Tougher controls have been put in place as Australia fights to contain a growing COVID-19 cluster in Sydney. Travel from the nation’s biggest city is being restricted as authorities race to find he source of 83 recently diagnosed infections, up from 68 on Sunday.   
 
About 250,000 residents in Sydney’s northern beaches district have been ordered to stay-at-home until at least Wednesday after a cluster of new COVID-19 infections was discovered. The source of the cluster is not yet known, but officials believe it is likely to have come from a traveler returning from the United States, possibly a member of a flight crew. All Australian states and territories are imposing border controls to keep out travelers from designated coronavirus ‘hotspots’ in Sydney. There have been mass cancellations of flights from Sydney to Melbourne, which was one of the world’s busiest air routes before the pandemic. Other restrictions have been imposed across Australia’s biggest city. Singing and chanting at indoor venues is not allowed. Mask wearing is strongly recommended but not yet mandatory. A decision on whether to extend or relax the disease control measures will be made by the state government Wednesday. New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian says a record number of people in Sydney have come forward for COVID-19 testing. 
 
“To have more than 38,000 people come forward in a 24-hour period gives us enormous confidence that the number of cases that have been identified is a realistic position, given the number of people that have come forward to get tested,” she said. “However, this is an on-going and evolving situation, and we know how contagious the virus is. I appreciate how frustrating it is, and I would love to be able to tell everybody today what Christmas might look like in New South Wales or the Northern Beaches, and I appreciate the community has been extremely patient. But I also appreciate…, I think the community understands our position. We want to make sure we keep people healthy.”  An inquiry into a botched hotel quarantine program criticized the Victorian state government for failing to do “proper analysis” of the plan. It found that security breaches triggered a deadly second wave of infections that killed more than 800 people, which is the vast majority of Australia’s coronavirus fatalities. FILE – People enjoy the sunshine, as Victoria state begins easing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, at Elwood beach in Melbourne, Australia, Sept. 14, 2020.Private security guards were put in charge of Victoria’s quarantine hotels without adequate training in infection control. The inquiry blamed “systemic governmental failings” for the “disaster” that followed. In May and June, COVID-19 spread from returned travelers to hotel staff and then, with devastating consequences, into the community. Hundreds of people died, and the city of Melbourne was ordered into Australia’s toughest and longest coronavirus lockdown. The cluster of cases in Sydney is a blow to Australia’s record of mostly containing the virus. It has detected 28,170 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. 908 people have died, according to Australia’s department of health.  
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U.S. lawmakers are expected to endorse $1.9 billion to fund a program to remove telecom network equipment that the U.S. government says poses national security risks as part of a year-end spending bill and COVID-19 bill, a source briefed on the matter said on Sunday.Lawmakers are also expected to back $3.2 billion for an emergency broadband benefit for low-income Americans.The Federal Communications Commission said in June it had formally designated China’s Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp as threats, a declaration that bars U.S. firms from tapping an $8.3 billion government fund to purchase equipment from the companies.Earlier this month, the FCC finalized rules that require carriers with ZTE or Huawei equipment to “rip and replace” that equipment but is awaiting funding from Congress.Huawei said earlier this month it was disappointed in the FCC’s decision “to force removal of our products from telecommunications networks. This overreach puts U.S. citizens at risk in the largely underserved rural areas – during a pandemic – when reliable communication is essential.”The $7 billion COVID Relief Broadband Package “establishes a temporary, emergency broadband benefit program at the FCC to help low-income Americans, including those economically challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, get connected or remain connected to broadband,” the source said.The source also said the program will supply a $50 monthly subsidy to qualifying households “to help them afford broadband service and an internet-connected device.”The bill also expands eligibility for the rip-and-replace reimbursement program to communications providers with 10 million subscribers or less but prioritizes reimbursement for providers with 2 million subscribers or less, the source said, citing a draft fact sheet.The bill is expected to include $285 million for connecting minority communities and will establish an Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). 
