North Korean ‘white paper’ says South Korea’s president raised risk of nuclear war

seoul — North Korean state media released a white paper Sunday accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of exposing his country to the danger of nuclear war through his policies toward the North. 

The document, compiled by North Korea’s Institute of Enemy State Studies and released by state news agency KCNA, criticized Yoon’s “reckless remarks” about war, abandoning elements of an inter-Korean agreement, engaging in nuclear war planning with the United States, and seeking closer ties with Japan and NATO. 

“It’s ever-worsening military moves resulted only in the paradoxical consequences of pushing [North Korea] to stockpile its nuclear weapons at an exponential rate and further develop its nuclear attack capability,” the paper said. 

Yoon, a conservative, has taken a hard line on North Korea, which has forged ahead with developing its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions. 

His administration blames North Korea for raising tensions with weapons tests and providing military aid and troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Pyongyang has been taking steps to sever inter-Korean ties, redefining the South as a separate, hostile enemy state since Kim Jong Un declared it a “primary foe” early this year and said unification was no longer possible. 

North Korea blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas last month, and satellite imagery shows it has since built large trenches across the former crossings. 

The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. 

The two Koreas also have clashed over balloons of trash floated since May from North Korea. Pyongyang has said the launches are a response to balloons sent by anti-regime activists in the South. 

Sunday’s white paper also listed Yoon’s domestic political woes, including scandals involving his wife, which have driven his approval ratings to record lows. 

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War makes it harder to hold journalists’ killers accountable, experts say

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — Achieving justice in the targeted killings of journalists is a difficult task made even more complicated in cases that take place in wartime, experts say.

On a global scale, 85% of journalist killings around the world since 2006 remain unsolved, according to a report released by UNESCO on Saturday. In 2013, the United Nations declared November 2 the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

Impunity in journalist killings has long been the norm, and active conflict exacerbates the problem, according to Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.

“You have fewer resources to devote to investigations,” Ginsberg told VOA. “Courts are often overwhelmed. The ability to do investigations is hampered because there’s a live conflict going on.”

That has been the case in the Israel-Hamas war, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, civil war in Myanmar and gang violence in Haiti.

The war in Gaza

With the Israel-Hamas war, as of October 31, at least 134 journalists and media workers — primarily Palestinians — have been killed since the conflict began last year, according to CPJ.

CPJ has determined that the Israeli military targeted five of them in direct connection to their work as journalists. Israel ranks second worst in the world in terms of impunity in journalist killings, according to CPJ’s index, which was published Wednesday.

In one incident on October 13, 2023, the Israeli military fired two tank shells 37 seconds apart in southern Lebanon in the direction of media crews. The journalists were about one mile from the closest hostilities, wore vests marked “PRESS” and stood next to a car marked “TV,” according to reports. The attack killed Lebanese Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six other reporters.

CPJ and news outlets have determined the case was a deliberate attack.

At the time, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations said Israeli forces would never want to “kill or shoot any journalist” who is working, but that “in a state of war, things might happen. We regret them, we feel sorry.” The ambassador said that Israel would investigate.

“I’m dismayed that there has been no accountability since the attack on October 13, but not surprised,” Ginsberg told VOA in September in New York. Impunity in journalist killings has been a problem in Israel for decades, she added.

CPJ is investigating the possible targeted killings of 10 more journalists in the Israel-Hamas war. Determining what happened is difficult because of the conflict and restrictions on access for foreign media to Gaza.

“Anyone responsible for the killing of a journalist, of a civilian, should be prosecuted and held accountable. Journalists are civilians. They’re not targets,” Ginsberg said.

Israel’s military did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment for this story. Israel has previously denied targeting journalists.

The civil war in Myanmar

Accountability is also difficult in Myanmar’s civil war.

Since the military launched a coup in 2021, more than 5,000 civilians have been killed, more than 27,000 people have been arrested, and more than 3.3 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. human rights office.

At least seven journalists have been killed over their work since the coup, according to CPJ. Three of those killings took place this year, including two who were killed by security forces in a raid on their house and another who was killed in military custody.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, told VOA: “The assault on the media, the assault on journalism, the assault on the principle of the freedom of the press, is all part of their stock-in-trade to hide their systematic assaults on the people of Myanmar.”

Myanmar ranks 10th in the world in terms of impunity in journalist killings, according to CPJ.

Myanmar’s military did not reply to VOA’s request for comment.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Russia’s war in Ukraine has also led to calls for accountability. While Russia does not appear on the 2024 Impunity Index — which looks at targeted killings only — at least 15 journalists and media workers have been killed covering the war, according to CPJ.

“Without accountability, we’re essentially giving a green light for further attacks on journalists not only in Ukraine but potentially in future conflicts worldwide,” National Union of Journalists of Ukraine President Sergiy Tomilenko told VOA in an email.

“Protecting journalists isn’t just about individual cases — it’s about defending democracy and the right to truth. Each unpunished attack on a journalist emboldens those who want to silence independent media,” Tomilenko said.

Russia’s Washington embassy and Foreign Ministry did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

Among the cases of journalists killed is that of Viktoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who died in Russian custody in September.

The circumstances surrounding Roshchyna’s death remain unclear because the Russian government has refused to return her body to Ukraine.

Without a body, it will be difficult to determine how she died, according to Karol Luczka, who monitors Eastern Europe at the International Press Institute in Vienna.

“This is a particularly appalling case of impunity,” he said.

Based on UNESCO data, a journalist was killed every four days for doing their job in 2022 and 2023. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay called on member states to do more to hold perpetrators of these crimes accountable.

“Prosecuting and convicting the perpetrators is a major lever to prevent future attacks on journalists,” she said in a statement.

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Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain

Tokyo — Nearly 200,000 people in western Japan were urged to evacuate Saturday as authorities warned of landslides and floods, while the remnants of a tropical storm trickle over the country.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said “warm, moist air… was causing heavy rainfall with thunderstorms in western Japan” partly due to Kong-rey, which was downgraded to an extratropical low-pressure system from a typhoon.

The city of Matsuyama “issued the top-level warning, urging 189,552 residents in its 10 districts to evacuate and immediately secure safety,” a city official told AFP.

While the evacuation was not mandatory, Japan’s highest-level warning is typically issued when it is extremely likely that some kind of disaster has already occurred.

Forecasters warned that landslides and floods could affect western Japan on Saturday and eastern Japan on Sunday.

Due to rain, Shinkansen bullet trains were briefly suspended between Tokyo and southern Fukuoka region in the morning before resuming on a delayed schedule.

Kong-rey smashed into Taiwan on Thursday as one of the biggest storms to hit the island in decades.

It claimed at least three lives and injured 690 people, according to the National Fire Agency, which added a migrant worker death to the toll on Saturday.

The storm knocked out power to 957,061 households, 27,781 of which were still in the dark as of Saturday.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.

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New Zealand city waves goodbye to its ‘disturbing’ giant hand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Perched on two fingers on the roof of an art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, the giant sculpture of a hand has loomed over the city for five years. 

Named Quasi, the 16-foot — almost 5-meter — creation of Australia-based sculptor Ronnie van Hout bears an unsmiling human face — because why not? 

Some found it disturbing, and now, after five years of provoking controversy and myriad emotions — from horror and revulsion to delight — among residents of New Zealand’s capital, Quasi was set to be removed from the roof of City Gallery this week. 

It will be taken to a new home, the gallery said Wednesday. 

“This is either a great day for Wellington or a terrible day for Wellington and there’s not much view in between,” said Ben McNulty, a Wellington city council member. 

McNulty told The Associated Press he felt “devastated” by the sculpture’s departure. 

Quasi is made of steel, polystyrene and resin, and was based on scans of van Hout’s hand and face. It was named in part for Quasimodo, the bellringer in Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. 

Hence, the male gender some have attributed to Quasi. 

Quasi first graced — or haunted — an art gallery in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2016 but proved polarizing. It was the subject of an op-ed in the local newspaper listing reasons the sculpture “must go,” including claims that one of its outstretched fingers “appears to be inappropriately and belligerently pointing at pedestrians and office workers.” 

“Perhaps the monster just wants to be loved?” van Hout responded at the time. 

In 2019, Quasi was installed in Wellington, where he grew over time on its residents. 

“He arrived and I won’t say the city unanimously hated him but I reckon 80% were like, ‘What is this monster? What have we done?’ ” McNulty said. 

“But I think that over time there’s been a bit of a softening, there’s sort of a pro-Quasi group, which I consider myself part of,” he added. 

On Wednesday, many at Wellington’s Civic Square, where the gallery with Quasi is located, said they had warmed to him, too. 

“It’s really disturbing but it’s a staple of Wellington now,” said Anja Porthouse, who had brought friends and family to see Quasi and was “gutted” it was leaving. 

Quasi is to be lifted from the roof by helicopter on Saturday, when the giant hand will travel to an undisclosed location in Australia, the gallery said. 

“Everything comes to an end eventually,” van Hout told the AP. “I am sure it will be missed, but even Lovecraftian nightmares have to return to where they came from, and now you only have an absence to reflect on.” 

Dozens responded to the news on social media with dismay, glee and jokes about the curse that local lore has attributed to Quasi being lifted. 

The sculpture has adorned the Wellington skyline during “some of its most difficult times,” McNulty said. The city has struggled with earthquake-prone buildings, widespread plumbing problems and political division in recent years. 

Other comments took guesses about where Quasi might end up. 

“He’s going to The Hague,” wrote one New Zealander on X. 

“He will be missed,” said Jane Black, who heads the Wellington Sculpture Trust. 

“I’ll personally be pleased to see it head somewhere else for a change,” the city’s mayor, Tory Whanau, told the AP. “I think there’s a strong feeling of relief.”

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At 50, Hello Kitty is as ‘kawaii’ — and lucrative — as ever

tokyo — Hello Kitty turned 50 on Friday. Befitting a pop icon at midlife, the bubble-headed, bow-wearing character’s fictional birthday has brought museum exhibits, a theme park spectacle and a national tour. And that’s just in Japan, her literal birthplace but not the one listed in her official biography. 

Confused? Welcome to the party. If there’s one thing about Hello Kitty, it’s that she’s proven adaptable and as much a study in contrasts during her long career. She — and Kitty is a she, according to the company that owns her — may have been conceived as a vessel for the feelings of others, but some women see an empowering symbol in her mouthless face. 

“Shrewd” is how Mika Nishimura, a design professor at Tokyo’s Meisei University, describes the way Hello Kitty conquered the worlds of commerce, fashion and entertainment. As a tabula rasa open to interpretation, the non-threatening creation was the perfect vehicle for making money, she said. 

“American feminists have said she doesn’t say anything and acquiesces to everyone. But in Japan, we also see how she may appear happy if you’re happy, and sad if you’re feeling sad,” Nishimura told The Associated Press. “It’s a product strategy that’s sheer genius. By being so adaptable, Kitty gets all those collaborative deals.” 

