The UK barks at China over Taiwan, but its provocations have no bite

A UK Labor Party delegation comprising members from the House of Lords are in Taiwan for talks on “geopolitical conditions, economic relations and scientific cooperation”, according to local media reports.

China lambasted the visit as a flagrant violation of the one-China policy and a spurious gesture towards Taiwanese separatists.

The visit comes amid the UK’s ramped-up tensions with China, including allying with the US on imposing new sanctions against China, accusing China of cyber espionage, criticizing China over its Article 23 legislation, and contemplating limits on the number of Chinese nationals permitted entry to the UK on official business.

Despite these provocative moves, there is a clear power imbalance between China and the UK. Whereas China continues to solidify its place as the manufacturing powerhouse of the world, the British economy has been mired in stagnation for more than a decade.

China also has a clear military advantage over the UK. Whereas China has rapidly modernized and expanded its military capabilities in recent years, British military officials recently admitted that the country’s ammunition stockpiles would run out in less than two weeks if a major war broke out. Meanwhile, the UK’s much touted aircraft carriers have suffered a series of embarrassing malfunctions in recent weeks.

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps confirmed the death of two of its generals following an apparent Israeli air strike on Damascus earlier today

"As a result of Israel’s illegal strike, General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brigadier General Mohammad-Hadi Haji-Rahimi were killed … as well as 5 IRGC officers accompanying them," the IRGC said, as quoted by the Tasnim news agency.

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Thousands of Iranians come to Tehran's Palestine Square to protest against the reported Israeli attack on Iran's consulate in Damascus

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Why the odds of Germany giving Taurus missiles to Ukraine do not seem very high

The current situation with Taurus missile production in Germany, which has been suspended but could be resumed if a contract comes along, makes it unlikely that Berlin will supply these weapons to Ukraine, says Mikael Valtersson, a former officer of the Swedish Armed Forces and chief of staff of the Sweden Democrats political party.

Many subcontractors involved in the missile’s productions have since moved to other pursuits, he explains, convincing them to focus on Taurus manufacturing would entail convincing them that “investments will be repaid and profits assured.”

“This demands substantial long-term orders. The same goes for Taurus which has to hire and train skilled workers and probably has to sign long term contracts with subcontractors and other suppliers,” he continues.

However, the relatively high cost of Taurus missiles makes it unlikely that there would be many orders for them, save for the procurement order to replace the missiles that would be sent to Ukraine, which makes the latter's development rather unlikely, argues Valtersson.

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Russia strongly condemns Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, considers attacks on diplomatic facilities unacceptable, the Foreign Ministry said.

"We strongly condemn this attack on the Iranian consular mission in Syria. We consider any attacks on diplomatic and consular facilities … to be completely unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia believes that any aggressive actions of Israeli are "are totally unacceptable and must be stopped," the ministry added.

"We urge the Israeli leadership to abandon the practice of provocative acts of force on the territory of Syria and other neighboring countries, which can lead to extremely dangerous consequences throughout the region," the statement read.

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Russian air defense destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the territory of the Belgorod region, the Russian Defense Ministry said