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Month: March 2024
White House Reveals Urgency of Warning Russians of Potential Terror Attack
white house — Duty to warn. It is the obligation that the United States says it takes upon itself if the intelligence community is able to identify an impending threat to a particular country.
The U.S. acted on this duty just two weeks before the deadly attack near Moscow claimed by Islamic State. U.S. officials had warned Russia that extremists had imminent plans for such an attack, but the Kremlin brushed off the warning as mere blackmail and efforts to destabilize Russian society. John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, spoke to VOA about the terrorist attack.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
VOA: First of all, let’s jump into fresh accusations coming from Russia today. Russia’s FSB [intelligence] chief accused the U.K., the U.S. and Ukraine of being behind the Moscow attack on the concert hall. What’s your response to that?
Kirby: Nonsense.
VOA: The United States has exercised its duty to warn the Russian counterparts of an incoming threat. Why was it important for the American side to warn Russians given that they are waging the war against Ukraine and they turned into the world pariah?
Kirby: Because it was going to be innocent Russian people that were going to fall victim and in fact, did fall victim and we take our duty to warn very, very seriously. We have all kinds of problems with the way Mr. [Vladimir] Putin is leading and governing, if you want to call it that, and we certainly have significant concerns about the continued reckless and violent attacks on Ukrainian people and Ukrainian infrastructure.
But we don’t have a beef with the Russian people. And we had information that they were going to put Russian people, innocent Russians at risk from a terrorist threat. So you bet we informed Russian authorities as appropriate as we would do for any country.
VOA: I’m wondering what their response looked like. Was it a thank you note? Or did they say, “It’s nonsense, leave it to yourself?”
Kirby: I won’t characterize what the other side did with the information that we provided. We provided useful, we believe, valuable information about what we thought was an imminent terrorist attack. We also warned Americans about staying away from public places like concert halls. So we were very direct with our Russian counterparts appropriately to make sure that they had as much useful information as possible. What they did with it, or didn’t do with it, they’d have to speak to.
VOA: But can you confirm they received it?
Kirby: We know that they received the information and that they understood the information. Now what they did with it, again, is for them to speak to.
VOA: Who is responsible for this attack according to American intelligence? Is it ISIS? What was the motive behind the attack?
Kirby: ISIS is responsible for this attack.
VOA: ISIS-K?
Kirby: ISIS is responsible for this attack.
VOA: Do you know the motive here?
Kirby: ISIS claimed responsibility themselves. They all have the goals. Again, I’m not going to get into too much into intelligence matters. ISIS is responsible for this attack.
VOA: Moving on to Ukraine. What are the chances of Congress voting for the supplemental [budget to assist Ukraine] once legislators return from their break?
Kirby: Well, we hope that they will. I can’t predict what the House will do. It is going to be up to Speaker [Mike] Johnson and this is a moment for him to show some leadership. We know that if you were to put that on the floor it would get voted on resoundingly.
Ukraine and Ukrainian battlefield commanders would have the weapons and the capabilities that they need to better defend themselves, particularly in the East there in the Donbas where Russian forces continue to try to make progress pushing west out of Avdiivka. So it’s past time for us to be able to provide additional security assistance to Ukraine, it’s past time for that supplemental to get passed. And so we strongly urge Speaker Johnson to put it before a vote and let’s get moving.
VOA: Speaker Johnson, as reported by The Hill, may contemplate the possibility of providing Ukraine with a loan or another form of lend-lease arrangement to supply them with weapons, with the expectation of repayment. Would this administration be open to this option as an alternative to the supplemental?
Kirby: Our focus is on getting that supplemental passed. And as I’ve said before, and the speaker knows this, if he puts it on the floor, it’ll get approved. It has the votes. That’s the best way to support Ukraine.
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Somali Government Says at Least 80 al-Shabab Militants Killed in Attacks
Washington — The Somali government said Thursday its soldiers — backed by international partners and local clan militias — killed about 80 al-Shabab militants and wounded dozens more in three operations in the country’s southern and central regions.
A government official indicated the attacks stopped a terrorist operation. “The militants were planning spectacular attacks to coincide with an important date in the Ramadan calendar, the 17th day of the fast,” said the government’s deputy information minister, Abdirahman Yusuf Adala.
There was no independent confirmation of the death toll, reported by Adala and Somalia’s defense ministry, and no immediate comment from al-Shabab through its spokesperson or websites.
The Ministry of Information said the Somali National Army carried out a coordinated series of operations across the regional states of Galmudug, Hirshabelle and Southwest.
A press release says the operations were carried out with the support of international security partners. Countries helping the Somali government include the United States, Turkey and members of the African Union.
Government officials said the first military operation was conducted in an area near the city of Harardhere, in Mudug region.
In an interview with VOA Somali, Harardhere District Commissioner Mohamed Yusuf Kulmiye said that al-Shabab members were gathering at the site of the operation called Farah Adan Sands, when the Somali National Army launched a surprise attack.
“We received an intelligence tip that they were remobilizing and plotting an attack on the town, and we immediately responded to neutralize the threat. We killed more than 40 militants and lost 10 of our soldiers in the battle,” said Kulmiye.
The Somali defense ministry says the second operation took place in Fiqaay forest, 15 kilometers from the Daru Nicma area in the Middle Shabelle region.
A statement from the defense ministry says that more than 35 members of al-Shabab were killed in this area, and that battlewagons and other militant vehicles were destroyed.
In the third operation, the Somali government said its military targeted areas under the Wajid district in the Bakool region, in southwest Somalia, killing six members of al-Shabab.
The 24-hour military campaign against al-Shabab came on the heels of a deadly attack by the militants on a Somali military base in the Lower Shabelle region, in the country’s southwest.
