Alarmed after a string of veiled threats of a coup by Myanmar’s military over unproven claims of voting fraud in the nascent democracy, more than a dozen Western diplomatic missions called on the army and other parties to reject attempts to alter the outcome of the 2020 elections.Intervention by the military is troubling to many in Myanmar, which endured brutal, corrupt military rule and international pariah status from 1962-2011, when it began a transition to democratic rule.The rare group diplomatic statement came as tensions mount before the Feb. 1 opening of Myanmar’s parliament, which was elected in the Nov. 8 election that the army is calling fraudulent. Military vehicles and troops were seen around the capital this week.“We urge the military, and all other parties in the country to adhere to democratic norms, and we oppose any attempt to alter the outcome of the elections or impede Myanmar’s democratic transition,” said the statement from the embassies of Australia, 12 European countries, the EU diplomatic mission to Myanmar, New Zealand, and the United States.A day earlier, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed “great concern” over the military’s words and urged all parties to desist from any form of incitement, adhere to democratic norms, and respect the election outcome.RFA could not reach diplomats at the Chinese Embassy in Yangon for comment on the issue. As Myanmar’s largest investor and trade partner, China has significant influence in the country.Earlier this week, military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing broached the topic of a possible coup and the abolishment of the constitution amid rising political tensions over the electoral dispute.The 2008 constitution allows the military chief to assume and exercise state sovereignty with the permission of the president during states of emergency that could cause the disintegration of the union. It does not condone military coups, however.Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won the Nov. 8 elections by a landslide, and the 75-year-old leader is set to launch her second five-year term in late March.The army and its political proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, have contended for weeks that there was widespread voter fraud and have increased pressure on the Union Election Commission to investigate. Neither the military nor the USDP have submitted any evidence of actual voter fraud.In response to talk about a coup, the UEC issued a statement on Thursday insisting that elections were devoid of fraud as alleged by the military, despite some voter list errors which it said it would investigate.‘Trapped in their own words’Meanwhile, local media reports in Naypyidaw said two high-ranking military officers met with NLD government officials over the dispute but that the meeting was unsuccessful, and the ruling party rejected the military’s demand to delay the Feb. 1 opening of the new parliament.NLD spokesperson Monywa Aung Shin said he could not confirm the news about the meeting. RFA was also unable to confirm the reports.“We have seen the EU and U.S. show support for the election result and object to the attempts to derail it, so I think we will be able to find solution to this crisis,” he said.Myanmar military spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment.Mya Aye, a former pro-democracy student activist and political prisoner who is now a leading member of the Federal Democratic Force party, said the military has dug itself into a hole with talk of a coup as a worst-case scenario in resolving the impasse.“Officials from military have stated the worst-case scenario, and they are trapped in their own words,” he said. “The ruling government has no easy way out of this problem. Both of them are caught between a rock and a hard place.”Other politicians had mixed views about whether the military would follow through on its threat of a coup.“The ongoing situation in Myanmar is not dire enough to justify a military coup,” said Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for a New Society. “I also think the chance that the military will actually stage a coup is low.”“It’s not good for the country because the crisis has gotten worse, although it could have been settled between the military and government much earlier,” he said.Ye Naing Aung, secretary of the People’s Party, said attempts at a coup would reverse the progress Myanmar has made with its democratic transition since 2011.“We absolutely object to a military coup or any attempts that will set back the democratic transition,” he said. “The ongoing crisis is centered on the 2008 constitution. All the concerned parties need to work together for the sake of country and the citizens to find a solution.”The military dictatorship following a 1962 coup by General Ne Win abolished the 1947 constitution, while another military regime abolished the 1974 constitution after a coup d’état in 1988.Protest in NaypyidawAlso on Friday, the Myanmar Supreme Court began a preliminary hearing of an election-related petition filed in early January by the opposition USDP and the Democratic Party of National Politics accusing the government and national election authorities of electoral fraud.UEC chairman Hla Thein and 14 other committee members are named in the Application of Writ. The judges who presided over the hearing said they would decide whether to accept the case in two weeks, said USDP spokesperson Nandar Hla Myint.An attorney for the USDP gave opening arguments via videoconference on why the party applied for a writ for the nation’s highest court to begin a case, Nandar Hla Myint said.“If they don’t reject it, then they will continue the hearing with cross-examinations and arguments from attorneys on both sides,” he said.Mandalay attorney Zaw Weik also filed a similar document with the Supreme Court to question Myanmar’s president, state counselor, and military chief for the same reasons. It was unclear whether the court held a preliminary hearing on Friday to consider the petition.While the hearing was in progress, hundreds of USDP supporters marched through the streets near the Supreme Court in a show of protest against the election results amid heightened security near the court and on streets around Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw.Supporters rode on 60 vehicles from the USDP’s office in Ottarathiri township to the court building.Heavy security blocked entry to a guest house in the capital where lawmakers from the NLD and various ethnic political parties are staying as they wait for new parliamentary sessions to begin.“As far as I know, they assigned more policemen to our residence for both security and health reasons,” said NLD lawmaker Aung Kyi Nyunt.
