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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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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KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — A Malaysian court ruled on Wednesday jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak will have to defend himself against more abuse of power and money laundering charges in another trial over the multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.

Najib faces four charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering for allegedly receiving $526 million from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has pleaded not guilty.

If convicted, Najib faces up to 20 years in prison and fines up to five times the amount of funds involved in the offence.

Najib, 71, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022 after being found guilty of graft in a separate 1MDB-linked case. The sentence was later halved by a pardons board chaired by Malaysia’s king, with Najib set to be released in August 2028.

Malaysian and U.S. investigators say at least $4.5 billion was allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB, a state fund founded by Najib in 2009 while he was premier.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled on Wednesday that prosecutors had established a case against Najib on 25 charges.

Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said the charges filed against Najib were valid and correct in law and found all prosecution witnesses to be credible.

Prosecutors had called on 50 witnesses to give evidence, including former central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, media reported.

Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who leads Najib’s defense team, said the ex-premier was “extremely disappointed” by the ruling but was prepared to take the stand in his own defense.

“My client wants to be cross-examined because he has nothing to fear,” Muhammad Shafee told reporters after the court ruling.

The defense plans to call on 11 witnesses, he said, adding that the trial will resume on Dec. 2.

Najib, who was voted out in 2018 after nine years in power, issued a rare apology last week for his role in mishandling the 1MDB scandal.

Najib maintains he had no knowledge of any illegal transfers from the state fund, saying he was misled by others and believed that monies transferred into his personal bank accounts were political donations from the Saudi royal family.

Investigators say more than $1 billion of 1MDB funds made its way into Najib’s personal accounts, in a globe-spanning scheme that former U.S. attorney-general Jeff Sessions has described as “kleptocracy at its worst.”

Najib’s apology came just days after Malaysia said it would introduce a law allowing house arrest for some offences.

Najib has been pushing to serve the remainder of his jail sentence at home, and is seeking a court ruling to compel the government to confirm the existence of a royal order that he said accompanied the pardons board’s decision and recommended house arrest for him.

The government later denied the proposed law was targeted towards Najib or to help other politicians accused of corruption to escape jail.
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WASHINGTON — As Ukraine braces to face North Korean troops who are believed to be in the Russian border region of Kursk, analysts say China should be concerned about stronger pressure and responses from NATO, which sees Beijing as an enabler of Pyongyang and a supporter of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency said on Tuesday it has obtained information that North Korean troops are moving to the front lines of the war in Russia near Ukraine.  

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that North Korean military units have been deployed to Russia’s western border region of Kursk. He made the remark after a South Korean delegation briefed NATO, Australia, Japan and New Zealand on North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

Rutte continued that North Korea’s troop dispatch, in addition to shipments of ammunition and ballistic missiles, represents “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war” that threatens both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security.

In return for North Korean troops and weapons, Moscow is providing Pyongyang with “military technology and other support to circumvent international sanctions,” Rutte added.

The U.S. estimates that North Korea sent about 10,000 soldiers to train in eastern Russia.   

North Korea said on Friday that “if there is such a thing” as North Korea troops in Russia, “it will be an act conforming with the regulation of international law.” 

Growing signs of strain

Analysts say North Korea’s commitment of troops to help Russia would further strain its relations with China, which undoubtedly will dislike the development that would lead to the strengthening of NATO’s ties with South Korea. 

“China should be concerned about NATO paying more attention to North Korea, especially since many NATO member countries see Beijing as Pyongyang’s enabler,” Ramon Pacheco Pardo, who was part of European Union delegations to previous talks with North Korea, South Korea, China and Japan, told VOA on Friday.

North Korea’s troop dispatch will lead NATO to focus further on Pyongyang’s cyber activities and nuclear and missile programs and proliferation, and this can have “a knock-on effect on China,” continued Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King’s College London.

“China can’t afford to sever ties with North Korea, due to its own security interests. So, Beijing has to endure North Korea siding with Russia and being labeled as part of an axis of authoritarian revisionist states, even if it doesn’t like this label,” he added.  