The character’s semicentennial is evidence of that. Sanrio, the Japanese entertainment company that holds the rights to Hello Kitty’s name and image, kicked off the festivities a year ago with an animation account on TikTok, Roblox games and an avatar for the social networking app Zepeto. 

There have been anniversary editions of merchandise ranging from pet collars, cosmetics and McDonald’s Happy Meals to Crocs and a Baccarat crystal figurine. A gold coin pendant with the image of Hello Kitty holding the number 50 is selling for about 120,000 yen ($800), while a Casio watch costs 18,700 yen ($120). 

But first, more on the origin story. 

Unlike Mickey Mouse and Snoopy, Hello Kitty didn’t start as a cartoon. A young Sanrio illustrator named Yuko Shimizu drew her in 1974 as a decoration for stationery, tote bags, cups and other small accessories. The design made its debut on a coin purse the next year and became an instant hit in Japan. 

As Hello Kitty’s commercial success expanded beyond Asia, so did her personal profile. By the late 1970s, Sanrio revealed the character’s name as Kitty White, her height as five apples tall and her birthplace as suburban London, where the company said she lived with her parents and twin sister Mimmy. 

“The main theme of Hello Kitty is friendship. When I first created it, I made a family of which Kitty was a part. But then Hello Kitty started to appear in other settings as the character grew,” Shimizu told the BBC in June. “Sanrio put a lot of effort into building the brand into what it is today.” 

At some point, Sanrio designated Kitty’s birthday as November 1, the same as Shimizu’s. Her background was embellished with hobbies that included playing piano, reading and baking. Her TV appearances required co-stars, including a pet cat named Charmmy Kitty that made its debut 20 years ago. 

But Hello Kitty’s 40th birthday brought an update that astonished fans. Sanrio clarified to a Los Angeles museum curator that Kitty, despite her feline features, was a little girl. A company spokesperson repeated the distinction this year, renewing debate online about the requirements for being considered human. 

“She is supposed to be Kitty White and English. But this is part of the enigma: Who is Hello Kitty? We can’t figure it out. We don’t even know if she is a cat,” art historian Joyce S. Cheng, a University of Oregon associate professor, said. “There is an unresolved indeterminacy about her that is so amazing.” 

Part of the confusion stems from a misunderstanding of “kawaii,” which is Japanese for “cute” but also connotes a lovable or adorable essence. Sanrio recruited Shimizu and other illustrators to create “kawaii” characters at a time when cute, girlish styles were popular in Japan. But the word is used often in Japanese society, and not only to describe babies and puppies. 

An elderly man, something as innocuous as an umbrella, a subcompact car or a kitchen utensil, or even a horror movie monster can get labeled “kawaii.” By Western standards, the idea may seem embarrassingly frivolous. But it’s taken seriously in Japan, where the concept is linked with the most honorable instincts. 

The complexity of “kawaii” may help explain Hello Kitty’s enduring appeal across generations and cultures, why Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne released a song titled “Hello Kitty” a decade ago, and why Britain’s King Charles wished Hello Kitty a happy 50th birthday when he hosted Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at Buckingham Palace in June. 

Although Hello Kitty may seem to embody the self-sacrificing woman stereotype, it’s revealing that three women have served as the character’s chief designers at Sanrio. Yuko Yamaguchi, who has held the role since 1980, is credited with keeping the character both modern and timeless, giving Kitty black outfits or false eyelashes as trends dictated but never removing the bow from her left ear. 

“Hello Kitty, this cultural object, has something to tell us about the history of women in East Asia, and how East Asian women modernized themselves and became professional citizens in a modern society,” the University of Oregon’s Cheng said. 

Sanrio has come up with hundreds of creatures, all adorable and cuddly, but none with the lasting power of Hello Kitty. Forget the understated wabi-sabi aesthetic historically associated with Japan. A chameleon-like cat-girl who reflects unabashed kitsch is the cultural ambassador of a consumer-crazed, happy-go-lucky nation. 

“It’s the anti-wabi sabi, wanting to be as flashy and as bling-bling as possible, like Lady Gaga. In your face, but that’s actually part of the genius, too. It’s powerful,” Cheng said. 

Leslie Bow, a professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that while many Asian and Asian American women see Hello Kitty as a symbol of defiance, the protective, caretaking instinct aroused by “kawaii” isn’t without power. 

“We take care of our siblings, our babies, our pets, because we are in control. We control their actions. And so that is also the dark side of cute,” Bow said. 

Sanrio has taken advantage of the character’s adaptability by allowing relatively unrestricted use of her image in return for a licensing fee. 

Just about anything goes for the wee whiskered one, from a growing global empire of Sanrio-sanctioned Hello Kitty cafes to an “augmented reality” cellphone app that shows Kitty dancing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, London’s Big Ben and other tourist landmarks. 

On the unsanctioned side, Hello Kitty even has shown up on guns and vibrators. 

During a presentation earlier this year in Seoul, Hello Kitty designer Yamaguchi said one of her unfulfilled goals was finding a way “to develop a Hello Kitty for men to fall in love with as well.” But she’s still working on it. 

“I am certain the day will come when men are no longer embarrassed to carry around Hello Kitty,” entertainment news site Content Asia quoted Yamaguchi as saying. 

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Before US sanctions violations arrest, Russian businessman faced charge in Hong Kong

When the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on three companies belonging to Denis Postovoy on Wednesday, it was yet another move to break up what U.S. authorities say was an international scheme to violate sanctions.

A month earlier, on September 16, law enforcement officials arrested the 44-year-old Russian national in Sarasota, Florida.

He was charged with conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia, commit smuggling, commit money laundering and defraud the United States.

According to the indictment, Postovoy used an international network of companies to export dual-use microelectronic components from the United States to Russia –– potentially spare parts for military drones used in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.

Postovoy is not the first Russian charged with violating U.S. export controls. But he is one of the few who allegedly did it from inside the United States.

Using court documents and open-source information, VOA pieced together Postovoy’s history, revealing a story involving international trade, criminal charges in two countries, a U.S. startup and Florida real estate.

Postovoy pleaded not guilty to all the charges. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.

Postovoy is in pretrial detention and could not be reached for comment. His lawyer did not respond to a VOA request for comment. When VOA reached Postovoy’s wife by phone, she hung up. She did not respond to questions sent to her on the WhatsApp messenger app.

According to the latest court filings, Postovoy’s case was transferred to the U.S. District Court in Washington.

American charges

After Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the U.S. significantly expanded restrictions on the export of microelectronics to Russia.

The Department of Justice has accused Postovoy and several unnamed co-conspirators of using a network of companies under their control in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Russia to violate those sanctions.

It claims Postovoy misrepresented the buyers and destinations of the goods, routing them through Hong Kong, Switzerland, Turkey and Estonia.

“As alleged, he lied about the final destination for the technology he was shipping and used intermediary destinations to mask this illegal activity,” U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves stated in a press release. “Fortunately, our skilled law enforcement partners at HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and our dedicated attorneys unraveled the plot.”

The prosecution states that Postovoy’s clients included the Russian company Streloi Ekommerts and other unnamed firms. According to the indictment, the contract with Streloi was completed before the company was added to the U.S. sanctions list in December 2023.

An investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty found that Streloi actively helps Russia circumvent Western export restrictions.

Another recipient of the microelectronics, according to an invoice included in the case materials, was the Russian technology company Radius Avtomatika.

Neither company responded to emailed questions from VOA.

It is unclear whether the microelectronics Postovoy allegedly exported were ultimately used in drones, but one court document states that the people he contacted were members of Russia’s military-industrial complex.

Hong Kong story

Originally from Novosibirsk, Russia, Postovoy had lived in Hong Kong since at least 2010 with his wife — a Ukrainian citizen from Crimea — and their three children.

Shipping records indicate his companies were involved in exporting goods from Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, to Russia. Prosecutors allege that after the U.S. expanded its sanctions, some of this activity became illegal.

When the DOJ announced Postovoy’s arrest, it also listed the names of his companies that it said were involved in the alleged scheme. Aside from the Russian-registered firm Vektor Group, all the others were in Hong Kong: Jove HK Limited, JST Group Hong Kong and WowCube HK Limited.

All are now under U.S. sanctions, except for WowCube HK Limited.

Its appearance in the indictment provoked a rapid response from Cubios, another company previously associated with Postovoy. It produces the WOWCube gaming console, wich looks like a Rubik’s cube with multiple screens.

Just a day after Postovoy’s arrest was announced, Cubios publicly denied any connection to WowCube HK Limited.

“Neither Cubios nor any of its officers, directors, managers or employees … have any connection to the HK Entity whatsoever. We do not own, operate or are in any way affiliated with the HK Entity,” the company said in a statement on its website.

The startup also said that Postovoy “falsely listed himself as a VP of the Company” on LinkedIn.

In fact, Postovoy was previously Cubios’ vice president for production, according to archived versions of its website.

Ilya Osipov, CEO of Cubios, told VOA that a mutual friend introduced him to Postovoy.

“I was looking for someone who could help with production in China — they gave me Denis,” he wrote in a message to VOA.

According to Osipov, Postovoy became a business partner and made important contributions to prototypes and test batches of the WOWCube. Later the company decreased cooperation with him.

Although Postovoy did not have an official position, Cubios allowed him to call himself the vice president of production “for business purposes,” Osipov told VOA.

He claimed that Postovoy founded the Hong Kong firm without Cubios’ permission. It was planned to become a distributor of the consoles in Asia, but that never happened, Osipov said.

Coming to America

In 2022, Postovoy and his family moved to Sarasota, Florida, where Cubios’ headquarters is.

According to Osipov, Postovoy said the move was motivated by a desire to raise children in a Western country and concerns about increasingly strict Chinese control of Hong Kong.

American prosecutors see a different motivation.

In a response to U.S. federal investigators included in the case materials, Hong Kong police said Postovoy was charged on March 1, 2022, with money laundering — a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison and a fine of up to $643,000.

According to the email, Postovoy was scheduled to appear in court on March 4 but left Hong Kong the day before.

Hong Kong police did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.

By June 2022, Postovoy’s wife purchased a house in southeastern Sarasota.

Sarasota County property records indicate the house was valued at around $980,000. A mortgage covered $680,000 of the cost.

In August 2023, Postovoy bought another house, in the new Rivo Lakes gated community in Sarasota. According to purchase documents, it cost $1.13 million. In September, he transferred it to a trust controlled by his wife.

On the same day, his wife transferred the house to another trust and later sold the property.

According to a U.S. magistrate judge, Postovoy’s decision to transfer the second house into a trust was likely an attempt to conceal his ownership.

He “did not list his home — which is valued at nearly a million dollars and held in the name of a trust controlled by his wife — on his financial affidavit submitted to this Court,” the judge wrote in a decision not to grant Postovoy bail.

