Category : Opinion
Author: Wen-Ti Sung

ANALYSIS: China has been flying a record number of military aircrafts into Taiwan’s “air defence identification zone” in recent days, heightening regional concerns about the risk of military escalation or even an outright war.

Taiwanese people are largely alert, but not alarmed. So, why are the Taiwanese not losing their minds over what seems to be intensifying “drums of war”?

Article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/300424931/why-taiwan-remains-calm-in-the-face-of-unprecedented-military-pressure-from-china
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Category : News
Author: Matt Coughlan

Scott Morrison insists there was no way to avoid France's anger about a scrapped submarine deal as the ambassador prepares to return to Canberra.

French ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault was recalled after the prime minister's decision to scrap a AU$90 billion submarine contract enraged Paris.

Article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/300425754/scott-morrison-on-french-sub-anger-theres-no-way-we-could-have-avoided-that
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Category : News
Author: RNZ

The government is sending a special representative to the Middle East to help about 825 visa holders to leave Afghanistan.

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said 1253 visas had been granted, but just 428 people had arrived in New Zealand from the country since the Taliban took control there.

Article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/453076/new-zealand-afghanistan-special-representative-to-support-evacuations
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Category : News
Author: Caley Callahan & Zane Small

New Zealand will deploy a 'Special Representative for Afghanistan' to the Middle East to help bring back 1250 people granted visas, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced. 

While she couldn't go into specifics of individual cases granted due to privacy and security reasons, she said members of the judiciary, human rights workers and prominent women who required assistance were prioritised. 

Article: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/10/new-zealand-to-deploy-special-representative-for-afghanistan-to-help-bring-back-1250-visa-holders.html
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Category : News
Author: Agence France-Presse

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen warned of “catastrophic consequences” if the island were to fall to China and vowed to “do whatever it takes” to guard against threats in an article published on Tuesday.

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the self-ruled democratic island as its territory to be re-taken one day, by force if necessary.

Article: https://www.defencetalk.com/tsai-warns-of-catastrophic-consequences-if-taiwan-falls-77402/
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Category : News
Author: Agence France-Presse

Taiwan’s military relations with Beijing have plunged to their lowest point in four decades, the island’s defence minister warned on Wednesday, following a string of record Chinese jet incursions into Taipei’s air defence zone.

“For the military, the current situation is the most grim in over 40 years since I’ve joined the service,” Chiu Kuo-cheng told parliament as some 150 Chinese warplanes have breached Taiwan’s air defence zone since Beijing marked its National Day on Friday.

Article: https://www.defencetalk.com/taiwan-china-situation-most-grim-in-four-decades-minister-77415/
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Category : News
Author: RNZ

A total of 39 Chinese air force aircraft entered Taiwan's air defence zone on Saturday, the defence ministry in Taipei said, setting a new high for missions which have infuriated the island's government and further raised tensions with Beijing.

Article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/452829/chinese-planes-fly-close-to-taiwan-air-space-again
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Category : News
Author: Sarah Knapton

Scientists from Wuhan and the US were planning to create new coronaviruses that did not exist in nature by combining the genetic codes of other viruses, proposals show.

Documents of a grant application submitted to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), leaked last month, reveal that the international team of scientists planned to mix genetic data of closely related strains and grow completely new viruses.

Article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300424689/revealed-wuhan-and-us-scientists-planned-to-create-new-coronaviruses
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