International Politics and Relations

[DTravel]

North Korea Reacts to 'Nuclear Threat' From US
Newsweek

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...e22b0c51&ei=82

North Korea has accused the United States of a "dangerous act" and of hypocrisy following a recent subcritical nuclear test.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will not allow a strategic imbalance and security vacuum to be created on the Korean peninsula," North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday, using the country's official name.

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced last week it had successfully experimented the Nevada National Security Site.

The agency said it plans to increase the frequency of these experiments to gather more data on nuclear weapons materials, without needing to return to explosive testing. The U.S.'s last known nuclear explosion test was in 1992, and the country has since adhered to a moratorium.

The U.S., as the country that has carried out the most nuclear tests, "has no right to comment on anyone's threat of nuclear war," the North Korean statement said.

The ministry also pointed out the U.S. had deployed nuclear-capable submarines to South Korea last year, for the first time in decades, and is planning "an actual nuclear operation exercise" with Seoul in August.

The ministry pledged the North would "thoroughly" safeguard the security and rights and interests of the state through strong deterrent measures in response to the evolving U.S. nuclear threat."

Newsweek reached out to the North Korean embassy in Beijing, China, outside of office hours with a written request for comment.

North Korea previously warned of a "catastrophic aftermath" if the planned joint military exercises, designed to simulate a response to Pyongyang's potential use of a nuclear weapon, proceed.

North Korea, which has conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017, has threatened a seventh and in 2022 updated its nuclear doctrine in 2022 to abandon its nonfirst-use policy. The country has also upped the frequency of its ballistic missile tests in recent months, including those it says can be equipped with nuclear warheads.

The international community remains concerned about North Korea's nuclear ambitions. South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. have repeatedly called for stronger international measures and enforcement of United Nations Security Council sanctions meant to curb Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.

Analysts suggest that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un views his nuclear arsenal as essential for deterring foreign intervention and strengthening his bargaining power.

Tokyo, Seoul, and Washington have agreed to enhance their trilateral cooperation to counter North Korea's threats.

In his memoir, released Saturday, former South Korean President Moon Jae-in recounted how Kim had "sincerely explained his commitment to denuclearization" during their first summit in 2018.

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of National Unification, told NK News, Kim's statements were likely aimed at manipulating perceptions while continuing to advance his nuclear capabilities.

The U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.

[DTravel]

China rebukes South Korea, Japan lawmakers visiting Taiwan
Reuters

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...7f8644fe&ei=29

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday scolded South Korean and Japanese lawmakers for visiting Taiwan despite its strong opposition, chiding both neighbours for attending Taiwan's "so-called inauguration ceremony of the leader".

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te, regarded by China as a "separatist", was officially sworn in on Monday after winning a January election.

China, claiming Taiwan as part of its territory, resolutely opposes the visits, its embassies in South Korea and Japan said, and has lodged solemn representations with the two northeast Asian countries.

A spokesperson for the embassy in South Korea said the move runs counter to the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership, while to Japan, the embassy there said the visit seriously contravened the spirit of Sino-Japanese commitments.

China urged South Korea to take "practical actions" to safeguard overall interests of bilateral relations while it seriously urged Japan to cease "provocative political manipulation" of the Taiwan issue.

It also told Japan, which has joined the United States in congratulating Lai, to avoid causing further damage to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and to their bilateral relations.

On Monday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi called Taiwan "an extremely important partner and friend of our country", and that Japan's stance was to further deepen cooperation and exchanges at the non-governmental level.

Ties between Japan and China have sagged in recent times, weighed down by a host of issues including clashes over mutual maritime claims in the East China Sea, as well as China's actions against Philippine claims in the South China Sea.

China, South Korea and Japan are due a trilateral summit next week in Seoul.

SEEKING STABLE TIES

Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his South Korean counterpart who visited Beijing that both nations should seek stable ties despite their recent "difficulties" including tensions over Taiwan and other regional issues.

South Korea's Cho Tae-yul told Wang both countries should work together and "even if there are difficulties, momentum of cooperation should be continued while carefully managing the relations".

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said last year that democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, was a "global issue", not just an issue between China and Taiwan.

"Anyone who attempts to challenge the one-China principle will end in failure," Wang warned on Monday as Lai was sworn in.