Security officials, who asked for anonymity, told VOA at least 17 government soldiers were killed during the attack on the Busley base, which was briefly occupied by the attackers.
Armed fighters from al-Shabab battled their way to the facility using suicide car bombs, one Somali military official told the Reuters news agency. He declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
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Chinese Diplomat Liu Jianchao Meets With Singapore’s Leaders
singapore — Liu Jianchao, the senior diplomat widely expected to become China’s next foreign minister, said “the world needs connectivity, not decoupling,” during a four-day visit to Singapore.
Liu, who heads the international department of the Communist Party, was in the city-state to meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the country’s incoming leader, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
During a speech at the FutureChina Dialogue on Wednesday, local media reported that Liu warned of the need for “civilizations to engage, not to clash,” in the context of multiple ongoing global conflicts.
When discussing Washington’s relationship with Beijing, Liu said “the U.S. has not abandoned its policy to oppress and contain China.”
Many China watchers have been predicting that Liu will replace Foreign Minister Wang Yi as Beijing’s next top diplomat. Most expected that would happen during China’s top level political meetings, the Two Sessions, earlier this month, but no announcement or change was made. Wang was reappointed to the role of foreign minister last June after Qin Gang was suddenly dismissed less than a year into the job.
Liu leads the Communist Party department responsible for relations with foreign political parties. He took up the role in 2022 and has embarked on some high-profile engagements, including a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in January.
His four-day visit to Singapore marks a return to familiar territory for the veteran diplomat.
“Liu has had a number of ambassadorial postings in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Indonesia. He is quite comfortable with the region,” said political scientist Joseph Liow of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
Ties between China and Singapore continue to strengthen, with the pair upgrading bilateral relations in a joint statement last April calling for improved cooperation in trade, investment and commerce.
Foreign Minister Wang also visited the city-state last August before Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Wong embarked on a four-day trip to Beijing and Tianjin in December.
During that visit a mutual 30-day visa waiver for citizens of both countries was announced.
“Singapore and China relations are in a really good spot,” said Dylan Loh, a Chinese foreign policy expert at Nanyang Technological University.
“With the mutual visa waiver now in place, there is greater movement of people, ideas and capital and it could be catalytic for businesses and increased people-to-people exchange,” Loh told VOA.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said both Liu and Lee “reiterated their shared commitment to continue expanding cooperation in traditional areas like trade and investments.”
The pair also discussed the importance of “working together to promote regional economic integration,” added the Ministry.
“Singapore has a robust diplomatic partnership with Beijing and is viewed as a trusted regional interlocutor,” said Hunter Marston, a researcher of Southeast Asia Studies at the Australian National University.
While relations seem to be flourishing, there have been a number of recent incidents involving the presence of China, and Chinese money, in Singapore.
In late February, a Hong Kong-born businessman with strong connections to China became the first person to be designated as a “politically significant person” under Singapore’s new foreign interference laws.
Singapore has also seen a flood of Chinese capital and companies in recent years, with political stability and business-friendly policies luring investment.
But last August, authorities uncovered the largest money laundering case in the country’s history, with local media reporting that more than $2.2 billion of assets have been seized or frozen.
Singapore’s Straits Times reported that the 10 men arrested in relation to the case all originate from Fujian Province in eastern China.
Despite the high-profile nature of these incidents, Liow believes they will have little bearing on talks between Liu and Singapore’s leaders.
“Countries will have differences, but it’s important that they try to find common ground in order to foster deeper cooperation.
“Singapore is a very open economy,” he added. “So this question of Chinese money, or money from any other country coming to Singapore, it’s not particularly surprising.”
Liu’s visit to Singapore comes amid increased tensions between China and the Philippines over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
On Monday, the Philippines summoned Beijing’s envoy in Manila over alleged “aggressive actions” in the disputed waters. That followed an incident in early March involving a Philippines-flagged vessel colliding with a Chinese Coast Guard ship.
During a meeting between Liu and Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, the pair “exchanged views on ASEAN-China relations, as well as other regional and international developments,” according to Singapore’s Foreign Ministry.
“It is very important for Singapore that the various claimant states [in the South China Sea] exercise restraint, and not allow their differences to cause tensions to escalate,” said Liow.
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South Africans Mark 30 Years of Freedom Ahead of Pivotal Poll
It’s an important year for South Africa: Not only is the country marking the 30th anniversary of its democracy, 2024 is also an election year. Observers say the polls will be fiercely contested. Kate Bartlett has the story from Johannesburg. Camera: Zaheer Cassim.
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Group Trains Migrants to Help Solve US Construction Labor Shortage
The United States is in dire need of construction workers, a builders’ industry group says. Nonprofits argue that the newly arrived migrants that have overwhelmed some U.S. cities in recent months could help. But not everyone agrees. Joti Rekhi reports from New York City.
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Japan Moon Probe Survives Second Lunar Night
TOKYO — Japan’s unmanned moon lander woke up after surviving a second frigid, two-week lunar night and transmitted new images back to Earth, the country’s space agency said Thursday.
“We received a response from SLIM last night and confirmed that SLIM had successfully completed its second overnight,” the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a post on the official X account for its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe.
“Since the sun was still high in the sky last night and the equipment was still hot, we recorded images of the usual scenery with the navigational camera, among other activities, for a short period of time,” it added.
A black-and-white photo of the rocky surface of a crater accompanied the post on X, formerly Twitter.
The SLIM lander touched down in January at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way.
Around three hours after the landing — which made Japan only the fifth nation to touch down on the moon — JAXA decided to switch SLIM off with 12% power remaining to allow for a possible resumption later on.
As the sun’s angle shifted, the probe came back to life in late January for two days and carried out scientific observations of a crater with a high-spec camera.
But the spacecraft was not designed for the freezing, fortnight-long lunar nights, when the temperature plunges to minus 133 degrees Celsius.
