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Cambodia
April 5, 2025 The completion of China-funded facilities at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia was celebrated by the two countries today. The completed facilities include a new 650-meter-long deep-water pier, a dry dock with a capacity of 5,000 tons, a warehouse and a number of other buildings. Prime Minister Hun Manet affirmed that the facilities can be used by all friendly countries in the wake of concerns that the Chinese military will establish a presence at the base in southwestern Cambodia. (Source: Mainichi / Kyodo = Japan)
China
09 April, 2025 The first WTO complaint against the new set of US tariffs was brought by China in response to President Trump’s Executive Order (effective 4 February), imposing a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods. This 10% tariff is additional to any other tariffs that the US already imposes on goods from China, as well as any fees and applicable charges on the same goods. In addition to imposing retaliatory tariffs, on 4 February China requested WTO consultations with the US. Consultations take 60 days, and if they fail, the next step will be for China to request a WTO panel. In its request, China argues that the US’s tariffs violate GATT rules. On 14 February, the US responded to China’s request for consultations. The US’s longstanding position is that security measures are “political matters not susceptible of review or capable of resolution by WTO dispute settlement”. On 4 March President Trump increased the tariffs on Chinese goods from 10% to 20%, again claiming that China had not taken adequate steps to alleviate the illicit drug crisis. China then lodged a second request for consultations. The US responded on 18 March, again citing a national security rationale. On 4 April, China requested WTO consultations with the US in respect of the tariffs President Trump announced on ‘Liberation Day’. In addition to raising the same GATT legal arguments included in its previous requests, China also claimed that the tariffs breach Article X:3(a) claiming that the US “does not administer the measures at issue in a uniform, impartial, and reasonable manner.” China also announced that it would be imposing additional tariffs of 34% on US imports. In response, the Trump administration will impose an additional 50% tariff on China effective from 9 April. China has responded by increasing tariffs on US goods to 84% and filing another consultation request with the US at the WTO. President Trump announced that the tariff on China would be immediately increased to 125%. The ‘reciprocal’ tariff rates announced on 2 April will be paused for 90-days for all countries other than China. /(Source: Freshfields LLP (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) - Headquarters London, United Kingdom/
08-Apr-2025 The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed today that China, Iran, and Russia will hold trilateral consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue in Moscow from April 7 to 8. (Source: CGTN - China)
Apr 04, 2025 China's additional tariffs of 34% on all US goods will come into effect from April 10. Beijing also announced controls on exports of medium and heavy rare earths. The latest tariffs bring average US tariffs on all Chinese products to as high as 65%, according to Bloomberg. That rate includes existing tariffs from the first Trump term that were maintained by the previous Biden administration. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)
(2 April 2025) China's military conducted a live-fire exercise codenamed Strait Thunder in the Taiwan Strait to simulate strikes on key ports and energy facilities, it said today. A video by the PLA, titled 'Subdue demons and vanquish evils', likened the military's capabilities to the magical powers of the Monkey King, a mythical Chinese character. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)
01-Apr-2025 Today morning, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command began joint exercises around Taiwan Island, organizing its army, navy, air and rocket forces to close in on Taiwan Island from multiple directions, according to Senior Colonel Shi, spokesperson for the theater command. Military exercises by the PLA around Taiwan Island serve as a resolute punishment for Lai authorities' blatant Taiwan secession provocations, and are a necessary action to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhu, Chinese mainland spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council stated today. 'She warned that Taiwan secession means war'. (Source: CGTN - China)
Gaza
03.04.2025 Hamas urged the Hungarian government to 'immediately rescind this biased and shameful decision, fulfill its legal obligations, and hand over the war criminal Netanyahu to the ICC to hold him accountable for his crimes and receive just punishment for the massacres and genocide he committed against our Palestinian people,' the Palestinian resistance group Hamas said in a statement. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Iran
(Monday), Apr 7 2025 Tehran was slapped with a chilling deadline to either hold direct talks and sign a new nuclear agreement or potentially face military action. Khamenei strongly refused to agree to Trump's demands, saying that Iran will not engage in any direct negotiations and strike up a new nuclear deal with the US. Iran wants to continue indirect negotiations through Oman - a longtime channel for messages between the rival states. Trump vows ‘there'll be bombing’ if Iran doesn’t fall in line as US masses B2 jets. Meanwhile, Khamenei ordered Iran's armed forces to abandon Houthi terrorists and leave Yemen. Tehran wants to focus more on the threat from Trump rather than spending its resources on its proxy network. Ayatollah braces for looming Trump onslaught. Iran's ally Russia said on Thursday that any US threats of military strikes against it were unacceptable, before ’desperately’ calling for restraint on Friday. Iran has placed its military troops on full alert amid looming threats of a devastating strike attack from the US. Moscow's commitment to its ally depends on the dynamics of the relationship between Trump and Putin. It comes just days after The Sun exclusively revealed how the US and Israel are planning to blitz in an attack which was "long overdue". The US amassed at least five B-2 strategic bombers on the British island of Diego Garcia. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei responded to Trump's threat. 'They threaten to attack us, which we don't think is very probable, but if they commit any mischief, they will surely receive a strong reciprocal blow. Iran sent a chilling strike threat to neighbouring countries, warning that any support for a US attack on Iran would be seen as an act of hostility using their air space or territory by the US military during a potential attack. Senior Israeli diplomatic sources say Iran is closer than ever to developing nukes. Iran is believed to have accelerated its nuclear weapons development and is building nuclear warheads for solid-fuel missiles with a range exceeding 3,000km. They are being developed at two sites in Shahrud and Semnan, which were previously pinned as rocket or space satellite launch sites. A third site, Sorkheh Hesar, is also said to be carrying out projects, including research on nuclear power and underground explosions. Nukes are being created under the watchful eye of the regime's nuclear weaponization entity, the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND). Bosses are developing nuclear warheads for the solid-fuel Ghaem-100 missiles, which are equipped with mobile launch platforms at the Shahrud site. Iran's rocket designers have used North Korea's missiles as a guide to develop the Ghaem-100 missile, which was in a very early testing stage in 2011, when dozens of missile experts were killed at the Modarres site in Tehran. Personnel vehicles are banned from entering the Shahrud site and are forced to park at a checkpoint before people are transported in. They are using the liquid fuel missile Simorgh to develop nuclear warheads in Semnan. Iran has staged three successful Ghaem-100 missile launches over the past two years, enhancing the regime's capability to deploy nuclear weapons. Iran is said to be readying itself by setting up missiles with the capability to strike US positions. A significant number of these weapons are located in underground facilities scattered across the country, designed to withstand airstrikes. The US amassed at least five B-2 strategic bombers on the British island of Diego Garcia - all aimed at Iran. Iran is over 2,300 miles from where the bombers are stationed - but the B-2s have a massive 6,900-mile range. The heavy bombers can obliterate targets with their huge 25-tonne bomb payload per jet. Amid the potential strike threat, Kayhan - a hardline Iranian official propaganda newspaper managed by Khamenei's representative - issued a column calling to assassinate Trump. The chilling threat was written in retaliation to the 2020 killing of IRGC's Soleimani by US airstrikes. President Trump has given his team strict instructions to obliterate Iran if the country ever assassinates him. (Source: The U.S. Sun)
03.04.25 Iran considers pre-emptive strike on Diego Garcia as US bombers mobilise. The Shahid Mahdavi and an Iranian Navy corvette visited Port Klang in Malaysia in February before sailing off the coasts of Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. The flotilla reportedly came within 1,300km of Diego Garcia near the equator. (Source: The Telegraph - India)
Kazakhstan
April 8, (2025) A Russian spacecraft safely delivered an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station (ISS) today, a flight hailed by Moscow as an example of fruitful Russia-U.S. space cooperation. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)
Syria
April 10, 2025 A week after Israel increased air strikes in Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new government in Damascus and accusing Turkey of trying to turn the country into a protectorate, Turkey and Israel have held technical talks yesterday in Azerbaijan, to avoid military misunderstandings that could start a conflict in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan and Israeli officials confirmed. “While we are conducting certain operations in Syria, there needs to be a non-conflict mechanism with Israel, which flies aircraft in that region, similar to mechanisms we have with the US and Russia,” Mr Fidan told. “There are technical contacts to prevent combat elements from misunderstanding each other.” Turkey could set up a military base in Syria's desert city of Palmyra and is studying the possible use of a Turkish-produced air defence system known as Hisar, a senior Syrian military commander told last week. The Turkish Defence Ministry official said Ankara was looking to set up bases for training purposes in Syria and was providing support to increase Damascus's defence capacities in line with the demands of the new government in the Syrian capital. A delegation led by the Chief of the National Security Staff, Hanegbi, along with senior representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the security branches, met last night with a parallel Turkish delegation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also confirmed the talks. Israeli officials are now concerned that Turkey's newfound weight in Syria could be used against it as Ankara builds influence in the country, where Israel has also expanded military operations into a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights. Mr Fidan said Ankara's military activities in Syria were aimed at avoiding instability that could impact Turkey. (Source: The National – United Arab Emirates)
Turkey