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Thailand had hoped the new year would bring relief to its battered economy. But a second wave of the coronavirus has sunk the kingdom deeper into trouble, leaving streets scarred with abandoned businesses and millions scrambling for an income.The kingdom, one of Asia’s most unequal societies, appeared to have controlled the virus, with just a fraction of the caseload seen in the worst-hit countries. But outbreaks blamed on Myanmar migrants smuggled over the border by Thai officials — as well as clusters at illegal gambling dens — saw a resurgence of the pandemic. Since December 15, 12,000 cases have been recorded, around three times the previous level. Workers clean the road outside shrimp market in Samut Sakhon, Bangkok, Jan. 25, 2021, as Thailand registered a new daily high of over 900 cases of the coronavirus at the province near the capital Bangkok, where a major outbreak occurred in December.Seventy-six people have died since the coronavirus emerged, according to Thai health officials — a small number compared to the worst-hit countries — but enough to prod the government into widespread closures of bars and massage parlors and placing restrictions on restaurant opening hours.That has compounded the near total collapse of tourism, which contributed $60 billion to the economy in 2019, as a result of travel restrictions and two-week quarantine requirements. Millions more have lost jobs ranging from trinket sellers to street food vendors who depended on tourists. Round 1 of the virus forced Rangsan Thaitanadrob to close his shop and seek out customers by turning his motorbike into a mobile store piled high with cleaning products, toilet tissue and surgical masks. Round 2 is pushing him to the brink.“I work twice as long, and my income is still 60% down. People just don’t have money to buy anything,” said the 56-year-old who provides for a family of five. “There are days I have to rely on fate.”The Thai economy is expected to record a 6.5% contraction in 2020, according to data released Thursday by the Fiscal Policy Office. It has continued to sputter this month, leaving millions unemployed and desperate for meager government relief payments.A sign for the government funded co-payment, scheme which the state picks up half hung outside a street stall in Bangkok. (Vijitra Duangdee/VOA)Debt has surged to dangerous highs, experts say, hitting middle- and low-income individuals hard.“We are seeing a spike in the level of household debt to a record level of almost 90% of GDP,” former Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told VOA. The government injected a record $56 billion stimulus into the economy last year but has pumped in just $7 billion so far in 2021.The cabinet this week approved a new round of COVID-19 relief for low-income groups. The new package aims to reach around 30 million people with the equivalent of $230 in credit to buy necessities.  Yet, complaints abound over the slow release of previous relief payments and a failure to deliver assistance to Thailand’s populous but poor rural hinterlands.  A woman buys food from a street stall vendor – with a ‘Covid safe’ plastic shield in Bangkok. (Vijitra Duangdee/VOA)From closed massage shops to shuttered bars, the streets of Bangkok show the scars of failed businesses. In their place, ad hoc stalls selling cheap clothes, fruit and vegetables have sprung up.For Bunn, a cobbler who is the only breadwinner in his family of seven, the lack of tourists has reduced his income to just $7 a day. Yet he still cycles long distances through the capital’s empty tourist districts looking for customers.“It’s not enough to feed my family,” he said. “But this is all I know how to do.”