This may not be the only attempted cover-up in the case: Russian company records indicate that, in December 2023, a man named Dmitry Smirnov replaced Postovoy as owner of his Vektor Group company.

VOA’s Cantonese Service contributed research to this story.

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Before US sanctions violations arrest, Russian businessman faced charges in Hong Kong

When the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on three companies belonging to Denis Postovoy on Wednesday, it was yet another move to break up what U.S. authorities say was an international scheme to violate sanctions.

A month earlier, on September 16, law enforcement officials arrested the 44-year-old Russian national in Sarasota, Florida.

He was charged with conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia, commit smuggling, commit money laundering and defraud the United States.

According to the indictment, Postovoy used an international network of companies to export dual-use microelectronic components from the United States to Russia –– potentially spare parts for military drones used in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.

Postovoy is not the first Russian charged with violating U.S. export controls. But he is one of the few who allegedly did it from inside the United States.

Using court documents and open-source information, VOA pieced together Postovoy’s history, revealing a story involving international trade, criminal charges in two countries, a U.S. startup and Florida real estate.

Postovoy pleaded not guilty to all the charges. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.

Postovoy is in pretrial detention and could not be reached for comment. His lawyer did not respond to a VOA request for comment. When VOA reached Postovoy’s wife by phone, she hung up. She did not respond to questions sent to her on the WhatsApp messenger app.

According to the latest court filings, Postovoy’s case was transferred to the U.S. District Court in Washington.

American charges

After Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the U.S. significantly expanded restrictions on the export of microelectronics to Russia.

The Department of Justice has accused Postovoy and several unnamed co-conspirators of using a network of companies under their control in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Russia to violate those sanctions.

It claims Postovoy misrepresented the buyers and destinations of the goods, routing them through Hong Kong, Switzerland, Turkey and Estonia.

“As alleged, he lied about the final destination for the technology he was shipping and used intermediary destinations to mask this illegal activity,” U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves stated in a press release. “Fortunately, our skilled law enforcement partners at HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and our dedicated attorneys unraveled the plot.”

The prosecution states that Postovoy’s clients included the Russian company Streloi Ekommerts and other unnamed firms. According to the indictment, the contract with Streloi was completed before the company was added to the U.S. sanctions list in December 2023.

An investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty found that Streloi actively helps Russia circumvent Western export restrictions.

Another recipient of the microelectronics, according to an invoice included in the case materials, was the Russian technology company Radius Avtomatika.

Neither company responded to emailed questions from VOA.

It is unclear whether the microelectronics Postovoy allegedly exported were ultimately used in drones, but one court document states that the people he contacted were members of Russia’s military-industrial complex.

Hong Kong story

Originally from Novosibirsk, Russia, Postovoy had lived in Hong Kong since at least 2010 with his wife — a Ukrainian citizen from Crimea — and their three children.

Shipping records indicate his companies were involved in exporting goods from Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, to Russia. Prosecutors allege that after the U.S. expanded its sanctions, some of this activity became illegal.

When the DOJ announced Postovoy’s arrest, it also listed the names of his companies that it said were involved in the alleged scheme. Aside from the Russian-registered firm Vektor Group, all the others were in Hong Kong: Jove HK Limited, JST Group Hong Kong and WowCube HK Limited.

All are now under U.S. sanctions, except for WowCube HK Limited.

Its appearance in the indictment provoked a rapid response from Cubios, another company previously associated with Postovoy. It produces the WOWCube gaming console, wich looks like a Rubik’s cube with multiple screens.

Just a day after Postovoy’s arrest was announced, Cubios publicly denied any connection to WowCube HK Limited.

“Neither Cubios nor any of its officers, directors, managers or employees … have any connection to the HK Entity whatsoever. We do not own, operate or are in any way affiliated with the HK Entity,” the company said in a statement on its website.

The startup also said that Postovoy “falsely listed himself as a VP of the Company” on LinkedIn.

In fact, Postovoy was previously Cubios’ vice president for production, according to archived versions of its website.

Ilya Osipov, CEO of Cubios, told VOA that a mutual friend introduced him to Postovoy.

“I was looking for someone who could help with production in China — they gave me Denis,” he wrote in a message to VOA.

According to Osipov, Postovoy became a business partner and made important contributions to prototypes and test batches of the WOWCube. Later the company decreased cooperation with him.

Although Postovoy did not have an official position, Cubios allowed him to call himself the vice president of production “for business purposes,” Osipov told VOA.

He claimed that Postovoy founded the Hong Kong firm without Cubios’ permission. It was planned to become a distributor of the consoles in Asia, but that never happened, Osipov said.

Coming to America

In 2022, Postovoy and his family moved to Sarasota, Florida, where Cubios’ headquarters is.

According to Osipov, Postovoy said the move was motivated by a desire to raise children in a Western country and concerns about increasingly strict Chinese control of Hong Kong.

American prosecutors see a different motivation.

In a response to U.S. federal investigators included in the case materials, Hong Kong police said Postovoy was charged on March 1, 2022, with money laundering — a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison and a fine of up to $643,000.

According to the email, Postovoy was scheduled to appear in court on March 4 but left Hong Kong the day before.

Hong Kong police did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.

By June 2022, Postovoy’s wife purchased a house in southeastern Sarasota.

Sarasota County property records indicate the house was valued at around $980,000. A mortgage covered $680,000 of the cost.

In August 2023, Postovoy bought another house, in the new Rivo Lakes gated community in Sarasota. According to purchase documents, it cost $1.13 million. In September, he transferred it to a trust controlled by his wife.

On the same day, his wife transferred the house to another trust and later sold the property.

According to a U.S. magistrate judge, Postovoy’s decision to transfer the second house into a trust was likely an attempt to conceal his ownership.

He “did not list his home — which is valued at nearly a million dollars and held in the name of a trust controlled by his wife — on his financial affidavit submitted to this Court,” the judge wrote in a decision not to grant Postovoy bail.

This may not be the only attempted cover-up in the case: Russian company records indicate that, in December 2023, a man named Dmitry Smirnov replaced Postovoy as owner of his Vektor Group company.

VOA’s Cantonese Service contributed research to this story.

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US envoy sees some ‘concerning signals’ in Russia-China military cooperation in Arctic

The United States is watching growing cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic closely and some of their recent military collaboration in the region sends “concerning signals”, the U.S. Arctic ambassador said.  

Russia and China have stepped up military cooperation in the Arctic while deepening overall ties in recent years that include China supplying Moscow with dual-use goods despite Western sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine. 

Russia and the United States are among eight countries with territory in the resource-rich Arctic. China calls itself a “near-Arctic” state and wants to create a “Polar Silk Road” in the Arctic, a new shipping route as the polar ice sheet recedes with rising temperatures.  

Michael Sfraga, the United States’ first ambassador-at-large for Arctic affairs, said the “frequency and the complexity” of recent military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in the region sent “concerning signals”. 

“The fact that they are working together in the Arctic has our attention,” Sfraga, who was sworn in last month, told Reuters in a telephone interview from Alaska. “We are being both vigilant and diligent about this. We’re watching very closely this evolution of their activity.” 

“It raises our radar, literally and figuratively,” he added.

Sfraga cited a joint run by Russian and Chinese bomber planes off the coast of Alaska in July, and Chinese and Russian coast guard ships sailing together through the Bering Strait in October.  

He said these activities had been conducted in international waters, in line with international law, but the fact that the bombers flew off the coast of Alaska had raised concerns for U.S. security. 

“We do need to think about security, heighten our own alliances, our own mutual defences,” Sfraga said. “Alaska, the North American Arctic, is NATO’s western flank and so we need to think about the Arctic that way.” 

The activity was also a concern for U.S. allies as the Bering Strait and the Bering Sea give access to the North Pacific and South Pacific, he said. 

The Pentagon said in a report released in July that the growing alignment between Russia and China in the Arctic was “a concern”.  

China and Russia are trying to develop Arctic shipping routes as Moscow seeks to deliver more oil and gas to China amid Western sanctions. Beijing is seeking an alternative shipping route to reduce its dependence on the Strait of Malacca. 

The Arctic also holds fossil fuels and minerals beneath the land and the seabed that could become more accessible with global warming.  

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Japan, EU announce new defense pact

TOKYO — Japan and the European Union announced a sweeping new security and defense partnership in Tokyo on Friday. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell hailed it as a historic and “very timely” step.

Borrell and his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, unveiled the pact to develop cooperation on joint military drills, the exchange of information related to the defense industry and space security, among other matters.

“I am extremely pleased to be here with Minister Iwaya to announce the conclusion of this security and defense partnership between the European Union and Japan,” Borrell said.

He called it the “the first agreement of this nature” the EU has made with an Asia-Pacific country, describing it as “historical and very timely.”

“We live in a very dangerous world” and “given the situation in both of our regions, this political framework deepens our ability to tackle emerging threats together,” Borrell told reporters.

He did not mention China, but Japan has previously called its neighbor its greatest security challenge as Beijing builds up military capacity in the region.

After the Tokyo talks, Borrell heads to South Korea, where concerns about North Korea will top the agenda.

The United States has said thousands of North Korean troops are in Russia readying to fight in Ukraine.

Pyongyang also test-fired one of its newest and most powerful missiles on Thursday, demonstrating its threat to the US mainland days ahead of elections.

Defense industries

The text of the EU-Japan Security and Defense Partnership, seen by Agence France-Presse, said they would promote “concrete naval cooperation,” including through activities such as joint exercises and port calls, which could also include “mutually designated third countries.”

It also said the EU and Japan would discuss “the development of respective defense initiatives including exchange of information on defense industry-related matters.”

Japan, which for decades has relied on the United States for military hardware, is also developing a new fighter jet with EU member Italy and Britain that is set to be airborne by 2035.

The agreement on industrial cooperation could “turbo-charge collaboration, such that joint defense projects between Japanese and European firms funded through EU mechanisms may be on the cards,” analyst Yee Kuang Heng of the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy told AFP.

Japan is ramping up defense spending to the NATO standard of 2% of GDP by 2027, partly to counter China, which is increasing military pressure on Taiwan.

Beijing claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who could head a minority government after a disastrous general election last week, has said that “today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia.”

Ishiba has also called for the creation of a NATO-like regional alliance with its tenet of collective security, although he has conceded this will “not happen overnight.”

The same warning was issued by Ishiba’s predecessor, Fumio Kishida, who was hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden for a state visit in April at which the allies announced plans to boost their defense partnership.

On Friday, Borrell and Iwaya also “exchanged an instrument of ratification for Japan EU Strategic Partnership Agreement, or SPA,” Iwaya said, referring to a separate, previously agreed-upon pact.

“This SPA will formally enter into force on January 1 next year. It will be a legal foundation to strengthen the Japan-EU strategic partnership into the future,” Iwaya said.