So space agency scientists had cause for celebration when it was successfully revived in late February after its first lunar night.
JAXA has dubbed SLIM the “Moon Sniper” for its precision landing technology.
The aim of the mission is to examine a part of the moon’s mantle — the usually deep inner layer beneath its crust — that is believed to be accessible.
Thursday’s news came after an uncrewed American lander called Odysseus — the first private spaceship to successfully land on the moon — was unable to wake up, its manufacturer said on Saturday, even after its solar panels were projected to receive enough sunlight to turn on its radio.
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Schools in Kenya Adopt Environment Education to Promote Conservation
With global biodiversity loss at crisis levels, nearly 100 schools bordering the Mau Forest complex in Kenya have adopted a tailored syllabus that teaches conservation as part of its regular curriculum. Juma Majanga reports from Mau Eburu, Kenya.
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UN: Security in Eastern Congo Deteriorating, Rebel Group Expanding Territory
UNITED NATIONS — Security in Congo’s mineral-rich east has deteriorated since recent elections, with a rebel group allegedly linked to neighboring Rwanda making “significant advances and expanding its territory,” the U.N. special envoy for the conflict-wracked African nation said Wednesday.
Bintou Keita told the U.N. Security Council this has created “an even more disastrous humanitarian situation, with internal displacement reaching unparalleled numbers.”
Last month, the United States told Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo that they “must walk back from the brink of war,” the sharpest warning yet of a looming conflict.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood again condemned “the aggressive military incursion” into eastern Congo by the M23 rebel group and the Rwandan Defense Force and attacks including on U.N. peacekeepers.
He called on the leaders of Rwanda and Congo “to make the decision to pursue peace — for the sake of their people, the region and the world.”
Wood described M23 as “a group which has perpetrated appalling human rights abuses against civilians, including sexual and gender-based violence.”
He called the international community’s failure to condemn the actions of Rwanda, which is a major troop contributor to U.N. peacekeeping forces, “dismaying” and said “the U.N. should reevaluate Rwanda’s credibility as a constructive partner in peacekeeping.”
The U.S. State Department last month called for the withdrawal of Rwanda’s troops and surface-to-air missile systems from eastern Congo and criticized M23, calling it a “Rwanda-backed” armed group.
The Rwandan Foreign Ministry said last month that the country’s troops are defending Rwandan territory as Congo carries out a “dramatic military build-up” near the border.
The ministry’s statement said Rwanda’s national security is threatened by the presence in Congo of an armed group whose members include alleged perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda during which more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus who tried to protect them were killed.
The rebel group, known by its initials FDLR, “is fully integrated into” the Congolese army, the statement said. Although Rwanda has long cited a threat posed by FLDR, authorities there had never admitted to a military presence in eastern Congo.
Wood said the U.S. recognizes the FDLR “is a continuing threat to the Congolese people and a security threat to Rwanda that must be addressed.”
At Wednesday’s council meeting the Congolese and Rwandan ambassadors again went after each other.
Congolese Ambassador Zenon Ngay Mukongo called the M23 and Rwandan forces a “coalition of the axis of evil.”
He said a meeting of heads of state is planned for April and Congo is seeking lasting peace throughout the country and that it “will not accept window-dressing arrangements aimed at perpetuating insecurity and confusion” which encourages the M23 and Rwanda’s “shameless exploitation of strategic minerals” in eastern Congo.
Rwandan Ambassador Ernest Rwamucyo reiterated his government’s serious concerns about the FDLR and called for Congo to resolve the security issues involving many rebel groups themselves.
“We should also raise awareness about the dangers of genocide, the ideology, which has spilled over into the DRC,” the initials of Congo’s official name, the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said.
Keita, the U.N. envoy, told the council that mediation by Angola between the countries has resumed.
In response to a question afterward by reporters about Wednesday’s confrontation between the ambassadors, she said, she strongly believes this mediation and other efforts to reduce tensions should be supported “in spite of the displeasure that we saw” in the council.
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Yellen Warns She’ll Confront China on Its Energy Subsidies
washington — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday that Chinese subsidies for clean energy industries create unfair competition that “hurts American firms and workers, as well as firms and workers around the world.”
Yellen said that during a visit she has scheduled to China, she intends to warn China its national underwriting for energy and other companies is creating oversupply and market distortion, among other problems.
“I intend to talk to the Chinese when I visit about overcapacity in some of these industries, and make sure that they understand the undesirable impact that this is having — flooding the market with cheap goods — on the United States, but also in many of our closest allies,” Yellen said in a speech in Norcross, Georgia.
Yellen said she believes those subsidies will enable China to flood the markets for solar panels, electric vehicle parts and lithium-ion batteries, thus distorting production in other economies and global prices.
“I will convey my belief that excess capacity poses risks not only to American workers and firms and to the global economy, but also productivity and growth in the Chinese economy, as China itself acknowledged in its National People’s Congress this month,” Yellen said. “And I will press my Chinese counterparts to take necessary steps to address this issue.”
Yellen is set for meetings in China in April, according to Politico. The Treasury has not yet confirmed her itinerary.
The secretary visited Georgia to see a newly reopened solar cell manufacturing plant, which according to the Treasury closed in 2017 because of competition from factories in China. It is reopening now, though, after tax credits in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act fueled increased anticipated demand for solar panels.
On Tuesday, China filed a complaint against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization, arguing the U.S.’s requirements for electric vehicle subsidies are discriminatory. Chinese officials did not comment on what prompted the decision.
Yellen said she hopes to have a “constructive” dialogue with Chinese officials about subsidies and oversupply issues. She said outreach to businesspeople and governments around the world had prompted her to issue this warning.
“These are concerns that I increasingly hear from government counterparts in industrialized countries and emerging markets, as well as from the business community globally,” Yellen said.