"There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China."

Where is that middle finger emoji to send to China?

[DTravel]

Is China Hacking Undersea Cables? What We Know
Newsweek

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...30997cb8&ei=75

U.S. officials are worried undersea communications cables, through which flows 95 percent of the world's online traffic, are under threat the Asia-Pacific.

The Biden administration has reportedly warned Silicon Valley giants such as Meta and Google, who have invested in submarine cables, about the potential threat of Chinese cable repair ships.

These fears, first reported on by The Wall Street Journal, have emerged against the backdrop of the U.S.-China rivalry across a number of sectors, including information technology, with Washington successfully limiting China's involvement in international submarine cables that connect with U.S. territory.

CCP leverage over companies

Chinese firms are required by law to hand over data to the Chinese Communist Party government upon request. This has fueled concerns over espionage and data collection in the U.S. and many other countries—fears that prompted Congress to pass a law last month that will ban TikTok if its Chinese parent company, Bytedance, does not divest it.

While the U.S. has introduced restrictions against Chinese telecom operations within the country, citing national security concerns, there are no checks on cable laying ships from China or any other nation from accessing the fiber optic cables crucial for modern communications.

"Tapping cables may produce huge intelligence gains, given that data can be sorted—identifying relevant needles from a digital 'haystack'—and decrypted as necessary," Lane Burdette, an analyst for telecommunications market research company TeleGeography, wrote in 2021.

Of particular concern to U.S. officials are ships belonging to Shanghai-based Submarine Systems (SBSS), part of a three-company consortium conducting cable maintenance around Asia.

"Running dark"

According to ship-tracking data, over the past five years, SBSS ships have periodically switched off their automatic identification systems—location transponders the United Nations' maritime safety regulator requires ships to use—causing them to go undetected for days at a time while at sea.

This does not mean that the ships are hacking into underwater cables, but "it would raise suspicions if it happens repeatedly, especially if they are operating in the vicinity of a cable that might have strategic significance," the WSJ cited one unnamed official as saying.

A source familiar with the company told the news agency poor satellite coverage might explain why the ships, "running dark" from time to time.

"For a ship that size, there is no apparent reason it would have its required safety equipment turned off—and that's what an AIS transponder is," Ray Powell, director of the Stanford University's SeaLight initiative, which tracks Chinese coast guard and paramilitary vessels in the South China Sea, told Newsweek.

"This is especially concerning given the busy shipping lanes the ships appear to be operating in," he said.

Newsweek reached out to SBSS, the U.S. State Department, and the Chinese embassy in the U.S. for comment.

In at least six instances in recent years, the U.S. has succeeded in efforts to either exclude a Chinese company from contracts to lay down new cables or prevent major international cables from being extended to China, Reuters reported.

"As the strategic importance of cable networks grows, authoritarian control of companies raises geopolitical concerns because state actors can choose when, where, and how cables are built and enable data interception and development of technological dependence through other countries' borders," the United States Naval Institute wrote in an analysis last year.

[DTravel]

US assesses Russia launched space weapon in path of American satellite
Reuters

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...4170b8d9&ei=56

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Russia last week launched a satellite that U.S. intelligence officials believe to be a weapon capable of inspecting and attacking other satellites, the U.S. Space Command said on Tuesday as the Russian spacecraft trails a U.S. spy satellite in orbit.

Russia's Soyuz rocket blasted off from its Plesetsk launch site some 500 miles (800 km) north of Moscow on May 16, deploying in low-Earth orbit at least nine satellites including COSMOS 2576, a type of Russian military "inspector" spacecraft U.S. officials have long condemned as exhibiting reckless space behavior.

"We have observed nominal activity and assess it is likely a counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit," a USSPACECOM spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.

"Russia deployed this new counterspace weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite."

COSMOS 2576 resembled previously deployed counterspace payloads from 2019 and 2022, the statement added, referring to past Russian tactics of deploying satellites close to sensitive U.S. spy satellites.

U.S. intelligence agencies had been expecting the launch of COSMOS 2576 and informed allies of their assessment of the satellite before its deployment in space, according to a U.S. official familiar with the intelligence. The launch also included civilian satellites deployed to different orbits.

