By Aleksandar Vasovic

PODGORICA (Reuters) – Montenegro holds a run-off presidential election on Sunday in which long-time incumbent Milo Djukanovic faces a strong challenge from a Western-educated economist who has promised a fresh start after a year of political deadlock.

    Djukanovic, 61, has dominated Montenegro as president or prime minister for 33 years, since the start of old federal Yugoslavia’s disintegration, and opponents have long accused the former communist and his party of running the small Adriatic republic as their fiefdom, allegations they deny.

His rival in Sunday’s second-round election is Jakov Milatovic, 37, a former economy minister and the deputy head of the Europe Now movement who advocates closer ties with both the European Union and fellow ex-Yugoslav republic Serbia.

    Djukanovic wound up with 35.37% of the vote in the first round of the election on March 19, with Milatovic on 28.92%, necessitating a run-off as neither garnered a 50% majority.

    Analysts said the results herald a closely fought run-off.

Djukanovic will be dependent on the traditional support of national minorities, Montenegrins living abroad, pro-Western parties and those who abstained in the first round.

Milatovic counted on backing from the pro-Serb and pro-Russian Democratic Front and its leader Andrija Mandic, who on March 19 secured 19.3%, but also from other smaller parties including the now-ruling URA, a pro-Western group.

    Djukanovic has led Montenegro since the collapse of old Yugoslavia, initially as an ally of then-Serbian nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic, before parting ways with him and adopting a pro-Western agenda.

Montenegro, whose economy relies on tourism generated by its scenic mountains and seaside, ditched a state union with much larger Serbia in 2006 and declared independence. It joined NATO in 2017 and is now a candidate for European Union membership.

Djukanovic campaigned for continuity. “We want to continue to live as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural, civic state … that wants to be a member of the EU,” he said.

But analysts said he faced a serious challenge in Sunday’s vote after a year of political instability that saw two governments felled by no-confidence votes prompted by perceived mishandling of the COVID pandemic, economic mismanagement and a disputed deal regulating ties with the Serbian Orthodox Church.

A row between lawmakers and Djukanovic over his refusal to name a new prime minister deepened the political paralysis.

FOCUS ON CORRUPTION, LIVING STANDARDS

Opponents accuse Djukanovic and his centre-left Democratic Party of Socialists of corruption, nepotism and links to organised crime in the country of some 620,000 people – accusations Djukanovic and the DPS deny.

“Not only has Djukanovic allowed the elite to accumulate significant wealth…, he has tried to convince … the poor that they are where they are because they don’t deserve better,” Zarija Pejovic, an economy lecturer at Mediteran University in the capital Podgorica, told Reuters.

Milatovic, who was economy minister in the government that took power on the back of pro-Serb religious rallies in 2020, co-formed the Europe Now movement in 2022 vowing to curb graft, secure better living standards and boost relations with Serbia.

“I am here to lead Montenegro to success because for too long we have been led by the unsuccessful,” Milatovic told a campaign rally.

    Vladimir Pavicevic of the Montenegrin Policy Research Society think-tank said Milatovic could attract previous supporters of the DPS – now the largest party in parliament – with his promise of a fresh start.

    “An atmosphere has been created …showing Milatovic is a politician who brings new trends and opportunities … There’s a large number of people who voted for DPS and are now ready to vote for Milatović,” Pavicevic told Belgrade daily Danas.  

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IN JUNE

    On March 16 Djukanovic dissolved parliament and scheduled snap elections for June 11.

Although the presidency is largely ceremonial, it holds key powers to nominate prime ministers, dissolve parliament and call elections, and whoever wins the presidential vote will bolster the chances of his party in June.

    Montenegro has a legacy of bitter divisions between those who identify as Montenegrins and those who see themselves as Serbs and are opposed to the country’s independence.

    The country joined NATO after a 2016 coup attempt that the Djukanovic government blamed on Russian agents and Serbian nationalists. Moscow dismissed such accusations as absurd, and Serbia denied involvement.