Some information for this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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Understanding Japan’s New Rules on Lethal Weapons Exports
TOKYO — Japan’s Cabinet OK’d a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets to other countries on Tuesday, its latest step away from the pacifist principles the country adopted at the end of World War II.
The controversial decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in a year-old project to develop a new fighter jet together with Italy and the U.K., but it’s also part of a move to build up Japan’s arms industry and bolster its role in global affairs.
For now, Tokyo says that it doesn’t plan to export co-developed lethal weapons other than the new fighters, which aren’t expected to enter service until 2035.
Here is a look at what the latest change is about and why Japan is rapidly easing weapons export rules.
What’s changing?
On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved a revision to its guidelines for selling defense equipment overseas, and authorized sales of the future jet. The government says that it has no plans to export other co-developed lethal weapons under the guidelines, and it would require Cabinet approval to do so.
Japan has long prohibited most arms exports under the country’s pacifist constitution, although it’s begun to take steps toward a change amid rising regional and global tensions.
In 2014, it began to export some non-lethal military supplies, and last December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. The change, which was made in December, cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.
The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it co-produces to other countries for the first time.
What is the new fighter jet?
Japan is working with Italy and the U.K. to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italian militaries.
Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program, is based in the U.K., and hasn’t yet announced a new name for its design.
Japan hopes the new plane will offer better sensing and stealth capabilities amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.
Why is Japan changing its stance on arms exports?
In its decision, the Cabinet said that the ban on exporting finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the U.K. are eager to make sells of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.
U.K. Defense Minister Grant Shapps has repeatedly said Japan needs “updating” to not cause the project to stall.
Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.
Exports would also help boost Japan’s defense industry, which historically has catered only to the country’s Self Defense Force, as Kishida seeks to build up the military. Japan began opening the door to some exports in 2014, but the industry has still struggled to win customers.
The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japan’s readiness to take a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.
Japan sees China’s rapid military buildup and its increasing assertiveness as threats, especially growing tensions in the disputed East and South China Seas. Japan also sees increasing joint military exercises between China and Russia around Japan as a threat.
Why are arms exports divisive?
Because of its wartime past as an aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense and long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.
Opposition lawmakers and pacifist activists have criticized Kishida’s government for committing to the fighter jet project without explaining to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.
Recent polls show public opinion is divided on the plan.
To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of co-developed lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars. If a purchaser begins using the jets for war, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said, Japan will stop providing spare parts and other components.
What’s next?
Potential markets for the jet include the 15 countries with which Japan has defense partnership agreements, such as the United States, Germany, India and Vietnam. A defense official said Taiwan — a self-governed island that China claims as its own territory — is not being considered. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to briefing rules.
More weapons and components could be added to the approved list under the new export guidelines.
When Kishida goes to Washington in April, he’s likely to talk to U.S. leaders about potential new defense and weapons industry cooperation. The new policy could also help Japan push for a bigger role in alliances and regional defense partnerships like Australia, the U.S. and the U.K.’s AUKUS.
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Analysts: Former Taiwan President’s China Trip Could Shed Light on Xi’s Intentions
WASHINGTON — Taiwan’s former President Ma Ying-jeou is scheduled to make an 11-day trip to China in early April.
The trip will include stops in the southern city of Guangdong, the northwestern province of Shaanxi, and the capital Beijing, where Ma, according to reports, may meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Some experts say that if the meeting happens, not only can Xi use it to send signals to Taiwan and the United States, but it could help Washington learn more about Xi’s intentions toward the island.
Earlier this week, Ma’s office announced that the visit will begin on April 1. The trip will include a speech at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong, a worshiping ceremony for the Yellow Emperor at the Shaanxi Huangdi Mausoleum, and a speech at Peking University.
Taiwanese online news site The Storm Media reported that the meeting between Ma and Xi will be held on April 8. However, Hsiao Hsu-tsen, director of Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation, said in a radio interview on March 26 that the itinerary has not been finalized.
Lu-chung Weng, an associate professor of political science at Sam Houston State University, told VOA Mandarin in an emailed response that if Ma and Xi really meet, Xi will probably use this occasion to emphasize Beijing’s one-China principle and that the 1992 Consensus remains the basis for cross-strait exchanges and dialogues.
“The signal Xi wants to send to both sides of the Taiwan Strait would be to emphasize that peaceful reunification is still Beijing’s priority and that anyone who accepts the one-China principle can negotiate,” he said.
“Relatively speaking, it also highlights that if President-elect Lai Ching-te insists on not accepting the 1992 Consensus as the premise of one China in his inaugural speech on May 20, it will be difficult for the two sides to have a dialogue. In other words, Xi would use Ma to emphasize that the ‘1992 Consensus’ is the basis for exchanges,” he added.
Although Ma accepted the “1992 Consensus” while he was in office, the current President Tsai Ing-wen did not, and China rolled back tourism and other exchanges in response. Lai, who is from the same party as Tsai, is expected to follow in her footsteps.
For some, the “1992 Consensus” is the same as accepting Beijing’s position that democratically ruled Taiwan is a part of China. Others believe it can be interpreted as meaning that there’s one China, with both the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, free to define what that means.
Weng said that during the meeting, Xi may also respond to recent U.S. concerns about China’s possible invasion of Taiwan in 2027. U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that Beijing has ordered its military to be prepared by that year to invade Taiwan.
Adm. John Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said during a congressional hearing last week that despite China’s economic slowdown, the People’s Liberation Army is still actively modernizing its military. He said all signs show the People’s Liberation Army is following Xi’s instructions to “prepare to invade Taiwan by 2027.”
Weng said a Ma-Xi meeting will be an opportunity to gain more insight into Beijing’s plans for Taiwan.