"This mix of military and civilian payloads was totally unexpected. Never seen that before on a Russian launch," said Bart Hendrickx, a longtime analyst tracking Russia's space program.

COSMOS 2576 appears similar to satellites Russia launched in 2019 and 2022, and which the U.S. also claimed were counterspace weapons. The 2019 satellite ejected an object into space and closely followed a satellite from the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), an intelligence agency overseeing spy satellites.

COSMOS 2576, as of Tuesday, has not gone near a U.S. satellite, but space analysts observed it to be in the same orbital ring as USA 314, a bus-sized NRO satellite launched in April 2021.

The Russian satellite appears to be trailing USA 314's orbital path at a faster speed, suggesting the two will eventually come into closer proximity, according to a Reuters review of orbital data in Space Command's public satellite catalog.

The satellite's deployment comes as the U.S. alleges Russia to be developing a space-based nuclear weapon capable of destroying entire networks of satellites. U.S. officials believe Russia has launched at least one satellite, COSMOS 2553, related to its nuclear space weapon program, according to officials familiar with the intelligence.

However U.S. officials have said Russia has not deployed a nuclear weapon in space.

Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has shrouded much of its space activities in secrecy and threatened to attack U.S. satellites aiding the Ukrainian military's defense, such as SpaceX's Starlink, a vast network of thousands of internet satellites in low-Earth orbit.

The U.S. and Russia have been sparring at the United Nations Security Council over satellite weapons.

[DTravel]

Baltic concerns over Russian plan to move sea borders
BBC

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...58de5fe3&ei=45

There have been calls for calm in Finland and the Baltic states after a draft Russian decree proposed revising its borders in the Baltic Sea.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb warned that over-reacting to "hybrid activity" was the worst mistake.

Latvia said it was trying to clarify the situation, but Lithuania warned that the Kremlin was aiming to intimidate its neighbours with a "deliberate, targeted escalatory provocation".

The draft Russian defence ministry decree suggested moving the sea borders around Russian islands in the Gulf of Finland and around the exclave of Kaliningrad.

The decree was first highlighted on Tuesday, when Russia's Tass news agency and other media reported on its proposal to redraw old borders dating back to the Soviet era in January 1985.

It was not immediately clear if the draft proposed extending its borders into Finnish waters in the Baltic or Lithuanian waters near Kaliningrad. However, it would have included territory in the eastern Gulf of Finland, several islands close to the Finnish coast and areas near the two cities of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in Kaliningrad.

Finland and the Baltic states are all members of the EU and Nato and the military alliance is committed to defending their borders.

Finland's defence and foreign committees held emergency meetings on Wednesday and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the political leadership was "monitoring the situation closely".

"Right now I don't see any reason for greater concern," he said.

The Russian proposals were no longer visible on Wednesday with only the message "draft deleted" remaining on the page. A Russian source later told Tass and other news agencies there were no plans to revise Russia's territorial waters in the Baltic.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred all enquiries to the defence ministry, pointing out that "there is nothing political here", while making the point that the political situation had changed since the 1980s: "You can see the level of confrontation, especially in the Baltic region."

Charly Salonius-Pasternak of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs said the Russian plan was clearly trying to appear as a bureaucratic, technical exercise.

But it was also a very typical Russian approach of "probe everywhere and then if you get pushback, say it was nothing".

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on X that it was "an obvious escalation against Nato and the EU and must be met with an appropriately firm response".

The Russian revelations also coincided with a call for vigilance from Sweden's armed forces chief, Gen Micael Byden.

"Putin's goal is to gain control of the Baltic Sea," he told Germany's RND website. "The Baltic Sea must not become Putin's playground where he can strike fear into Nato members."

Sweden joined Nato in March, becoming the alliance's 32nd member, and it has beefed up its military presence on the Baltic island of Gotland in the past two years.

Gen Byden said he was sure Russia had its eyes on Gotland, because if Sweden lost control of the island it would mean an end to peace and stability in the Nordic and Baltic regions.

Finland, which joined Nato last year, has announced plans to prevent asylum seekers crossing its eastern border with Russia in large numbers.

Helsinki fears Moscow has plans to "instrumentalise" migration, however the UN refugee agency has warned that the draft law could result in so-called pushbacks of people with a legitimate right to asylum.

