Government World Magazine | Government related news stories and press releases

Jun302017

PLA demands India withdraw intruding troops

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense of China, responds to media questions on June 29, 2017, at a routine press briefing in Beijing. [Photo by Chen Boyuan/China.org.cn]

The Ministry of National Defense (MOD) has once again demanded India remove troops trespassing across the border in the Sikkim section and obstructing Chinese border guards’ normal activities.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the MOD, told a press conference on June 29 that Indian border guards had crossed the border into Chinese territory. He accused the Indian troops of obstructing People’s Liberation Army (PLA) normal activities in the Donglang area.

“Our border guards have taken necessary measures in response and they will resolutely preserve the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.

His remark amounted to a reiteration from the PLA demanding India halt its encroachments. Earlier on June 26, Colonel Ren Guoqiang, another MOD spokesman, warned India not to obstruct PLA road construction in the Donglang area. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs made similar representations to India.

Some Indian media claimed that it was Chinese soldiers that trespassed onto the Indian side before they used bulldozers to dismantle some facilities.

Wu justified the PLA’s road construction, stressing that “the incident took place on Chinese territory.”

“We have explicitly demand India correct its errors immediately and withdraw its personnel that illegally crossed the Chinese border,” he said.

At the same time, the MOD spokesman criticized Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat over his statements of preparations for a multi-front war.

General Bipin Rawat recently said, “Indian Army is fully ready for a two-and-a-half front war.”

Deeming such remarks “extremely irresponsible,” Wu urged certain people in the Indian military to “learn from the history and stop airing such dangerous, belligerent remarks.”

A video made public shows that a new type of PLA tanks recently appeared on the Tibetan plateau for exercises. Military observers noticed it was the 35-ton light main battle tank and its barrel was adjusted to a higher position to cope with mountain warfare.

Recent U.S. media reports claimed this tank featured an even stronger front protection than the PLA’s latest 96A tank, far exceeding the Indian army’s 90S tanks.

The MOD spokesperson confirmed that PLA’s new tanks were being tested in a high-altitude environment in Tibet. However, he rebuffed allegations that linked the tank with recent border tensions with India, saying the tests targeted no country.

Jun302017

Alcohol-related deaths falling in Wales

NewsWelsh Government

The Welsh Government’s Annual Statement of Progress for Liver Disease shows that in 2015, 807 people died from liver disease, an increase of 131 deaths (19.4%) over the past five years. Alcohol-related liver disease accounts for over a third of liver disease deaths.

However, the report shows a fall in alcohol-related deaths, from 504 in 2012 to 463 in 2015.

The report also shows:

Reduced alcohol consumption: Over the past five years, there has been a reduction in the number of adults reporting alcohol consumption above the former recommended daily guidelines, from 44% in 2010 to 40% in 2015 – however far too many people report drinking above the former recommended guidelines and this will continue to be a focus for NHS Wales.
Increased expenditure on liver disease: Spending on gastrointestinal problems (which include liver disease) has increased from £339.3 million in 2014-15 to £362.6 million in 2015-16.
Improved access to treatment for hepatitis C infection: There is no restriction on access to treatment for hepatitis C infection in Wales, making Wales the only country in the UK, and one of the few in the world, to not place such a restriction. All of the patients with hepatitis C that are known to services in Wales and who are still accessing care have now been treated. During 2016-17, 772 individuals were treated for the hepatitis C infection in Wales with a cure rate of around 95%.

Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething said:

“In Wales, we want to reduce the number of people getting and dying from liver disease. We want to ensure people – whatever their age – value good liver health, and are aware of the dangers of excess alcohol, obesity and blood borne viral hepatitis. We want everyone to take personal responsibility for their lifestyle choices and reduce the risk of acquiring preventable liver disease.

“During 2015-16 there has been continued progress in the care of patients with liver disease in Wales. We’ve seen a reduction in the number of alcohol-related deaths over recent years, but we know there’s much more to do.

“Services are improving throughout Wales, despite dealing with complex demand. The service needs to continue to undergo change if it is to cope with patients and their needs.”

Jun302017

Why No deal will work fine

GovWorldMagJohn Redwood MP

The latest scare stories doing the rounds seek to suggest that the UK could not trade successfully with the rest of the EU from outside the single market and customs union if there is no deal. I have explained in general terms why I think this is wrong, but there is still some demand for more detail. I will supply it. It is always difficult tackling nonsense, as there are no limits to the amount of nonsense you have to tackle. I am choosing the most common examples.

1. “Planes will not be able to fly to and from the continent and the UK the day after we leave, as there will be no Air Services Agreement in place” say some gloom mongers. Many air travel routes carry on daily around the world without a formal Air Services Agreement. All you need is a landing permission in the airport you are going to, and you need to get a flight path from air traffic control in controlled space. If there is no deal then the UK will of course allow EU carriers to continue with the landing slots they currently have, and the rest of the EU will do the same for UK carriers. The EU will not want to ban plane loads of UK tourists and other visitors from going to their countries and will not want to lose the landing revenues at their airports.