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China said Friday it will not recognize the British National Overseas passport for Hong Kong residents after Jan. 31, as Britain is planning to admit millions of people from its former colony to take residency and eventually British citizenship.Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters “the British side’s attempt to turn a large number of Hong Kong people into second-class British citizens has completely changed the nature of the two sides’ original understanding of the BNO.”Zhao said that such move “seriously infringes on China’s sovereignty, grossly interferes in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs, and seriously violates international law and the basic norms of international relations.”The move came in response to a promise made by the British government to offer refuge for Hong Kong residents following Beijing’s crackdown on dissent.“I am immensely proud that we have brought in this new route for Hong Kong BNOs to live, work and make their home in our country,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.“In doing so we have honored our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have stood up for freedom and autonomy” values that Britain and Hong Kong hold dear, the statement said.According to the plan, 5.4 million Hong Kong residents would be eligible to live and work in Britain for five years and then apply for citizenship.When the BNO passport was first issued prior to Hong Kong’s transfer to Chinese rule in 1997, it offered Hong Kongers born before the handover only the right to visit Britain for six months, but not to work there or become British citizens.
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Analysts say Chinese officials are diverting so much water from dams along the upper Mekong River system that Southeast Asian countries are going dry during prime agricultural seasons and turning to other powers for help.Eleven southwest China dams have left much of the Lower Mekong region, with its population of 60 million, dry since 2019, according to data from the Stimson Center in Washington. The affected countries — Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — seldom complain because they are smaller than China and because of the relationships between some of their leaders and Beijing, analysts say.Chinese dam authorities normally divert water but increase flows ahead of events with Southeast Asian officials to project a good image, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, said. They divert it for domestic irrigation and power use.“It’s very clear that the Chinese are using the dams for political leverage,” he said, meaning they increase the amount of water released when they want to improve relations with downstream countries.“In the low season, the dry season, of course this is the most challenging for the lower, downstream countries,” he said.Beijing began sharing upper Mekong River data in November through an online platform that it set up to provide “reliable forecasting and early warning services” on floods and droughts, Chinese state-controlled news website Global Times said in December. Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia can obtain data from two Chinese hydrological stations in the upper Mekong basin, the report says.’Devastating impacts’Experts, though, believe that effort diverts attention from problems China has caused by what the Stimson Center calls “impounding” —  withholding — water upstream before it can flow through Southeast Asia into the sea.The lower river basin supports surrounding rice fields and the world’s largest freshwater fishery. Overall, the lower Mekong system supplies those living in the basin with about 80% of their animal protein needs, California-based advocacy group International Rivers says on its website.“Chinese dam construction on the Upper Mekong is having devastating impacts on downstream communities, and dozens of dams are either planned, under construction or built within the Lower Mekong basin,” International Rivers says. “This rapid expansion of hydropower threatens all countries who share the Lower Mekong Basin, with downstream Cambodia and Vietnam at greatest risk.”During a 2019 Mekong basin drought, the upper reaches in China received record rainfall but dams kept nearly all of it from flowing downstream, the Stimson Center website says. Without that diversion, it says, the Mekong along the Thai-Lao border would have seen above average flows from April 2019 onward.“This is part of a long pattern that has driven numerous droughts,” the research organization says. “The increasing frequency of drought in the lower basin tracks closely to the way China restricts water upstream during the dry season.”Since the completion of the Nuozhadu dam in 2012 on part of the Mekong in China’s Yunnan province, known there as the Lancang River, China’s dams overall have withheld more water than the previous 20 years, the Stimson Center says.China’s dams have also been suspected in causing floods, such as those 13 years ago along the Mekong in Laos. The Nuozhadu and another Chinese dam, the Dachaoshan dam, finished in 2003 and also on the Lancang, have generated “unexpected” releases that flooded places downstream and caused millions of dollars in damage, the research organization adds.China’s Global Times attributes downstream floods and droughts of 2019 and 2020 to climate change.’It’s going to be huge’In Cambodia, upstream diversions have weakened seasonal water flows that raise water levels in the Tonle Sap lake, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. Normally high waters flood surrounding land and create fish spawning grounds. The lake and adjacent floodplain yield up to 165 kilograms of fish per hectare.The flooding once lasted three months but now stops after six weeks, he said. About 60% of Cambodians get protein from the lake’s fish, he added.