US official, Chinese counterpart holds talks amid effort to avert unintended conflict

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STATE DEPARTMENT — Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is hosting China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu in Washington on Thursday. The talks are aimed at maintaining open communication channels to prevent miscalculations and unintended conflicts, especially during times of tension.

Following two hours of face-to-face discussions, officials from the United States and the People’s Republic of China will have a working lunch at the State Department. Later in the afternoon, U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer will continue discussions with Ma.

The visit by Ma Zhaoxu follows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Shanghai and Beijing in April. Officials said it builds on U.S.’s intensive diplomacy with the PRC to responsibly manage competition in the relationship, even in areas where the two countries disagree.  

“As we continue to take actions to protect our interests and values and those of our allies and partners, we are also using face-to-face diplomacy with the PRC to clearly and directly communicate our positions and intentions, and make progress on bilateral, regional, and global issues that matter to the American people and the world,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.  

A spokesperson from PRC’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Ma will also “interact and communicate with representatives from various sectors in the U.S.” during his visit to the U.S. from May 30 to June 2.

While in Beijing last month, Blinken voiced “serious concern” regarding China’s support for Russia’s defense industry, warning Chinese leaders that Washington could impose sanctions over the matter.

China has defended its approach to Russia, saying it is only engaged in normal economic exchanges with a major trading partner. 

Wednesday, Campbell renewed the U.S. warnings. He said Chinese support was helping to revitalize Russia’s military capabilities, including long-range missiles, artillery, drones and battlefield tracking.

During his visit to Brussels, the State Department’s second-highest diplomat emphasized the urgent need for European and NATO countries “to send a collective message of concern to China about its actions, which we view are destabilizing in the heart of Europe.”

The latest U.S.-China talks occur just days after China conducted a large-scale, two-day military exercise involving 111 aircraft and 46 naval vessels around Taiwan. Washington has strongly urged Beijing to exercise restraint and has reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert met virtually with PRC’s Director-General for Boundary and Ocean Affairs Hong Liang on May 23.  During this meeting, Lambert expressed profound concerns regarding People’s Liberation Army joint military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan.  
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First Ukrainian pilots graduate from F-16 training in US

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the Pentagon   — The first Ukrainian pilots have completed F-16 fighter jet training at a military base in Arizona, with others soon to follow this summer.

“The first batch has graduated, and other Ukrainian pilots are finishing their training here by the end of August,” Arizona National Guard spokesperson Capt. Erin Hannigan told VOA.

The graduates include a handful of Ukrainian pilots who had trained at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, according to a U.S. official who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity because of security sensitivities.

Out of an abundance of caution for the pilots’ safety, officials declined to provide an exact number of how many had graduated or the number of those who remain in F-16 training.

The 162nd Wing at Morris is considered the Air National Guard’s premier F-16 training unit and houses the Air Force’s only school dedicated to training pilots from more than 20 countries on the fighter.

Kyiv pleaded for Western aircraft when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of their country in February 2022. In August 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden approved a plan for Western allies to send F-16s to Ukraine once pilot training was complete.

Last August, Ukraine was gaining momentum in the conflict against Russia, but that was before a monthslong delay by Congress to approve new military assistance for Kyiv.

Since then, Ukrainian officials reported that troops were forced to ration supplies as ammunition ran low. Analysts say Russia has capitalized on Kyiv’s disadvantage to make gains on the battlefield.

Last month, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said his country’s promised jets would be delivered to Kyiv by the end of the year. 
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Alito rejects calls to quit US Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies

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Washington — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes.

In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife was responsible for flying an upside-down U.S. flag over his home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year.

Neither incident merits his recusal, he wrote.

“I am therefore duty-bound to reject your recusal request,” he wrote.

The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.

Alito has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues.

The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside of the justice’s beach home in New Jersey last summer. Both flags were carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and Senate.
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Charges against world’s top golfer Scottie Scheffler dropped after arrest outside PGA Championship

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Louisville, Kentucky — Criminal charges against Scottie Scheffler have been dismissed, ending a legal saga that began with images of the world’s top male golfer being arrested and handcuffed in Louisville during the PGA Championship.

Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell asked a judge Wednesday afternoon to drop the four charges against Scheffler, who was not required to be in the courtroom. The prosecutor said his team reviewed the case in a “thorough and expeditious manner.”

“Based upon the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward in the prosecution of the charges filed against Mr. Scheffler,” O’Connell said during the hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. “Mr. Scheffler’s characterization that this was ‘a big misunderstanding’ is corroborated by the evidence.”

Scheffler was charged with a felony for assaulting a police officer with his vehicle, along with three misdemeanors. The arresting officer, Detective Bryan Gillis, was outside the gate of Valhalla Golf Course May 17 directing traffic after a pedestrian death when he encountered Scheffler.

Scheffler, 27, was driving a PGA courtesy vehicle when Gillis said he “refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging” Gillis to the ground. Gillis said his uniform pants were damaged in the fall and he was taken to the hospital for his injuries.

A surveillance video released by Louisville police last week showed Gillis pursuing Scheffler’s vehicle on foot and stopping him from entering the course. Scheffler is later pulled from the car and cuffed. But the video did not show Gillis’ first contact with Scheffler, authorities said.

Gillis has been disciplined for not activating his body-worn camera during the arrest. In a report on that failure, Gillis wrote that Scheffler had “demanded to be let in” the golf course.

Scheffler has said he simply misunderstood the commands coming from traffic officers.

The famous golfer spent a brief stint in a jail cell, then returned to the course for the second round. He finished the tournament tied for eighth place.
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