South China Morning Post China and Russia have repeated their commitment to strengthen their relationship as the White House announced the first summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin next month. The June 16 meeting is widely seen as an olive branch from the US President to his Russian counterpart and some observers said it may be another attempt by Washington to drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing. In a phone conversation on Tuesday with President Xi Jinping’s top diplomatic aide Yang Jiechi, Putin said relations between the two countries were “the best in history” and said it was essential for the two leaders to maintain close contact, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Putin made similar comments a week ago when he and Xi launched via video link a project to build four new nuclear reactors in China using Russian technology. At the same event Xi also spoke highly of their “comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination”. Xinhua said Putin also pledged to work with China to preserve global strategic stability and defend multilateralism – a possible veiled reference to Washington’s drive to use its relationship with its allies to target authoritarian governments. We will share space flight components with China: Russian space agency Yang, who was visiting Moscow for strategic and security talks, again stated China’s commitment to strengthening relations in the call with Putin, which touched on “several pressing global issues” according to the TASS news agency. “China is ready to work with Russia to comprehensively implement the consensus reached by the two presidents and turn the high-level political mutual trust into more results from strategic coordination,” Yang said, according to Xinhua. During his visit, Yang also co-chaired the annual bilateral strategic security consultations, a dialogue mechanism set up in 2005, along with Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev on Tuesday. Analysts noted that Beijing and Moscow are edging closer together in the face of mounting pressure from the West. Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University, said the Geneva summit showed Washington was trying to ease tensions with Moscow. “The Biden administration has softened its stance and tried to stabilise ties with Russia since it imposed sanctions on Moscow in April. It has become apparent that Washington will be more focused on China,” he said. China’s top diplomat heads to Russia on security talks mission Beijing suspected that the previous US administration also wanted to drive a wedge between China and Russia, with Donald Trump making repeated efforts to readmit Moscow to the Group of 7. Vladimir Portyakov, deputy director of the Institute of Far Eastern Affairs at the Russian Academy of Sciences, also described the Biden-Putin summit as an attempt to “slow down the Russian-Chinese rapprochement, and if successful, to pull Russia and China away from each other.” “I hope that Moscow understands this and will not play ‘equidistant’ from Washington and Beijing. I would also like to believe that Beijing will stop considering relations with the United States as a ‘priority of priorities’ and will gradually reduce its importance in China’s foreign policy,” he said. But Zhu said: “Both Beijing and Moscow have a growing interest in working with each other to confront the US and other Western countries. Strengthening their coordination is their best choice, and probably the only option to some extent.” In an editorial on Wednesday, the tabloid Global Times, controlled by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, also attributed close China-Russian ties to “the US and its main allies’ suppression of the two countries”. Artyom Lukin, an associate professor at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University, also said both China and Russia need each other. While Moscow has increasingly leaned on Beijing economically after the Covid-19 crisis, Beijing relies on Russia when it comes to the military-strategic realm and particularly hi-end military technology. “Moreover, the position of Russia may be crucial in the event of an increasingly likely military conflict between China and the US. Strong relations with Moscow would, at a minimum, secure China’s northern and Central Asian borders – and it cannot even be ruled out that Russia would provide direct assistance to Beijing in a Sino-US war,” he said. Lukin said that the Geneva summit was likely to bring about some short-term normalisation in US-Russia relations, but deep-seated tensions and disagreements made a full rapprochement unlikely. Putin threatens to ‘knock out the teeth’ of Russia’s opponents “I don’t think Washington will be seriously trying to drive a wedge between China and Russia. The people in the Biden administration are smart enough to understand it is not going to work. “Even if they try to do that, such a policy would almost certainly fail because the Russia-China political relationship is quite robust and will remain so for the foreseeable future,” he said. But Zhu said Moscow and Beijing were unlikely to form a full alliance. “China’s top diplomatic priority is to prevent further disengagement with the US and the West. I doubt that a strategic alliance will be in Beijing’s interests or help achieve that goal,” he said.More from South China Morning Post:Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin to hold first summit in Geneva on June 16Nuclear energy: China, Russia agree to boost ties in ‘strategic priority’ areaXi and Putin to mark expansion of China-Russia nuclear power project ahead of US talksThis article China and Russia once again pledge to strengthen ties as White House announces first Putin-Biden summit first appeared on South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2021.