“If Xi really meets former President Ma, the U.S. can be sure that Xi’s challenges are indeed not small,” Weng said. “It will also send a signal that he will be focused more on ‘peaceful reunification,’ and that he will not take action in the short term.”
This does not mean China will not change its path in the future, he added, but at least for now “the U.S. can use the Ma-Xi meeting to determine that there is still time to prepare in the short term.”
Ma’s trip to China comes just weeks before the inauguration of Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te. Lai’s inauguration will be held on May 20 and many will be watching his speech for signs of how he will approach relations with China.
Chiaoning Su, a professor at the School of Communication at Oakland University in Michigan, told VOA Mandarin that while Lai’s inaugural speech will give priority to domestic affairs, relations with China will inevitably come up.
“Lai Ching-te has repeatedly said that he will continue Tsai Ing-wen’s framework, so both sides of the Taiwan Strait welcome closer dialogue and exchanges on the premise of equality and dignity, and that he does not want any conflicts to occur,” she said.
Lai “will maintain this tone and make some pledges regarding his cross-strait policies.”
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Death Toll in Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises to 143; 80 Others Still Hospitalized
moscow — The death toll from last week’s Moscow concert hall attack rose to 143, Russian authorities said Wednesday. About 80 other people wounded in the siege by gunmen remain hospitalized.
The Friday night massacre in Crocus City Hall, a sprawling shopping and entertainment venue on the northwestern outskirts of Moscow, was the deadliest extremist attack on Russian soil in nearly two decades. At least four gunmen toting automatic rifles shot at thousands of concertgoers and set the venue on fire.
An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the violence, while U.S. intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France also has intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as responsible for the attack.
The updated fatalities from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry didn’t state the number of wounded, but Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said earlier Wednesday that 80 people were in hospitals and another 205 had sought medical treatment from the attack.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, or the FSB, said it had arrested 11 people the day after the attack, including four suspected gunmen. The four men, identified as Tajik nationals, appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.
Russian officials, however, have insisted that Ukraine and the West had a role, which Kyiv vehemently denies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of trying to drum up fervor as his forces fight in Ukraine.
FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov also has alleged, without providing evidence, that Western spy agencies could have been involved. He repeated Putin’s claim that the four gunmen were trying to escape to Ukraine when they were arrested, casting it as proof of Kyiv’s alleged involvement.
But that assertion was undercut by Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who said Tuesday that the suspects were headed for Ukraine because they feared tight controls on the Belarus border.
The Islamic State group, which lost much of its territory following Russia’s military action in Syria after 2015, has long targeted Russia. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian jetliner over the Sinai desert, killing all 224 people aboard, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.
The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It has recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
The United States warned Moscow two weeks before the massacre about a possible imminent attack. Three days before the tragedy, Putin denounced the U.S. Embassy’s notice on March 7 urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, including concerts, calling it an attempt to frighten Russians and “blackmail” the Kremlin before the Russian presidential election.
Bortnikov said Russia was thankful for the warning but described it as very general.
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US Seeks Engagement With North Korea Amid Heightened Tensions
washington — The Biden administration has been making a diplomatic push for talks with North Korea with more explicit public proposals for engagement than at any other time since taking office.
“We want dialogue, and there are lots of valuable discussions” that could be had with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, said Jung Pak, the U.S. senior official for North Korea.
Those items for discussion could include sanctions, humanitarian cooperation and confidence-building measures, Pak said at a March 18 event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.
She added that the U.S. wants North Korea to take risk-reduction steps to avoid miscalculation and inadvertent escalation. The U.S. also wants to see Pyongyang take interim steps toward denuclearization, Pak said at another event held by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on March 5.
Joseph DeTrani, who served as the special envoy for six-party denuclearization talks with North Korea from 2003 to 2006 during the George W. Bush administration, told VOA via email on Friday that the Biden administration is making this approach now as opposed to earlier in its term because “tension on the Korean Peninsula has increased exponentially, and all efforts must be made to stop this escalation and defuse this tension.”
Since the beginning of the year, Pyongyang has repeatedly called Seoul its “primary foe” and denounced unification while rallying North Korea to prepare to occupy South Korea if a war breaks out.
North Korea has launched multiple rockets and cruise missiles and conducted several artillery firing drills this year. In its latest test on March 18, North Korea conducted a drill involving “newly equipped super-large multiple rocket launchers” that could cause “disastrous consequences” if a war breaks out, its state-run KCNA news agency said.
Since its term began in 2021, the Biden administration has said it is open to denuclearization talks with North Korea without preconditions. But it has been silent on what it would offer Pyongyang or how it thinks denuclearization should proceed, although it has hinted at incremental steps toward that goal.
After completing a monthslong policy review on North Korea in April 2021, then-White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said the Biden administration sought a middle ground between “a grand bargain” and “strategic patience.”
Former President Donald Trump sought to strike “a grand bargain” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump’s predecessor, former President Barack Obama, pursued a policy approach dubbed “strategic patience,” which involved waiting to engage Pyongyang until it reduced tensions.
In an interview with VOA on March 18, Pak said, “Our policy is the same since we rolled out our policy review back in the spring of 2021, which is that we are absolutely looking for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
She continued, “When we talk about ‘interim steps,’ we’re making explicit what has always been implicit, which is a complete denuclearization will not occur overnight.”
Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, told VOA in a telephone interview on Monday that “perhaps it was almost frustration” that prompted the Biden administration to make its approach to North Korea more explicit and public now.
U.S. officials “have tried many channels, including through third countries, trying to get messages to the North Koreans and indicating they’re willing to talk not only about denuclearization but about other nonnuclear issues, including risk reduction or confidence-building measures [and] humanitarian assistance,” Klingner said.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania at the White House National Security Council, said at a CSIS-hosted virtual event on March 3 that North Korea “has not answered” multiple U.S. calls for dialogue made through “many channels.”