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In China’s Wuhan, the original epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, the city’s residents are returning to normal life, even as they continue to grapple with memories of the early outbreak, which struck fear in the city.It’s been almost seven months since the city recorded a locally transmitted case of the disease due to a strict city-wide lockdown and a mass testing event of almost all the city’s 11 million residents.Today, restaurants, shopping streets and bars are crowded, but locals are still experiencing the lasting impact of the lockdown on mental health and work.Reuters asked people throughout Wuhan to share images and videos they took during their outbreak, as well as their hopes for 2021, as the city approaches the one-year anniversary of the outbreak. City health officials released the first public notice of the then-unknown virus on Dec. 31, 2019.Like the city itself, most people are enduringly optimistic, even as they reflect on the city’s toughest year in recent memory.An Junming, Wuhan volunteerAn worked as a volunteer during the city’s strict 76-day lockdown, delivering food to people trapped in their homes.“At that time, I could only eat one meal a day, because there was indeed a lot of work to do, but there were very few people doing this, so I was very anxious.“I hope that the entire city will prosper in 2021.“It can be said that in 2020 there were no people on the streets of the whole Wuhan – only animals were active outside.”An Junming poses for a picture on a street, almost a year after the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Dec. 15, 2020.Zhang Xinghao, lead singer Of Wuhan band Mad Rat“At that time, I couldn’t do anything at home. It was very boring, so I thought I needed to write some music and sing some songs to find some fun in my life.“It made me reflect on a lot of things, and it is the first time in my life that I have experienced such a disaster.“The epidemic must not be ignored. I see that the news about foreign countries has a lot of infections, so this must not be ignored. We should not think that we are very powerful. In fact, I think we humans are quite fragile.”Duan Ling, 36, businesswomanDuan’s husband, Fang Yushun, caught COVID-19 in February while working as a surgeon.“I had my birthday on the day he was hospitalized during the epidemic, and he spent a day editing and sent a video to me. So I felt very moved.“We have experienced a lot of things in the year 2020, and I want to say goodbye to the 2020. But in the new year, I wish we could have a baby.”Lai Yun, 38, Japanese restaurant owner“At this time, every one of us in Wuhan feels like time flies very fast. Like closing the city only feels like yesterday.”Lai said he cherished memories of his children putting on performances in the family living room.“I think the inspiration that COVID-19 gives us is that a healthy body is more important than anything else.”Student Wu Mengjing, 22, right, poses with her friend on a street, almost a year after the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Dec. 16, 2020.Wu Mengjing, 22, design student“I think the Wuhan epidemic has affected too many people. Many companies went bankrupt and residents were unemployed. This has a great impact on the entire development of Wuhan.“I am very worried that there will be a second wave in Wuhan, because there were some recurrences of the epidemic in various parts of the country, and the number of college students in Wuhan is particularly large.”Jiang Honghua, 34, street food vendor“During the epidemic, our whole family is together, and this time like this is very rare, and I felt very happy,” said Jiang, sharing photos of her son and daughter playing.“I thought my year in 2020 was actually OK – I felt lucky that I could maintain the livelihood of the whole family. I hope in year 2021 I can have good business.”Liu Runlian, 58, street dancer“2021 is coming, and I don’t expect much from myself. But I want to live a peaceful life, and then I hope everyone is safe.”
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Beijing accused the United States Saturday of “bullying” after Washington announced export controls on dozens of Chinese firms over alleged ties to China’s military.  The announcement – in the final weeks of President Donald Trump’s term – comes after relations between Washington and Beijing soured under his administration, which saw the U.S. start a trade war with China and expand its list of sanctioned entities to a few hundred Chinese companies and subsidiaries.China’s commerce ministry on Saturday said it “firmly opposes” the move, which will affect the country’s biggest chipmaker, SMIC, and vowed to “take necessary measures” to safeguard Chinese companies’ rights.US Blacklists Dozens of Chinese Firms Including Chip, Drone Makers Move is seen as latest in President Donald Trump’s efforts to burnish his tough-on-China image as part of lengthy fight between Washington and Beijing over trade, numerous economic issuesThe ministry accused the United States of “abusing export controls and other measures to continuously suppress” foreign entities and urged Washington to “stop unilateralism and bullying.”U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Friday said the designations, which restrict U.S. companies’ abilities to do business with the firms, are over an array of charges including human rights abuses and the activities of the Chinese military – particularly in the South China Sea – as well as theft of U.S. technology.SMIC has received billions of dollars in support from Beijing and is at the heart of its efforts to improve the country’s technological self-sufficiency.The designation means U.S. companies must apply for a license before exporting to SMIC, and specifically targets the Chinese firm’s ability to acquire materials for producing chips of 10 nanometers or smaller, the best class in the industry.