    After the invasion of Ukraine last year, Montenegro signed up to EU sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin has placed Montenegro on its list of unfriendly states.

(Additional reporting by Stevo Vasiljevic in Podgorica; editing by Mark Heinrich)

By Aleksandar Vasovic

PODGORICA (Reuters) – Montenegro holds a run-off presidential election on Sunday in which long-time incumbent Milo Djukanovic faces a strong challenge from a Western-educated economist who has promised a fresh start after a year of political deadlock.

    Djukanovic, 61, has dominated Montenegro as president or prime minister for 33 years, since the start of old federal Yugoslavia’s disintegration, and opponents have long accused the former communist and his party of running the small Adriatic republic as their fiefdom, allegations they deny.

His rival in Sunday’s second-round election is Jakov Milatovic, 37, a former economy minister and the deputy head of the Europe Now movement who advocates closer ties with both the European Union and fellow ex-Yugoslav republic Serbia.

    Djukanovic wound up with 35.37% of the vote in the first round of the election on March 19, with Milatovic on 28.92%, necessitating a run-off as neither garnered a 50% majority.

    Analysts said the results herald a closely fought run-off.

Djukanovic will be dependent on the traditional support of national minorities, Montenegrins living abroad, pro-Western parties and those who abstained in the first round.

Milatovic counted on backing from the pro-Serb and pro-Russian Democratic Front and its leader Andrija Mandic, who on March 19 secured 19.3%, but also from other smaller parties including the now-ruling URA, a pro-Western group.

    Djukanovic has led Montenegro since the collapse of old Yugoslavia, initially as an ally of then-Serbian nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic, before parting ways with him and adopting a pro-Western agenda.

Montenegro, whose economy relies on tourism generated by its scenic mountains and seaside, ditched a state union with much larger Serbia in 2006 and declared independence. It joined NATO in 2017 and is now a candidate for European Union membership.

Djukanovic campaigned for continuity. “We want to continue to live as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural, civic state … that wants to be a member of the EU,” he said.

But analysts said he faced a serious challenge in Sunday’s vote after a year of political instability that saw two governments felled by no-confidence votes prompted by perceived mishandling of the COVID pandemic, economic mismanagement and a disputed deal regulating ties with the Serbian Orthodox Church.

A row between lawmakers and Djukanovic over his refusal to name a new prime minister deepened the political paralysis.

FOCUS ON CORRUPTION, LIVING STANDARDS

Opponents accuse Djukanovic and his centre-left Democratic Party of Socialists of corruption, nepotism and links to organised crime in the country of some 620,000 people – accusations Djukanovic and the DPS deny.

“Not only has Djukanovic allowed the elite to accumulate significant wealth…, he has tried to convince … the poor that they are where they are because they don’t deserve better,” Zarija Pejovic, an economy lecturer at Mediteran University in the capital Podgorica, told Reuters.

Milatovic, who was economy minister in the government that took power on the back of pro-Serb religious rallies in 2020, co-formed the Europe Now movement in 2022 vowing to curb graft, secure better living standards and boost relations with Serbia.

“I am here to lead Montenegro to success because for too long we have been led by the unsuccessful,” Milatovic told a campaign rally.

    Vladimir Pavicevic of the Montenegrin Policy Research Society think-tank said Milatovic could attract previous supporters of the DPS – now the largest party in parliament – with his promise of a fresh start.

    “An atmosphere has been created …showing Milatovic is a politician who brings new trends and opportunities … There’s a large number of people who voted for DPS and are now ready to vote for Milatović,” Pavicevic told Belgrade daily Danas.  

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IN JUNE

    On March 16 Djukanovic dissolved parliament and scheduled snap elections for June 11.

Although the presidency is largely ceremonial, it holds key powers to nominate prime ministers, dissolve parliament and call elections, and whoever wins the presidential vote will bolster the chances of his party in June.