“There’s less flow coming down the river to push the water back up into the lake,” Robertson said. “It’s something that’s a core part of like Cambodian seasons, and if it stops happening, it’s going to be huge.”Cambodia, like other lower Mekong countries, does not protest openly to China over river flows. These countries lack bargaining power with China, home of the region’s biggest economy and military. Poorer Cambodia and Laos depend heavily on China for aid and infrastructure investment. Laos benefits from its own dams, which Thailand finances and taps for electricity, Thitinan said.Vietnam is considered the most affected downstream country as Mekong flows into the South China Sea near Ho Chi Minh City. Saltwater intrusion from the sea compounds the problem and exacerbated droughts of 2019 and 2020, according to United Nations data.Officials in the country, which has a centuries-old rivalry with China, have no way to get more water released, said Alexander Vuving, professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii.“Vietnam of course has a lot of interest in opposing China in the subregion, but right now the tendency I see is that Vietnam is on the losing side,” Vuving said “It doesn’t have the wherewithal to cope with China.”China continues to build dams along the upper Mekong and its tributaries. Laos is following suit, Thitinan said.Although the four lower Mekong countries have an oversight organization, the Mekong River Commission, they are now turning to the United States and other countries for help in resisting China.The Mekong-U.S. Partnership formed in September to offer anti-drought measures and earmark $6 million for work including access to water data for government planning purposes.New US Aid for Southeast Asia Takes Aim at Chinese Influence The US-Mekong Partnership signed in September will let Washington help Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam ease droughts and COVID-19Remote monitoring and satellite data compiled by the United States this month tracked a 1-meter drop in river levels in the northern Thai district of Chiang Saen along the Mekong River due to a Chinese dam, media reports in Asia say. Japan is helping continental Southeast Asia accelerate industrial development and infrastructure to make these countries less dependent on farming.      
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Australia is failing to keep up with the growing threat of extreme weather as global warming increases the risk in areas once thought to be safe, according to a new report.Australia is a land well used to nature’s extremes. It is the world’s driest inhabited continent, where droughts can last for years. The Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 were the most intense on record. Heatwaves are by far its deadliest natural hazard.A new report by the Climate Council, an independent non-profit organization, says the cost of extreme weather in Australia has almost doubled since the 1970s.It is warning the financial consequences of fires, floods, droughts, storms and sea level rises linked to climate change could soar, potentially costing the country’s economy up to $76 billion every year by 2038.Robert Glasser, the former special representative for disaster risk reduction for the United Nations secretary-general, said Australia must make fundamental changes to planning new developments.“We will be building the equivalent of roads and homes in flood zones and areas of extreme fire danger, and when those hazards strike the damage will be severe,” he said. “The second reason — increasingly important — is climate change because we are now seeing that the places exposed to these hazards is shifting, the frequency and severity of the hazards are being amplified by climate change, and so you combine these two factors and we see the projections of increased impacts.”The year 2020 began in flames and ended with floods. It was Australia’s fourth-warmest year on record, while 2019 was the hottest and driest ever documented.While per capita levels of greenhouse gases are among the highest in the world, the center right government insists its environmental policies are responsible. Coal generates about 70% of Australia’s electricity, but conservationists believe this sunny, windy and innovative nation should be a green energy powerhouse.The Climate Council report states that without stronger action it becomes impossible for Australia “to act consistently” with the goals of the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change.In October, an official inquiry into the Black Summer bushfires warned Australia would, in the future, face “compounding disasters” — where bushfires, floods and storms struck at the same time, or one after another.
