Chinese Carrier Sails Through Northeast Taiwan Waters 

The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. (AFP)
The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. (AFP)
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Chinese Carrier Sails Through Northeast Taiwan Waters 

The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. (AFP)
The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. (AFP)

A Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier sailed through waters northeast of Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards the southeast of Japan's Yonaguni Island, Taipei's government said.

"During this period, the armed forces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement.

The voyage came after the Chinese military tailed a US aircraft that flew through the politically sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Beijing's army said, vowing to "resolutely defend national sovereignty".

"On September 17, a US P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait," Li Xi, a senior captain and spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said in a statement.

"Theater troops are on constant high alert to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability."

Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and claims jurisdiction over the waterway that separates the island from the Chinese mainland.

The Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have sailed through the Taiwan Strait several times in recent years as Beijing intensified military and political pressure on the island.

Taiwan's military has reported near daily sightings of Chinese warplanes, drones and naval vessels around the island.

On Wednesday, the defense ministry said nine Chinese military aircraft, 13 naval vessels and one official ship were detected in a 24-hour window ending at 6:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday).

It said in a second statement that a further 15 Chinese warplanes were detected on Wednesday, of which 12 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait "in conducting air-sea joint training" with Chinese naval vessels.

"The People's Liberation Army also fired multiple launched rockets in the inland Gansu area," it added.



Finland’s President Wants End of Single State Veto at UN Security Council 

View of the UN Security Council as they meet on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the United Nations headquarters on September 16, 2024 in New York City. (AFP)
View of the UN Security Council as they meet on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the United Nations headquarters on September 16, 2024 in New York City. (AFP)
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Finland’s President Wants End of Single State Veto at UN Security Council 

View of the UN Security Council as they meet on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the United Nations headquarters on September 16, 2024 in New York City. (AFP)
View of the UN Security Council as they meet on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the United Nations headquarters on September 16, 2024 in New York City. (AFP)

Finland's President Alexander Stubb has called for expansion of the UN Security Council, abolition of its single state veto power, and suspension of any member engaging in an "illegal war" such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Stubb, who leads the Nordic nation's foreign policy, said he would add his voice to reform calls at next week's UN General Assembly in New York which is to discuss composition of the global body's Security Council.

Consisting of five permanent and 10 rotating member states, the council's brief is to keep global peace, but geopolitical rivalries have deadlocked it on issues from Ukraine to Gaza.

Stubb said in an interview on Tuesday he would propose the number of permanent members be expanded from five to 10, with one more from Latin America, two from Africa and two from Asia.

"No single state should have veto power in the UN Security Council," he told Reuters.

The US, one of five veto-wielding nations with Russia, China, France and Britain, has also backed two permanent seats for Africa.

Stubb said any member engaging an illegal war, "such as Russia is in right now in Ukraine", should be kicked off.

Moscow has justified its invasion of Ukraine by saying it is creating a buffer against Western aggression and taking territory that is historically Russia's.

BACKING UKRAINE

Stubb said he knew his Security Council proposals were "beyond what is usually said from small member states," but added that the big nations would otherwise not propose weakening their own influence.

"So they talk the talk, but don't walk the walk," he said, adding he hoped others would help take the plan forward by the UN's 80th birthday next year.

Any changes to Security Council membership need approval by two thirds of the General Assembly, including the five veto powers.

"My basic message is that if countries from the global South, from Latin America, from Africa, from Asia, do not get agency in the system, they will turn their backs against the United Nations. And that we do not want," he said.

The former Finnish prime minister and European parliamentarian, who took office in March as president, urged support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is to address the UN assembly next week about his "victory plan".

"He has informed us that 90% is already there and the 10% that he will present is what will be needed for him to win this war," Stubb said.

He urged Western nations to lift restrictions on use of donated arms that leave Ukraine "with one hand tied behind its back".

"We need to let that hand go and allow Ukraine to do what Russia is doing to it," he said.

Stubb did not give credence to Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats of nuclear escalation. "Last time we saw Putin using aggressive language on nuclear weapons, the global South and China basically told Putin to stop," he said.