    Montenegro has a legacy of bitter divisions between those who identify as Montenegrins and those who see themselves as Serbs and are opposed to the country’s independence.

    The country joined NATO after a 2016 coup attempt that the Djukanovic government blamed on Russian agents and Serbian nationalists. Moscow dismissed such accusations as absurd, and Serbia denied involvement.

    After the invasion of Ukraine last year, Montenegro signed up to EU sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin has placed Montenegro on its list of unfriendly states.

(Additional reporting by Stevo Vasiljevic in Podgorica; editing by Mark Heinrich)

(Reuters) – Russia has charged an American journalist with spying while Finland moved closer to becoming a NATO member, deepening tensions between Moscow and the West as the war in Ukraine reached its 400th day on Friday.

DIPLOMACY, WEAPONRY

* U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will push back on Russia’s attempts to “weaponize energy” and rally support for a Ukrainian counteroffensive when he meets NATO foreign ministers in Brussels next week, an official said.

* The Turkish parliament ratified Finland’s NATO accession but kept Sweden waiting. Finland and Sweden asked to join the military alliance in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The parliaments of all NATO members must ratify newcomers.

* Japan banned Russia-bound exports of steel, aluminium and aircraft including drones in its latest sanction against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the trade ministry said.

* The U.S. said it imposed sanctions on a Slovakian man for trying to arrange the sale of over two dozen types of North Korean weapons and munitions to Russia to help it replace military equipment lost in the war.

* The United States has new information that Russia is actively seeking to acquire additional weapons from North Korea in exchange for food aid, the White House said.

BATTLEFIELD

* At least six Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late on Thursday, and officials are gathering details about damage and casualties, the regional governor said.

* The advance of Russian soldiers on the outskirts of the eastern frontline town of Bakhmut “has been halted – or nearly halted”, the director of the Ukrainian defence publication Defense Express said.

* Reuters could not verify battlefield reports.

U.S. REPORTER’S ARREST

* A Moscow court ruled that a U.S. journalist for the Wall Street Journal should be detained for nearly two months on suspicion of spying, the most serious move against a foreign journalist since Russia invaded Ukraine and one quickly condemned by Washington.

STORIES OF NOTE

* In Ukraine’s Bucha, a ‘wounded soul’ aches one year after liberation from violent Russian occupation

* SPECIAL REPORT-Facial recognition is helping Putin curb dissent with the aid of U.S. tech

* INSIGHT-Ukraine’s scramble for ‘game-changer’ drone fleet

* SPECIAL REPORT-Wagner’s convicts tell of horrors of Ukraine war and loyalty to their leader.

(Compiled by Reuters editors)

By Daina Beth Solomon and Raul Cortes

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Five people have been arrested for alleged roles in the deaths of 39 people after a fire at a Mexican migrant detention center this week, authorities said Thursday, as pressure mounts to understand why victims appeared to be left in their cells as the area filled with smoke.

As part of the homicide investigation, Sara Irene Herrerias, head of the attorney general office’s human rights unit, said warrants had been issued for three officers at the government’s National Institute for Migration (INM), two private security officers, and the person accused of starting the fire.

She did not clarify which of the six arrest orders remained pending.

A private company, Grupo de Seguridad Privada CAMSA SA de CV, was responsible for security at the center in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, said Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez.

CAMSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several irregularities were found when investigators looked into CAMSA, Rodriguez said, adding the government has asked the migration institute to withdraw its contract with the company. She had said investigators were looking into how members of the private security company were trained.

Federal agents will take over security at migrant centers in the state of Chihuahua, where the center is located, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said there had been a failure of oversight by government officials in various areas, including those who approved contracts “without checking what they really consist of.” 

A complaint filed with federal prosecutors on Wednesday, seen by Reuters, alleges that the state’s top migration official, Salvador Gonzalez, had been alerted to the fire and ordered the migrants not be released.

