinians in Gaza, who have come under a genocidal Israeli war.

Yemeni Armed Forces launch missiles targeting a cargo ship in the Red Sea heading for a port in the Israeli-occupied territories.

At least 23,357 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed, and 59,410 others injured during the war, which the regime launched following an operation staged by the coastal sliver's resistance movements.

The regime has also cut off the flow of basic supplies such as water, electricity, medicines, and fuel, to one of the world's most densely-populated territories that houses over two million Palestinians.

Abdul-Salam said, "We reiterate that the [Yemeni] Armed Forces will continue to target Israeli-linked ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine until the aggression stops and the siege on Gaza is lifted."

Yemen vows to continue to prevent the passage of ships owned by or linked to Israel through the Red Sea.

He also addressed the United States' efforts aimed at accusing Yemen of endangering international maritime navigation.

Earlier, the US tried to have the United Nations Security Council ratify a resolution accusing Yemen of such endangering activities.

"International navigation in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea is safe, and Americans must stop misleading the world about dangers threatening international navigation in these seas," the Ansarullah official asserted.

"We urge all countries to be cautious of falling into America's trap aimed at militarizing the Red Sea in service of Israel and to encourage it to continue its brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip."

In addition to throwing military and political support behind the war, the US has announced a naval coalition tasked with patrolling the Red Sea in response to Yemeni strikes.⍐

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:www.presstv.co.uk

 

US, Britain carry out strikes inside Yemen

US, Britain carry out strikes against Houthis in Yemen- officials

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

January 12, 202412:49 AM GMT Updated 11 min ago

 WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The United States and Britain have launched strikes against targets linked to the Houthi movement in Yemen, four U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, the first strikes against the Iran-backed group since it started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year.

A Houthi official confirmed "raids" across the country, including in the capital Sanaa along with the cities of Saada and Dhamar as well as in Hodeidah governate, calling them "American-Zionist-British aggression."

The ongoing strikes are one of the most dramatic demonstrations to date of the widening of Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East since its eruption in October.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes were being carried out by aircraft, ships and submarine. Two officials said Australia, Canada, Bahrain and the Netherlands provided support for the operation.

The official said more than a dozen locations were targeted and the strikes were intended to be more than just symbolic.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, defied a U.N. call to halt their missile and drone attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and warnings from the United States of consequences if they failed to do so.

The Houthis say their attacks are a demonstration of support for Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza. Israel has launched a military assault that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

The Houthi have attacked 27 ships to date, disrupting international commerce on the key route between Europe and Asia that accounts for about 15% of the world's shipping traffic.

Witnesses told Reuters that the raids on Thursday targeted a military base adjacent to Sanaa airport, a military site near Taiz airport, a Houthi naval base in Hodeidah and military sites in Hajjah Governorate.

A formal statement from the United States was soon expected to detail the strikes.

The Pentagon declined comment.

Earlier on Thursday, the Houthis' leader said any U.S. attack on the group would not go without a response.

The Houthis, who seized much of Yemen in a civil war, have vowed to attack ships linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports. However, many of the targeted ships have had no links to Israel.

The U.S. military said on Thursday Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden, the 27th attack by the group since Nov. 19.

U.S. and British naval forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday towards the southern Red Sea, the largest attack in the area by the militants.

In December, more than 20 countries agreed to participate in a U.S.-led coalition, known as Operation Prosperity Guardian, safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea.

Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Andrew Mills and Maher Hatem Editing by Chris Reese, Don Durfee and Cynthia Osterman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.