She continued, “This is increasingly problematic, of course, because we now see the DPRK taking increasingly escalatory behavior.”
Robert Rapson, who served as charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul from 2018 to 2021, said, “I was struck by the continued priority given ‘risk reduction’ as an initial discussion topic, which reflects, in my view, growing U.S. concerns about the escalatory situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
While North Korea increased missile launches and verbal hostilities toward South Korea, it has been making weapons shipments to Russia in defiance of international sanctions.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said at a press briefing on March 18 that Pyongyang has shipped about 7,000 containers of weapons to Russia since last year.
DeTrani said that is “all the more reason why we should be open and creative in getting North Korea back to negotiations.”
VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching contributed to this report.
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Jill Biden to Publish Children’s Book About White House Cat
washington — First lady Jill Biden will publish a children’s book in June called Willow the White House Cat — about her cat, Willow.
The publisher, Simon & Schuster, announced Wednesday that the book tells the story of Willow’s journey to the White House.
The short-haired tabby cat entered the Bidens’ life after she jumped on stage as the first lady was speaking at a Pennsylvania farm during President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. Soon after, Jill Biden adopted the cat and named it after her hometown, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
“As Willow bounds from room to room, exploring history in her new home, she learns quickly about all of the incredible people who make the ‘People’s House’ run,” the first lady said in the publisher’s announcement.
“They welcomed Willow with love and care, just as they did Joe and me, the First Families who came before us, and all of the people who step foot into this home.”
The Bidens began their White House tenancy with Willow and several German shepherd dogs. However, one dog, Champ, died in 2021, and two others, Major and Commander, were sent away for aggressive behavior after biting security personnel and White House staff.
This makes 4-year-old Willow the only presidential pet currently residing at the White House.
Presidential pets have long been a source of public fascination. Willow now meows among the ranks of fellow famous felines such as President Bill Clinton’s black and white cat named Socks, who became iconic for her photo ops on the White House lawn.
Socks had her own book, written by then-first lady Hillary Clinton, called Dear Socks, Dear Buddy, which included fan mail address to Socks and her canine companion Buddy the chocolate labrador retriever.
First lady Barbara Bush also wrote a book about the family pet. Millie’s Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush is a dog’s-eye view of the White House during the George H.W. Bush administration.
First lady Biden has previously written several children’s books, including Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops and Joey: The Story of Joe Biden. She published her memoir, “Where the Light Enters,” in 2019.
Proceeds from book sales will be given to charities that support military dogs.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press.
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Senegal Results Show Large Win for Opponent Faye in Presidential Poll
Dakar, Senegal — Anti-establishment figure Bassirou Diomaye Faye has comfortably won the Senegalese presidential election with 54.28% of votes in the first round, official provisional results showed Wednesday.
He placed well ahead of the governing coalition’s candidate, former prime minister Amadou Ba, who garnered 35.79%.
The victory for Faye, who was only freed from prison 10 days before the election, still has to be validated by Senegal’s top constitutional body, which could happen in a few days.
Faye, 44, who has said he wants a “break” with the current political system, is set to become the youngest president in Senegal’s history.
It would be the first time since independence from France in 1960 that an opponent has won in the first round.
Aliou Mamadou Dia, who came third out of 19 candidates officially on the list, won just 2.8% of the vote, according to figures read out at the Dakar court by the president of the national vote counting commission, Amady Diouf.
While his victory in Sunday’s vote was already clear after the publication of unofficial partial results, the margin of Faye’s win was confirmed by the vote counting commission, which falls under the judiciary.
The turnout of 61.30% was less than in 2019 when outgoing President Macky Sall won a second term in the first-round, but more than in 2012.
The announcement of the official provisional results seems to clear the way for a handover of power between Sall and his successor.
The political crisis triggered by Sall’s last-minute postponement of the vote, and the subsequently rushed electoral timetable, cast doubt on whether the handover could take place before the incumbent’s term officially ends on April 2.
But a swift handover now seems feasible in the West African nation, which prides itself on its stability and democratic principles in a coup-hit region, provided no appeals are made.
Presidential candidates have 72 hours after the results are announced by the commission to lodge an appeal with the Constitutional Council.
The Constitution states that if no appeals are made in this period, “the Council shall immediately proclaim the final results of the ballot.”
But if an objection is made, the Council has five days to rule and could, in theory, annul the election.
Faye, who has never before held elected office, is set to become the fifth president of the West African country of around 18 million people.
His fellow presidential candidates, and Sall, have recognized his victory.
Sunday’s election was preceded by three years of tension and deadly unrest, with Senegal plunged into a fresh political crisis in February when Sall decided to delay the presidential poll.
Dozens have been killed and hundreds arrested since 2021, with the country’s democratic credentials coming under scrutiny.
Faye himself was detained for months before his release in the middle of the election campaign.
International observers hailed the smooth running of Sunday’s vote.
The African Union’s observation mission commended the “political and democratic maturity of the Senegalese people (and) the generally peaceful political atmosphere of the presidential election,”
Faye has promised to restore national “sovereignty” and implement a program of “left-wing pan-Africanism.”
WATCH: Senegal’s President-Elect Vows to Fight Corruption, Rebuild Institutions
His election could herald a profound overhaul of Senegal’s institutions.
On Monday he pledged “to govern with humility, with transparency, and to fight corruption at all levels.”
He said he would prioritize “national reconciliation,” “rebuilding institutions” and “significantly reducing the cost of living.”
But he also sought to reassure foreign partners.
Senegal “will remain a friendly country and a sure and reliable ally for any partner that engages with us in virtuous, respectful and mutually productive cooperation,” he pledged.