Earlier in October, NATO held talks with its Asian partners to enhance the security link between Europe and the Indo-Pacific, expressing concern over countries such as China and North Korea that can become “security spoilers” in their “backyard.”  

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, told VOA on Friday that Beijing is uneasy about Moscow’s growing influence in the region through military cooperation with Pyongyang.

He said China tolerated North Korea’s sending munitions to Russia because it viewed that as having “a limited time frame,” but after North Korea’s troop deployment, Beijing is concerned about their long-term ties contributing to Moscow’s growth as a dominant power in East Asia, which threatens Beijing’s view of itself as playing that role.

Responding to VOA’s inquiry on the development of North Korea-Russia military cooperation, the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Tuesday sent a statement saying Beijing hopes “all parties will promote the de-escalation of the situation and strive for a political settlement.”

Keeping the status quo

Chinese President Xi Jinping, while attending the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 23, said there is a need to stop “adding fuel to the fire” in the Ukraine crisis without mentioning specific countries.  

Beijing, seeing North Korea as a buffer zone between its mainland and U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, has long been Pyongyang’s main ally as the biggest trading partner. To prevent it from becoming unstable, China has maintained the economic lifeline of the regime that is heavily sanctioned and closed off from the global economy.  

But trouble in their bilateral ties seemed to begin when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia last year and were exacerbated when Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defense treaty in Pyongyang this summer. 

 

The latest development in the deepening military relations between Pyongyang and Moscow could “complicate Beijing’s own plans to have it both ways in the Russia-Ukraine war,” according to Roy Kamphausen, a senior fellow for Chinese security at the National Bureau of Asian Research.

Kamphausen said on Friday that China wants to “support Russia enough” so Moscow “can win slowly” but “avoid too much blowback, especially economic sanctions on China itself.”

He added, “Escalation in the current conflict which comes from Asia itself might have the negative impact of putting more pressure on Beijing itself, just what it wants to avoid.”

The U.S. earlier this month sanctioned China-based companies for collaborating with Russia to produce drones for use against Ukraine.

Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, told VOA on Friday that “Beijing would see little benefit to establish a more formal trilateral alliance because being too closely linked to Russian and North Korean provocative behavior could trigger secondary sanctions against China.” 

China in 2023 was the largest trading partner for EU imports and third largest for EU exports.
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brussels — The European Union has decided to increase tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles to as much as 45.3% at the end of its highest profile investigation that has divided Europe and prompted retaliation from Beijing.

Just over a year after launching its anti-subsidy probe, the European Commission will set out extra tariffs ranging from 7.8% for Tesla to 35.3% for China’s SAIC, on top of the EU’s standard 10% car import duty.

The extra tariffs were formally approved and published in the EU’s Official Journal on Tuesday, meaning they will take effect on Wednesday.

The Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, has said tariffs are required to counter what it says are unfair subsidies including preferential financing and grants as well as land, batteries and raw materials at below market prices.

It says China’s spare production capacity of 3 million EVs per year is twice the size of the EU market. Given 100% tariffs in the United States and Canada, the most obvious outlet for those EVs is Europe.

Beijing has called the EU tariffs protectionist and damaging to EU-China relations and automotive supply chains and has launched its own probes this year into imports of EU brandy, dairy and pork products in apparent retaliation.

It has also challenged the EU’s provisional measures at the World Trade Organization.

European automakers are grappling with an influx of lower-cost EVs from Chinese rivals. The Commission estimates Chinese brands’ share of the EU market has risen to 8% from below 1% in 2019 and could reach 15% in 2025. It says prices are typically 20% below those of EU-made models.

The EU’s stance toward Beijing has hardened in the last five years. It views China as a potential partner in some areas, but also as a competitor and a systemic rival, but EU members are not united on EV tariffs.

Germany, the EU’s biggest economy and major car producer, opposed tariffs in a vote earlier this month in which 10 EU members backed them, five voted against and 12 abstained.