Jorge Vazquez, the lawyer who filed the complaint, told Reuters the information came from his clients who were familiar with what occurred. He declined to give the names of his clients, saying it would put them in danger.

Gonzalez told Reuters the allegations were untrue. He said he did not order the migrants remain locked up, and added that he does not communicate directly with the managers of detention centers.

A short video circulating on social media – appearing to be security footage from inside the center during the blaze – showed men kicking on the bars of a locked door as their cell filled with smoke.

Three uniformed people can be seen walking past without trying to open the door. Investigators have said the video is part of the probe.

Authorities have said they believe the fire, which killed male immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and Colombia, was started by migrants setting mattresses on fire as a form of protest.

The fire is one of the deadliest migrant incidents in recent years.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Raul Cortes; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Brendan O’Boyle, David Gregorio and Gerry Doyle)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday he will visit Beijing for two days from Saturday to discuss a range of issues, including the detention of an Astellas Pharma Inc employee.

Hayashi told reporters he will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang during the visit for “an honest and frank discussion to create a constructive and stable relationship”.

The visit comes after the Japanese government announced plans to restrict exports of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, aligning its technology trade with a U.S. push to curb China’s ability to make advanced chips.

Also clouding ties, a Japanese man employed by Astellas Pharma was detained in China for unknown reasons, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Sunday. The Japanese government has asked Chinese authorities to release the man, media reported.

“We plan to make our position clear on a range of issues including these during my visit to China,” Hayashi said when asked whether he would raise the issue of the Astellas employee and the release of water into the ocean from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Hayashi’s visit to China follows leadership-level talks held on the sidelines of an international summit last November, the first between the two countries in almost three years.

At the time, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he conveyed his concerns over China’s increasing maritime military presence but also said the two leaders agreed to reopen diplomatic channels of communications including a visit by Japan’s foreign minister to China in the near future.

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami and Rocky Swift; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Sonali Paul)

By Daina Beth Solomon and Raul Cortes

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Five people have been arrested for alleged roles in the deaths of 39 people after a fire at a Mexican migrant detention center this week, authorities said Thursday, as pressure mounts to understand why victims appeared to be left in their cells as the area filled with smoke.

As part of the homicide investigation, Sara Irene Herrerias, head of the attorney general office’s human rights unit, said warrants had been issued for three officers at the government’s National Institute for Migration (INM), two private security officers, and the person accused of starting the fire.

She did not clarify which of the six arrest orders remained pending.

A private company, Grupo de Seguridad Privada CAMSA SA de CV, was responsible for security at the center in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, said Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez.

CAMSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several irregularities were found when investigators looked into CAMSA, Rodriguez said, adding the government has asked the migration institute to withdraw its contract with the company. She had said investigators were looking into how members of the private security company were trained.

Federal agents will take over security at migrant centers in the state of Chihuahua, where the center is located, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said there had been a failure of oversight by government officials in various areas, including those who approved contracts “without checking what they really consist of.” 

A complaint filed with federal prosecutors on Wednesday, seen by Reuters, alleges that the state’s top migration official, Salvador Gonzalez, had been alerted to the fire and ordered the migrants not be released.

Jorge Vazquez, the lawyer who filed the complaint, told Reuters the information came from his clients who were familiar with what occurred. He declined to give the names of his clients, saying it would put them in danger.

Gonzalez told Reuters the allegations were untrue. He said he did not order the migrants remain locked up, and added that he does not communicate directly with the managers of detention centers.

A short video circulating on social media – appearing to be security footage from inside the center during the blaze – showed men kicking on the bars of a locked door as their cell filled with smoke.

Three uniformed people can be seen walking past without trying to open the door. Investigators have said the video is part of the probe.

Authorities have said they believe the fire, which killed male immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and Colombia, was started by migrants setting mattresses on fire as a form of protest.

