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Taiwan Cannot Rule out China Holding More Drills as President Marks a Year in Office

A soldier lowers the Taiwan national flag during the daily flag ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A soldier lowers the Taiwan national flag during the daily flag ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
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Taiwan Cannot Rule out China Holding More Drills as President Marks a Year in Office

A soldier lowers the Taiwan national flag during the daily flag ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A soldier lowers the Taiwan national flag during the daily flag ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Taiwan cannot rule out that China will hold more military drills to "stir up trouble" around the one year anniversary next week of President Lai Ching-te taking office, a senior government spokesperson said on Thursday.

May 20 will be one year since Lai's inauguration, though his office has yet to announce how the president might mark the day, Reuters reported.

China calls Lai a "separatist" and has rebuffed his multiple offers for talks. Lai rejects China's sovereignty claims over the democratic and separately governed island, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

Speaking at a regular press conference, Mainland Affairs Council deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh said China's threats against Taiwan had become a "normal state of affairs", noting China held drills shortly after Lai assumed his post last year.

"Therefore, we do not rule out the possibility that the Chinese communists will use the anniversary of President Lai's inauguration to stir up trouble again and make use of military exercises for political propaganda," he said.

The council is Taiwan's top China policymaking body.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office referred Reuters to comments it gave the previous day.

Asked about the upcoming anniversary on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the office said Lai was a "Taiwan Strait crisis maker" who had increased antagonism and confrontation and undermined peace and stability. China's defense ministry repeated the comments on Thursday.

Taiwan said China staged another of its regular "joint combat readiness patrols" around the island on Sunday, and the defense ministry in Taipei has since reported a rise in Chinese military activities, involving a total of 131 aircraft and 32 warships.

Liang said that Lai had faced a series of "unfriendly" Chinese actions over the past year, including war games.

"Over the past year, I would not say that the interactions between the two sides have been very good - they are indeed tense - but we do not wish to see the situation go on like this," he added.

"We hope that after May 20, the Chinese communists will not engage in military exercises."

Last month, China held war games code-named "Strait Thunder-2025A" around Taiwan, the "A" at its end suggesting there could be more to come.

China called its May 2024 drills "Joint Sword - 2024A", and in October of that year staged "Joint Sword - 2024B".

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World

North Korea's Kim Visits Nuclear Subs as Putin Hails 'Invincible' Bond

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 25, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 25, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
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North Korea's Kim Visits Nuclear Subs as Putin Hails 'Invincible' Bond

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 25, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 25, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a nuclear submarine factory and received a message from Russia's Vladimir Putin hailing the countries' "invincible friendship", Pyongyang's state media said Thursday.

North Korea and Russia have drawn closer since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, and Pyongyang has sent troops to fight for Russia, AFP said.

In return, Russia is sending North Korea financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies, analysts say.

The "heroic" efforts of North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk region "clearly proved the invincible friendship" between Moscow and Pyongyang, Putin said in a message to Kim, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Their work demonstrated the nations' "militant fraternity", Putin said in the message received by Pyongyang last week.

The provisions of the "historic treaty" the two leaders signed last year, which includes a mutual defense clause, had been fulfilled "thanks to our joint efforts", Putin wrote.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have estimated that the North has sent thousands of soldiers to Russia, primarily to Kursk, along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.

Around 2,000 troops have been killed and thousands more have been wounded, according to South Korean estimates.

North Korea acknowledged this month that its troops in Kursk had been assigned to clear mines and that some had died on deployment.

KCNA reported Putin's letter on the same day that it published details of Kim's undated recent visit to a manufacturing base for nuclear-powered submarines.

There, the North Korean leader vowed to counter the "threat" of South Korea producing its own such vessels.

US President Donald Trump has given the green light for South Korea to build "nuclear-powered attack submarines", though key details of the project remain uncertain.

Photos published by KCNA showed Kim walking alongside a purportedly 8,700-tonne submarine at an indoor assembly site, surrounded by officials and his daughter Kim Ju Ae.

In another image, Kim Jong Un smiles during an official briefing as Kim Ju Ae stands beside him.

Pyongyang would view Seoul developing nuclear subs as "an offensive act severely violating its security and maritime sovereignty", Kim Jong Un said, according to KCNA.

It was therefore "indispensable" to "accelerate the radical development of the modernization and nuclear weaponization of the naval force", he said.

Kim clarified a naval reorganization plan and learned about research into "new underwater secret weapons", KCNA said, without giving details.

Pyongyang's defense ministry said it would consider "countermeasures" against US "nuclear muscle flexing", a separate report said Thursday.