Germany’s economy ministry said on Tuesday Berlin supported ongoing EU negotiations with China and hoped for a diplomatic resolution to mitigate trade tensions while protecting EU industry.

“The Federal Government stands for open markets. Because Germany in particular, as a globally interconnected economy, is dependent on this,” the spokesperson added.

German carmakers have heavily criticized the EU measures, aware that possible higher Chinese import duties on large-engine gasoline vehicles would hit them hardest.

The measures come as thousands of German industrial workers, including at the carmakers, strike for higher wages, with Volkswagen possibly about to announce shutting plants on home soil for the first time in its 87-year history.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the EU was headed for an “economic cold war” with China.

However, France’s PFA car association has welcomed duties, adding it backed free trade as long as it was fair.

The Commission has held eight rounds of technical negotiations with China to find an alternative to tariffs and said talks can continue after tariffs are imposed.

The two sides are looking at possible minimum price commitments for imported cars and agreed on Friday to hold a further round, although the Commission said there were “significant remaining gaps.”

It remains to be seen what impact tariffs will have on consumer prices. Some producers may be able to absorb them at least partially.

In the first nine months of 2024, China’s EV exports to the EU were down 7% from a year earlier, but they have surged by more than a third in August and September, ahead of the tariffs, data from the China Passenger Car Association, or CPCA, show.
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In Shanghai, police, not trick-or-treaters and partygoers, are taking to the streets this week as the city approaches Halloween. The strengthened police force accompanies official notices prohibiting citizens from “role-playing” on Halloween, signaling the government’s paranoia over the social instability the holiday’s festivities could bring.

Videos online show police cars lining the streets of Shanghai, with some officers approaching crowds and instructing them to disperse from fenced-off areas.

A leaked notice from the Huangpu subdistrict office identified any form of Halloween costumes, but especially role-playing costumes and makeup with gore, to be prohibited in public. Police have been instructed to persuade those in costume to leave or take off offensive garments and employ more coercive measures in the event of noncompliance.

The police garrisons, protocols and general air of malaise in Shanghai find their roots in the local government’s fear of mass protest, according to Shanghai resident Ma, who declined to provide her first name out of fear of reprisal for talking to VOA.

“The Communist Party knows that ‘a spark can start a prairie fire’ and that many young people are now unemployed and unable to find jobs,” Ma siad. “So they have deployed a large number of police forces on Changle Road and Julu Road, probably because they are worried that some of the freethinking young people will protest against the government in a strange way on Halloween.” Ma told VOA.

Costumed people taken by police

Some youth in Shanghai have appeared to ignore the warnings, gathering in Zhongshan park and the nearby streets to celebrate the holiday early. Online videos of the scene show some people in costume being taken away by the police, while others argue with law enforcement.

At another celebration Friday night, in the Jing An district, Reuters reported that an attendee in a skeleton costume was detained by the police and escorted to an administrative building where he was asked to remove his makeup.

Wang, a Shanghai resident who declined to provide his first name for his personal security, disagreed with the sudden tightening of restrictions on Halloween celebrations in his city.

“What can wearing a unique dress do?” Wang asked. “As a normal, civilized society, this should not be a matter of concern at all. It is normal to ‘let the arts blossom’ and allow everyone to release their inner yearning for freedom. In a normal, civilized society, the police maintain the safety of the people. In our case, it’s the opposite,” Wang said.

Originating in the West, Halloween has found popularity in China in recent years. This is especially the case in Shanghai, known as China’s most international city and for its relative open-mindedness.

In 2023, the city resumed the celebration of Halloween for the first time after the COVID-19 lockdowns, and some residents used this opportunity for self-expression to critique the Chinese government and political phenomena through costume. Some people dressed as Winnie the Pooh, a character that is often censored online in China given his likeness to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and others referenced past protests through covering their bodies in white paper.

Ma believes that tensions this week between Halloween celebrants and local authorities are unlikely to escalate.