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At least two people were killed and hundreds forced to flee their inundated homes in the Philippines as torrential rain triggered flooding and landslides in the storm-battered archipelago, officials said Saturday.Huge waves smashed into a coastal village on Lapu-Lapu island in the central province of Cebu on Friday night, wiping out dozens of houses and leaving around 290 people homeless, Mayor Junard Chan said on Facebook.Photos posted online by the mayor showed piles of wood and bamboo near the few houses still standing after the region was drenched by heavy rain.Rescuers retrieved the bodies of two elderly women who were killed when a landslide hit an area of Mahaplag town before dawn in the nearby province of Leyte, police officer Racquel Hernandez said.A boy was also pulled from the rubble of his home and treated for his injuries, Hernandez told AFP.About 1,500 people were forced to leave their homes on the major southern island of Mindanao as floodwaters engulfed 13 villages, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons every year, which typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure in already impoverished areas.The latest storm comes after a succession of typhoons in recent months pummeled the country, taking the lives 148 people, destroying hundreds of thousands of houses, wrecking cash crops and leaving swathes of the country without power.
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Thailand says a local laboratory’s pact with Britain’s AstraZeneca will make the Southeast Asian country the regional hub for supplies of what’s likely to be one of the leading vaccines against COVID-19 as governments scramble to lock in supplies.Bangkok-based Siam Bioscience signed a letter of intent with AstraZeneca late last month to make 200 million doses of the British pharmaceutical firm’s COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, said Nakorn Premsri, director of Thailand’s National Vaccine Institute.Thailand’s Public Health Ministry and the local conglomerate SCG, with its packaging and chemicals divisions, also joined the deal.Nakorn said most of the doses would head abroad.”Thailand will secure only 26 million doses. We may ask for more, but it will not be a big part, so maybe more than half of that [200 million] can be exported,” he told VOA.”It’s in the letter of intent that we made together with Siam Bioscience, AstraZeneca, SCG and Ministry of Public Health that it will be distributed within the ASEAN region,” he added, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.In a brief statement to VOA, AstraZeneca’s Thailand office confirmed the broad outlines of its plans.”The Ministry of Public Health, SCG, Siam Bioscience and AstraZeneca share the focus on broad, equitable and timely access to an effective COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand and Southeast Asia region. AstraZeneca has been working with Siam Bioscience through technology transfer to expand AZD1222’s global manufacturing capacity,” it said.AstraZeneca’s vaccine, developed in collaboration with Britain’s Oxford University, is still pending approval in Britain. Officials there say regulators could reach a decision by early January.In the mixNakorn said AstraZeneca has already started sharing the technology Siam Bioscience will need to make its vaccine and that production could begin in the second quarter of next year. If all goes well, he said, inoculations could start by the middle of the year.Because those taking AstraZeneca’s vaccine will need two doses each, the 26 million jabs Thailand has reserved will be enough for 13 million people, about a fifth of the country’s population. How the rest of the doses are rolled out across Southeast Asia, a region of over 650 million people, will be up to the British firm, said Nakorn.A few other ASEAN countries besides Thailand have already announced plans to source vaccine from AstraZeneca, but it’s not clear how many of their doses will be arriving via Siam Bioscience.AstraZeneca’s Thailand office refused VOA’s request for an interview.COVID-19’s toll on the region has been mixed.Despite reporting the first case outside of China, in mid-January, Thailand has managed to keep a lid on the pandemic, thanks to tight border controls, with only 4,281 cases and 60 deaths recorded to date. Laos, Cambodia and tiny Brunei have all reported well under 1,000 cases each.Others have fared much worse.The Philippines and Indonesia have recorded over 450,000 and 640,000 cases, respectively, the most in Southeast Asia. Malaysia and Myanmar are in the midst of their worst waves of infection yet, with well over 1,000 new cases a day.Countries in the region are not waiting for the AstraZeneca-Siam Bioscience pact for deliverance, though.Some of them have announced plans or deals to source from a combination of suppliers including U.S. pharmaceutical leaders Moderna and Pfizer, whose COVID-19 vaccines have already been approved by Washington. A few say they plan to pad their stocks with vaccines from China and Russia as well.Six ASEAN members have also signed up to COVAX, a global plan co-led by the World Health Organization for rich countries to help buy doses of COVID-19 vaccine for the poorest.Pros and consStill, AstraZeneca’s plans to turn Thailand into a regional production hub is a boon for the