<doc-sep>SilkAir scheduled flights to Hyderabad and Bengaluru will not be affected despite Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore temporarily suspending operations of all variants of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of Singapore. This comes after of two fatal accidents involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in less than five months. An airline spokesperson told The Hindu BusinessLine that the airline will change the variety of aircraft used to operate flights from Singapore to both Hyderabad and Bengaluru. SilkAir operates six Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. In a statement, SpiceJet said that the Boeing 737 MAX is a highly sophisticated aircraft and has flown hundreds of thousands of hours globally and some of the world’s largest airlines are flying this aircraft. “We are actively engaged with both Boeing and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and will continue to put safety first, as always. We have already implemented all additional precautionary measures as directed by the DGCA yesterday (Monday),” the company added.<doc-sep>First Lion Air, now Ethiopian Airlines: What caused the Boeing 787 MAX 8 plane to plummet, killing 157 passengers? First Lion Air, now Ethiopian Airlines: What caused the Boeing 787 MAX 8 plane to plummet, killing 157 passengers?... When it was unveiled in 2017, the new Boeing 737 MAX 8 was touted as the “most reliable aircraft” in the world, promising to change the way we fly. Technologically advanced, cheaper to run and offering the latest in passenger comfort, the fleet was spruiked as a fuel-efficient upgrade on previous models and, according to Boeing, was the fastest-selling plane in its history with thousands of orders placed by airlines around the world — including Australia. But within just six months, the glitzy new 737’s have been involved in two catastrophic incidents, with two MAX 8 models faltering just minutes after takeoff and plunging into a deadly descent. The air disasters have prompted airlines around the world to ground their MAX 8s until the cause of the accidents can be properly investigated. On Monday night, Indonesia and China both announced they were grounding their Max 8 fleets. Comair, the operator of British Airways and Kulula flights in South Africa followed suit, also confirming it had grounded its Boeing 737 Max 8 while it consults with Boeing, other operators and technical experts. A statement does not say how many planes are affected. It says the decision was made without intervention from regulatory authorities. Meanwhile State-run carrier Oman Air, who operates five Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, tweeted on Monday that is talking to Boeing “to understand if there are any implications” for other airlines operating Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Cayman Airways, which operates two new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, also said on Monday it was grounding both planes “until more information is received.” Ethiopian media reported Monday night the black box from the aircraft had been found. An airline official told the Associated Press the box was partially damaged and that “we will see what we can retrieve from it.” The box could hold vital clues about why the plane crashed. On Sunday, Ethiopian Airlines confirmed there were no survivors of flight ET 302 — a MAX 8 aircraft — carrying 157 people, including eight crew, on board. The horror crash occurred just six minutes after taking off from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa bound for Nairobi in Kenya. Meanwhile Boeing shares have also plummeted by more than nine per cent after the plane crash. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said the pilot of the doomed flight, who had clocked 8000 hours in the air, reported difficulties just minutes in to the journey and asked to turn back to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. Data shows the flight left the city about 8.38am local time and climbed to 2600m. However, just six minutes later, takeoff contact with the aircraft was lost. The crash follows a horror six months for Boeing, after another MAX 8 went down just 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board in October 2018. “It’s highly suspicious,” Mary Schiavo, an aviation analyst and the former inspector general of the US Transportation Department, told CNN. “Here we have a brand-new aircraft that’s gone down twice in a year. That rings alarm bells in the aviation industry because that just doesn’t happen.” Speaking to news.com.au, aviation expert Neil Hansford said he had great concerns about the aircraft model, and that this latest incident spells big problems for Boeing. “I wouldn’t fly on these planes,” he said after the Ethiopian Airlines crash. “Boeing have delivered around 350 MAX 8’s from more than 4000 on order.” Mr Hansford said while the investigation into both cases was continuing, both incdents are strikingly similar and he has questions over the education and training around Boeing’s updated software that was meant to prevent a stall. The 737 MAX was developed as a response to the Airbus A320 Neo, a new fuel efficient version of the A320 which is the 737’s big rival. Boeing designed the 737 MAX to be so similar to the usual 737s that pilots wouldn’t need to do any costly extra training to learn how to fly it. But aviation experts and pilots say their biggest concern with the new Boeing aircrafts is around a feature known as the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System or the “automated anti-stall system” — a new characteristic on the MAX 8 jets. The MCAS system relies on a gadget on the outside of the plane measuring how high the nose is. Too high and it brings the nose