OP-ED: Prospects dim for nuclear treaty renewal
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SINGAPORE’S
The Straits Times
The Straits Times says:
Prospects dim for nuclear treaty renewal
It was bad enough that Washington and Moscow decided to end the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) when it expires in August. Now, Russian President Vladmir Putin has complained that the United States is showing little interest in discussing the renewal of another vital measure of arms control, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), signed in 2010 by then President Barack Obama and his counterpart at the time, Mr Dmitry Medvedev. The New Start, which ends in 2021, caps deployed US and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals at 1,550 warheads and 700 missiles and bombers each and allows the two sides to extend the pact for up to five years until 2026 without requiring US Senate approval.
While his claim that shelving the treaty could actually help Russia cement its purported lead in new-generation weapons may be a bit of a boast, Mr Putin has to be taken seriously when he says that allowing it to lapse would spur a nuclear arms race. The near certainty that this could extend to weaponising space makes it particularly alarming – it is bad enough that there are already too many nuclear bombs ready to be launched from the air, land and sea. All this adds another hard edge to a world increasingly nervous about tensions building up in the Indo-Pacific in the wake of a full-blown trade war between the US and China, and where military manoeuvres can easily go dangerously wrong.
TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE:
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/prospects-dim-for-nuclear-treaty-renewal
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THAILAND’S BANGKOK POST
EDITORIAL : Witch-hunts must end
More than forty years ago, anti-monarchy accusations were among the propaganda tools used by far-right elements against student activists in the lead-up to the crackdown and massacre of at least 41 of them in October 1976.
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Today, it is worrying to see the same disturbing tactic being employed to target Future Forward Party (FFP) spokeswoman Pannika Wanich. Ms Pannika has become the subject of an anti-monarchy witch-hunt because she is a popular figure in the FFP, a party which has been accused of harbouring anti-monarchy sentiments for the past year.
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Given its progressive and liberal stance, the FFP has been viewed suspiciously by ultra royalists, conservatives and pro-military people. Before Ms Pannika, its leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul were also accused of being anti-monarchists based mostly on fake news and doctored video clips.
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Last week, Ms Pannika was criticised by regime-appointed Senator Porntip Rojanasunan for…
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