Beijing

In a statement released on New Year’s Eve, the PLA said the operation it dubbed “Mission Justice 2025” had “fully tested the integrated joint operations capabilities of its troops.”

“Always on high alert, troops of the theater command will continue to strengthen their combat readiness through intensive training, resolutely thwart attempts by Taiwan independence separatists and any external intervention, and firmly safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state,” said Capt. Li Xi, spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command.

The brief announcement, presented on video accompanied by upbeat martial music, offered no details about what constituted success, nor did it specify exactly when the exercises ended. An earlier announcement had said they would take place throughout the day on Monday and Tuesday, but it was unclear whether persistent drills continued into Wednesday around Taiwan.

There are many sensitivities in Taiwan

Taiwan has long been China’s most sensitive issue in the eyes of the international community.

Beijing has long insisted the island is its sovereign territory and has promised to retake it by force if necessary. The autonomous island separated from the mainland in 1949 after Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists withdrew after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists. This communist government has ruled the rest of China ever since.

Beijing sends warplanes and warships to the island almost daily, and in recent years it has stepped up the scope and scale of the exercises.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also spoke Wednesday, albeit indirectly, briefly referring to the situation in Taiwan in his annual New Year’s Eve address to the nation. He said Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share “a bond of blood and kinship.”

“The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable,” Xi said.

This week’s military maneuvers were greeted in many corners as inflammatory, and China itself acknowledged that they were designed to send a message to “external forces” — in short, to anyone who might come between its government and the island it cherishes.

The exercises were received critically

He has certain goals in mind in this regard. In November, the prime minister of Japan – a country that has a checkered history with China after brutally colonizing parts of it in the early 20th century – said she would not rule out military intervention if Taiwan faced a direct attack from the PLA.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that China’s military exercises around Taiwan constitute “an act that exacerbates tensions across the Taiwan Strait” and expressed concerns to Beijing.

“Japan hopes that issues concerning Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue, a position that the Japanese government has always maintained,” he said in a statement. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are important to the entire international community. Japan continues to follow developments with keen interest.”

And in mid-December, the United States announced a package of arms sales to Taiwan that, if approved by Congress, would represent the largest such aid ever given to the island — a move sharply criticized by China.

In the Philippines, which has intermittent disputes with China over other territories in the South China Sea, Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. said he was “deeply concerned about Chinese military and coast guard actions around Taiwan,” saying they undermine stability “in an already fragile geopolitical environment.”

“This increased scale of coercion has implications that extend beyond cross-Strait relations and into the broader Indo-Pacific community,” Teodoro said. “Fundamental principles of restraint must be respected.”

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said he was not worried because he has good relations with Xi and China “has been conducting naval exercises for 20 years in this region”.

Associated Press journalists Jim Gomez in Manila, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Simina Mistreanu in Beijing contributed.

Some businesses experienced power outages in Edinburgh’s Old Town on Tuesday, which SP Energy Networks said was due to an “intermittent outage”, followed by a further “power outage” in the morning at Hogmanay.

Around 30 restaurants and bars in the area have been “crippled” by a significant loss of Christmas trade due to persistent grid energy outages, according to a spokesperson for Grassmarket Hospitality Operators.

It warns that power outages risk reputational damage and “indicate systemic vulnerabilities that require an urgent and permanent solution.”

Paul Lawrence, chief executive of the City of Edinburgh Council, and Culture Secretary Angus Robertson were briefed and copied in an email from the operators group.

Louise MacLean, business development director at Signature Group, which has sites across Scotland, said: “Businesses in Grassmarket have reported repeated power losses, but the long-standing problem remains unresolved.

“Some hospitality venues also experienced power outages several times a day over the festive period, plunging the Christmas trade into the dark.

“Over the course of just one weekend in December, Grassmarket businesses lost their entire Friday evening service and their entire Saturday lunchtime service, meaning thousands of pounds in lost revenue across several hospitality venues.

“Meanwhile, business costs remain. Staff still need to be paid for power back-up, food waste and lost bookings.”

In a letter to SP Energy Networks chief executive Nicola Connelly, the hotel collective warned of its “deep concern regarding repeated power outages occurring over the Christmas periods from 2021 to 2025”.

It said: “These disruptions have had a significant impact on our operations, customer experience, visitor experience and the overall reputation of the business and the city.

“We have been informed that SPEN may have to cut supplies again tomorrow (Hogmanay).

“This compromises our business and Edinburgh’s reputation as the ultimate Hogmanay destination… These repeated failures have resulted in substantial financial loss, property damage and reputational damage during peak periods.

“It also has an impact on Edinburgh’s reputation.”

The energy company has committed to making staff available during Hogmanay in the event of further outages.

A spokesperson said: “We are experiencing intermittent issues with the power supply in the Grassmarket area of ​​Edinburgh and would like to reassure all customers and businesses that we are doing all we can to resolve the issue as quickly as possible ahead of the Hogmanay celebrations which begin later.