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North Korea says record test was new Hwasong-19 ICBM

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea flexed its military muscle with the test of a huge new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile dubbed Hwasong-19, state media said on Friday, amid international uproar over its troops deployed to aid Russia in Ukraine.

The launch on Thursday flew higher than any previous North Korean missile, according to the North as well as militaries in South Korea and Japan that tracked its flight deep into space before it splashed down in the ocean between Japan and Russia.

State news agency KCNA lauded it as “the world’s strongest strategic missile.”

While questions remain over North Korea’s ability to guide such a missile and protect a nuclear warhead as it reenters the atmosphere, the Hwasong-19, like North Korea’s other latest ICBMs, demonstrated the range to strike nearly anywhere in the United States.

“The new-type ICBM proved before the world that the hegemonic position we have secured in the development and manufacture of nuclear delivery means of the same kind is absolutely irreversible,” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said while overseeing the launch, KCNA reported.

The launch, days before Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, drew swift condemnation from Washington and its allies in South Korea, Japan and Europe, as well as the United Nations secretary-general.

“The missile continues to underwrite the growing credibility of North Korea’s strategic deterrent capabilities,” said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, adding that Kim appeared specifically interested in communicating that message to the United States.

Pyongyang-Moscow ties

On Friday, South Korea imposed new sanctions on 11 North Korean individuals and four entities over the ICBM test, naming officials for contributing to missile and nuclear development and channeling illegal foreign funds back to the country.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s unification ministry, which handles relations with the North, said the launch could have been for several purposes, including demonstrating military technology, pressuring Washington and diverting attention from the issue of sending North Korean troops to Russia.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blasted what he called his allies’ “zero” response to Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops for the war in Ukraine, which has also sparked worries that Moscow could provide sensitive military technology to Pyongyang in return.

Russia and North Korea have not denied the troop deployments and have defended their right to help each other.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon was very early in its assessment phase of the missile launch “and we don’t see any indication at this point that there was Russian involvement.”

KCNA said the launch did not affect the safety of neighboring countries and was an appropriate military step in the face of threats from North Korea’s enemies.

Although Russia may provide some specialists to assist with inspections or modifications, Kim Dong-yup of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul expressed skepticism it would share sensitive technology with Pyongyang.

“Even if some level of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is possible, they are likely to be very cautious when it comes to core military technologies.”

Heavier payloads

The Hwasong-19 will deploy alongside the Hwasong-18, which was first launched last year and is also powered by solid fuel, KCNA said.

Solid-fuel missiles do not need to be fueled immediately ahead of launch, are often easier and safer to operate and require less logistical support than liquid-fuel weapons.

“It can be stored and moved anywhere, allowing for excellent mobility, stealth and survivability,” said Kim of the University of North Korean Studies.

Photos released by KCNA showed a large, multi-stage missile launched from a canister carried by a transporter-erector-launcher vehicle. The agency showed photos from cameras that appeared to be attached to the missile, taking images of stage separations and the Earth.

“The increased length likely means a greater fuel capacity, which directly affects thrust and potentially increases range,” Kim said.

But North Korea’s existing missiles already had the range to reach anywhere in the United States, and the Hwasong-19’s expanded capacity combined with larger payload section is more likely designed to be able to carry heavier, and potentially multiple, nuclear warheads, he said.

“North Korea may continue testing to see if, during the final reentry phase, the warheads can separate and each head toward individual targets,” Kim added.

The Hwasong-19 flew of 1,001.2 kilometers for 85 minutes and 56 seconds before landing in the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, with a maximum altitude of 7,687.5 kilometers, KCNA said. 

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Tropical Storm Kong-rey threatens Shanghai and China’s coast

BEIJING — Typhoon Kong-rey weakened to a tropical storm overnight and was forecast to bring heavy rain and high winds to Shanghai and other parts of China’s east coast Friday.

The storm crossed Taiwan at typhoon strength the previous day, bringing down trees and causing landslides that covered roads and damaged houses. Two people died and more than 500 others were injured.

As workers and residents cleared up fallen trees and scattered scaffolding, a ride-hailing driver recounted a harrowing tale of being trapped in his vehicle after a huge tree uprooted and smashed into the passenger compartment Thursday night in Taipei, the capital city.

Elsewhere in Taiwan, authorities in the east coast province of Hualien said they had restored contact with a Czech couple feared missing. The two had pitched a tent in Taroko National Park and were in good condition, according to the official Central News Agency.

Kong-rey, which is a Cambodian name, was heading northeast along the Chinese coast with winds of 83 kph and could make landfall in Zhejiang province before veering back out to sea, the National Meteorological Center said.

The passing storm is expected to affect Shanghai and parts of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, with torrential rain of 10 to 12 centimeters possible in some areas.

Zhejiang and neighboring Fujian province suspended multiple ferry routes ahead of the approaching storm.

In Taiwan, light rain fell Friday morning in the capital of Taipei, while island-wide, schools and offices had largely reopened and public services were mostly restored.

The typhoon passed north of the Philippines earlier in the week, prompting fresh evacuations just days after devastating Tropical Storm Trami killed at least 145 people the previous week.

Intense rainfall caused in part by Trami also killed seven people in China’s Hainan province as the storm passed by the island, which is known for its beach resorts, off the country’s southern coast. 

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N. Korea boasts about new long-range missile, calls it ‘world’s strongest’

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Friday bragged about its recently tested new intercontinental ballistic missile, calling it “the world’s strongest.” Outside experts saw the claim as propaganda, though the test did show  advancement in the North’s quest to build a more reliable weapons arsenal. 

A missile that North Korea launched Thursday flew higher and stayed in the air longer than any other weapon the country has so far fired. It signaled that the North has achieved progress in acquiring a nuclear-armed ICBM that can hit the U.S. mainland. But foreign experts said the country has still a few technological issues to master. 

On Friday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency identified the missile as the “Hwasong-19” ICBM and called it “the world’s strongest strategic missile” and “the perfected weapon system.” 

KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un observed the launch, describing it as “an appropriate military action” to express North Korea’s resolve to respond to its enemies’ moves that escalated tensions and threats to North Korea’s national security. It said Kim thanked weapons scientists for demonstrating North Korea’s “matchless strategic nuclear attack capability.” 

South Korea’s military earlier said that North Korea could have tested a solid-fuel missile, but Friday’s KCNA dispatch didn’t say what propellant the Hwasong-19 ICBM uses. Observers said the color of exhaust flames seen in North Korean media photos of the launch suggested the new ICBM uses solid fuels. 

Before Thursday’s test, North Korea’s most advanced ICBM was known as the Hwasong-18 missile, which uses solid fuels.

Pre-loaded solid propellants make it easier to move missiles and require much less launch preparation times than liquid propellants that must be fueled before liftoffs. So it’s more difficult for opponents to detect launches by solid-fuel missiles. 

In recent years, North Korea has reported steady advancement in its efforts to obtain nuclear-tipped missiles. Many foreign experts believe North Korea likely has missiles that can deliver nuclear strikes on all of South Korea, but it has yet to possess nuclear missiles that can travel to the mainland U.S. 

There are questions about whether North Korea has acquired the technology to shield warheads from the high-temperature, high-stress environment of atmospheric reentry. Many foreign analysts say North Korea also must improve altitude control and guidance systems for missiles. They say North Korea needs the ability to place multiple warheads on a single missile to defeat its rivals’ missile defenses. 

All of North Korea’s known ICBM tests, including Thursday’s, have been performed at steep angles to avoid neighboring countries. South Korean military spokesperson Lee Sung Joon said Thursday that a high-angle trajectory launch cannot verify a missile’s re-entry vehicle technology, though North Korea has previously claimed to have acquired that technology. 

Observers say that Thursday’s launch, the North’s first ICBM test in almost a year, was largely meant to grab American attention days before the U.S. presidential election and respond to international condemnation of North Korea’s reported dispatch of troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine. 

North Korea’s reported troop dispatch highlights the expanding military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. South Korea. the U.S. and others worry North Korea might seek high-tech, sensitive Russian technology to perfect its nuclear and missile programs in return for joining the Russia-Ukraine war.

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Junta airstrikes lay waste to civilian lives in Myanmar’s Karenni State

Paekon Township, Myanmar / WASHINGTON — In a crowded church filled with mourners on September 6, a young high school teacher sat among friends, her face streaked with tears as she gazed at the makeshift shrouds covering the small bodies laid out before her.

Among them were her students — children she had taught, known and cared for deeply.

“I couldn’t recognize some of them,” she whispered to me, her voice trembling.

The previous night, the war refugee camp where she lives in Myanmar’s Paekon Township, near the Karenni and Shan state borders, had been transformed into a scene of unimaginable loss. The ruling junta had dropped two 500-pound bombs on the camp, killing 10 people, seven of them children.

The attack unfolded just before 9 p.m. local time, as families were settling in for the night. The ominous hum of a military plane filled the air, circling over the camp. Shouts of “Run! Run!” echoed as people scrambled for safety, but there was barely time to react.

The teacher described the chaos, recounting how, on its second pass, the plane released a bomb that tore through makeshift shelters filled with families.

“The children were covered in blood, wandering aimlessly in the dark,” she said, her voice heavy with grief. “Some were hit directly — only their small hands were visible. It was horrific.”

On the ground, scattered amid the rubble, lay textbooks and notebooks filled with the handwriting of the students — evidence of lives interrupted and dreams shattered. Pages written by those young hands lay torn and trampled, a haunting reminder of the futures lost in the blast.

Throughout the night, Karenni Armed Revolutionary Forces and camp officials worked tirelessly to rescue survivors and tend to the wounded, but the losses were devastating.

In the dim light of the following morning, the teacher’s sorrow echoed through the crowd of mourners, each bearing the weight of lives cut short.

“There is no safe place, no demilitarized zone,” she told me. “We cannot live like this, in constant fear.”

State symbolizes hope

Karenni State, known as Kayah, a beautiful mountainous region in eastern Myanmar, has become a powerful symbol of resistance and resilience in the country’s fight for democracy and federalism.

Nestled along the border with Thailand, Karenni is home to a diverse ethnic community with a distinct cultural heritage. Decades of conflict with Myanmar’s military regimes, beginning with Karenni’s fight for independence in 1957, have left the region deeply scarred. Yet its people push forward, determined to build a self-governing future and protect their land.

Reaching Karenni involved a challenging three-week journey, crossing from Thailand along rugged mountain roads while carefully avoiding junta outposts. Travel was only possible in areas controlled by Karenni resistance forces, who provided protection along the way.

Eventually, I reached Demoso, a town about 138 miles from Naypyidaw, the junta’s military-built capital. In Demoso, where electricity is rare, residents depend on generators and Starlink for internet, though outages are frequent. Artillery fire and airstrikes echo through the hills, a constant reminder of the relentless conflict gripping the region.