The fire is one of the deadliest migrant incidents in recent years.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Raul Cortes; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Brendan O’Boyle, David Gregorio and Gerry Doyle)

By Hussein Waaile, Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard

NEW YORK/TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan has remained calm in the face of China “deliberately” raising tensions, President Tsai Ing-wen told an event during a stopover in New York that so far, according to Taipei and Washington, has not triggered unusual military actions by China.

Tsai arrived in New York on Wednesday on her way to Central America, and on her way back to Taipei next week will stop in Los Angeles where she is expected to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, an interaction China has warned could lead to a “serious confrontation” in U.S.-China relations.

The visit comes at a time when U.S. relations with China are at what some analysts see as their worst level since Washington normalized ties with Beijing in 1979 and switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei.

Beijing says Taiwan belongs to “one China” and, as a Chinese province, has no right to state-to-state ties. Taiwan disputes this.

Tsai, on her first U.S. stopover since 2019, told an event held by the Hudson Institute think tank that the fault for raising tensions lay with China, according to excerpts of her comments reported by Taiwan’s official Central News Agency.

“China deliberately raises tensions, but Taiwan always responds cautiously and calmly, so that the world can see that Taiwan is the responsible party in cross-Strait relations,” the agency cited her saying.

“The people of Taiwan look forward to peace, but history tells us that the best way to avoid war is to make ourselves stronger,” Tsai said at the event, where she received a leadership award.

An unstable Taiwan Strait will bring the world serious economic and security risks, and it is important for all countries to maintain peace and stability in the region, she added.

Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the U.S. has said all of her engagements in New York are closed to media and public.

NO CHINESE MILITARY ACTION

Taiwan’s defense ministry, in its daily update on China’s military activities, said that from Wednesday to Thursday morning it had not spotted any Chinese aircraft entering Taiwan’s air defense zone or crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which serves as an unofficial barrier.

China’s air force flies almost daily into the air defense zone, or across the median line, in which Taiwan calls “grey zone” warfare designed to test and wear out its forces.

A senior Taiwan security official said earlier that the island expects a less severe reaction from Beijing to a Tsai-McCarthy meeting than when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei last year, something that prompted China to stage major military drills.

“She will be meeting in the United States, so the political complexity is not as high as the speaker coming to Taiwan,” Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen told Taiwan’s parliament.

He added that Taiwan had been conducting dry runs on responses to a rise in tensions while the president is away, including when she is flying, and that she can be reached at any time to meet her top security officials.

The White House, which urged China on Wednesday not to use Tsai’s “normal” stopover in the U.S. as a pretext to increase aggressive activity against Taiwan, also said it had seen “no tangible reaction” yet from China.

“I think we’ve all seen them react in a rhetorical way, but we’ve seen no indication that there’s been any other type of reaction,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

MCCARTHY MEETING

A meeting with McCarthy would be the first between a Taiwanese leader and a U.S. House Speaker on U.S. soil, although it is seen as a potentially less provocative alternative to McCarthy visiting Taiwan, something he has said he hopes to do.

As House speaker, McCarthy is third in the U.S. leadership succession hierarchy. China has repeatedly warned U.S. officials not to meet Tsai, seeing it as showing support for the island’s desire to be recognized as a separate country.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said in Beijing on Wednesday that if Tsai met with McCarthy, China would “definitely take measures to resolutely fight back”.

Xu Xueyuan, charge d’affaires at China’s Washington embassy, said such a meeting “could lead to another serious confrontation in the China-U.S. relationship.”

Washington, like most countries, maintains only unofficial ties with Taipei, but U.S. law requires the government to provide the island with the means to defend itself and it facilitates unofficial stopover visits.

The U.S. transit is Tsai’s seventh since taking office in 2016 and comes amid concerns in the U.S. and elsewhere that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might embolden China to move against Taiwan.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Roger Tung, Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Michael Perry, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Josie Kao and Lincoln Feast.)

LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) – At least 35 people were killed and 16 were injured after the roof of a stepwell collapsed in central India, a local government official said on Friday.