“Young people are indeed rebellious, but because of the education we have received since childhood, most Chinese young people dare not, and are unlikely, to rebel,” Ma said.

“Will the authorities completely control and prohibit Halloween? I don’t think they will, but they will strictly control it. There will definitely be a lot of police in more important places. If any little thing happens, they will immediately send a police car to prevent the matter from escalating,” she said.

Unique opportunity for free expression

Chen Daoyin, an independent political analyst in China, told VOA that he believes that Halloween provides Chinese people with a unique opportunity for Western-style free expression.

“Most people, especially young people who dress up as characters on festivals like Halloween, have usually adopted Western culture, or at the very least know that people in Western systems have the freedom of expression,” Chen said.

“We have opinions about the current situation and the government, and can make our voices heard, but we also know that this is not allowed in the current political environment in China. Everyone knows what is going on. So they express their dissatisfaction with the authorities through dressing up as characters,” he said.

Li Rongwei, executive director of the Taiwan Inspirational Association, however, told VOA that the holiday’s Western origins make it more susceptible to suppression.

“For China, Halloween is a product of the West, a typical capitalist bourgeois thing,” Li said. “Since Halloween is a foreign thing and not a product of the so-called Chinese nation or China as the CCP believes, it is, of course, a class struggle and should be slandered,” Li said.

October 27 marked the first anniversary of the death of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, whose unexpected passing less than a year after he left the powerful premier position, sparked online conspiracy theories about the Chinese government. The Chinese government also might fear a social disruption akin to the 2022 White Paper Movement in protest of strict pandemic regulations that was referenced at Halloween celebrations in Shanghai last year.

“Social movements always have to have a reason, and it is conceivable to use Li Keqiang as the reason,” Lai said. “This is also what the CCP fears the most. A tandem movement always has a theme. According to the perception of the CCP’s top officials, it may be believed that this is a social movement planned by foreign forces.”

But Chen believes that it is an over-speculation and inaccurate to link this year’s crackdown on Halloween with Li Keqiang and the White Paper Movement and says that there will not be any kind of uprising in China without an acute inciting incident.

“It is impossible for the youth of today … to start a movement of any kind without the impact of a big event,” he said.

“So far this year, there has been no major event that can arouse empathy and emotional expression,” Chen said.

Katherine Michaelson and Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Survivors and family members of campers killed in a 2022 landslide at an agritourism farm in Malaysia have filed a lawsuit contending the disaster was caused by negligence – not only excessive rainfall as an earlier government report concluded.

“We want this lawsuit to bring to the public’s attention the real reasons why this tragedy happened,” said Tan Ei Ein, whose 7-year-old son, Zech, was killed in the landslide.

The government “is trying to save itself from trouble by blaming it on nature,” Tan told VOA, describing the report as a “whitewash.”

“That way nobody needs to take any accountability,” Tan said.

In December 2022, the earth swept over tents at a campsite on Father’s Organic Farm in in the rural community of Batang Kali, in Selangor state, about 50 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur.

The landslide left 31 people dead, including 13 children. Some of the 61 survivors had serious injuries.

Disputing the cause

Last year, the federal government issued a report on the tragedy that said the landslide was triggered by slope failure after unusually high rainfall over a period of weeks. The report said there was no strong evidence that human activity was a contributing factor.

The report did not address standing questions about why a farm and campsite were able to operate in what experts call a risky location and did not mention an environmental assessment approved by a federal agency a decade earlier that said the area where the farm and campsite were located should not be developed. 

While the lawsuit also said rainfall was a significant factor behind the landslide, it additionally accused the state and local governments of multiple failures and said the property owner and farm operator also made careless missteps. Those entities, along with a state agency, a government-linked company and another private company, are targets of the lawsuit. No federal agencies are being sued.

The landslide started downhill from a state government road on a section of a hill where there was a manmade embankment before striking the farm and campsite below. 