Despite these challenges, local leaders have forged ahead with efforts to establish a self-governing administration, train young resistance fighters and rebuild communities. Their successes have made them a model for other ethnic states in Myanmar striving for a future grounded in democracy and federalism.

‘Feels like retaliation’

The day after the airstrike, survivors and community members gathered at a Catholic cathedral about a 20-minute drive from the refugee camp to mourn the 10 lives lost in the junta’s assault.

Inside the church, the bodies of six children lay surrounded by grieving friends and neighbors; outside, makeshift graves marked the final resting places of others who had perished in the attack. The crowd gathered in silence, their faces clouded with sorrow as they paid their last respects.

A Catholic priest who also volunteers as a health worker voiced his suspicions about the timing of the bombing.

“The junta’s soldiers are dying in battles at the front. Just days ago, their chairman, Min Aung Hlaing, visited Loikaw and was fired upon,” he said.

“This [bombing] feels like retaliation against innocent refugees who had no way to defend themselves,” he said, his voice filled with quiet anger.

‘No time to run’

As I spoke with the survivors, their tragic stories weighed on me. I met a 14-year-old girl with severe injuries to her face and thigh when I visited a makeshift hospital whose exact location cannot be disclosed for security reasons.

Her younger brother, just 2 years old, had been hit in the head and could not be saved. “We were all sitting in our tent. I heard the plane but had no time to run,” she said.

Two sisters, both young students, lay nearby with broken bones and deep wounds. Their parents had sent them to the camp to protect them from the fighting.

I spoke to another seriously injured patient, the wife of a police officer who was injured in an earlier bombing that same morning. Her husband, standing next to her, told me, “They dropped two bombs on the building, then opened fire with machine guns. My wife is four months pregnant, and we lost the baby.”

Junta denies responsibility

At Dosei Middle School, located west of Demoso, the principal described to me the devastating attack on February 5 that leveled all three of the school’s buildings.

“The school, once filled with the lively shouts of students, fell silent within minutes as the sound of an approaching plane grew louder,” she recounted. “The roar of bombs exploding was quickly followed by the rattle of machine gunfire, leaving the classroom lifeless — the last refuge of four middle school students. There was no time to reach a bomb shelter.”

She added, “The elementary school children were incredibly lucky — they were outside for physical activities when the junta’s jet dropped bombs on the other side of the building. Otherwise, every child, including my youngest daughter, who studies here, would have been buried beneath the rubble.”

The junta consistently denies responsibility for civilian deaths caused by airstrikes in Karenni. Following the jet attack on February 5, the junta’s information team stated, “There were no Tatmadaw [Myanmar army] flights in Demoso Township on that day.”

Since the military seized power on February 1, 2021, Karenni State has become a battlefield, with civilians trapped between junta forces and Karenni resistance fighters.

Just one day before the September 5 airstrike, General Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Loikaw to meet with his troops. In response, the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force fired artillery toward Loikaw. The following night, junta forces shelled northern areas of Demoso, forcing families to flee again.

Pleas for protection

Throughout Karenni State, survivors echo the same plea — a desperate call for protection from relentless airstrikes and shelling. The Interim Executive Council of Karenni State, or IEC, condemned the bombing as “unprovoked violence” targeting civilians, including children.

At the site of the attack, the head of the Interior Department of the IEC expressed his outrage:

“I absolutely condemn this. It’s pure bullying — a brutal act of violence that I cannot accept. This is Karenni territory, where our people live and work. The damage is not only to property but to lives.”

The principal of Dosei Middle School also made a heartfelt appeal for action by the international community, including a halt to the sale of jet fuel to the junta and for stronger international pressure to stop the use of airstrikes against civilians.

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US: 8,000 N. Korean troops expected to join Ukraine fight ‘in coming days’

state department — Most of the North Korean troops sent to Russia are now deployed near the Ukrainian border and are expected to join the fight against Ukraine “in the coming days,” according to top U.S. and South Korean diplomats and military officials.

“We now assess that there are some 10,000 North Korean soldiers in total in Russia, and the most recent information indicates that as many as 8,000 of those North Korean forces have been deployed to the Kursk region,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday.

Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin co-hosted South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun in Washington on Thursday to discuss pressing security threats as they closely monitor North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to Russia.

“Our assessment is that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s forces have trained these North Korean soldiers in artillery operations, UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] operations and basic infantry operations,” Austin said during a joint press conference.

He also noted that Putin has provided the North Korean troops with Russian “uniforms and equipment,” and “all of that strongly indicates that Russia intends to use these foreign forces in front-line operations in its war of choice against Ukraine,” Austin added.  

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, over half a million Russian troops have been killed or wounded, according to U.S. officials. Facing an estimated 1,200 casualties daily, Russia is now turning to North Korea, a pariah state, to bolster its forces.

While Russia has used foreign volunteers and mercenaries in the Ukraine war, the current deployment marks the first time in 100 years that Russia has invited regular forces of another nation onto its soil. Should these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would become legitimate military targets, U.S. officials said.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is in talks with North Korea to deploy a “large number of civilians” to work at Russian weapons production facilities. Zelenskyy said he plans to discuss air defense assistance with South Korea.

Western nations have also expressed concerns about what North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime will get in return from Moscow for its troops. North Korea is under international sanctions for its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

No evidence of Russian technology

Earlier Thursday, North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in nearly a year, demonstrating a potential advancement in its ability to launch long-range nuclear attacks on the mainland U.S. 

It prompted swift condemnation from South Korea, Japan and the United States, which accused Pyongyang of raising tensions and risking the destabilization of regional security.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated through a spokesperson that North Korea’s missile launches using ballistic technology violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.

South Korea announced it would impose new sanctions on North Korea, including export controls on materials essential for producing solid-fuel missiles.

“It’s very early in our assessment phase, and we don’t see any indication at this point that there was Russian involvement,” said Austin.

Meanwhile, visiting South Korean officials in Washington noted that, although they cannot confirm Russian technical support in North Korea’s latest ICBM launch, they remain concerned about the potential transfer of technology and arms from Russia to North Korea.

Through a translator, Foreign Minister Cho told reporters, “We also need to watch what kind of quid pro quo the DPRK will receive from Russia” before deciding on weapons support to Ukraine. “Currently, we’re not in a position to share the specifics,” he added.

Cho was referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

The South Korean government indicated it would consider sending “weapons for defense and attack” and may also dispatch military and intelligence personnel to Ukraine to analyze North Korean battlefield tactics and assist in interrogations of captured North Koreans.

U.S. officials said additional security assistance for Ukraine will be announced soon, with continued support from over 50 countries to strengthen Ukraine’s defense in the coming months.

China’s silence

Washington and Seoul also urged Beijing to use its influence over Pyongyang to curb North Korea’s provocative activities.

This week, senior U.S. officials engaged in “a robust conversation” with Chinese officials, according to Blinken. He voiced alarm about Russia’s possible efforts to strengthen North Korea’s military capabilities, which “should be a real concern to China because it’s profoundly destabilizing in the region.”

Through a translator, Defense Minister Kim told reporters, “China still continues to be silent,” noting that a clearer assessment is that Beijing is watching and waiting. However, if the situation worsens, China may intervene, either as a mediator or in some other capacity.

“There will be a point where the interests of China will be violated, and it is at that point that China will begin to play a certain role,” Kim added.

Domestic instability

Some experts suggest that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is facing domestic instability. Although he has managed to alleviate some of these issues by securing money and food from Russia through the sale of munitions, his dwindling stockpiles have led him to shift to selling soldiers as a new source of revenue.

“The Russians are running 1,200 casualties a day in their fight in Ukraine,” said Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation. “If they use the North Koreans the same way — likely they will — there are going to be massive casualties in the North Korean forces.”

“This is a really dire development for the [North Korean] families whose kids have been sent to Ukraine. There could be some real instability that’s generated by his action,” Bennett told VOA.

VOA reporter Kim Lewis contributed to this report. 

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Anti-China sentiment said to be growing in Myanmar

bangkok — A recent attack on a Chinese consulate in Myanmar reflects growing anti-Chinese sentiment in the country fed by Beijing’s support of the ruling junta, experts say. 

On October 18, the Chinese consulate in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, was struck by a small explosive device. Reports say the building was damaged but there were no casualties. 

It was the first attack was on a Chinese diplomatic facility in Myanmar since anti-China riots in Yangon in 1967. 

In a statement to journalists, the nation’s military authorities said the blast damaged tiles on the roof of the two-story building and that they were seeking to identify and arrest the “terrorists” who were responsible.  

Two weeks later, no one has been caught and no group has claimed responsibility, but anti-China sentiment exists, experts say. 

Ye Myo Hein, a visiting senior expert at the United States Institute of Peace and global fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, said strong anti-China sentiment has been brewing since Myanmar’s military seized power on February 1, 2021. 

“Immediately following the coup, the public perceived China as supportive of the junta, resulting in strong anti-Chinese sentiment among the general population,” he told VOA. 

Anti-Chinese sentiment grows 

Myanmar has been in chaos since General Min Aung Hlaing and his military forces overthrew the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Backers of the ousted government have joined forces with various ethnic armies to resist the junta’s rule. 

China distanced itself from the junta for a time, but recently renewed its support. When it did, Ye Myo Hein said, anti-Chinese sentiment began to rise again.  

“It is difficult to determine who was responsible for the attacks on the Chinese consulate, but if China continues its pro-junta stance, it will likely face growing public animosity,” he said. 

The military has been sanctioned and condemned by the U.S. and Western countries, but it has retained some support from countries such as China and Russia.   

“Whoever was behind the consulate bombing, it suggests that there are multiple strands of anti-Chinese anger, against the support for the regime and against the perceived support of China for the Kokang occupation of Lashio,” David Scott Mathieson, an independent analyst with more than two decades of experience focusing on Myanmar, told VOA.   

Kokang, which is in northern Myanmar’s Shan State, sits on the border with China. It is home to 90% ethnic Chinese and is an important trade route between the two countries. 

In the past year, three allied pro-democracy ethnic groups have captured the city from Myanmar military forces. Beijing negotiated a cease-fire between the allied brotherhood and the junta in January but it was short-lived. 

China did succeed in getting the ethnic groups to assist in a crackdown on Chinese crime rings in northern Shan state that had been targeting Chinese citizens with online scams. 

China now appears to be backing both sides of the conflict. But with rebel forces capturing more territory over the past year, Beijing is showing its concern over the rapid deterioration of the junta’s position. 

In late July, after ethnic groups captured Lashio, a town in the northeast, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw. 

China also recently closed its borderlands and key trade routes under the control of Myanmar’s rebel groups, Reuters reported. 

One Chinese national who lives in Myanmar told VOA’s Mandarin Service that he believes the consulate attack was not a terrorist incident, but an expression of dissatisfaction with China.  