The incident occurred as devotees gathered at a temple in Indore to celebrate the Hindu festival of Ram Navami on Thursday, officials said.

“We have rescued 18 people, 35 have been found dead and 16 are injured,” Ilayaraja T, a top local government official, told Reuters.

At least 75 army and rescue personnel worked through the day to remove debris, using ropes and ladders to pull out people who had fallen into the well, local media reported.

(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma; writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Stephen Coates)

By Hussein Waaile, Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard

NEW YORK/TAIPEI (Reuters) -The U.S. and Taiwan are closer than ever, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen told supporters during a stopover in New York that so far, according to Taipei and Washington, has not triggered unusual military actions by China.

Tsai arrived in New York on Wednesday on her way to Central America, and on her way back to Taipei next week will stop in Los Angeles where she is expected to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, an interaction China has warned could lead to a “serious confrontation” in U.S.-China relations.

The visit comes at a time when U.S. relations with China are at what some analysts see as their worst level since Washington normalized ties with Beijing in 1979 and switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei.

Beijing says Taiwan belongs to “one China” and, as a Chinese province, has no right to state-to-state ties. Taiwan disputes this.

On what is her first U.S. stopover since 2019, Tsai touted Taiwan’s economic, security and diplomatic achievements in a closed-door speech on Wednesday night to overseas Taiwanese in New York, her office said in a statement on Thursday, calling the island a “beacon of democracy in Asia.”

“In particular, the relationship between Taiwan and the United States is closer than ever,” she said, noting “significant progress” in economic and security cooperation.

Tsai said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) (2330.TW), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, establishing a factory in Phoenix, Arizona, demonstrated the island’s technological strength.

Though Taiwan faced “enormous challenges,” it would not be isolated, Tsai said. She also thanked the U.S. government for implementing security agreements with Taiwan, including nine announced arms sales by President Joe Biden’s administration.

Laura Rosenberger, chair at the Washington headquarters of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a U.S. government-run, non-profit organization that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also attended the event, according to Tsai’s office.

Tsai on Thursday received a global leadership award from the Hudson Institute, the U.S. think tank said in a short statement.

“She has led a vibrant democracy with great courage and clear-eyed determination to resist tyranny and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific. We are proud that America stands with Taiwan,” the institute’s president and CEO John P. Walters said in a statement.

Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the U.S. has said all of her engagements in New York are closed to the press and public.

NO CHINESE MILITARY ACTION

Taiwan’s defense ministry, in its daily update on China’s military activities, said that from Wednesday to Thursday morning it had not spotted any Chinese aircraft entering Taiwan’s air defense zone or crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which serves as an unofficial barrier.

China’s air force flies almost daily into the air defense zone, or across the median line, in which Taiwan calls “grey zone” warfare designed to test and wear out its forces.

A senior Taiwan security official said earlier that the island expects a less severe reaction from Beijing to a Tsai-McCarthy meeting than when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei last year, something that prompted China to stage major military drills.

“She will be meeting in the United States, so the political complexity is not as high as the speaker coming to Taiwan,” Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen told Taiwan’s parliament.

He added that Taiwan had been conducting dry runs on responses to a rise in tensions while the president is away, including when she is flying, and that she can be reached at any time to meet her top security officials.

The White House, which urged China on Wednesday not to use Tsai’s “normal” stopover in the U.S. as a pretext to increase aggressive activity against Taiwan, also said it had seen “no tangible reaction” yet from China.

“I think we’ve all seen them react in a rhetorical way, but we’ve seen no indication that there’s been any other type of reaction,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

MCCARTHY MEETING

A meeting with McCarthy would be the first between a Taiwanese leader and a U.S. House Speaker on U.S. soil, although it is seen as a potentially less provocative alternative to McCarthy visiting Taiwan, something he has said he hopes to do.