- Help from Russia? -

Only a handful of countries have nuclear-powered submarines, and the United States considers its technology among the most sensitive and tightly guarded military secrets.

In the North's first comments on the US-South Korea deal, a commentary piece by KCNA last month said the program was a "dangerous attempt at confrontation" that could lead to a "nuclear domino phenomenon".

Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP the submarine photos raise "considerable speculation" over whether Russia helped North Korea assemble a nuclear-powered submarine "within such a short time frame".

Kim also reportedly oversaw the test launch on Wednesday of "new-type high-altitude long-range anti-air missiles" over the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

The projectiles hit mock targets at an altitude of 200 kilometers (124 miles), KCNA said. That height, if correct, would be in space.

One photo showed a missile ascending into the sky in a trail of intense orange flame, while another showed Kim walking in front of what appeared to be a military vehicle equipped with a vertical missile launcher.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said they had been aware of the launch preparations and had braced for the firing in advance.

"South Korean and US intelligence authorities are currently closely analyzing the specifications," it said.

World

Albanese Announces Bravery Award for Heroes of Bondi Antisemitic Attack

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a Christmas lunch hosted by the Rev Bill Crews Foundation, in Sydney, Australia, 25 December 2025. (EPA)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a Christmas lunch hosted by the Rev Bill Crews Foundation, in Sydney, Australia, 25 December 2025. (EPA)
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Albanese Announces Bravery Award for Heroes of Bondi Antisemitic Attack

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a Christmas lunch hosted by the Rev Bill Crews Foundation, in Sydney, Australia, 25 December 2025. (EPA)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a Christmas lunch hosted by the Rev Bill Crews Foundation, in Sydney, Australia, 25 December 2025. (EPA)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans Thursday for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an antisemitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season.

Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm's way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself.

Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram are accused of perpetrating Australia’s worst massacre since 1996.

Speaking at a press conference after a Christmas Day lunch at a charitable foundation in Sydney, Albanese described a Christmas defined by a sharp contrast between extremist violence and the “best of humanity.”

“This Christmas is a different one because of the anti-terror and the terrorist attack motivated by ISIS and antisemitism,” Albanese said. “But at the same time as we have seen the worst of humanity, we have seen the bravery and kindness and compassion ... from those who rushed to danger.”

The proposed honors would recognize those who are nominated and recommended for bravery or meritorious awards under the existing Australian Honors and Awards system for their actions during and after the attack.

Just a day after pushing through the country's toughest firearm laws, New South Wales state leader Chris Minns issued a plea for national solidarity, urging Australians to support their Jewish neighbors during what he described as a fortnight of “heartbreak and pain.”

“Everybody in Australia needs to wrap their arms around them and lift them up,” Minns said at the same press conference Thursday. “I want them to know that Australians have got their back. We’re in their corner and we’re going to help them get through this.”

The gun reforms which passed through the New South Wales state legislature on Christmas Eve include capping individual gun ownership at four and reclassifying high-risk weapons like pump-action firearms.

The legislation also tightens licensing by reducing permit terms to two years, restricting ownership to Australian citizens, and removing the review pathway for license denials.

“Gun reform alone will not solve hatred or extremism, but we can’t fail to act on restricting access to weapons which could lead to further violence against our citizens,” Minns said earlier in the week when introducing the proposed laws.

Other new laws will ban the public display of terrorist symbols and grant police expanded powers to restrict public gatherings in specific areas following terrorist incidents.

Albanese has also announced plans to tighten Australia’s already strict gun laws.

World

Türkiye Detains 115 Suspected ISIS Members Believed Planning Attacks

People shop at the historic Eminonu Bazaar decorated with Christmas lights in Istanbul, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
People shop at the historic Eminonu Bazaar decorated with Christmas lights in Istanbul, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
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Türkiye Detains 115 Suspected ISIS Members Believed Planning Attacks

People shop at the historic Eminonu Bazaar decorated with Christmas lights in Istanbul, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)
People shop at the historic Eminonu Bazaar decorated with Christmas lights in Istanbul, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)

Turkish authorities have detained 115 suspected ISIS members they said were planning to carry out attacks on Christmas and ‌New Year celebrations ‌in ‌the ⁠country, the ‌Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Istanbul Police obtained information that ISIS members ⁠had planned attacks ‌in Türkiye, against ‍non-Muslims ‍in particular, during ‍Christmas and New Year celebrations, the prosecutor's office posted on X.

The police raided 124 places in ⁠Istanbul, capturing 115 of the 137 suspects they were seeking, the statement said.

Several pistols and ammunition were seized, it said.