country’s neighbors, said Khor Swee Kheng, a global health specialist and independent consultant to the WHO based in Malaysia.With this deal, “Southeast Asia has greater assurance of vaccine supplies in a global race that is currently dominated by rich countries.” he said.”Two, production facilities that are physically nearer to Southeast Asian countries will aid in logistics. Three, this arrangement can be leveraged for further Southeast Asian collaboration in regional vaccine manufacturing and stockpiling.”AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine also has the advantage of holding on to its potency for at least six months in a standard refrigerator. That compares with about one month for Moderna’s offering and only a few days for Pfizer’s. For most of its time, Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at an ultra-cold minus 70 Celsius.As countries shop for vaccines, Khor said that gives AZD1222 an edge in tropical countries and those with limited cold storage facilities, though he added that governments will also be weighing safety, efficacy, availability and price.Farming out production also raises its own hurdles.”Regulatory approval for the vaccine produced by Siam Bioscience depends on a few variables,” said Khor.“One, how much of the production process is done in Thailand in Siam Bioscience facilities versus AstraZeneca facilities? Two, how much technology transfer and patent transfers have occurred between AstraZeneca and Siam Bioscience? This information is not yet available publicly.”If Siam Bioscience takes on much of the burden, regulatory bodies may insist on approval of not only AstraZeneca’s work but separately of its Thai partner’s contributions as well.
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Hurricane-force winds and torrential rain have destroyed scores of houses and flattened crops in Fiji’s northern regions, aid agencies said Friday, though early assessments suggest minimal casualties. Cyclone Yasa, a Category 5 storm, made landfall over Bua province on the northern island of Vanua Levu on Thursday evening, bringing heavy rain, widespread flooding and winds of up to 285 kph (177 mph) across the archipelago. Fiji declared a state of natural disaster Thursday, ordered its entire population of nearly 1 million people to seek shelter and implemented a nightly curfew. A house is shuttered in the preparation for Cyclone Yasa in the Tamavua neighborhood of Suva, Fiji, Dec. 17, 2020.The alarm was largely heeded, and as a result, humanitarian groups said it appeared the initial impact of Cyclone Yasa was less than originally feared, though still extensive. “Villages in Vanua Levu have lost a lot of houses. The wind has flattened many community buildings, and crops have been flattened,” Fiji Red Cross Society Director-General Ilisapeci Rokotunidau told Reuters by phone from Suva, the country’s capital. “So far there is just one fatality that has been reported.”Images shared on social media showed roads blocked by landslides, floodwaters and fallen trees. All roads in Rakiraki, a district on the main island with about 30,000 residents, were flooded, Fiji’s Road Authority said. Authorities remain concerned about heavy rains bought by Cyclone Yasa, though the storm has weakened in strength and is now a Category 2 as it moves south across the island chain. Still, the adverse weather has hampered efforts by aid groups to dispatch assistance, with waves of more than 3 meters (10 feet) preventing ships from leaving Suva. Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said with treacherous conditions, the country’s citizens must remain vigilant. “#TeamFiji, we are not out of the woods yet, keep safe and adhere to weather warnings!!” Bainimarama tweeted on Friday.  
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World Health Organization regional officials said Thursday China will welcome an international team of WHO experts to investigate the origins of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.At a news conference in Manila, WHO Regional Emergencies Director Dr. Babatunde Olowokure told reporters the agency has been in contact with China and is discussing places they will visit.    The WHO announced Wednesday it was sending a team of researchers to China in the first week of January to study what led to the global pandemic that has so far killed more than 1.6 million people out of a total of more than 74.2 million cases.In an interview with the Associated Press news agency earlier this week, a member of the WHO team traveling to China, German biologist Fabian Leendertz, said the visit will likely start in the city of Wuhan where COVID-19 was first detected late last year. Most researchers believe the infection originated in bats.China has previously opposed calls for an international inquiry into the origins of the ailment, saying such calls are anti-China, but has been open to a WHO-led investigation.  The United States, which has accused China of having hidden the outbreak’s extent, has called for a “transparent” WHO-led probe and criticized its terms, which allowed Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.Chinese state media have suggested the coronavirus existed abroad before it was discovered in Wuhan, citing its presence on imported frozen food packaging and scientific papers claiming it had been circulating in Europe last year.