The lawsuit blames the Selangor state government’s public works department for shoddy construction when the embankment was built, which increased the likelihood of a landslide. 

The lawsuit also accuses the state public works department and Infrasel, a private road work company contracted by the state, of not conducting proper safety testing and necessary maintenance on the embankment. 

“The government’s public report says that there was no one to blame but, more or less, an act of God, the rainfall caused the tragedy,” Teckwyn Lim, a geographer and honorary associate professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, told VOA. 

Lim is part of a team of scientists, lawyers and a geotechnical engineer who investigated the tragedy for the plaintiffs. 

“What we are saying is that ‘no, it was actually the result of negligence from the authorities and also the landowners. If the people in charge, if the government had been doing its job, then those lives wouldn’t have been lost,’” Lim said.

The government report did not blame any agency or private company, saying slope and road maintenance were conducted on a regular schedule.

Development of the property

Father’s Organic Farm was on property owned by Malaysia Botanical Gardens Resort. Last year, VOA reported that Kong Yew Foong and his father Kong Hon Kong, who also goes by the name David Kong, were listed in Companies Commission of Malaysia records as directors at Malaysia Botanical Gardens Resort. Earlier this year, Forbes listed David Kong’s net worth at $825 million.

The lawsuit points to an environmental impact assessment (EIA) approved by the Department of Environment in 2013 that said the area where the farm and campsite were located was not to be developed. VOA was first to report on the existence of this EIA about one month after the landslide.

In January 2023 correspondence with VOA, Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change wrote: “The area of which Father’s Organic Farm was built had been determined as a No-Go Area. Therefore, the development of Father’s Organic Farm was in violation of the approval conditions of the EIA report approved to Malaysia Botanical Gardens Resort.” 

 

But the assessment was not addressed in the government’s landslide report. 

“The fact that the government report makes no mention of the EIA suggests that they wanted to cover it up,” said Lim. “The 2013 EIA says the site should’ve been kept as forest land and the implication was that’s because the site was too sensitive to develop, meaning it’s unsafe to develop.”

The suit also accuses the campsite operator and the property owner of negligence for not following regulations because the farm and campsite were allegedly run without the appropriate business license, development permits and engineering approvals. The lawsuit says the local municipal council should have closed the campsite down for not following regulations.

The plaintiffs also blame owners for clearing land and removing trees below the embankment, which they said might have kept the landslide from reaching the campsite. 

The lawsuit does not specify a figure for compensation for the families of the victims who were killed. The defendants listed in the lawsuit are BL Agro, which the plaintiffs say is the new name of the business that owned and operated Father’s Organic Farm and the campsite; Malaysia Botanical Gardens Resort; Selangor state public works department; Infrasel, a private road work company contracted by the state of Selangor; the Hulu Selangor Municipal Council; the state government of Selangor and the Selangor State Agricultural Development Corporation. 

VOA left messages for Amirudin Shari, who serves as the equivalent of a chief minister for Selangor state, but has not received a response. Amirudin Shari is not a defendant. VOA has also not received responses to its inquiries from representatives of the other defendants.

“We want accountability,“ said Loh Teng Shui, the father of 7-year-old landslide victim Zech. “So far no one has been held accountable and we want the full truth to come out.”

 
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WASHINGTON/BEIJING/TAIPEI — Chinese President Xi Jinping asked U.S. President Joe Biden last year to change the language the United States uses when discussing its position on Taiwanese independence, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the private conversation.

During last November’s Biden-Xi meeting near San Francisco, Xi and his aides asked Biden and his team to tweak the language in U.S. official statements.

China wanted the U.S. to say “we oppose Taiwan independence,” rather than the current version, which is that the United States “does not support” independence for Taiwan, said the people, who requested anonymity to speak about private diplomatic exchanges they participated in or were briefed on.

Xi’s aides have repeatedly followed up and made the requests in the months since, according to two U.S. officials and another person familiar with the exchanges.

The U.S. has declined to make the change.