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Malawi Charity Provides Hope for Elderly, Including Some Accused of Witchcraft
In Malawi, hope has arrived for elderly people banished from their homes, some over accusations of practicing witchcraft. A charity in the capital is providing shelter and food for them. Lameck Masina reports from Lilongwe.
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Slovakians Form Human Chain Around Threatened Public Broadcaster
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Protesters in Slovakia formed a human chain around the country’s public television and radio building Wednesday in anger over a takeover plan by the government whose populist, pro-Russia prime minister recently labeled several private media outlets his enemies.
The takeover plan was drafted by Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova, who represents an ultra-nationalist member party of the coalition government and has worked for an internet television outlet known for spreading disinformation.
The plan has been condemned by President Zuzana Caputova, opposition parties, local journalists, international media organizations, the European Commission and others who warn that the government would be taking full control of public broadcasting. Slovak journalists have called the plan an attack on all free media.
Wednesday’s was the latest protest against the policies of Prime Minister Robert Fico, known for his tirades against journalists. His critics worry Slovakia under him will abandon its pro-Western course and follow the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Simkovicova has said taking over public media is needed because she believes the current broadcaster is biased, giving space only to mainstream views and censoring the rest. The broadcaster has denied that.
According to her plan, the current public radio and television known as RTVS would be replaced by a new organization. A new seven-member council with members nominated by the government and parliament would select the broadcaster’s director and have the right to fire the director without giving cause.
The current broadcaster’s director was elected by parliament, and his term in office will end in 2027.
The hundreds of protesters unveiled a banner reading “HANDS OFF RTVS!” and chanted to local journalists, “We’re by your side.” Thousands of people rallied in a similar protest earlier this month.
Fico returned to power for the fourth time last year after his leftist party Smer, or Direction, won the parliamentary election on a pro-Russian, anti-American platform.
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Central Asians in Russia Face Backlash After IS-K Terror Attack
Washington — Russian media and analysts are reporting a spike in hate crimes and violence against migrants from Central Asia following last week’s terror attack on a Moscow concert hall, which has led to the arrests of seven people of Tajik origin.
Responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 139 people and injured nearly 200, has been claimed by the Islamic State terror group’s Afghan affiliate, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, which includes a number of Central Asians in prominent roles.
“A market owned by Tajiks in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, was torched. Unknown persons beat three Tajik migrants in Kaluga,” said Edward Lemon, president of the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs in Washington.
“Tajiks have reported being evicted without reason. Screenshots have circulated on social media showing taxi riders on apps like Yandex refusing to ride with Tajik drivers. Law enforcement have launched raids across the country to find and detain illegal immigrants,” Lemon added. “Viral videos are circulating on social media calling for Tajiks to be deported, claiming they are all ‘terrorists’ and calling for the death penalty to be reintroduced.”
Tajiks are not the only victims of the backlash, according to Russian media reports and activists. In Yekaterinburg, security officials have reportedly threatened to fine businesses that refuse to list any Central Asians working for them. Kyrgyzstan has warned its citizens to avoid travel to Russia, while Uzbekistan’s External Labor Migration Agency issued a travel advisory outlining security precautions.
While publicly seeking to lay blame for the attack on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has behind the scenes been in talks with his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, to discuss ways to strengthen counter-terrorism measures. Lemon said that one possible outcome could be the extradition of some Tajik citizens to Russia.
“From the Tajik side, my sources say that the government is already hoping to link the attacks to the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan in a bid to crack down on its actual and alleged supporters,” Lemon told VOA.
“Rahmon will seek to ensure that we don’t see mass violence against Tajik migrants in Russia or deportations that could destabilize his regime,” he said. “Putin needs to tread a tightrope as the Russian economy needs migrants.”
Other analysts see Central Asian migrants, who already face a difficult life in Russia despite the vital role they play in the economy, as convenient targets for the public’s discontent.
“It seems that in the end, everything will only come down to the persecution of migrant workers,” said analyst and Gazeta.ru columnist Semyon Novoprudsky.
He told VOA this is happening “despite the fact that they are critically important for some sectors of the Russian economy because of a growing shortage of laborers, especially in construction.”
Boris Dolgin, a visiting scholar at Estonia’s Tartu University, agrees. “Instead of truly engaging in terrorism prevention and working in communities where radical ideas can be spread, they chose migrant workers as scapegoats,” he said.
Farhod Abduvalizade, a journalist speaking with VOA from Khujand, Tajikistan, pointed out that “none of the suspects have been proven guilty.” He said many of his compatriots doubt that the real culprits are the battered and bruised men Russian authorities have been parading on TV.
“The public is closely watching how events are unfolding because almost every household in Tajikistan has someone working or studying in Russia,” he said.
Remittances last year accounted for over 48% of Tajikistan’s GDP, with most of it from Russia — $5.7 billion, according to the World Bank. Combined, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan received about $25 billion in remittances from Russia, where statistics show more than 10 million Central Asians present in the country.
Central Asian militants in IS-K
University of Pittsburg professor Jennifer Murtazashvili, who has done extensive research in the region, elaborated on the role of IS-K militants from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
“They have used Afghanistan as a playground,” she wrote on X. “During the war against the U.S., the Taliban also benefitted from these militants,” with Tajik and Uzbek fighters participating in attacks against U.S. and allied forces.
“These fighters have also skillfully played the Taliban and IS-K off against each other,” she said, recalling that militants from Tajikistan took over large swathes of northern Afghanistan in 2021, killing members of the Afghan national security forces. Some recent reports indicate that the Taliban still rely on Central Asians to provide security in the north.
In its latest statement, IS-K denounced the Taliban’s engagement with Russia, China, Pakistan and other counties, even the United States. Still struggling for recognition as Afghanistan’s legitimate government, the Taliban claim they are at war with the group.
