Beijing ‘punishes’ Taipei: massive military operations around the island

Today's news: Up to 75 per cent of the Palestinians in Gaza are forcibly displaced, the Israeli army advances to Rafah, attacks in Jenin and authorises the return to three settlements in Samaria; Between 2016 and 2023, the Chinese authorities drove out more than 700,000 Tibetans; The Indonesian parliament wants to change the media law in a restrictive way; Bangladesh ruling party member found dead in India, three compatriots detained.

CHINA - TAIWAN
China has launched a large-scale military exercise around Taiwan, three days after the inauguration of new President Lai Ching-te in Taipei. A decision seen by Beijing as a ‘punishment’ for the island considered to be rebellious. The Taiwan Strait, northern, southern and eastern Taiwan are affected. In response, Taipei's Foreign Ministry asks China to ‘be rational’ and that it ‘will not change because of pressure from neighbouring countries’. 

ISRAEL - PALESTINE
Up to 75% of Palestinians in Gaza are forcibly displaced, with ‘forced displacement’ and for ‘many up to 4 or 5 times’ as the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) denounces. Israeli tanks continue their offensive in Rafah, in one of the most intense nights of fighting in the southern town of the Strip. Fighting also in the West Bank, with 10 dead and 25 wounded in Jenin. Meanwhile, the army authorised the return to three previously evacuated settlements in Jenin and Nablus. 

TIBET 
Between 2016 and 2023, the Chinese authorities forcibly drove more than 700,000 Tibetans from their homes and lands, with promises of a better life that turned out to be false. This is what emerges from a report by Human Rights Watch (Hrw), according to which 567 thousand lived scattered throughout the (formally semi-autonomous) region and another 140 thousand in 500 villages. Among the forms of pressure were home visits, threats and cuts to essential services such as electricity and water.

INDONESIA
The Indonesian parliament wants to amend the law on publications and media, placing severe restrictions on investigative journalism and LGBT content. A proposal that has already drawn fierce criticism from activists and civil society groups who denounce the gagging of information and press freedom, returning the world's third largest democracy to the authoritarian decades of pre-1998.  

BANGLADESH - INDIA
A member of the ruling party in Bangladesh was found murdered in Kolkata yesterday morning, more than a week after his disappearance. According to the Dhaka Home Ministry, 56-year-old Anwarul Azim Anar had disappeared on 13 May, a day after arriving in India for medical treatment. Three Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in connection with the death. 

RUSSIA
In Russia, the number of bank customers with more than one million dollars in their account increased significantly in 2023, due to sanctions that make it much more difficult to transfer capital abroad. This was stated by the consulting company Frank RG, according to which there are now more than 22 thousand ‘millionaires’, reversing the 2022 trend of capital flight.

ARMENIA
The head of the Yerevan Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, announced that ‘Armenia is working intensively on its own production of armaments’. The aim is to reach 25-30% of those needed and seek new partners for the remainder, increasingly freeing itself from dependence on Russia: ‘until now all the eggs were in one basket, until they broke’.

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