The White House responded to a request for comment with a statement that repeated the line that Washington does not support Taiwan independence. “The Biden-Harris administration has been consistent on our long-standing One China policy,” the statement read.

China’s foreign ministry said: “You should ask this question to the U.S. government. China’s position on the Taiwan issue is clear and consistent.”

Taiwan’s foreign ministry declined comment.

The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists.

The Republic of China remains Taiwan’s formal name and the government says it has no plans to change that given they are already a sovereign, independent state and Beijing has no right to claim Taiwan as its own.

Sensitive issue

For several years, Chinese diplomats have pushed the United States to make changes to how it refers to Taiwan’s status, which remains the most sensitive area in U.S.-China relations. The unusually direct and renewed push at the leader level has not been reported previously.

The United States severed official relations with the government in Taipei in 1979 but is bound by law to provide democratically governed Taiwan with the means to defend itself. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

It was not clear why Xi chose to raise the issue with Biden, but he has made opposition to Taiwan independence a focus of his time in office and China’s military has significantly ramped up its activities around the island in recent years.

The Biden administration regards the proposed language change as a non-starter.

Taiwan was briefed on the recent overtures at a high level by Washington, said one of the sources.

Leaders in Beijing “would love it if Joe Biden said very different things about Taiwan than he says, no doubt,” said one senior Biden administration official, adding that Biden would stick with the standard U.S. formulation for talking about Taiwan independence.

During his time in office, Biden has upset the Chinese government with comments that appeared to suggest the United States would defend the island if it were attacked, a deviation from a long-held U.S. position of “strategic ambiguity.”

Change would reverberate

A change by the U.S. to say that it opposes Taiwanese independence would reverberate through the trade-rich Asia Pacific and with U.S. partners, competitors and adversaries alike.

Officials from two governments in the region told Reuters they would interpret any such change in wording as a change in U.S. policy toward less support for Taipei’s defense and diplomatic aspirations at a time when Beijing has ramped up military pressure.

China has over the past five years staged almost daily military activities around Taiwan. Earlier this month, Beijing held a day of war games using what Taiwan said was a record 153 military aircraft as part of drills simulating blockading ports and assaulting maritime and ground targets.

Any switch in language could also be seen signaling a shift in U.S. policy from supporting the resolution of Taiwan’s future through peaceful talks to one suggesting the United States stands against Taiwanese aspirations regardless of the circumstances at play.

Opinion polls in Taiwan show most people support maintaining the status quo, neither seeking to join with China nor establishing a new state.

In 2022, the State Department changed its website on Taiwan, removing wording both on not supporting Taiwan independence and on acknowledging Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China, which angered the Chinese. It later restored the language on not supporting independence for the island.

The two leaders are expected to speak again before Biden’s term in office ends in January, talks that may come by phone or on the sidelines of next month’s G20 summit in Brazil or APEC summit in Peru. APEC is one of few international forums where both Taiwan and China take part.

The Democratic president will hand over the tense Taiwan issue to his successor, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump, following the Nov. 5 election.
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state department — Top diplomatic and military officials from the United States and South Korea are set to convene in Washington this Thursday as the two allies closely monitor and express concerns about North Korea’s deployment of about 10,000 troops to Russia.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials and analysts say that China could be displeased by Russia’s growing influence over North Korea, and that if Beijing chose, it could restrict exports of materials that Pyongyang might use for munitions production.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will co-host South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul and Minister of Defense Kim Yong-hyun to coordinate on pressing security threats facing the alliance.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told VOA during Monday’s briefing that high on the agenda would be discussion of “North Korea’s expanding relationship with Russia,” which includes the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia;  various other provocative actions by North Korea in recent months; and the U.S. commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific region.

The consultation between Washington and Seoul will come two weeks after establishment of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group formed by the United States, South Korea, Japan and other allies to better coordinate enforcement of sanctions against North Korea.