down. But the worry is this gadget is malfunctioning and its bringing the nose down for no good reason. It can mean the plane starts heading for the ground. “This is the first time Boeing has put in the MCAS that kicks in when a plane is climbing too quickly and could stall the aircraft,” he explained of the new software. “This system stops that stall, but is not supposed to kick in when the aircraft is flown manually by the pilot. It only kicks in during autopilot mode.” Concerns over flight control and pilot training According to some pilots’ unions, the change in the flight control system — which can override manual motions in the MAX model, was not explained to pilots flying the new models — reports the New York Times. Officials and analysts said it was too early to tell if there was any direct connection between the two incidents, but Mr Hansford agrees with pilot bodies and believes the problem lies within the training. “When you do conversion training from one model of aircraft to another, how to correct the MCAS should’ve been in the manual,” Mr Hansford said. “The only reason to put this software system in the plane is because of the bigger engines (that had to be placed in a different area of the wings), which can cause the aircraft to stall. “The new MAX aircraft have been stretched to have over 200 seats. This means the engines go further back causing propensity to stall. “The training manuals were modified after the Lion Air incident, because at the time the only time MCAS was mentioned was in the definition section. Nowhere else in the original manual were there details on what the MCAS does, bad indications and how to turn it off were included. “The new manual procedures encompass how to handle the system, Ethiopian Airlines is a tidy airline, so I’d be surprised if they hadn’t circulated it to their pilots.” Within days of the Lion Air crash, Boeing issued an operations bulletin to airlines which would be passed on to pilots flying the Max models. The US aviation regulator then issued an “emergency” airworthiness directive to US carriers about this sensor. The Federal Aviation Authority said the sensor “could cause the flight crew to have difficulty controlling the aeroplane, and lead to excessive nose-down attitude, significant altitude loss, and possible impact with terrain”. CNN Aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said all eyes will be on whether Ethiopian Airlines implemented the new training manual following the Lion Air crash in October 2018. “First and foremost you want to look to see if the airline implemented the air worthiness directive that the United States and other aviation nations of the world implemented after Lion Air requiring additional instruction of pilots when something went wrong,” she said. “So first and foremost, the investigators will want to know if the airline did what Boeing asked them to do.” Lion Air’s Boeing 737 MAX 8, along with the Ethiopian aircraft, were both just a few months old before crashing from the sky, raising concerns there could be an issue with the aircraft. In both cases, the brand-new planes faltered minutes after takeoff and plunged into a deadly descent, leaving no survivors. Boeing is already facing a string of legal cases in the United States over the Lion Air crash, including five cases in US federal court in Illinois where Boeing has its Chicago headquarters. Ms Schiavo said Boeing will have big questions to answer as the investigation into their most recent crash continues.<doc-sep>
Got a flight coming up and worried that it’s going to be on one of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 “death traps” following Sunday’s Ethiopia crash? There are several ways to find out. Passengers can check their airline sites or apps to see what aircraft corresponds with their flight number. They can also punch the plane’s registration data into the FAA website to see which type of aircraft was assigned for their day of travel. In addition, there are several aviation app companies — such as FlightRadar24 and FlightStats — that provide plane info and track 737 MAX 8s. Experts told CNN that airlines will likely be reviewing the data as well, to see where the planes are going and what kind of flight training is being performed. “You can’t underestimate the power of what goes on behind the scenes at airlines,” said William Voss, a former FAA deputy director and ex-CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation. “If they think they have a threat, they will step up and respond independently.” Boeing 737 MAX 8s have now been involved in two deadly crashes in less than six months following Sunday’s tragedy in Ethiopia. Several airlines and countries have grounded all use of the planes — including Ethiopian Airlines, China and Indonesia. Passengers at LaGuardia Airport and other places across the US say they are freaked out about flying in the mile-high behemoths, which are used largely by American companies. Southwest operates 34 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, while American Airlines uses 24 of the jumbo jets. “We have been in contact with Boeing and will continue to stay close to the investigation as it progresses,” Southwest said in a statement. While the deadly crashes have not been linked, they’ve led many social media users to believe there’s a problem with Boeing. “F–k Boeing….Ground your death trap planes,” wrote one person on Twitter. “Nobody should use this dangerous plane,” another said. “This brand new plane has crashed twice now, in #Indonesia & in #Ethiopia, with many hundreds killed. It’s not worth risking your life.” One user suggested a “total recall.” “I think it’s time,” they said. “That plane is a death trap in air. Something major must have been traded away for something inferior at the core of the engines to safe cost.”