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For China’s propaganda machine, the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob fit neatly into Beijing’s anti-American narrative as an example of democracy in decline.  But experts told VOA Mandarin that the approach could backfire on China by showing the strength of a U.S. system that allows for the peaceful transfer of power and an investigation conducted according to the rule of law. FILE – A man stands in front of a copy of the Global Times newspaper featuring an image of the U.S. Capitol during preparation for the inauguration of Joe Biden as the U.S. president, in a window in Beijing, China, Jan. 21, 2021.Discussions and op-eds about the Electoral College have proliferated in the U.S. media since the 2016 election in which Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Republican Donald Trump won in the Electoral College to become president. What is new is Beijing’s disparagement of the institution coupled with a robust effort to depict U.S. democracy in decline after the January 6 riot.  Five people died in the attack, including a Capitol Police officer. Former President Donald Trump is facing an impeachment trial in the Senate on charges of inciting an insurrection of his supporters to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s election. The FBI has charged more than 150 rioters and is investigating hundreds more, including several active law enforcement officers.US Capitol Riot Prompts Fresh Focus on Extremism in US Police RanksExperts have warned for years about growing extremism in police departments, but many chiefs downplayed the problemThe police force charged with protecting the Capitol acknowledged Tuesday that it knew there was “strong potential for violence” but failed to take necessary steps to prevent what the acting chief of the Capitol Police, Yogananda Pittman, described as a “terrorist attack,” according to the New York Times. June Dreyer, a professor of political science at the University of Miami who is an expert on China, echoed Feng, telling VOA that the current propaganda campaign may inadvertently reveal the strength of U.S. democracy. “Certainly nobody that I know in the United States thinks that this chaos has been a good thing,” she said. “But if you look on the bright side, people in countries with autocratic governments like Russia and China, among many others, can see that there have been no mass arrests. The police don’t kill people.” Dreyer added, “But in China, people know that even lawyers who tried to defend people have had their licenses suspended. So you can’t even get a lawyer to defend you. And I think that if people look carefully at what happened in the United States, they will see that democracy is actually pretty resilient.”  George Magnus, author of ”Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy,” and an associate at Oxford University’s China Center, agreed with that view. “If China makes a lot of noise about the crisis of American democracy and it turns out that it’s not such a crisis as they say, then the credibility of the Chinese government in other countries could be undermined,” he said. Feng also said the January 6 assault showed how seriously the U.S. military takes its oath to defend the Constitution and the American people. When Trump refused to acknowledge that Biden had won the election, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured the public there would be no politicization of the military even as concern grew over what Trump might do to remain in office. “We do not take an oath to an individual,” Milley said days after the November 3 vote at the opening of the National Museum of the United States Army.”We take an oath to the Constitution … and each of us will protect and defend that document regardless of personal price.” Feng said the separation of the military from politics contrasts sharply with China’s system. “The CCP put forward the concept of military nationalization since the 1980s,” he said.  “Fast forward to today, China still requires the military to listen to the Party.” Lin Yang contributed to this report, which originated on VOA Mandarin. 
 
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Liu Jin wanted his due — $733 in back pay.As a scooter driver in a blue uniform, Liu gigged for Ele.me, an online food delivery service owned by the Alibaba Group, a growing multibillion-dollar behemoth that dominates China’s e-commerce.On January 11, Liu showed up at Ele.me’s distribution center in Taizhou, doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. Onlookers captured the scene on video, their footage displaying the Ele.me slogan “Instant Delivery, Beautiful Life” on a wall behind the man engulfed in flames.A video of the incident went viral on Weibo, China’s social media platform, as the 48-year-old worker was being treated for third-degree burns.Liu’s protest in China’s eastern Jiangsu province came not long after a 43-year-old scooter driver referred to only as Han died while delivering meals in Beijing. Han also worked for Ele.me. The company’s insurance paid $4,600 in compensation to his wife, parents and two children.When his family spoke out, the company offered $92,500. A woman wearing a face mask rides an electric bicycle with her groceries past delivery workers of Meituan and Ele.me, in Beijing, China, July 13, 2020.The incidents cast a spotlight on the working condition for China’s gig economy workers.“This shows the helplessness of an ordinary workers,” said one commentator on Weibo.