"Pushback practices put people in danger, too often resulting in severe injuries, split of families or even deaths,” said the UNHCR's Philippe Leclerc.

[DTravel]

NATO Ally Responds to Russia's Move to 'Adjust' Baltic Sea Border
Newsweek

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...0d679170&ei=86

Russia has launched a new "hybrid operation" in the Baltic Sea, according to European Union and NATO member Lithuania, after a Russian Defense Ministry document suggested an adjustment to the country's maritime claims in the area.

The draft decree, dated May 21, suggests Moscow wants to declare part of the waters in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland and the area near the Kaliningrad towns of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk as internal waters.

"The state border of the Russian Federation at sea will change," a summary of the draft decree quoted by Reuters said. If approved, it added, the decree would come into force in January 2025.

The redrawn borders may affect the maritime zones of both Lithuania and Finland. A spokesperson for the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry told Newsweek that Moscow's actions "are seen as a deliberate, targeted, escalatory provocation to intimidate neighboring countries and their societies."

"This is further proof that Russia's aggressive and revisionist policy is a threat to the security of neighboring countries and Europe as a whole," the spokesperson added. "Lithuania today is summoning a representative of the Russian Federation for a full explanation. We are also coordinating our response with partners."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry by email to request comment.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, meanwhile, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Another Russian hybrid operation is underway, this time attempting to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt about their intentions in the Baltic Sea. This is an obvious escalation against NATO and the EU, and must be met with an appropriately firm response."

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen likewise suggested in a post on X that Moscow may be trying to sow confusion and alarm in the Baltic region.

"It is worth remembering that causing confusion is also a hybrid influence," she said. "Finland is not confused."

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Helsinki is analyzing the reports, adding: "Russia has not been in contact with Finland on the matter. Finland acts as always: calmly and based on facts."

Top officials in Moscow have repeatedly threatened Finland, Sweden and the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Such threats have been twinned with suspected hybrid operations, including GPS interference and the weaponization of migrant flows across EU and NATO borders.

Zygimantas Pavilionis—a member of the Lithuanian parliament and the country's former ambassador to U.S.—told Newsweek on Wednesday that the Baltic "provocation" and other Russian actions should illicit a strong collective Western response.

"It's up to us to either stop Russia from violating international law and all other treaties, or actually invite them to occupy us," Pavilionis said. "The question is always our side, not so much on Russia's, because Russia always expands, always occupies, and always kills."

The Lithuanian lawmaker was speaking while on a visit to Washington, D.C., intended to convince American colleagues to back a NATO accession invitation for Ukraine at the coming July summit. The 2023 Vilnius summit saw Kyiv denied a concrete accession plan, much to the frustration of Ukrainian leaders.

"If now—preparing for the historic Washington NATO summit—we are ready to show this appeasement again at such a historic time, hold onto your seats and wait for what not only Russia, but all other 'Axis of Evil' countries will do with freedom-loving democracies around the globe," Pavilionis added.

[DTravel]

India's Navy Links Up With US Ally With Eye on China
Newsweek

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...0d679170&ei=75

Three Indian Navy warships arrived in the Philippines on Monday amid rising tensions in the contested South China Sea.

The guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi, fleet tanker INS Shakti, and anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kiltan pulled into Manila as part of the Indian Eastern Fleet's operational deployment to Southeast Asia, which included port calls in Malaysia and Singapore.

The visit comes as both India and the Philippines face increasing maritime pressure from China. The Philippines and China are engaged in a territorial dispute over the South China Sea, while India contends with Chinese influence in its neighborhood and there are ongoing border tensions.

Rear Adm. Rajesh Dhankhar, the commander of the Indian flotilla, met with Vice Adm. Rolando Lizor, deputy commandant for operations for the Philippine Coast Guard, to discuss the regional security environment and ways to improve security ties, the Indian Navy said in a statement posted to social media.

During their visit, Indian and Philippine defense personnel got together for professional discussions, cross-deck visits, cultural exchanges and events to boost people-to-people ties, including a friendly soccer game.

The arrival of the Indian warships follows the recent delivery of the first batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Manila, which has called the weapons a "game-changer."