As House speaker, McCarthy is third in the U.S. leadership succession hierarchy, and China has repeatedly warned U.S. officials not to meet Tsai, seeing it as showing support for the island’s desire to be recognized as a separate country.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said in Beijing on Wednesday that if Tsai met with McCarthy, China would “definitely take measures to resolutely fight back” and Xu Xueyuan, charge d’affaires at China’s Washington embassy, said such a meeting “could lead to another serious confrontation in the China-U.S. relationship.”

Washington, like most countries, maintains only unofficial ties with Taipei, but U.S. law requires the government to provide the island with the means to defend itself and it facilitates unofficial stopover visits.

The U.S. transit is Tsai’s seventh since taking office in 2016 and comes amid concerns in the U.S. and elsewhere that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might embolden China to move against Taiwan.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Roger Tung, Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Michael Perry, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Josie Kao)

By Karen Freifeld, Luc Cohen and Tyler Clifford

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury after a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, becoming the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges even as he makes another run for the White House.

The specific charges are not yet known, as the indictment remains under seal. CNN on Thursday reported Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud.

Trump said he was “completely innocent” and indicated he would not drop out of the 2024 presidential race. He accused Bragg, a Democrat, of trying to hurt his chances of winning re-election against Democratic President Joe Biden.

“This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history,” he said in a statement.

Shortly after, Trump appealed to supporters to provide money for a legal defense. He has raised over $2 million, according to his campaign, since he incorrectly predicted on March 18 that he would be arrested four days later.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination according to polling, received support from a number of his potential challengers on Thursday including Florida Governor Ron Desantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.

“This will only further serve to divide our country,” Pence said.

While the White House did not comment, Democrats said Trump was not immune from the rule of law.

“I encourage both Mr. Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law,” said the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.

The charges will likely be unsealed by a judge in the coming days. Trump will have to travel to Manhattan for fingerprinting and other processing at that point.

Bragg’s office said it had contacted Trump’s attorney to coordinate a surrender, which a court official said would likely occur next Tuesday.

Trump’s lawyers Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina said they will “vigorously fight” the charges.

The Manhattan investigation is one of several legal challenges facing Trump.

Bragg successfully prosecuted Trump’s business last year on tax-fraud charges, leading to a $1.61 million criminal penalty.

The presiding judge in that case, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, is expected to oversee this case as well, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Trump could use the case to stoke anger among his core supporters, though other Republican voters might tire of the drama. Some 44% of Republicans said he should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

Outside the courthouse, several protesters silently held signs criticizing Trump. Authorities bolstered security around the courthouse after Trump called for nationwide protests on March 18, recalling his charged rhetoric ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

HUSH MONEY

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she received money in exchange for keeping silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006.

The former president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also said she had a sexual relationship with him. Trump has denied having affairs with either woman.

Trump in 2018 initially disputed knowing anything about the payment to Daniels. He later acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment, which he called a “simple private transaction.”

“No one is above the law,” Daniels’ lawyer Clark Brewster said on Twitter.

Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign-finance violation in 2018 and served more than a year in prison. Federal prosecutors said he acted at Trump’s direction.

Cohen said he stood by his testimony and the evidence he provided to prosecutors. “Accountability matters,” he said in a statement.

No former or sitting U.S. president has ever faced criminal charges.

Aside from this case, Trump faces two criminal investigations by a special counsel appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and another criminal probe by a local prosecutor in Georgia.

Trump has escaped legal peril numerous times. In the White House, he weathered two attempts by Congress to remove him from office, including for the Jan. 6, assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, as well as a years-long probe into his campaign’s contacts with Russia in 2016.

In last year’s tax-fraud trial, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office targeted Trump’s business but declined to charge Trump himself with financial crimes.

In the hush-money case, legal experts say Bragg is expected to argue Trump falsified business records to cover up another crime, such as violating federal campaign-finance law, which makes it a felony.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Karen Freifeld, additional reporting by Reuters bureaus, writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, Noeleen Walder, Daniel Wallis, Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast.)