“Yesterday’s outages were the result of a low voltage protection fuse operating due to an intermittent fault, which caused customers to be shut down for an hour in the afternoon, between approximately 3pm and 5pm, and again from 6pm to 8pm.

“We are fully aware of the impact this will have caused at such a busy time of year, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.”

“The power went out again mid-morning today and we are currently on site working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

“Our staff have been going door to door at the Grassmarket to reassure customers that we are doing everything we can to ensure there is no further disruption today.

“We will also have additional staff on standby tonight between the bells and into the early hours.

“We look forward to meeting with all relevant groups in the new year to discuss our investment plans to strengthen the network and mitigate any disruption in the future.”

The Queen was praised by the UK’s special envoy for women and girls for speaking out about her attack on a train when she was a teenager.

Camilla recalled on a radio show being “so angry” and “furious” when she was attacked, while in conversation with John Hunt and his daughter Amy, whose family were murdered at their home last year, and former prime minister Baroness Theresa May.

Speaking to Sarah Montague on BBC Radio 4’s World at One, Baroness Harman described the Queen speaking about her experience of assault as “so important”.

Louise Hunt, 25, her sister Hannah Hunt, 28, and their mother Carol Hunt, 61, were killed by Kyle Clifford, 27 – Louise’s ex-partner – in a quiet cul-de-sac in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on July 9 last year.

Camilla said in the recording, broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I remember something that had been hiding in the back of my brain for a very long time, that when I was a teenager I was attacked on a train, and I had sort of forgotten about it, but I remember at the time I was so angry. It was anger.”

She added: “Someone I didn’t know. I was reading my book, and you know, this boy, dude, attacked me, and I fought back.

“And I remember getting off the train and my mother looked at me and said, ‘Why does your hair stand up?’ and “Why is there a button missing on your coat?” “.

“But I remember the anger, and I was so furious about it, and it was sort of hidden for many years.

“And I think, you know, when the whole subject of domestic violence comes up and all of a sudden you hear a story like John and Amy’s, it’s something that’s very close to my heart.”

After hearing the Queen tell the story, Amy Hunt said: “Thank you first of all for sharing this story, Your Majesty, because it takes a lot of time to share these things, because every woman has a story.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World at One, Baroness Harman said: “In the past, when a woman was killed by her husband or partner, the consensus was that she must have caused it herself and the women’s movement opposed this argument.

“We’re now seeing a new form of this argument emerging among people like Andrew Tate and on social media, a new kind of toxic masculinity that basically says that men are struggling with their identities and that the fault lies with women, because women’s progress has undermined men’s sense of self and that sometimes pushes them to resort to violence.”

She spoke of her own experiences saying: “It happened to me at work, it happened to me at university, it happened to me as a young girl traveling to London and as a young girl going to the cinema, for so long there has been a feeling that nothing can be done, no action will be taken, I will be blamed, I will be told that I caused it myself.” »

Asked if there was a difference in generational attitude, with younger women and girls being more able to express themselves than older generations, she said: “I think the attitudes of women and girls have changed enormously, but the important thing is to move from those strong attitudes to actual reality and although I think the argument has been won to a large extent, the reality has remained the same. »

On the feasibility of the government’s plan to halve violence against women and girls, she said: “There’s nothing inevitable that says it’s just one of those things and nothing can be done about it… I think it’s up to all of us not to stand back and criticize, but to play our part.”

The incident involving the Queen was first recounted in the book Power And The Palace: The Inside Story Of The Monarchy And 10 Downing Street by Valentine Low, a former royal reporter for The Times newspaper.

Camilla did “what my mother taught me” and took off her shoe to fend off the man while on her way to London’s Paddington Station in the early 1960s, aged 16 or 17, it was previously reported.

In Power And The Palace, Boris Johnson’s former communications director Guto Harri recalls Mr Johnson telling him about meeting the Queen at her official London residence, Clarence House, around 2008, the year the politician was first elected Mayor of London.

In the extract, published in the Sunday Times earlier this year, Mr Harri said of the couple: “They obviously got on like a house on fire. He (Mr Johnson) was making guttural noises about how much he admired and loved her.”

Mr Harri then spoke about a conversation between Camilla and Mr Johnson, about an assault she said happened when she was a schoolgirl.

“She was on a train going to Paddington – she was about 16, 17 – and a guy was moving his hand further and further away…”

Mr Harri said that after Mr Johnson asked her what she did next, Camilla replied: “I did what my mother taught me. I took off my shoe and kicked his nuts with my heel.

“She was confident enough when they got to Paddington to jump off the train, find a guy in uniform and say, ‘This man has just attacked me,’ and he was arrested.”

The Queen has visited sexual assault centers in the UK and abroad, held receptions for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and spoken out on the issue, but her experience as a teenager has not been the main driver of her work, but rather the stories of women who have suffered assault.