The transfer was part of a nearly $375 million deal signed two years ago, aimed at equipping the Philippine Marines with anti-ship variant of the missile.

"The two navies share strong bonds of friendship and have consistently participated in maritime partnership exercises at every available opportunity," Rear Adm. Dhankhar said. "India and the Philippines share common interests in maintaining peace and order in the Indo-Pacific region."

Newsweek reached out to the Indian Navy and the Chinese foreign ministry via written requests for comment.

China claims sovereignty over most of the energy-rich South China Sea, citing historical rights to reefs and other features. Although these claims were dismissed by an international arbitral tribunal in 2016, Chinese coast guard, paramilitary and fishing vessels continue to operate in the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines​​ and several other neighbors.

India's involvement in the region is also seen as part of its broader "Act East" policy, which aims to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian nations. Sripathi Narayanan, a defense analyst in New Delhi, told the South China Morning Post that India's relationships in the region have improved significantly since the launch of this policy​​.

As China continues to assert its maritime claims, regional players like India and the Philippines are undergoing ambitious military modernization programs and strengthening alliances with the U.S. and other partners​​.

India's membership in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, alongside the United States, Japan and Australia, further underscores New Delhi's aim to play a greater role in regional security.

[DTravel]

Putin signs decree allowing seizure of U.S. assets if Russian holdings are confiscated
Axios

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...1373445a&ei=37

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday that would allow Russia to claim U.S. assets in retaliation for any Russian assets confiscated in the U.S.

Why it matters: Group of Seven nations for weeks have been negotiating if or how around $300 billion worth of sovereign Russian assets frozen in the West could be leveraged to aid Ukraine in its defense against Russia's unprovoked invasion.

Since the start of the invasion, governments have hesitated to touch the assets over legal and financial concerns.

State of play: The decree came as G7 finance ministers were beginning a meeting in Italy, during which they will attempt to find a way forward on a plan for the frozen assets.

The European Union also formally adopted a plan earlier this week to send Ukraine between $2.7-3.3 billion (2.5-3 billion euros) each year from interest generated by some of the frozen assets.

What's inside: Under the decree, any property, real estate, securities and stakes in Russian companies belonging to American companies and citizens could be confiscated to compensate for Russian losses from seizures in the U.S., according to Russia's state-backed media.

Zoom out: Russian state media claimed earlier this year that the Kremlin has identified around $290 billion in U.S. and allied assets in Russia that could be targeted, though Reuters couldn't independently verify those claims.

Russia has already seized physical assets from several different Western companies and millions of dollars held by European banks in Russia.
Since the start of the invasion, thousands of foreign companies have left Russia, though, in many cases, they had to sell their assets at huge discounts before doing so.

The big picture: The U.S. has proposed using revenue from some of the Russian assets to back $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.

German officials signaled earlier this week they were ready to support the U.S.' proposal, Bloomberg reports.
Congress passed, and President Biden signed, legislation last week that empowers Biden to seize Russian foreign exchange reserves in the U.S. under provisions of the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act.
A task force has identified at least $5 billion in Russian central bank assets in the U.S. banking system.

[Devius]

World ignoring risk of Sudan genocide - UN expert
BBC Newsday
Published 24 May 2024, 12:23 BST

Sudan's Darfur region is facing a growing risk of genocide as the world's attention is focused on conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, a UN expert warns.

"We do have circumstances in which a genocide could be occurring or has occurred," the UN Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, told BBC's Newsday programme.

She said many civilians were targeted based on their ethnicity in Sudan's besieged city of El Fasher, where fierce fighting has intensified in recent days.

More than 700 deaths have been reported in 10 days by a medical charity in the city.

El Fasher is the last major urban centre in the Darfur region that remains in the hands of Sudan's army.

The military has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than a year, in a civil war that has killed thousands and forced millions from their homes.

Local resident Ibrahim al-Tayeb al-Faki told the BBC his sister was killed in a military airstrike that had also destroyed his home.

The 47-year-old told the BBC he had sent his three children to live with their grandfather but his house was also hit. The family is now sheltering in its ruins.

“There is no safe place in El Fasher right now,” he said.