 
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Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have indicted 12 Hong Kong protesters detained as they fled to Taiwan on charges relating to “illegally crossing a border,” the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.In a notice posted to its official account on the social media platform WeChat, the Yantian District People’s Procuratorate in Guangdong’s Shenzhen city announced the indictment of Quinn Moon and Tang Kai-yin, for “organizing an illegal border crossing,” which carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.A further eight suspects including Li Tsz-yin, Andy Li, Wong Wai-yin, and Kok Tsz-lun, have been indicted for “illegally crossing a border,” the statement said.”A public prosecution has been filed at the Yantian District People’s Court in Shenzhen,” it said, adding that two detainees under the age of 18 at the time of their detention would have their cases heard behind closed doors.The charge of “illegally crossing a border” carries a maximum jail term of one year, and recent unconfirmed media reports have suggested that at least some of the detainees may be sent home after receiving sentences equal to time already served, ahead of Lunar New Year.The detainees were aged 16 to 33 when they were intercepted by the China Coast Guard as they tried to flee to Taiwan by speedboat.However, if they are returned to Hong Kong soon, they still face charges linked to months of mass popular protest that rocked the city last year, either under public order legislation or the draconian national security law imposed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party on Hong Kong from July 1.Lawyers warned not to helpThe move toward a trial comes after the Shenzhen authorities issued a ban on lawyers appointed by the families of the 12 activists detained by the China Coast Guard on Aug. 23, and repeatedly prevented them from meeting with defense attorneys appointed by their families.Five law firms said they had received verbal orders from the Yantian district bureau of judicial affairs to stop acting for the families of the 12 detainees, with officials saying that the orders came from the ministry of justice in Beijing.Any lawyer hired to act on behalf of the 12 activists has been ordered to stop doing so, often by repeated phone calls from judicial bureau officials to their personal number, according to multiple sources.Hong Kong’s government has declined to press the Shenzhen authorities for the 12 detainees’ release, on the grounds that they are already fugitives.Flight data also showed government aircraft in the area during their detention, contradicting the Hong Kong authorities’ claim to have had no involvement in the operation, prompting protests by pro-democracy activists and relatives of the 12 detainees in October.Data obtained from the flight tracking website FlightAware showed that two Hong Kong government aircraft, the fixed-wing plane B-LVB and the H175 Cheetah helicopter B-LVH, flew around, and to and from the area where the activists were arrested on the morning of Aug. 23.But the city’s Government Flying Service rejected calls to make its operational data public, government broadcaster RTHK reported, saying it wasn’t “usual practice” to do so.