He added that since the coup, there have been protests against China’s government in various parts of Myanmar. In March 2021, several Chinese factories in Myanmar were burned and destroyed during mass protests against the coup. 

“China has to take this rising public anger very seriously, as it could potentially descend into violence in urban areas and against Chinese nationals and economic assets, but also Myanmar-Chinese communities as well,” Mathieson told VOA this week. 

“Has Beijing really thought through all these dilemmas? Or is its cynically arrogant support for the SAC at such levels the Chinese leadership don’t care about consequences?”  

The SAC is short for the State Administration Council, a reference to the junta. 

History of supporting military

Over the last three decades, Beijing has supplied the Myanmar military with major arms. The military has used those arms to crush those opposing their rule, with nearly 6,000 people killed, according to rights groups.   

China is also Myanmar’s biggest trade partner and has invested billions into the country’s oil and gas sector.  

“Since the junta is widely despised, Beijing’s support for it will almost certainly fuel anti-Chinese sentiment,” Ye Myo Hein said. 

Nevertheless, diplomacy is continuing between the two regimes, as Myanmar junta boss Min Aung Hlaing is expected to pay a return visit to China in November. 

VOA reporter Katherine Michaelson contributed to this report.   

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Pakistan says China’s remarks on safety of its citizens ‘perplexing’

Islamabad — Pakistan pushed back Thursday against China’s criticism of the safety of Chinese personnel in the country, calling the comments “perplexing” and contrary to established diplomatic traditions between the neighbors.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch said at a weekly news conference in Islamabad that the government is dedicated to ensuring the security of Chinese nationals, projects, and institutions in Pakistan. 

Baloch was responding to a rare public warning from the Chinese ambassador to the country, Jiang Zaidong, who urged Islamabad to take action against militants responsible for several deadly attacks on Chinese workers. 

Jiang labeled the violence “unacceptable” and cautioned that it poses “a constraint” on Beijing’s investments under its Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI.

“The statement of the Chinese ambassador is perplexing and is not reflective of the diplomatic traditions between Pakistan and China,” Baloch said. “We will continue to engage with our Chinese brothers to reassure them of Pakistan’s complete commitment to their security and well-being in Pakistan,” she added. 

Jiang, while addressing a seminar in Islamabad, referenced suicide car bombings in March and October of this year, which resulted in the deaths of seven Chinese personnel. It raised the number of Chinese workers killed in Pakistan to 21 since the countries launched a massive infrastructure project as part of the BRI about a decade ago.

“It is unacceptable for us to be attacked twice in only six months,” the Chinese diplomat stated, speaking through his interpreter. He stressed the need for Islamabad to take “effective remedial measures to prevent the recurrence of such terror acts and ensure that perpetrators are identified, caught, and punished.”

It is unprecedented for Pakistan to respond publicly to China’s criticism, and it is extremely rare for the Chinese ambassador to admonish Islamabad for alleged security lapses against Chinese engineers and workers.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, considered the flagship project of the BRI, has brought more than $25 billion in Chinese investment to enhance Pakistan’s infrastructure, facilitating improved bilateral trade and further integrating the broader South Asian region.

Jiang urged Pakistan to take action against “all anti-China terrorist groups,” stating that “security is the biggest concern” for Beijing. He added that “without a safe and sound environment, nothing can be achieved.”

Baloch said investigations into attacks on Chinese workers are ongoing and said the findings have been communicated to Beijing. She did not elaborate. 

CPEC has resulted in roads, highways, primarily coal-fired power plants, and the strategic deepwater Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, while addressing Tuesday’s seminar organized by the Islamabad-based independent Pakistan-China Institute, assured the Chinese ambassador that his country was taking action against terrorists and tightening the security of Chinese nationals.

Dar stated that Pakistan would share the progress with China in high-level talks next month.

“The Chinese are very clear; no matter how lucrative an investment is anywhere, if the security issue is there, they do not send Chinese personnel. Your country is the only exception,” he told the audience, quoting Chinese leaders as telling Pakistani counterparts in recent meetings.

Critics argue that Pakistan’s financial difficulties and political instability have discouraged China from making new investments in the CPEC.

After the launch of CPEC projects, Pakistan’s military formed a specially trained unit of over 13,000 troops to safeguard the initiatives nationwide. But the attacks on Chinese nationals have led to doubts about the effectiveness of the military unit.

Most of the recent attacks on Chinese workers and engineers have been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, a prominent separatist group waging insurgent attacks in Balochistan.

The group, which is made up of militants from the Baloch ethnic minority, accuses China of helping Pakistan exploit the province’s natural resources and has been calling for Beijing to withdraw its CPEC and other investments.

Both countries reject the allegations, saying Baloch insurgents are on a mission to subvert development in the impoverished province and undermine Pakistan’s close ties with China.

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Papua New Guinea to boycott ‘waste of time’ UN climate summit

Papua New Guinea on Thursday declared a boycott of next month’s UN climate summit, branding the global warming negotiations a “waste of time” full of empty promises from big polluters.

While plenty have criticized the annual COP summit in the past, it is rare for any government to so totally dismiss the UN’s premier climate talks.

“There’s no point going if we are falling asleep because of jet lag because we’re not getting anything done,” Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko told AFP ahead of November’s COP29 summit in Azerbaijan.

“All the big polluters of the world promise and commit millions to assist in climate relief and support. And I can tell you now it’s all going to consultants.”

The island of New Guinea is home to the third-largest expanse of rainforest on the planet, according to the World Wildlife Fund, and has long been celebrated as one of the “lungs of the earth.”

Impoverished, flanked by ocean, and already prone to natural disasters, Papua New Guinea is also considered to be highly vulnerable to the unfolding perils of climate change.

“COP is a total waste of time,” Tkatchenko said.

“We are sick of the rhetoric as well as the merry-go-round of getting absolutely nothing done over the last three years.”

“We are the third-biggest rainforest nation in the world. We are sucking up the pollutants of these major countries. And they are getting away with it scot-free.”

‘Talk fest’

The COP summit in 2015 hammered out the landmark Paris Agreement, under which almost every country in the world has agreed to slash emissions to limit soaring global temperatures.

But subsequent gatherings have been dogged by growing criticism, stoked by a perception that big polluters are using their sway to limit further climate action.

Meanwhile, adaptation funds set up through COP to help developing nations have been accused of sluggish bureaucracy that fails to grasp the urgency of the crisis.

Civil society groups banded together last year to urge a boycott of the COP summit hosted by the United Arab Emirates, claiming the meeting would “greenwash” the petrostate’s poor climate credentials.

Underwhelmed by proposed emissions cuts, dozens of African nations led a temporary walkout of developing nations during the 2009 COP talks in Copenhagen.

And Ukraine has pressed its allies to avoid this year’s summit if Russian leader Vladimir Putin shows face.

But Papua New Guinea is among the first nations to have voiced such a full-throated call to boycott the COP summit altogether.

“Why are we spending all this money going to the other side of the world going to these talkfests,” said Tkatchenko.

‘No traction’

Papua New Guinea is one of five Pacific nations involved in a pivotal International Court of Justice case that will soon test whether polluters can be sued for neglecting their climate obligations.

Low-lying Pacific nations such as Tuvalu could be almost entirely swallowed by rising oceans within the next 30 years.

Tkatchenko said the decision to pull out of COP talks had been applauded by others within the Pacific bloc.

“I’m speaking up on behalf of the smaller island states that are worse off than Papua New Guinea. They were getting no traction and acknowledgement at all.”

Papua New Guinea would instead seek to strike its own climate deals through bilateral channels, said Tkatchenko, flagging that negotiations were already under way with Singapore.

“With like-minded countries like Singapore, we can do 100 times more than COP.

“They have a big carbon footprint, and we would like to think about how they can work with Papua New Guinea to fix that up.”

A key meeting ahead of COP29 ended in frustration earlier this month, with countries making little progress on how to fund a new finance deal for poorer nations.

COP — or conference of parties — is the top United Nations climate change conference, an annual summit in which nations look to determine legally binding climate commitments.

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Taiwan shuts down as strong Typhoon Kong-rey hits, 1 dead

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A strong Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on Taiwan’s east coast on Thursday, the largest storm by size to hit the island in nearly 30 years, closing financial markets, causing hundreds of flights to be canceled and reducing rail services.

The typhoon knocked out power to nearly half a million households, the government said.

The storm hit the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast county of Taitung, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, with strong winds and torrential rain affecting almost all the island.

The fire department reported one person had died when their truck hit a fallen tree in central Taiwan.

At one point a super typhoon, Kong-rey slightly weakened overnight but remained powerful as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane packing gusts of more than 250 kph (155 mph), according to Tropical Storm Risk.

Taiwan’s weather administration put the typhoon’s size at the biggest to hit the island since 1996.

“I hope that everyone in the country will co-operate in avoiding disaster and refraining from engaging in dangerous behavior such as wave watching during the typhoon,” President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook page.

Administration forecaster Gene Huang said after hitting the east coast it would head toward the Taiwan Strait as a much weakened storm and urged people across the island to stay at home due to the danger of high winds.

Environmental officials were working on Thursday to prevent oil leaking from a Chinese cargo ship beached against rocks on Taiwan’s northern coast after losing power in turbulent weather.

Warnings for destructive winds of more than 160 kph (100 mph) were issued in Taitung, whose outlying Lanyu island recorded gusts above 260 kph (162 mph) before some of the wind-barometers there went offline.

“It was terrifying last night. Many people on the island didn’t sleep, worrying about something happening to their house,” Sinan Rapongan, a government official on Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island, told Reuters.

Some roofs had been damaged and more than 1,300 homes had lost power but so far no injuries had been reported, she added.

Parts of eastern Taiwan recorded one meter (3.3 feet) of rainfall since the typhoon began approaching on Wednesday.

The defense ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby to help with rescue efforts, while almost 10,000 people have been evacuated from high risk areas ahead of time, the government said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and major supplier to companies like Apple  and Nvidia, said it has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its factories and construction sites.

“We do not expect significant impact to our operations,” it said in an emailed statement.

Taiwan’s transport ministry said 314 international flights had been canceled, along with all domestic flights.

Taiwan’s high speed railway, which connects major cities on its populated western plains, continued to operate with a much-reduced service.

Kong-rey is forecast to graze China along the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning. China’s financial hub Shanghai is bracing for potentially the worst rains in more than 40 years.

Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last one, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.

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Slovak PM Fico visits China in attempt for a pro-Beijing diplomatic turn

Vienna — Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico begins a six-day visit to China Thursday that includes a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and stops in the central city of Hefei and Shanghai to attend the opening ceremony for this year’s China International Import Expo. 

Analysts say China is hoping to use the visit to strengthen ties with Slovak’s prime minister who is an ally of Viktor Orban and, like Hungary’s leader, has been critical of Russian sanctions and the EU’s support of Ukraine. 