April 10, 2025 Over the course of the last 22 years, President Erdoğan of Turkey has fought and endured a great deal in order to remain in power. Through it all, he has grown more powerful. The events of the last month may prove to be among the most decisive moments of Erdoğan’s era. In the middle of March, an Istanbul court ordered the arrest and imprisonment of the city’s mayor, Imamoğlu. With Imamoğlu’s removal from office, many assume that Erdoğan may run against a weaker opposition candidate in his pursuit of a third presidential term after 2028. Other events appear to favor Erdoğan’s plans for stronger, more regionally powerful Turkey which had helped protect Sharaa’s rebel stronghold in Idlib for much of the civil war. Turkish commentators agreed: The victory in Syria belonged to both Ankara and Sharaa. News reports circulated that Turkish troops would remain in Syria and assist the government in Damascus in reconstituting its military. An end to the fighting likely meant that millions of Syrian refugees residing in Turkey could soon return home and relieve the country of large number of unwanted immigrants. Economic opportunities appeared to accompany the war’s conclusion, with U.N. officials estimating Syria’s reconstruction costs topping $400 billion. Other issues remained. The Netanyahu government has remained steadfast in its contention that Turkey has provided critical aid to Hamas. In January the Knesset’s defense and budget committee issued a scathing report on Turkey’s influence in Syria. Among the committee’s findings is the assertion that Israel "must be prepared for war” with Turkey over its support for Sunni militants in Syria and its potential desire “to restore the Ottoman Empire to its former glory.” Turkish senior officials have countered that Israel intends to undermine Turkish security by establishing ties with Syria’s Kurdish militias - belief crystalized around the theory that Tel Aviv intends to occupy and partition Syria by linking Kurdish-held areas with the Golan Heights. The realization of this “David’s Corridor,” as it is termed in the Turkish press, is believed to be a part of a broader Israeli agenda to redraw the map of the Middle East. Damascus signed an agreement in February with the largest Kurdish-dominated faction, the Syrian Democratic Forces, aimed amalgamating it into the regular Syrian army. In February, reports circulated that Sharaa and Erdoğan were seeking a joint defense pact. Elements of this agreement would see Turkey establish new air bases in Syria, use Syrian airspace for military purposes, and take a lead role in training troops in Syria’s new army, leading to further speculation that the Turkish navy would take over Russia’s basing rights on the Syrian coast. Recent Israeli airstrikes against military installations in central Syria raise the possibility that a shooting war between Israel and Turkey is not idle talk. For Turkey, a costly war with Israel is only one hazard that lies ahead in Syria. Recent waves of sectarian violence in the country have underscored the fragility of the peace the Sharaa government has forged. To date, no state in the region, including the wealthy Gulf monarchies, have followed through on promises to aid Sharaa in rebuilding the country. It appears likely that much of Turkey’s Syrian diaspora will not return home. Turkey may end up owning a thoroughly broken situation in Syria. These revelations followed increasing signs that Turkey’s greatest security threat, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, was at the threshold of disbanding. With the prospect of ending the 40-year insurgency within reach, pro-government have rejoiced. Erdoğan publicly voiced his hope that a “Turkey without terror” was just on the horizon. The government allowed a series of official meetings between representatives of the Peoples’ Democratic Party - an opposition party, which chiefly represents the interests of Kurdish civil rights movement - and the imprisoned founder and leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Öcalan. In late February, he was issuing a page-and-a-half written statement outlining his desire for his fighters to lay down their arms. How perceives Erdoğan’s administration the implications of Öcalan’s historical statement? After a “wait-and-see” period lasting several months, a “democratization” process would proceed within Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. Among the aims of this process, would be the reformation of the country’s constitution and one likely item to be a constitutional amendment allowing Erdoğan the option to stand again for election in three years’ time. To ensure passage of such an amendment, Erdoğan’s coalition requires the support of one of the assembly’s main opposition parties. Giving concessions to the Peoples’ Democratic Party may secure Erdoğan the votes he needs. The chief victim is Turkey’s largest opposition party, the Republican Peoples’ Party. The arrested Istanbul mayor Imamoğlu is both more popular than Erdoğan and more likely to win in a head-to-head matchup for the presidency in 2028. Peoples’ Democratic Party leaders have voiced support for the protests and have called for Imamoğlu’s release. Republican Peoples’ Party chairman Özel has now called for early elections. Added to these dates are concerns that the dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party may not be so certain. Neither the Syrian Democratic Forces nor other Kurdish factions have official acknowledged Öcalan’s calls for dissolution. May have Turkey arrived at some kind of moment of reckoning? Establishing a firm foothold in Syria while neutralizing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party likely will have a dramatic effect upon Turkey’s regional influence. Success in Syria also may further whet Turkey’s appetite for adventurism. Demobilizing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and resolving its problems with Kurdish militants in Syria may incentivize Erdoğan to resume his aggressive behavior towards Athens. The road to success in Syria is potentially fraught with danger. Should Sharaa’s government stumble or fall, Turkey again may be saddled with an unstable neighbor and a tidal wave of new refugees in need of care. Successfully insisting upon a permanent military presence in Syria may also spur a war against Israel. Unlike Ankara’s recent conflicts in Libya, Syria, or Armenia, the Turkish armed forces may struggle against a far more capable opponent. Erdoğan’s dual efforts to strengthen his hold on power, while boosting Turkey’s influence in the Middle East, may precipitate far more severe crises. At this stage, given global conditions, it seems easier to imagine Turkey growing more unpredictable. (Source: War on the Rocks - U.S.)
by Gingeras, a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, an expert on Turkish, Balkan, and Middle East history, the author of seven books, including the forthcoming Mafia: A Global History and Sorrowful Shores: Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire
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