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China and Australia have seen tensions rise over the past year, after Canberra demanded an independent investigation into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic and China responded by escalating tariffs on Australian imports.China has imposed tariffs on Australian barley, beef, wine, coal and other products, calling them a response to illegal Australian trade policies. Critics say Beijing’s actions are part of a broader diplomatic offensive against an important U.S. ally in the region, which is seen as a key member of an emerging security alliance including India and Japan.FILE – A staffer and visitor speak near a display of Australian wines at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, Nov. 5, 2020. China raised import taxes on Australian wine, stepping up pressure on Australia over several disputes.The dispute with Canberra has also highlighted how Beijing now wages diplomatic offensives on social media, especially Twitter.Twitter has been blocked in China since 2009, but the government has embraced it as part of its foreign propaganda strategy, using the platform to amplify messages for foreign audiences.A doctored tweetLast month, a four-year Australian government probe recommended 19 former and current Australian soldiers face criminal investigations for killing 39 Afghans in 23 separate incidents during the course of the war.On November 29, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian posted on Twitter a doctored photo depicting a grinning Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of an Afghan child.FILE – Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian takes a question at the daily media briefing in Beijing on April 8, 2020.The graphic post brought condemnation from Australian lawmakers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who demanded China delete the image and formally apologize.That demand was ignored and may have emboldened Chinese officials to do more. A new report by the Washington-based German Marshall Fund (GMF) shows that between November 27 and December 3, Australia was the third most mentioned country by Chinese government and state media Twitter accounts.By way of comparison, Australia was only the 10th most referred to country over the previous two months. “China’s propaganda apparatus has focused intensely on Australia over the past couple of days,” the report said.Zhao’s controversial tweet, with nearly 73,000 likes and 20,000 retweets, appears to have expanded his account following by 10%. Analysts say it also appears to have promoted more nationalist sentiment inside China, where state media have covered the dispute from Beijing’s perspective.“This disinformation push in the Australia example has caused real blowback from international audiences,” said GMF China analyst Bryce Barros, co-author of the report. “I think this is a social media strategy that Chinese diplomats and state media journalists will continue to push to promote nationalism at home and abroad.”By lashing out on Twitter and other platforms banned within China, Barros added, diplomats like Zhao are seeking to send the message to the international community, specifically the West, that China will not be pushed around.An illusion of popular backingWhile Zhao’s tweet seemed to find a huge audience, a deeper dive by researchers revealed that not all of those accounts retweeting the diplomat are active followers.According to Tim Graham, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Australian National University, 8% of the accounts that retweeted Zhao’s post were created on November 30, a day after Zhao’s controversial post.Here’s a chart of accounts created in 2020 – 8% of these were literally born yesterday (n=212 accounts) pic.twitter.com/S60M5DSulI
— Tim Graham (@Timothyjgraham) December 1, 2020Albert Zhang, a research intern at Australian Strategic Policy Institute, noted that by the institute’s calculation, 35% of the accounts that liked Zhao’s post had zero followers.Looking at our sample of accounts liking the tweet, over 35% of accounts had zero followers pic.twitter.com/aVZsyNC6JM
— AlbertYZhang (@AlbertYZhang) FILE – Tourists stand near a portrait of Sun Yat-sen, regarded as the founding father of modern China, in Beijing, Oct. 1, 2020. Negative perceptions of China have risen in many of the world’s advanced economies, the Pew Research Center found.Yet most Western experts disagree. A new 14-country Pew Research Center survey shows that public views of China have grown more negative in recent years across many advanced economies, and unfavorable opinion has soared over the past year. Negative views of China increased most in Australia, where 81% now say they view the country unfavorably.“The very aggressive Chinese ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy in recent months was very badly received, and there is the increasing perception of China as a strategic rival,” Niclas Frederic Poitiers, a research fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told VOA.Last week, European Union Ambassador to China Nicolas Chapuis said the bloc would seek common ground with the United States to stand up to Beijing’s online bullying and intimidation, adding that China’s image in Europe was worsening and Beijing must do its part to change the “extremely worrying erosion of goodwill that had taken place over the past year.”
 
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Last week in Xiangtang Village, a suburb of Beijing, hundreds of men dressed in black arrived, accompanied by a fleet of excavators. They handed residents notices, informing them the government concluded that their properties were illegally built, and that they had seven days to pack their belongings and move out as their homes would be demolished.   Eyewitnesses said many tried to protest but were subdued by the guards. Yang Yusheng, a law professor at China University of Political Science and a resident at the village, started a hunger strike and wrote online about his anger and frustration with the government’s decision. Soon, his electricity and water were cut off, apparently in retaliation, as temperatures outside dipped below freezing.  