Since coming to power, Fico has been interested in a more pro-China foreign policy. His trip to China, which was scheduled for June, was aborted due to an assassination attempt in May and has not been possible until now.

Fico is the longest-serving prime minister since the founding of the Republic of Slovakia in 1993.

Since first taking office in 2006, Fico has stepped down twice between 2010 and 2012 and between 2018 and 2023. In 2018, he resigned and gave way to his political ally, Peter Pellegrini, because of a political crisis sparked by the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak.

After Pellegrini’s defeat in the 2020 parliamentary elections, the Ordinary People and the Independent Personalities Party formed a new coalition government. During this period, Slovakia pushed for a more pro-Taiwan and values-oriented diplomatic line, which drew resentment in Beijing.

In the 2023 parliamentary elections, Fico won again and returned to power.

The Fico government advocates an “all-azimuth” foreign policy, including strengthening cooperation with Russia and China. In addition to this year’s trip to China, Fico plans to visit Russia next year to attend the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Matej Šimalčík, executive director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, told VOA the so-called “all-azimuth” foreign policy is a euphemism that means “to engage in economic relations with any country, without taking any considerations for political values, human rights, or security considerations.” 

Šimalčík said, “Fico’s government has also markedly toned down the scope of interactions with Taiwan, with some of his close political allies being outright proponents of PRC’s [China’s] interpretation of the ‘One-China Principle,” which holds that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.

Filip Šebok, head of the Prague office at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, said, “Fico has many times declared he does not want ‘Brussels’ to dictate Slovakia on these issues, and for him, it is a way to boost his credentials in leading a ‘sovereign’ Slovak foreign policy, despite criticism.

“Actually, domestically, it is good for Fico to claim he is doing something that is opposite to what is the Western mainstream, as he can maintain the support of his electorate. It is also a way to differentiate from the previous government, which was hawkish on Russia, and on China to some extent as well.”

Analysts say that Fico’s visit to China also serves an economic purpose.

Pavel Havlíček, a research fellow at the Association for International Affairs, said Fico is seeking partnerships and investments from countries outside of Europe.

“Among them, Russia and China are playing a special place, as was repeatedly mentioned when — for example — referring to the plan of the Slovak government to restore economic relations with Russia after the war.

“In the case of the PRC, the Slovak government is seeing investments and enhanced relations, too, to compensate for the lack of economic growth.”

Šebok said the Slovak government has pledged to focus more on supporting economic engagement, such as boosting Slovak exporters or attracting investments in Slovakia.

“The government has, for example, increased the number of economic diplomats around the world and also opened new embassies in Asia or Africa explaining them mostly as a way to boost economic diplomacy,” Šebok said.

“In this perspective, China is presented as a major economic partner, and Fico will be leading a relatively large business delegation to China. Fico specifically wants to engage China in PPP [public private partnership] projects for the reconstruction/construction of transport infrastructure around the country.”

Fico plans to work with China to promote large-scale infrastructure projects in Slovakia, including the reconstruction of roads and bridges, the expansion of the railway between the capital Bratislava and the city of Komárno, the completion of the Bratislava highway bypass and the construction of a hydroelectric power plant.

In the recent vote on European tariffs on electric vehicles from China, the Fico government voted against it.

“Slovakia, through the Volkswagen plant, has exported a large number of cars to China,” Šebok said. “It is particularly exposed to Chinese retaliation to EU tariffs on Chinese EV imports, as China directly hinted that it might target large engine vehicles from the EU, which are exported from Germany and Slovakia.

“What is paradoxical is that tariffs on Chinese EVs can actually be also indirectly good for Slovakia, as they can push more Chinese EV producers to set up manufacturing in Europe as a way to avoid tariffs,” he added.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

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North Korea long-range ballistic missile test splashes down between Japan and Russia

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea and Japan said, a day after Seoul reported the North was making preparations to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The launch, at a sharply raised angle, was from an area near the North’s capital, Pyongyang, at 7:10 a.m. (2210 GMT), the Joint Chiefs said in a statement. The Japanese government later said the missile dropped into the sea at 8:37 a.m. (2337 GMT).

“It is believed the North Korea ballistic missile is a long-range ballistic missile fired at a high angle,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

Earlier, the Japanese government said the missile was expected to land about 300 kilometers west of its Okushiri Island off its northern Hokkaido region, outside its exclusive economic zone and toward the Russian coast.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba later said there had been no reported damage from the launch.

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Japan strongly condemns the North’s action, which threatened not only Japan but also the international community. He said the flight time was likely the longest of North Korean missile launches and could be a new type of missile.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Command said the North had placed a mobile launcher at a location making preparations to launch what could be an ICBM around the time of the U.S. presidential election, which takes place Tuesday.

North Korea has conducted a series of ICBM test launches at a sharply steep trajectory to let the projectiles drop within much shorter distances relative to the designed range, partly for safety and to avoid the political fallout of sending a missile far into the Pacific.

But a launch with a flatter, standard trajectory is considered essential for ICBM development to ensure the warhead is capable of making a reentry into the atmosphere while maintaining control to hit an intended target.

The North last test launched an ICBM in December last year, a projectile fueled by solid-propellant and fired from a road launcher. That launch was also at a sharply raised angle and gave a flight time that could translate to a potential range of 15,000 kilometers on a normal trajectory.

That is a distance that puts anywhere in the mainland United States within range.

North Korea has come under international condemnation after South Korea and the United States said Pyongyang had dispatched 11,000 troops to Russia for deployment in the war in Ukraine, with 3,000 of them already moved close to the front lines.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun condemned the deployment at a meeting in Washington on Wednesday.

North Korea’s move to make its troops co-belligerents fighting alongside the Russians has the potential to lengthen the already 2 ½-year Ukraine conflict and draw in others, Austin said.

North Korea has already been supplying arms to Russia including missiles, artillery and anti-tank rockets in more than 13,000 containers since August last year, according to the South’s intelligence agency. Ukraine authorities have also said some of missiles fired by Russia were from the North.

At a summit in June in Pyongyang, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive partnership treaty that included a mutual defense pact.

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang directly acknowledged the supply of weapons from North Korea or the deployment of North Korean troops to the Ukraine war. Putin has said how Russia implements its partnership with North Korea is its own business.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will hold strategic consultations in Moscow with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Russia said Wednesday. 

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China-Russia cooperation blocks Antarctic conservation proposals

taipei, taiwan — China and Russia are deepening cooperation in Antarctica in a trend that analysts say could undermine marine conservation efforts and disrupt the long-standing status quo in the resource-rich region.

China and Russia were accused of collaborating to block key proposals that would establish new marine protected areas and revise the krill fishery management plan in the Southern Ocean, during the annual conference of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Australia last week.

The commission was established in 1982 and is a part of the Antarctic Treaty System, which establishes the legal status of Antarctica and comprises four different treaties.

CCAMLR focuses on preserving marine life and other resources in the Antarctic. The commission has 26 members, including China, Russia, the United States, Australia and the European Union.

Any member state can veto a proposed measure, and Russia and China have repeatedly used that power to block proposed conservation efforts by the council over the years.

Some member states said every proposed measure at this year’s conference, including the establishment of four new marine protected areas and an extension of existing krill management measures, was blocked by China or Russia or both.

“Most concerning was the failure of some members to support the extension of existing krill management measures while the harmonization process is progressed,” a spokesperson of the Australian Antarctic Division told VOA in a written response.

“This is a backwards step for CCAMLR and puts krill, and the ecosystems and predators it supports, at risk,” the spokesperson added. Krill are small shrimp-like crustaceans that play a crucial role in the marine food chain.

Limit on krill fishing

The measure that CCAMLR member states hope to preserve is the mechanism that limits krill fishing in a protected area near the Antarctic Peninsula to no more than 620,000 tons.

Another 620,000 tons of fishable krill are redistributed across several subareas to prevent overconcentration of krill fishing in one area.

The measure needs to be renewed annually during the CCAMLR meeting with the approval of all the commission’s member states. Analysts said China’s and Russia’s move to block the rollover of the krill measure will affect the sustainability of a crucial food source for species such as penguins, seals and whales.

“If there’s too much krill fishing in one small region of Antarctica, it will restrict the amount of food available to the seal and penguin populations,” Tony Press, an expert on Antarctic affairs at the University of Tasmania, told VOA in a video interview.

In his view, other countries within CCAMLR should try to collectively challenge China’s and Russia’s decisions to block the proposed conservation measures through diplomatic means or decide to implement the proposed measures without involving Beijing or Moscow.

“Other countries could decide that Russia and China’s behaviors mean they would have to start implementing decisions among themselves,” Press said.

Experts say China and Russia refuse to support the proposed measures because they think setting up more marine protected areas will lead to more areas in the Antarctic becoming unavailable for use or development.

“They think once a marine protected area is adopted, it creates a snowball effect and generates more support behind the development of additional marine protected areas, which both countries think could lead to all marine living resource exploitation in the Southern Ocean being completely prohibited,” said Donald Rothwell, professor of international law at Australian National University.

Lynda Goldsworthy, a research associate at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, said one of China’s objectives in increasing its fishery footprint in the Southern Ocean is to “increase geopolitical influence in the Antarctic region.”

But since Russia is not as invested in the Southern Ocean as before, Goldsworthy said its decision to block marine conservation efforts in Antarctica is driven by an attempt to challenge the rules-based world order.

“Russia is playing the disruptor and [the objections] are part of their global disruption approach,” she told VOA by phone.

The Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian Embassy in the U.S. have not responded to VOA’s request for comments. The Chinese Foreign Ministry and Chinese Embassy in Australia also have not responded to requests for comments from VOA.

CCAMLR successfully established two marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean in 2009 and 2017, but no new zones have been established since then. The four new zones proposed during the 2024 meeting would increase the protected area in the Southern Ocean to 26%.

Antarctic status quo

The deepened cooperation between China and Russia in Antarctica comes as Beijing expands its presence across the continent. In February, China inaugurated a new scientific research station near a U.S. research station. The development raises concerns among some security analysts that China may collect intelligence or develop its dual-used capabilities through the station.

China’s increased presence in Antarctica has allowed Beijing to more boldly assert its agenda in some regional bodies such as CCAMLR, said Press.

China’s behavior at last week’s conference “is a reflection of their confidence because they are now a party with a significant presence in the Antarctic,” he told VOA.

“A lot of what they [China and Russia] are doing points to the idea that the actions they take now are to ensure there are no curbs on any future actions they might take,” Press added.

Goldsworthy said the growing synergy between China and Russia in Antarctica could create potential challenges for the Antarctic Treaty System.

“There had been blockages for the protection of penguins on the Antarctic continent, and I do think both Russia and China are positioning themselves for [mineral mining] when or if the current mining ban is lifted,” she told VOA.