“Now that the society is ‘ruled by law,’ the capitalists are not afraid of anything,” said another.According to a 2020 Drivers of the food delivery service Ele.me attend a morning briefing before an internal security check in Beijing, China, Sept. 21, 2017.Li Qiang, director of the New York based rights group China Labor Watch,  said that the gig economy workers have to pay a huge price to defend their rights through legal channels.”Fighting through legal channels doesn’t guarantee you can get your salary back, and it’s extremely time consuming. So for most workers, they will choose to be quiet and quickly get another job,” said Li.He added that labor unions in China need to be more effective to ensure proper enforcement of labor laws. He also pointed out when enforcing the law, local government authorities favor businesses over workers because companies are considered useful for creating job opportunities and maintaining social stability.If workers protest, “they might be arrested and imprisoned for crimes such as ‘disrupting social order’ or ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble,’ ” Li continued.Although China recognized flexible and informal employment in 2001 in the tenth Five-Year Plan, Beijing has yet to implement real structural changes and protection for gig economy workers.On January 20, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee received a draft regulation for review. According to the draft, workers, including those with flexible employments, can apply for legal aid to help solve disputes over work-related accidents such as traffic accidents, food and drug safety accidents, medical accidents and personal damages. Teng Biao, a Chinese human rights lawyer, said the new regulation, if passed, will offer some help to those at the bottom of the society. But in China, he cautioned such regulation will have limited effect because of the centralized, authoritarian system.“In many cases, it is not just a lack of legal service or legal consultation, but also the corruption in the entire legal channel,” he said. “The legal system in China is opaque and laws can be difficult to enforce, so the actual effect of legal aid will be limited.”Lin Yang contributed to this report which originated on VOA Mandarin.  
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After U.S. President Joe Biden took office last week, perhaps no world leader breathed a bigger public sigh of relief than South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  “America is back,” Moon declared in a congratulatory message marking Biden’s inauguration. The statement didn’t directly mention outgoing President Donald Trump, but the intent was clear..FILE – Police officers use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun while anti-war activists hold a rally against planned South Korea-U.S. annual joint military exercises near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, Aug. 5, 2019.Worry in Seoul A more adversarial U.S. stance toward North Korea would likely upset Moon and his allies in Seoul. At a news conference last week, Moon said the starting point for Biden should be the 2018 Singapore agreement between Kim and Trump, in which both sides agreed to “work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”  In an North Korean soldiers keep watch toward the south as South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young inspects the truce village of Panmunjom, Sep. 24, 2020.But will it work? That kind of push for talks would in some ways mirror 2018, when Seoul successfully converted inter-Korean sports cooperation at the Winter Olympics into a series of North-South meetings, which eventually led to the Trump-Kim talks.  But there are plenty of reasons to question whether such a move would work this time. The most obvious: the Olympics may not be held at all because of the coronavirus. If the games were held, host Japan may not agree to participate in the talks.  “I’d be shocked if his plan worked again because the environment right now is completely different,” says Duyeon Kim, a Korea specialist at the Center for a New American Security.  “It was easy to trick Trump into a summit with Kim because Trump loves theatrics and a good photo op,” she adds. “Biden is too smart, experienced, and serious about national security.” How will North Korea respond? In any case, North Korea may not even agree to resume dialogue. For months, Pyongyang has boycotted meetings with both the United States and South Korea, upset among other things that Washington has not relaxed sanctions on its nuclear program. 
At a major political meeting this month, North Korea said it was looking for ways to improve relations with the South, but called on Seoul to stop holding military drills with Washington and to stop acquiring new military capabilities.  North Korea has also showcased several new weapons over the last few months, including a massive new intercontinental ballistic missile, as well as a ballistic missile possibly designed to be fired from a submarine.  Some analysts have expressed concern North Korea could soon test one of those new weapons, or possibly conduct another nuclear test, noting Pyongyang’s tendency to showcase new military capabilities around the start of U.S. administrations.  Staying on the same page  Another concern among some analysts is that such a major test by the North could sharpen divides between Biden and Moon. “I hope Seoul and Washington can stay on the same page, because it’s going to be challenging. North Korea will continue to pressure South Korea, and there’s only a year left from the Moon administration’s perspective,” said Sue Mi Terry, a Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, during a recent online forum. “The Moon administration just needs to realize that they’re just not going to be able to appease the North,” said Terry, a former CIA analyst. “There’s not going to be a breakthrough on inter-Korean relations until there is a breakthrough between the United States and North Korea.” Some in Seoul are more optimistic, expressing hope Biden and Moon will find enough common ground. “The Biden administration cannot ignore” North Korea, says Youn Kun-young, a South Korean lawmaker and member of Moon’s Democratic Party. “(And) solving the North Korean nuclear issue with only sanctions just isn’t possible.”  Lee Juhyun contributed to this report.