The situation is unfolding to a "Rwanda-like" genocide of 1994, Ms Nderitu said, citing a UN analysis on the increasing risk factors.

"Increased hostilities in El Fasher have now opened a really alarming chapter in this conflict," she added.

"I'm calling for attention to this particular conflict. I have been trying to get my voice out but my voice is drowned out by other wars - in Ukraine and Gaza."

Similar fears of a possible genocide in Darfur were expressed by Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently.

A report from the campaign group said ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity had been committed against ethnic Massalit and non-Arab communities in the region by the paramilitary forces and its Arab allies.

It called for sanctions against those responsible for the atrocities, including the RSF leader, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti.

The current violence has erupted out of a long history of tensions over resources between non-Arab farming communities, including the Massalit, and Arab pastoralist communities.

The internet has been cut making access to the city difficult, as soldiers from the RSF group continue to besiege the city.

The UN says about 15,000 people are feared to have been killed in the West Darfur city of El Geneina last year.

Last June, West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar was killed hours after accusing the RSF of committing genocide. He is the most senior official known to have been killed since the conflict began in April.

The RSF says it is not involved in what it describes as a "tribal conflict" in Darfur.

The paramilitary group emerged from the Janjaweed militia which was accused of genocide and ethnic cleansing against non-Arab communities in Darfur in 2003, after rebels took up arms, accusing the government of ignoring the region.

Source:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c511vgzvl2eo

[DTravel]

Taiwan Protesters Gather Against Bill Aimed at President
Bloomberg

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...e7c1e46b&ei=25

(Bloomberg) -- Protesters took to the streets in Taiwan Friday night as opposition lawmakers pushed ahead with a bill intended to curtail the powers of the new president, Lai Ching-te.

Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the legislature in Taipei, while smaller demonstrations were reported in other cities around the democratic island of 23 million people.

The protesters, many of them backers of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, are angry about legislation put forward by opposition parties that would expand lawmakers’ powers to investigate the government.

The opposition Kuomintang, China’s preferred negotiating partner in the chipmaking hub, had pushed to finalize the amendments as early as Friday.

The president’s party was able to slow the passage of the bill, ensuring it wasn’t approved before the meeting adjourned around 11:30 p.m. local time. Crowds are expected to gather again Tuesday when the parliament session on the bill is scheduled to resume.

The protests Friday were peaceful, with many people sitting on stools while students, politicians and others took turns to speak on stages amid a festive-like atmosphere.

Lai voiced his support for the protesters on social media and accused the opposition of trying to rush the bill through without a full debate and “constantly forcing votes.”

The ruling party has said it fears the amendments could become a tool for the opposition to tie Lai’s government down in battles with the legislature during his four years in office. That could also impair his ability to enact policies in the island that sits at the heart of China-US tensions.

The US, the island’s main military backer, is encouraging Taiwan to revamp its armed forces so it can better deter any attack by China. Beijing has pledged to bring Taiwan under its control eventually, by force if necessary.

The divide between Washington and Beijing was on display earlier this week when Lai took office. China condemned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for congratulating Lai, sanctioned a former US congressman who supported Taipei and hit US defense companies with symbolic sanctions.

Beijing also signaled it will maintain the kind of pressure on Lai that it has for the past eight years under his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen. China kicked off two days of drills around Taiwan on Thursday, which marked its biggest exercises targeting the island since April last year, when Tsai met then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the US.

China said the latest drills were intended to “serve as a strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces” — an apparent reference to Washington’s backing for the island.

The changes the opposition lawmakers are seeking would expand the legislature’s ability to summon people from a range of backgrounds — including the president — to answer their questions as part of investigations. Individuals who resists could be fined or jailed.

Demonstrators say the amendments have been rushed through the legislature in ways that ignored procedure, and accused the opposition of working with China to kill democracy. The KMT says it has followed all the rules, and the governing party is obstructing badly needed reforms to parliament.

Some protesters waved placards that read: “I’m disregarding the black box parliament.”

Others traveled from out of town to make their voices heard. Momo Huang, a 38-year-old mother who brought her family from Changhua county on the island’s west coast, said she came because she was worried the opposition lawmakers weren’t acting transparently.

“We’re here to show them we have the right to express our feelings,” she said while putting ear protectors on her young son.