Headline News 24/04/2021

Headlines:

• US Formally Removes Turkey from F-35 Programme

• Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey Urge Taliban to Commit to Afghan Peace Talks

• Strategic Competition Act Further Pushes China-US ties Toward Confrontation

Details:

US Formally Removes Turkey from F-35 Programme

The US Department of Defense has officially notified Ankara of Turkey's removal from the F-35 fighter jets programme. Speaking to Turkey's Anadolu Agency on Wednesday, a US defence official said that according to the statement sent to Ankara, the Joint Memorandum of Understanding opened to participant countries' signature in 2006 and signed by Turkey on January 26, 2007, has been cancelled and Turkey was not included in the new agreement. The official did not share the channels used to notify Turkey. Turkey had joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Programme (JSF) in 2007. Other participants of the programme were US, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada, and Norway. During the first round of negotiations, Turkey pledged to purchase 100 F-35 fighter jets. In 2018, six jets were meant for Turkey on condition that a Turkish pilot gets trained by the programme before actual delivery. The delivery of the fighter jets was postponed after the start of the S-400 crisis between the US and Turkey. By July 2020, the Defense Department announced contracts for the US air force to officially purchase eight F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets that were initially intended for Turkey. In addition to the F-35A's built by Lockheed Martin for Turkey, the $862 million contract modification provides the aerospace manufacturer with an undetermined sum to reconfigure the jets in-line with US models. Turkey were also producing parts for the aircraft, but with the S-400 crisis, production was halted and the US found new suppliers for the parts. President Joe Biden's administration indicated on Wednesday it was moving forward with a $23 billion sale of F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates but was considering restrictions and would not deliver them soon. The State Department shortly after Biden's inauguration in January ordered a review of the massive arms package, which was approved by former President Donald Trump when the Gulf ally recognised Israel. Responding to a lawsuit seeking to block the sale, the State Department said it planned a "robust and sustained dialogue" with the United Arab Emirates on arms transfers. "We can confirm that the administration intends to move forward with these proposed defense sales to the UAE, even as we continue reviewing details and consulting with Emirati officials to ensure we have developed mutual understandings with respect to Emirati obligations before, during and after delivery," a State Department spokesperson said." Projected delivery dates on these sales, if eventually implemented, will be several years in the future." [Source: TRT]

The US has abandoned its contractual obligations to meet Turkey’s air defense needs. Instead, Washington has opted to sell F-35s to the UAE, despite reservations from the Jewish state. It is clear the US wants iron clad guarantees from the UAE not to renege on its commitments made to the Jewish state in return for delivery of F-35s. But can the UAE trust a fickle partner like the US to meet its security needs.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey Urge Taliban to Commit to Afghan Peace Talks

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan called on the Afghan Taliban on Friday to reaffirm their commitment to achieving a negotiated settlement for lasting peace in Afghanistan. In a joint statement issued after talks in Istanbul, the three ministers underlined “the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire” to end the violence and “provide a conducive atmosphere” for peace talks. A US-backed Afghan peace conference to be hosted in Istanbul by Turkey, Qatar and the United Nations on Saturday was postponed over the Taliban's non-participation. Ankara has said the talks will be held after Ramazan but no new date has been set. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday discussed the planned conference, aimed at fast-tracking an agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban following Washington's announcement that foreign troops will leave Afghanistan by September 11. The ministers “called on all parties, in particular the Taliban, to reaffirm their commitment for achieving an inclusive negotiated settlement leading to lasting peace in Afghanistan desired by the Afghan people, the region and the international community”, according to the joint statement. They also “deplored the continuing high level of violence in Afghanistan”. Speaking at a joint news conference after the talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara's support for the Afghan peace process and efforts to organise the conference in Istanbul would continue. “As the co-organisers, we are continuing talks on this with all sides,” he said, alongside Foreign Minister Shan Mahmood Qureshi. In a tweet, Qureshi said "an inclusive peace, the end of violence and a stable Afghanistan is beneficial" for trans-regional connectivity. "The international community must remain engaged with Afghanistan in reconstruction and economic development," he wrote. The Taliban had earlier refused to attend any summits until all foreign forces were pulled out of Afghanistan. The Taliban and the United States last year agreed that all foreign forces would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by May 1, a date that was pushed back last week by US President Joe Biden. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when they were ousted by US-led forces. Since then, they have waged a long-running insurgency and still control wide swathes of territory. [Source: Dawn].

America’s relationship with the Taliban is an odd one. Initially, the US supported the Taliban’s ascendency in the 1990s because the rule of Taliban provided stability to facilitate oil projects. After 9/11, America displaced Taliban from power because of the group’s refusal to hand over Al Qaida’s leadership. Now after two decades of fighting, the US is willing to accept Taliban as long they commit to some sort of unity government and the US will withdraw its forces. The fact that the US has been unable to remove Taliban from Afghanistan’s political landscape speaks volumes about America’s capacity to shape political outcomes in its favour.

Strategic Competition Act Further Pushes China-US ties Toward Confrontation

Can China and the US still cooperate? The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday backed the "Strategic Competition Act of 2021" by 21-1, reaching a bipartisan US congressional push to "counter China." Taking a hard stance against China has become one of the rare consensuses of the two US parties. The act again mentioned Chinese internal affairs, including Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and also mentioned "closer ties with Taiwan." Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said in a statement that the act is an "unprecedented bipartisan effort to mobilize all US strategic, economic, and diplomatic tools... to truly confront the challenges China poses to our national and economic security." This Act is to strengthen its efforts wherever it can to mess China up. Most Chinese people have realized that the US is suppressing China in all directions and trying to take China down. The US is just like a fouled player in a game. Once it finds that it is falling behind, it starts to obstruct its opponent. A Chinese netizen sarcastically said, "The US Congress has been discussing China's internal affairs all day long, as if it has nothing else to do without China-related topics. It is acting as if it's China's 'Congress.'" US Secretary of State Antony Blinken once described China-US relations as "competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be." But this Act has made it seem like Washington has abandoned "collaborative when it can be." The Act is pushing China-US relations further toward extreme competition and confrontation. "The White House has not completely formed its China policy framework yet. Backing the bill at this stage shows that Congress is trying to guide the Biden administration's China policy toward a tough stance," Sun Chenghao, assistant research professor at the Institute of American Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Thursday. After the Act takes effect, the flexibility of the Biden administration's China policy will also be seriously weakened. The strategy of "collaborative when it can be" seems to have been hollowed out. From the general atmosphere to specific issues, the room for China-US cooperation will be further squeezed. "Strategic competition against China is now the consensus of the two US parties. Chinese people should not have any illusions that the US believes cooperation is still the mainstream of China-US relations. This seems unlikely now," Sun said. [Source: Global Times]

Since the demise of the Soviet Union, he US regards China as its greatest threat. However, the US at the height of its power in the 1990s could not stop China’s ascendency, and it is unlikely to do so now.