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After U.S. President Joe Biden took office last week, perhaps no world leader breathed a bigger public sigh of relief than South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  “America is back,” Moon declared in a congratulatory message marking Biden’s inauguration. The statement didn’t directly mention outgoing President Donald Trump, but the intent was clear..FILE – Police officers use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun while anti-war activists hold a rally against planned South Korea-U.S. annual joint military exercises near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, Aug. 5, 2019.Worry in Seoul A more adversarial U.S. stance toward North Korea would likely upset Moon and his allies in Seoul. At a news conference last week, Moon said the starting point for Biden should be the 2018 Singapore agreement between Kim and Trump, in which both sides agreed to “work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”  In an North Korean soldiers keep watch toward the south as South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young inspects the truce village of Panmunjom, Sep. 24, 2020.But will it work? That kind of push for talks would in some ways mirror 2018, when Seoul successfully converted inter-Korean sports cooperation at the Winter Olympics into a series of North-South meetings, which eventually led to the Trump-Kim talks.  But there are plenty of reasons to question whether such a move would work this time. The most obvious: the Olympics may not be held at all because of the coronavirus. If the games were held, host Japan may not agree to participate in the talks.  “I’d be shocked if his plan worked again because the environment right now is completely different,” says Duyeon Kim, a Korea specialist at the Center for a New American Security.  “It was easy to trick Trump into a summit with Kim because Trump loves theatrics and a good photo op,” she adds. “Biden is too smart, experienced, and serious about national security.” How will North Korea respond? In any case, North Korea may not even agree to resume dialogue. For months, Pyongyang has boycotted meetings with both the United States and South Korea, upset among other things that Washington has not relaxed sanctions on its nuclear program. 
At a major political meeting this month, North Korea said it was looking for ways to improve relations with the South, but called on Seoul to stop holding military drills with Washington and to stop acquiring new military capabilities.  North Korea has also showcased several new weapons over the last few months, including a massive new intercontinental ballistic missile, as well as a ballistic missile possibly designed to be fired from a submarine.  Some analysts have expressed concern North Korea could soon test one of those new weapons, or possibly conduct another nuclear test, noting Pyongyang’s tendency to showcase new military capabilities around the start of U.S. administrations.  Staying on the same page  Another concern among some analysts is that such a major test by the North could sharpen divides between Biden and Moon. “I hope Seoul and Washington can stay on the same page, because it’s going to be challenging. North Korea will continue to pressure South Korea, and there’s only a year left from the Moon administration’s perspective,” said Sue Mi Terry, a Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, during a recent online forum. “The Moon administration just needs to realize that they’re just not going to be able to appease the North,” said Terry, a former CIA analyst. “There’s not going to be a breakthrough on inter-Korean relations until there is a breakthrough between the United States and North Korea.” Some in Seoul are more optimistic, expressing hope Biden and Moon will find enough common ground. “The Biden administration cannot ignore” North Korea, says Youn Kun-young, a South Korean lawmaker and member of Moon’s Democratic Party. “(And) solving the North Korean nuclear issue with only sanctions just isn’t possible.”  Lee Juhyun contributed to this report.