While Beijing and Moscow have been consistently blocking CCAMLR’s proposals, Rothwell said it is unclear whether that trend has “totally infected decision-making within the Antarctic Treaty,” which designates the continent as a demilitarized zone for peaceful purposes and scientific research.

Even if China and Russia can’t easily challenge the treaty, Rothwell said that China “will find it advantageous to align itself with Russia,” in order to fulfill its aspirations to exercise control and influence in Antarctica.

Goldsworthy added that if China and Russia maintain their “combative approach” in the Antarctic Treaty System, which includes CCAMLR, it could turn “a safe and secure region” into a “much less peace-oriented” continent.

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China warns security threats to its nationals impede BRI investments in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — China has increased diplomatic pressure on close ally Pakistan to take action against the militants responsible for repeated attacks on Chinese workers, warning that the violence is “unacceptable” and poses “a constraint” on Beijing’s investments under its Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI.

The rare public warning accusing Islamabad of consistent security lapses concerning Chinese workers was issued by Beijing’s ambassador, Jiang Zaidong, while addressing a seminar in Islamabad this week. Analysts said the remarks reflect China’s increasing frustration with the security risks facing its workers in the South Asian nation.

Jiang referenced suicide car bombings in March and October of this year, which resulted in the deaths of seven Chinese personnel. It raised the number of Chinese workers killed in Pakistan to 21 since the countries launched a massive bilateral connectivity project as part of the BRI about a decade ago.

“It is unacceptable for us to be attacked twice in only six months,” the Chinese diplomat stated, speaking through his interpreter. He stressed the need for Islamabad to take “effective remedial measures to prevent the recurrence of such terror acts and ensure that perpetrators are identified, caught, and punished.”

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, considered the flagship project of the BRI, has brought more than $25 billion in Chinese investment to enhance Pakistan’s infrastructure, facilitating improved bilateral trade and further integrating of the broader South Asian region.

Jiang urged Pakistan to take action against “all anti-China terrorist groups,” stating that “security is the biggest concern” for Beijing and “a constraint on CPEC” projects. He added that “without a safe and sound environment, nothing can be achieved.”

The CPEC has built roads, highways, primarily coal-fired power plants, and the strategic deepwater Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, while addressing Tuesday’s seminar organized by the Islamabad-based independent Pakistan-China Institute, assured the Chinese ambassador that his country was taking action against terrorists and tightening the security of Chinese nationals.

Dar stated that Pakistan would share the progress with China in high-level talks next month.

“The Chinese are very clear; no matter how lucrative an investment is anywhere, if the security issue is there, they do not send Chinese personnel. Your country is the only exception,” he told the audience, quoting Chinese leaders as telling Pakistani counterparts in recent meetings.

Critics argue that Pakistan’s financial difficulties and political instability have discouraged China from making new investments in the CPEC.

Michael Kugelman, an expert on South Asian affairs based in Washington, told VOA that Beijing’s security concerns have made it challenging for the mega project to regain momentum anytime soon.

“When the Chinese envoy publicly upbraids Pakistan for not providing proper security, you know there is a big problem,” said Kugelman, who directs the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.

“I imagine the objective moving forward will be carefully working to maintain and advance existing projects but being cautious about agreeing to new ones until China feels less concerned about security risks,” he added.

After the launch of CPEC projects, Pakistan’s military formed a specially trained unit of over 13,000 troops to safeguard these initiatives nationwide. But the attacks on Chinese nationals have led to concerns regarding the effectiveness of this military unit.

Hasnain Javed, a Beijing-based Pakistani foreign research associate, noted that China had never before publicly criticized Islamabad.

“This is a strong rebuttal and a serious dissatisfaction over the poor security around CPEC,” Javed told VOA in written comments. “Now, when the military is the main guarantor, particularly for security, the Chinese seem to be running on low patience.”

Most of the recent attacks on Chinese workers and engineers have been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, a prominent separatist group waging insurgent attacks in Balochistan.

The group, which is made up of militants from the Baloch ethnic minority, accuses China of helping Pakistan to exploit the province’s natural resources and has been calling for Beijing to withdraw its CPEC and other investments.

Both countries reject the allegations, saying Baloch insurgents are on a mission to subvert development in the impoverished province and undermine Pakistan’s close ties with China.

The BLA, listed as a global terrorist organization by the United States, has lately intensified guerrilla attacks in Balochistan, killing hundreds of Pakistanis, primarily security force members, in recent months.

During his visit to Pakistan earlier in October, Chinese Premier Li Qiang also highlighted the significance of security for economic development and cooperation.

A post-visit joint statement quoted the Chinese side as stressing “the need and urgency to take targeted security measures in Pakistan to jointly create a safe environment for cooperation between the two countries.”

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Cambodian archaeologists discover centuries-old statues at Angkor

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — Archaeologists in Cambodia have unearthed a dozen centuries-old sandstone statues in a “remarkable discovery” at the Angkor World Heritage Site near the city of Siem Reap, authorities said Wednesday.

The statues — depicting “door guardians” — were discovered last week near the north gate leading to the 11th-century Royal Palace at Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Khmer Empire, said Long Kosal, spokesperson for the Apsara National Authority, the government agency that oversees the archaeological park.

Teams were assessing the ancient gate’s structure and searching for fallen stones around the portal on the north side of Angkor Thom, one of four entrances to the complex, when the discovery was made.

The statues depict guardians standing at attention and vary in size from about 1 meter to 110 centimeters (about 39 to 43 inches). They were found buried at depths of up to 1.4 meters (4.5 feet), and some are in surprisingly good shape, with each featuring unique facial hair ornaments, adding to their distinctiveness, archaeologist Sorn Chanthorn said.

“Experts believe these door guardian statues exemplify the Khneang Style, aligning with the construction period of the 11th-century palace.” the Apsara National Authority said.

Angkor Thom is part of the Angkor Archaeological Park, a complex that sprawls over some 400 square kilometers (155 square miles), named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and one of Southeast Asia’s most popular tourist destinations.

It contains the ruins of Khmer Empire capitals from the 9th to 15th centuries, including the temple of Angkor Wat.

The site, near Siem Reap, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh, drew more than 500,000 international visitors in the first half of 2024, according to Cambodia’s Tourism Ministry.

The archaeological dig was a collaborative project between Apsara and the China-Cambodia Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor, Apsara said.

Following the discovery of the statues, the archaeological team carefully documented their positions before removing them for cleaning and restoration. They will eventually be returned to their original locations, authorities said.

Many Khmer cultural treasures were looted during the long period of civil war and instability when Cambodia was ruled by the brutal communist Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

Cambodia has benefited from a trend that in recent decades has seen the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures taken from their homelands. In August, it celebrated the return of dozens of artifacts from museums and private collections abroad.

It has also come under criticism for efforts to clean up the Angkor site, which has involved relocating thousands of families in what Amnesty International has condemned as a “gross violation of international human rights law.”

At its meeting in July, the U.N.’s World Heritage Committee recommended that Cambodia invite a new team of experts to monitor the situation.

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US experts see Pyongyang’s Russia gambit as no-win situation for China

China’s response to Russia’s growing influence over North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Un, likely combines “exasperation” and “panic” as Beijing appears to be losing control over its client state, according to former U.S. policy and intelligence officials.

They noted that the explicit security partnership between China’s two neighbors —Russia and North Korea — could undermine China’s strategic position in East Asia and has long-term implications that are not beneficial for China.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will hold “strategic consultations” in Moscow with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, as the United States, South Korea, and NATO express alarm that Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to train in Russia.

U.S. officials believe Russia intends to use North Korean soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region. South Korea has condemned that as a significant security threat to the international community.

In Beijing, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, and Russian deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko held talks Wednesday, with Wang reaffirming the strong ties between the two nations. The officials exchanged views on Ukraine but did not disclose details of their discussion.

But Chinese officials have avoided direct comments on North Korea dispatching thousands of troops to Russia.

“China calls for all parties to deescalate the situation and strive for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. This position remains unchanged,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, repeated Beijing’s stance during a briefing on Tuesday.  

China’s panic

“The radio silence in Beijing on this subject is staggering,” said Dennis Wilder, a former senior intelligence official with the CIA.

Wilder said Chinese President Xi Jinping is unlikely to say anything publicly as he faces an unpredictable Kim Jong Un.

“The Chinese have been very careful about nuclear assistance to the North Koreans, keeping them on IV drip of economic support so North Korea remains stable. But if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin goes down the road of nuclear assistance, this will bolster the American alliances in East Asia, maybe creating a true NATO.”

“And so [Chinese President Xi Jinping is] in a very, very difficult spot,” said Wilder during a seminar hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, on Tuesday.

Wilder suggested that the U.S. could leverage its intelligence channels with China for joint data collection and analysis.

Former White House national security council senior official Victor Cha said that by sending troops, North Korea is making a “downpayment” to Russia on a mutual security partnership — something Pyongyang could never secure from Beijing.

In China, he said, “There’s probably a combination of a little bit of exasperation, a little bit of panic and a little bit of they don’t know what to do with regard to the current situation.

“The panic is that Russia now has arguably much more influence over North Korea than China does,” added Cha, who is currently president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department at CSIS.

Both Wilder and Cha served on former U.S. president George W. Bush’s National Security Council.

Language barrier  

Other military analysts noted that while North Korean soldiers could gain real-world experience in combat operations simply by deploying to another country, they would also encounter significant challenges.

“You also have an immense language problem,” said Colonel Mark Cancian, who spent over three decades in the U.S. Marine Corps and is now a senior adviser with the CSIS International Security Program. 

He questioned how a group of North Koreans could effectively integrate with a Russian military unit and communicate and operate together.

The possibility of Russia transferring technology related to ballistic missiles, air defenses and nuclear weapons to North Korea is “probably the most dangerous” scenario from the U.S. point of view, according to Cancian.

Violation of UNSC resolutions

On Tuesday, U.S. officials disputed Russian foreign minister Lavrov’s assertion that military assistance between Russia and North Korea does not violate international law.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday that “Russia’s training of DPRK soldiers involving arms or related material,” as well as “any training or assistance involving DPRK soldiers in the use of ballistic missiles or other arms,” constitutes a direct violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. He was referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced plans to exchange delegations to coordinate actions and share intelligence regarding North Korean troop deployments to Russia.

This week, Kyiv’s special envoy to South Korea will begin talks with South Korean officials.

In Washington, U.S. officials said they would welcome increased South Korean support for Ukraine. The South Korean government indicated that it would consider sending “weapons for defense and attack” and may also dispatch military and intelligence personnel to Ukraine to analyze North Korean battlefield tactics and assist in interrogations of captured North Koreans.

“We, of course, welcome any country supporting our Ukrainian partners as they continue to defend their territorial integrity and sovereignty,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told VOA during a recent briefing.

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