International
China warns NATO of the “consequences” if it considers it a “hypothetical enemy”
China warned NATO this Friday that it will “suffer the consequences” if it considers it a “hypothetical enemy,” in a harsh response to the recent statements of the secretary general of the defense agency, Jens Stoltenberg.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian described Stoltenberg’s words as “irresponsible and provocative,” loaded with “Id War mentality” and “ideological bias.”
The NATO secretary had called the Asian giant a “systemic challenge” to global security during the Alliance summit held this Thursday in Washington.
Lin accused NATO of attacking “the Chinese system” and interfering in its “internal affairs,” in addition to “maliciously distorting” China’s national and international policies and “diverting the blame” on the issue of Ukraine.
Therefore, he expressed China’s “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to NATO’s statements and reiterated China’s position on Ukraine and the summit of the defense organization.
The diplomat also accused the NATO Secretary General of “ignoring the facts” and using “various occasions to defame and attack China,” “exaggerating the theory of the Chinese threat” and “inciting anti-China feelings.”
“If China is considered a ‘hypothetical enemy’, NATO will only suffer the bitter consequences in the end,” warned Lin, who urged some “Western politicians who are on the verge of political death” not to “try to leave some ‘legacy’ by force by stoking the flames, causing problems and blaming others.”
China, the spokesman said, will follow “a path of peaceful development” and will bring “more stability and positive energy to world peace and stability through its own development and foreign cooperation,” while firmly defending its “sovereignty, security and development interests.”
Stoltenberg said on behalf of the Alliance leaders, meeting in Washington, that “China cannot facilitate the biggest conflict in Europe in recent history without that negatively affecting its interests and reputation.”
Since the beginning of the conflict, China has taken an ambiguous position regarding the war in Ukraine, from which it has asked for respect for the territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine, and respect for the “legitimate security concerns” of all parties, in reference to Russia.
China’s position reflects the growing tensions between the Asian country and NATO, which have increased in recent years due to factors such as China’s military expansion, its growing economic influence and its relationship with Russia.
Last May, during his stop in Serbia on the occasion of his tour of Europe, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised “never forget” the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade at the hands of NATO in 1999.
International
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
A 65-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested at a border checkpoint in Croatia after attempting to enter the country in his car with a deceased woman sitting as a passenger, police announced on Tuesday.
The man was detained in a routine check in late November in Gunja, a border area separating Bosnia from Croatia, the police told AFP. Suspicious because they saw “no consciousness or movement” from the passenger, Croatian officers called a doctor, who confirmed the death of the 83-year-old woman, also Austrian, according to her identification.
The woman’s relationship to the suspect is unknown. She had died in Bosnia, and the man intended to repatriate her body to Austria to “avoid the formalities related to transporting a corpse,” according to the police. Croatian media reported that the man was her legal guardian.
Once her death was confirmed, a funeral service took charge of the body.
International
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Colombian authorities arrested two nationals accused of the illegal trafficking of migrants to the United States and of endangering lives due to the disappearance of a boat with 40 people aboard, U.S. Department of Justice officials reported on Tuesday.
Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, 52, and Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 40, both Colombian citizens, were arrested on December 13 in Colombia at the request of the United States for their alleged involvement in a “transnational human trafficking operation,” the department said in a statement.
According to the charges, the detainees were transporting migrants to San Andrés Island in the Caribbean, where they would then be taken by boat to Nicaragua. The goal was to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
The accused are said to have advised the migrants on how to reach San Andrés Island, where they personally received them, arranged accommodations, and “took them to the boats that transported them to Nicaragua so they could enter the United States illegally,” the statement reads.
“These defendants put several migrants on the boat that disappeared off the coast of Nicaragua in 2023,” said Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, as cited in the statement.
Both men are “directly and personally responsible for the illicit trafficking of migrants on that vessel,” according to the indictment dated October 23.
International
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Two soldiers were killed and five others were injured by the explosion of homemade landmines planted by a criminal group in a mountainous area of the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), the Secretary of Defense reported on Tuesday.
The attack occurred on Monday morning in the municipality of Cotija, a border area between Michoacán and the state of Jalisco, when the military was conducting a reconnaissance mission after receiving information about an armed camp in the area, explained Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla.
“At that moment, an improvised explosive device detonated. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives, and five others were injured,” the military leader detailed. The affected soldiers were airlifted to hospitals in the region by a military helicopter, while the rest of the team continued with the reconnaissance of the area.
Trevilla stated that before the explosion, the military unit had located the dismembered bodies of three people, and upon continuing the mission, they confirmed the camp was abandoned.
Asked about the individuals responsible for placing the explosives, the general suggested they could be criminals linked to the local group Cárteles Unidos, which operates in Michoacán and uses these tactics in their territorial dispute with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country.
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
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