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The White House says Washington is being patient as it seeks a “new approach” toward relations with China at a time when the two countries remain in serious “strategic competition.” ”What we’ve seen over the last few years is that China’s growing more authoritarian at home and more assertive abroad, and Beijing is now challenging our security, prosperity and values in significant ways that require a new U.S. approach,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said Monday during a news briefing. Hours earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by video to the World Economic Forum where he urged countries to cooperate on climate change and public health — and also warned against conflict between Washington and Beijing without naming the United States. Xi said containing the coronavirus is the most pressing task for the international community.    China’s Xi Jinping Warns Against ‘New Cold War’ In virtual address to World Economic Forum, Chinese leader urges world to come together to fight coronavirus pandemicBeijing’s message comes as U.S. President Joseph Biden’s foreign policy team prepares to rally allies to take on pressing challenges, ranging from preserving democracy to a growing rivalry with China and other authoritarian states.  ”A divided world cannot tackle the common challenges facing humanity, and confrontation will lead humanity to a dead end,” Xi said during a virtual address to the World Economic Forum. Relations between the world’s two leading economies are at their worst in decades as the nations clash over trade, 5G technology, human rights and regional security.    Washington accuses Beijing of a years-long effort to steal intellectual property and engage in industrial espionage. Biden’s administration is reviewing plans to delist three Chinese telecommunication companies from the New York Stock Exchange. Last Tuesday, outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the Chinese Communist Party has engaged in genocide against the Uighur Muslim population in Xinjiang. The policy determination could trigger new reviews and sanctions.     US Classifies China’s Policies Toward Uighurs as ‘Genocide’ Determination could lead to broader US policy reviews, with Secretary of State nominee Blinken saying he agrees with Pompeo’s judgment Later Monday, a State Department spokesperson told VOA that a comprehensive U.S. strategy will be holding China accountable for its unfair and illegal practices, and “making sure that American technologies aren’t facilitating China’s military buildup or human rights abuses.” “We need a comprehensive strategy and a more systematic approach that actually addresses the full range of these issues, rather than the piecemeal approach of the past few years,” said the spokesperson.   ‘Spirit of no conflict’    A statement from the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. over the weekend said that the Beijing government hopes Washington can “uphold the spirit of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation” to focus on cooperation and manage differences.That call is likely to be greeted skeptically by the Biden administration, which is outspoken about how it views China’s intentions.  ”We’re in a serious competition with China,” Psaki said Monday. “China is engaged in conduct that hurts American workers, blunts our technological edge and threatens our alliances and our influence in international organizations.” 
 
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Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the world to come together to fight the coronavirus pandemic and warned against a “new Cold War” in a speech Monday at the World Economic Forum, held virtually this year because of the pandemic. “To build small cliques or start a new Cold War, to reject, threaten or intimidate others … will only push the world into division,” the Chinese president said in a 25-minute video speech.Xi called for strengthening the G-20 as the “main forum for global economic governance.” The group, made up of 20 of the world’s leading developing and wealthy  nations, should “engage in closer macro-economic policy coordination,” China’s president added.“We should build an open world economy … discard discriminatory and exclusionary standards, rules and systems, and take down barriers to trade, investment and technological exchanges,” Xi said.Xi  vowed to make China a more active participant in economic global governance.“Multilateralism is the thought of the 21st century,” he added.This is the first time Xi has attended the forum since 2017, when he defended free trade and globalization.U.S. climate envoy John Kerry represented the United States. 
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The lawyer for a former Australian school principal accused of sexually assaulting students says his client was extradited to Australia on Monday by order of Israel’s Supreme Court.Malka Leifer is wanted on 74 charges of child sex abuse in Australia and had been fighting extradition since 2014. Her lawyer, Nick Kaufman, confirmed Monday she was placed on a flight several hours before Israel was to close its Ben Gurion International Airport to nearly all air traffic due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases.  Leifer is wanted by Australian police for sexual assault charges, including rape, involving girls at her former school, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne. She has denied the charges.Leifer, who also holds Israeli citizenship, fled Australia in 2008 after the accusations surfaced.In an effort to avoid extradition, she claimed mental illness. But last year, an Israeli psychiatric panel determined Leifer was lying about her mental condition, setting in motion the extradition.In December, the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against her extradition, and Israel’s justice minister signed the order to send her to Australia.
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