INTERNACIONAL
China surrounds Taiwan in military exercise against independence
China launched a record-breaking number of military aircraft Monday in exercises surrounding Taiwan that are aimed at warning the country against independence, officials say.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense says the 125 Chinese military aircraft are the most that it has counted in a single day. The Ministry added that 90 of the aircraft, including warplanes, helicopters and drones, were spotted within Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
China’s Defense Ministry said the drills were a response to the Taiwanese president’s refusal to accept Beijing’s demand that self-governed Taiwan acknowledge itself as a part of the People’s Republic of China under the rule of the Communist Party.
The military operation comes four days after Taiwan celebrated the founding of its government on its National Day, with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te saying in a speech that China has no right to represent Taiwan and declaring his commitment to «resist annexation or encroachment.»
CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDENTS CHARGED AFTER ALLEGEDLY SPYING ON MILITARY BASE
«The United States is seriously concerned by the People’s Liberation Army joint military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan,» State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. «The PRC response with military provocations to a routine annual speech is unwarranted and risks escalation.
«We call on the PRC to act with restraint and to avoid any further actions that may undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, which is essential to regional peace and prosperity and a matter of international concern,» he added. «We continue to monitor PRC activities and coordinate with allies and partners regarding our shared concerns.»
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning slammed Taiwanese independence during a briefing last Friday, saying, «I would like to stress that ‘Taiwan independence’ is as incompatible with peace of the Taiwan Strait as fire with water.»
«The Lai Ching-te authorities’ attempt to reject reunification through the use of force is futile. No matter how many weapons they buy, they cannot stop the historical trend toward China’s reunification,» she also said.
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A map aired on China’s state broadcaster CCTV showed six large blocks encircling Taiwan indicating where the military drills were being held, along with circles drawn around Taiwan’s outlying islands. China’s Defense Ministry has not said how long the drills will last.
China deployed its Liaoning aircraft carrier for the drills, and CCTV showed a J-15 fighter jet taking off from the deck of the carrier, though the exact location of the ship is unclear.
China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Senior Captain Li Xi said the navy, army air force and missile corps were all mobilized for the drills, which were an integrated operation, according to the Associated Press.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it deployed warships to designated spots in the ocean to carry out surveillance and stand ready. It also deployed mobile missile and radar groups on land to track the vessels at sea.
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«Our military will definitely deal with the threat from China appropriately,» Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan’s security council, said Monday at a forum in Taipei, according to the AP. «Threatening other countries with force violates the basic spirit of the United Nations Charter to resolve disputes through peaceful means.»
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
Wife of US hostage Keith Siegel pleads for holiday miracle: ‘we need to get them back’
FIRST ON FOX – Aviva Siegel, the wife of American hostage Kieth Siegel and a former hostage herself, is pleading with everyone and anyone involved in the hostage negotiations to get her husband, and the others, freed from Hamas captivity after they have spent more than 440 days in deplorable conditions.
«Hamas released a video of Keith, and I just saw the picture,» Aviva told Fox News Digital in an emotional interview in reference to a video Hamas released in April. «He looks terrible. His bones are out, and you can see that he’s lost a lot of weight.
«He doesn’t look like himself. And I’m just so worried about him, because so [many] days and minutes have passed since that video that we received,» she said. «I just don’t know what kind of Keith that we’re going to get back.»
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«I’m worried about all the hostages, because the conditions that they are in are the worst conditions that any human being could go through,» Aviva said. «I was there. I touched death. I know what it feels being underneath the ground with no oxygen.
«Keith and I were just left there. We were left there to die,» she added.
Aviva and her husband of, at the time 42 years, were brutally abducted from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and held together for 51 days before she was released in the November 2023 hostage exchange after suffering from a stomach infection that left her incredibly ill.
She has since tirelessly fought for Kieth’s release, meeting with top officials in the U.S. and Israel, traveling to the United States nine times in the last year and becoming a prominent advocate for the hostages.
«I just hope that he’s with other people from Israel, and if he has them, he’s going to be okay,» Aviva said. «He’s just the person that will make them feel that they’re together. That’s what he did when I was there – he was 100% for me and the hostages that we were with.»
«If you get kidnapped, get kidnapped with Keith, because he was outstanding to everybody. He was strong for all of us. And I’m sure that he’s keeping strong and keeping his hope to come out,» she said.
Aviva recounted their last moments together before they were separated ahead of her release, telling Fox News Digital, «When I left him, I told him to be the strongest – that he needs to be strong for me, and I’ll be strong for him.»
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY UNDER PRESSURE AMID RISING RESISTANCE, POPULARITY OF IRAN-BACKED TERROR GROUPS
Top security officials from the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar have been pushing Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire and the return of hostages.
Reports on Thursday suggested that negotiators are pushing for a 42-day cease-fire in which 34 of the at least 50 hostages still assessed to be alive, could be exchanged.
Hamas is also believed to continue to hold at least 38 who were taken hostage and then killed while in captivity, along with at least seven who are believed to have been killed on Oct. 7, 2023 and then taken into Gaza.
Though all the hostages are believed to have been held in deplorable conditions, the children, women – including the female IDF soldiers – the sick and the elderly have reportedly been front listed to be freed first in exchange for Hamas terrorists currently imprisoned.
«I’m keeping my hope and holding on and just waiting – waiting to hug Keith, and waiting for all the families, to get their families back,» Aviva said. «We need to get them back.»
Aviva said she dreams of the moment that she gets to hug her husband again and watch their grandchildren «jump into his arms.»
«We’ll be the happiest people on Earth,» she said. «All the hostages, I can’t imagine them coming home. It’ll be just the happiest moment for all of the families. We need it to happen.»
Reports in recent weeks suggest there is an increased sense of optimism in bringing home the hostages, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged some caution when speaking with MSNBC Morning Joe on Thursday when he said, «We are encouraged because this should happen, and it should happen because Hamas is at a point where the cavalry it thought might come to the rescue isn’t coming to the rescue, [Hezbollah’s] not coming to the rescue, [Iran’s] not coming to the rescue.»
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«In the absence of that, I think the pressure is on Hamas to finally get to yes,» he added. «But look, I think we also have to be very realistic. We’ve had these Lucy and the football moments several times over the last months where we thought we were there, and the football gets pulled away.
«The real question is: Is Hamas capable of making a decision and getting to yes? We’ve been fanning out with every possible partner on this to try to get the necessary pressure exerted on Hamas to say yes,» Blinken added.
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