2. “The need for customs clearance will mean massive queues at our borders, with disruption to the supply system for the UK” argue some pessimists. Both the EU and the UK as a member of the EU are currently putting in new streamlined customs procedures to handle third party imports. These will work fine for rest of EU goods as well if necessary. Under customs simplified procedures for freight there is already a system of electronic registration of consignments, with the ability to undertake customs clearance at the importers premises once the goods have been successfully delivered. The EU will want decent procedures on the UK side of the channel as they export so much to us, including big volumes of perishable agricultural products.

3. “The need for products to comply with EU rules will hold up movements of goods” say some negative commentators. At the moment all UK goods exported to the EU conform with EU rules anyway. In future there is likely to be be mutual recognition of each other’s standard granting bodies, as with non EU country trade. There can also be continuity of the current system of self certification by manufacturers of the standards and specifications of their products. The EU will want this for their exports to the UK. None of this need physically hold up goods crossing borders, where electronic documentation will have been filed in advance and cover all necessary details about consignments.

4. “Complex supply chains will incur tariffs that make Assembly of components from different sides of the Channel uneconomic” say those who often have never run complex supply chains. Most components are zero rated for tariff if they are included in a good which attracts a tariff on final sale, or of course for a good which is rated at zero tariff. Some components do attract low level tariffs which are more than offset by the fall in sterling against the Euro. I have never experienced difficulties in bringing in components from non Eu sources in my past life with manufacturing companies.

5. “Rules of origin” will be too difficult to sort out in time” say some anti Brexit people. Rules of origin work fine for non EU trade, with a system of self certification of origin available.

Jun302017

Offensive Cyber Capability To Fight Cyber Criminals

GovWorldMagAustralia

The Turnbull Government is committed to protecting Australians online and stopping cyber criminals.

Cybercrime is conservatively estimated to cost the Australian economy $1 billion a year.

Since its inception at the end of 2014, there have been over 114,000 reports of cybercrime registered with the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN).

Notably 23,700 of these have been reported over the last 6 months, highlighting a growing occurrence of cyber criminal activity.

Given the growing cost of cybercrime to the Australian economy, the Government has directed the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to use its offensive cyber capabilities to disrupt, degrade, deny and deter organised offshore cyber criminals. This follows the Government’s public acknowledgement of ASD’s offensive cyber capability when we launched Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy in April 2016.

The use of this capability, which is currently used to help target, disrupt and defeat terrorist organisations such as Daesh, is subject to stringent legal oversight and consistent with our obligations under international law.

The use of offensive cyber capabilities will add to the Government’s crime-fighting arsenal and form part of our broader strategy to prevent and shut-down safe-havens for offshore cyber criminals.

Cyber security and law enforcement measures will naturally continue to sit at the forefront of our response to cybercrime threats.

The recent WannaCry and Petya ransomware attacks have affected governments, businesses and individuals around the world.

Cyber criminals continue to adapt and evolve their methods and tactics, increasingly employing new methods to gain access to a victim and extort funds. As their level of sophistication has improved, cyber criminals are increasingly targeting businesses directly.

Our response to criminal cyber threats should not just be defensive. We must take the fight to the criminals.

The Turnbull Government has been a leader when it comes to ensuring the cyber security of Australian citizens.

We were the first Government to put real money —$230 million —behind a National Cyber Security Strategy when it launched last year, and the Defence White Paper contains up to $400 million to enhance the cyber capabilities of our defence forces.

The Government will target criminals wherever they seek to hurt Australian citizens but every Australian has a role to play in ensuring our cyber security.

Governments, business and individuals must be proactive about protecting themselves online by following best practice when it comes to cyber security.

We must work together to share threat information and learn from each other about the online threats that seek to do us harm.

Jun302017

Press Releases: Release of FFM Report on April 4, 2017, Khan Shaykhun Sarin Attack

USAUnited States • Democrats • OECD – United States • Republicans • White House

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

June 29, 2017

Today, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact¬ Finding Mission (FFM) issued a report confirming that sarin or a sarin-like chemical weapon was used on April 4, 2017, in Khan Shaykhun, Syria. The FFM’s conclusion is based on a wide range of information, including the results of analysis of biomedical samples taken from the victims and the surrounding environment, and extensive witness interviews.

The FFM report will now be conveyed to the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), the additional independent international expert mechanism established by the UN Security Council, to determine who is responsible for the attack.

The United States strongly supports the FFM and JIM efforts, which have been pursued in an impartial and highly professional manner.

The facts reflect a despicable and highly dangerous record of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime. Through its continued use of chemical weapons and its failure to destroy its chemical weapons program in its entirety, Syria continues to fail to comply with its legal obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and UN Security Council Resolution 2118.