
Our submarines are free to navigate international waters: China
Amid the long-simmering territorial row between China and Japan, Chinese military has asserted that its submarines are free to navigate international waters.
Chinese submarines are free to navigate international waters, including the Northwest Pacific, which is also visited by other nations' maritime forces, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defence, Geng Yansheng, said on Thursday.
Geng also criticised the so-called "China Military Threat", as described by some Japanese media, as an act of "intentionally creating tension with an ulterior political motive," state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
"Such act is irresponsible and not conducive to peace and stability in the region," he said.
Geng made the remarks in response to a question regarding some Japanese media outlets' recent, frequent reporting on the voyages of China's Yuan-type submarines in Japan's contiguous zones.
Japan's coastguard recently said that the Chinese maritime surveillance vessels were spotted inside the 12-nautical-mile zone off the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea.
The move marked the latest in the decades long standoff between Beijing and Tokyo as they jostle over ownership of the resource-rich islands.
Last September, Japan nationalised three islands in the chain, angering China.

US export ban could hit Covid vaccine supply, says SII chief
- India’s Biological E has tied up with J&J to potentially contract manufacture up to 600 million doses of its vaccine per year.

Crackdown in Myanmar continues as UNSC prepares to discuss crisis
- The violence took place as the US announced new sanctions targeting military conglomerates after the deaths of dozens of civilian protesters.

Beijing to tighten grip on HK polls
- The changes are part of a draft decision submitted on the opening day of the week-long meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s ceremonial legislature, which will all but certainly endorse it.

China plans to help build a ‘passageway’ between Tibet and South Asia
- A brief report published by news agency Xinhua says the central government will support the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) to build the passageway.

UK detects 16 cases of new Covid-19 variant
- Public Health England (PHE) said cases of the variant known as B.1.1.318 were first identified on February 15 and it was understood to have originated in the UK.

Pandemic origin: WHO to publish report on Mar 15
- The controversy over the investigation organised by the World Health Organization and China about the origins of Covid-19 heated up as a group of scientists called for an independent probe to consider all hypotheses and nail down whether the virus came from an animal.

China plans to help build a ‘passageway’ between Tibet and South Asia

Huge number of young migrants arriving at US border poses challenge for Biden
- Biden took office promising an immigration policy more humane than that of Donald Trump, but some migrant advocacy groups say the new Democratic president's decisions are luring undocumented travelers in what amounts to a beacon effect.

WHO report on Wuhan, China mission due in mid-March: Officials

Covax vaccinations bring relief to Africans suffering from Covid-19

Twitter explores 'undo send' feature for paying users

Turkey: Sudden weather change likely cause of chopper crash

UN report shows close to 931 million tonnes of food were wasted globally in 2019

Mystery UK person with Covid variant found after 5-day hunt