“Central Asia should be worried,” Murtazashvili told VOA. “The alliance of Central Asian leaders with Moscow makes them look very weak in the eyes of IS-K.”
VOA Russian stringer Victor Vladimirov contributed to this report.
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Blinken to Discuss Ukraine, Gaza With Macron in Paris
Washington — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss support for Ukraine during talks in Paris next week with French President Emmanuel Macron, the State Department announced Wednesday.
France is among the major military suppliers to Ukraine, which is facing an onslaught of Russian attacks.
President Joe Biden’s request for billions of dollars in new U.S. military aid to Kyiv is held up in the House of Representatives, led by the rival Republican Party.
“Secretary Blinken will meet with French President Macron to discuss support for Ukraine, efforts to prevent escalation of the conflict in Gaza and a number of other important issues,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
France has advocated for a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, whereas the United States, Israel’s main ally, recently let pass a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a cease-fire during the month of Ramadan.
It will be the first visit in nearly two years to France by Blinken, a fluent French speaker who grew up partly in Paris. Macron paid a state visit to Washington in December 2022.
After Paris, Blinken will head to Brussels for talks among NATO foreign ministers ahead of the alliance’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington in July.
Blinken will also hold a three-way meeting in Brussels with EU leaders and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has been seeking to branch out from his country’s historic alliance with Russia.
Blinken and the European Union will address “support for Armenia’s economic resilience as it works to diversify its trade partnerships and to address humanitarian needs,” Miller said.
Armenia was angered last year by Russia’s failure to prevent Azerbaijan from retaking the Nagorno-Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian rebels.
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Racism, ‘Morbid Curiosity’ Drove US Museums to Collect Indigenous Remains
WASHINGTON — In December 1900, John Wesley Powell received “the most unusual Christmas present of any person in the United States, if not in the world,” reported the Chicago Tribune.
The gift for this first director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Bureau of Ethnology was a sealskin sack containing the mummified remains of an Alaska Native.
The sender was a government employee hired to hunt Indian “relics,” who said the remains had been difficult to acquire because “to come into the possession of a dead Indian is a great crime among the Indians.”
The report concluded that it was the only “Indian relic” of this kind at the Smithsonian and it was “beyond money value.”
As it turned out, it was not the museum’s only Alaskan mummy. In 1865, even before the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia, Smithsonian naturalist William H. Dall was hired to accompany an expedition to study the potential for a telegraph route through Siberia to Europe. In his spare time, he looted graves in the Yukon and caves on several Aleutian Islands.
After the U.S. sealed the deal with Russia, the San Francisco-based Alaska Commercial Company won exclusive trading rights and established more than 90 trading posts in Alaska to meet the U.S. demand for ivory and furs.
It also instructed agents “to collect and preserve objects of interest in ethnology and natural history” and forward them to the Smithsonian. Ernest Henig looted 12 preserved bodies and a skull from a cave in the Aleutians in 1874. He donated two to California’s Academy of Science and sent the remainder to the Smithsonian.
More than 30 years after the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act meant to return those remains, a ProPublica investigation last year estimated that more than 110,000 Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native ancestors remain in public collections across the U.S.
It is not known how many Indigenous remains are closeted in private or overseas collections.
“Museums collected massive numbers, perhaps even millions,” said anthropologist John Stephen “Chip” Colwell, who previously served as curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. “Out of the 100 remains we [at the Denver museum] returned, I think only about five or seven individuals were actually even studied.”
So, what sparked this 19th-century frenzy for collecting human remains?
Reconciling science, religion
From the moment they first encountered Indigenous Americans, European thinkers struggled to understand who they were, where they came from, and whether they could be “civilized.”
The Christian bible taught them that all humans descended from Adam and that God created Adam in his own image. So why, Europeans wondered, did Native Americans, Africans and Asians look different?
Some Europeans theorized that all humans were created white, but dietary or environmental differences caused some of them to turn “brown, yellow, red or black.”
Other Europeans refused to accept that they shared a common ancestor with people of color and theorized that God created the races separately before he created Adam.
The birth of scientific racism
Presumptions that compulsory education and Christianization would force Native Americans to abandon their traditional cultures and become “civilized” into mainstream European-American culture proved untrue. So 19th-century scientists turned to advancements in medicine to “prove” the inferiority of Indigenous peoples.
“That’s when you see scientists like Samuel Morton, who invented a pseudoscience trying to place peoples within these social hierarchies based on their biology, and they needed bones to solidify those racial hierarchies,” said Colwell, who is editor-in-chief of the online magazine SAPIENS and author of “Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America’s Culture.”
Morton was a Philadelphia physician who collected hundreds of human skulls of all races, mostly Native American, that were forwarded to him by physicians on the frontier. In his 1839 book “Crania Americana,” Morton classified human races based on skull measurements. Morton’s conclusions were used to support racist ideologies about the inferiority of non-white humans.
“They are not only averse to the restraints of education, but for the most part incapable of a continued process of reasoning on abstract subjects,” he wrote of Native Americans. “The structure of [the Native] mind appears to be different from that of the white man, nor can the two harmonise in their social relations except on the most limited scale.”
Despite Morton’s legacy as an early figure in scientific racism — ideologies that generate pseudo-scientific racist beliefs — his work earned him a reputation at the time as “a jewel of American science” and influenced the field of anthropology and public policy for decades.
In 1868, for example, the U.S. Surgeon General turned his attention away from the Civil War to the so-called “Indian wars” and instructed field surgeons to collect Native American skulls and weapons and send them to the Army Medical Museum in Washington “to aid in the progress of anthropological science.”
“For museums, especially the early years of collecting, it was a form of trophy keeping, a competition between museums,” Colwell told VOA. “And some of it was a competition between national governments to accumulate big collections to demonstrate their global and imperial aspirations.”
All the rest, he said, were fragments of morbid curiosity.
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