The episode marked the latest faceoff between China’s central government authorities and an informal housing financing system called the Small Property Rights Housing (SPRH). Small Property Rights Housing The Small Property Rights Housing system has been an important, but informal, part of China’s growth for years.  “There are a lot of SPRH in China for the last 30 years because development took place at such a rapid rate that the law and approval of the land couldn’t keep pace with development,” said Lynette Ong, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto. “So SPRH is a way to bypass that bottleneck.” FILE – Chinese police and officials stand by as illegally-built houses are demolished in Changchun, northeast China’s Jilin province, July 5, 2008.As commercial properties developed on rural land owned by collectives, owners were able to bypass the legally required state approval process by allowing local governments to sell small property rights directly to buyers at a discounted rate.   The system has proven successful in the past, but it carries risks for buyers.  “Those people who bought SPRH should know that the property rights are not totally secure,” Ong told VOA.   Although officially deemed illegal by the government, SPRH has been widely popular in China’s big cities where formal housing prices are constantly rising and increasingly unaffordable.  For the past two decades, when turbocharging China’s economy was a top government priority, many of these construction projects were blessed by local governments. Now, as Chinese President Xi Jinping stresses the importance of green space and environment, that policy has ended and demolitions are on the rise.  New victims: The middle class While past demolitions often targeted low-income residents, the latest campaign has hit the comparatively well-to-do: people able to afford single-family homes in the bucolic countryside outside Beijing’s congested urban area. Xiangtang Village is a perfect example. According to its official website, the bucolic sceneries attracted “famous figures from news media, entertainment industry and art industry” to reside in Xiangtang. The village was named one of “the most beautiful villages in Beijing” in 2007. In 2008, it was named one of “the best Olympic Tourism Villages” in the city. Now, more than 500 out of roughly 3,800 homes there are designated as illegal construction projects and will be demolished before the Chinese Lunar New Year.  VOA reached out to the village committee on Monday and was told that they could not answer any questions regarding the demolition notices.  Professor Yang Yusheng told VOA that the government’s action is not in line with its own interest to maintain social stability.  “There’s also no legal channel to appeal or present your case. People are angry,” he said, adding these forced evictions and demolitions usually come with no compensation to the owners.  Hong Sheng, an economist who has done extensive studies on small property rights housing in China, told VOA that these forced evictions violate the people’s right of residence. He added that despite its ambiguous legal status, the existence of SPRH supplements the short supply of affordable housing provided by local governments.  “It takes decades to build a community, but it only takes a second to demolish it,” he said. Professor Ong argued that the move was to generate fiscal revenue for the local government and cautioned that such blunt government actions would lead to sowing resentment and distrust of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule.  “These people have quite a bit of wealth; they would not keep quiet and let the government do the job,” she said. 
 
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Indonesian authorities transferred 23 suspected militants arrested in recent weeks to the capital on Wednesday, including a man suspected of helping make the bombs for the deadly 2002 attacks on the island of Bali. Among those transferred was Aris Sumarsono, better known as Zulkarnaen, who is accused of involvement in making a number of bombs, including those for the Bali attack, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and a 2003 attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that killed 12. The suspects were flown under the tight guard of Indonesia’s elite counterterrorism squad from Lampung province on Sumatra island to a police detention center in the Jakarta for further questioning. Television footage showed the suspects wearing orange uniforms and full face masks and their feet and hands cuffed as they were led off the plane. Zulkarnaen was arrested Thursday by counterterrorism police in a raid at a house in East Lampung district on Sumatra island after a hunt of more than 18 years. Police have accused him of being the military leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network.Police say Zulkarnaen was among the first Indonesian militants to go to Afghanistan in the 1980s for training, led a militant training camp in the southern Philippines and masterminded a number of attacks in Indonesia. Since May 2005, Zulkarnaen has been listed on an al-Qaida sanctions list by the U.N. Security Council for being associated with Osama bin Laden or the Taliban. The council said that Zulkarnaen, who became an expert in sabotage, was one of al-Qaida’s representatives in Southeast Asia and one of the few people in Indonesia who had had direct contact with bin Laden’s network. The United States’ “Rewards for Justice” program had offered a bounty of up to $5 million for his capture. He was the only Indonesian on the list. Police officers escort suspected militant Upik Lawanga, center, upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, Dec. 16, 2020.Also transferred to Jakarta on Wednesday was Upik Lawanga, who is accused of being a bomb maker for the Jemaah Islamiyah network. He was arrested by counterterrorism police in Lampung late last month.  Lawanga had eluded capture since 2005 after being named as a suspect in an attack that killed more than 20 people at a market in Poso. National Police spokesman Aswin Siregar told reporters at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport shortly after the arrival of the suspects on Wednesday that police will investigate how the two men eluded capture for years. “Zulkarnaen was known as a very, very dangerous person globally and in Indonesia,” Siregar said. “We will continue to crack down on all related to his network.” 
 
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