Word: islanders
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...realm of geopolitical disputes, the barren Paracel Islands are a far cry from the mountains of Kashmir or the alleys of Gaza. Claimed by both China and Vietnam, the archipelago comprises some 30 tiny spits of land in the middle of the South China Sea with innocuous names like Woody Island and Antelope Reef. No one lives there, nor has there been any evidence that lucrative natural resources lie beneath its lagoons and reefs. But, experts say, at a time when regional economies are booming - and nationalist sentiments swelling - the Paracels and the heavily contested Spratly islands further south remain...
...test that the new system "is not targeted at any country," it plainly was a shot across the U.S. bow for its continuing weapons sales to Taiwan. Communist-run China split with nationalist-run Taiwan following the civil war in 1949, and it continues to regard the island as a renegade province. While the U.S. recognizes Taiwan and the mainland as part of one China, it continues to arm Taiwan against any threat of reunification by force - a policy regarded by Beijing as provocative interference in an internal Chinese dispute. Beijing has declared it will take the island back...
China invented fireworks some 1,000 years ago in hopes of scaring away evil spirits. On Monday, it successfully tested a missile-defense system aimed at scaring away the U.S. from defending the island nation of Taiwan. By shooting down one missile with another, China demonstrated its growing military prowess. But it also telegraphed its anger over last week's sale of U.S. Patriot interceptor missiles to Taiwan. Taipei would use the Patriots to blunt any attack by Beijing's 1,100 missiles poised just across the Taiwan Strait. China has threatened to use force should Taiwan, which...
...this year's election security is under particularly intense scrutiny here and abroad after rivalry over a gubernatorial post between two Muslim clans triggered the massacre of 57 civilians, including 30 journalists, in Maguindanao province on the volatile southern island of Mindanao in November. While this was an extreme act of political violence, six candidates running for posts in other local governments have already been murdered since Jan. 1, according to press reports. In a Tuesday night police raid to uncover the weapons cache of a private armed group in Cavite province on the island of Luzon, four police officers...
Police have 68 armed groups on a watch list; most are concentrated in long-standing election trouble spots, such as the autonomous region for Muslims on Mindanao Island and a clutch of clannish northern provinces. "Based on our estimates there are at least 200 private armed groups nationwide if you include those run by landlords, businessmen and gambling lords," says Rommel Banlaoi, director of the Philippine Institute for Political Violence and Terrorism Research. Many are small units with under a dozen members. But some - it is not clear how many - are virtual armies. The one operated by the Ampatuan clan...