The group said that while “the path to dialogue” with North Korea remained open, it was committed to “safeguard the global nonproliferation regime and address the threat arising from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s [DPRK, North Korea’s official name] weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, which are in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

Some analysts suggest that by sending troops to support Russia’s war on Ukraine, North Korea may gain an opportunity to test the effectiveness of its ballistic missiles and munitions.

“We have communicated with the PRC about this matter to make clear that we are concerned about it, and that they ought to be concerned about this destabilizing action by two of its neighbors, Russia and North Korea,” Miller added. He was referring to People’s Republic of China.

Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that while China has been supportive of Russia’s war in Ukraine, North Korea’s involvement introduces an unsettling dynamic.

“For one,” Cha said, “China does not like Russia to have so much influence over North Korea.”

Cha added that Beijing could take specific actions, such as curbing exports of petroleum coke to North Korea, which can be used in munitions production.

“According to recent public reports, imports of this good [used for steel production] have dramatically increased while overall trade has only slowly started to return to normal,” he said.

Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Austin would also meet with his South Korean counterpart Wednesday, when he will host Kim at the Pentagon for the 56th U.S.-ROK Security Consultative Meeting. ROK refers to South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report.
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Iida City, Japan  — In August 1945, as Soviet troops closed in on Japanese positions in occupied China, 14-year-old Hideo Shimizu was given a grim task: Collect and dispose the burnt bones of prisoners who had been murdered.

Only later did he realize he had helped destroy evidence of one of the 20th century’s most horrific war crimes: the actions of Unit 731, a covert branch of the Japanese military that tortured and killed prisoners in the name of scientific research.

For decades, Shimizu kept his past hidden, not even telling his wife or the two daughters they raised together in a quiet corner of the Japanese Alps. But now, at 94, he is not remaining silent.

Though not directly involved in the atrocities, Shimizu is speaking out about his experience with Unit 731, recently returning to China to apologize in person.

Reopening such a dark chapter of Japan’s past has come at a cost. Shimizu has endured online attacks by angry nationalists, uneasy silence from his community and distance from some family members.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor of his small home, which is now slowly being overtaken by the surrounding vegetation of rural Nagano Prefecture, Shimizu speaks quietly but with unmistakable conviction as he discusses the personal toll of his decision.

“I’m ready for it,” he told VOA, during what he said was his first interview with an American reporter. “I’m only telling the truth.”

Inhumane research

Unit 731 was a small part of Japan’s 1931-45 occupation of China, though it was perhaps the cruelest.

At its headquarters in Harbin, scientists conducted experiments on Chinese civilians and other prisoners of war as they pursued biological and chemical warfare advancements.

The details that have emerged — testimonies of surviving members, postwar investigations and research by historians — reveal practices that were unspeakably brutal.

Diseased prisoners were locked with healthy ones to see how fast deadly plagues would spread. Children were forced into gas chambers so doctors could time their convulsions. Others were subjected to frostbite experiments, their limbs repeatedly frozen and thawed to study the effects of extreme cold.

An estimated 3,000 people were killed by such experiments, with many more believed to have died from biological warfare tests that intentionally spread deadly diseases in Chinese villages.

Shocking realization

As a young apprentice responsible for taking care of lab rats, Shimizu didn’t understand the full extent of what was happening around him.

His suspicions grew after he was taken to a specimen room, where he saw preserved body parts, including heads and hands, floating in jars of formalin. He was especially rattled by the sight of a pregnant woman whose midsection had been splayed open to expose a fetus.

“I thought it was a study on how to prevent people from getting sick,” recalls Shimizu. “I only later realized we were infecting and dissecting people to conduct germ warfare.”

Shimizu spent over four months with Unit 731 before fleeing with retreating Japanese forces. When he returned home, he was told never to speak about what he had seen.

For over 70 years, he didn’t.

Instead, Shimizu focused on building his career as an architect, having been warned to pursue nonmedical professions.

During those early years, Unit 731 rarely crossed his mind, as he tried to support his young family in a country rebuilding after the war.

“I didn’t think about it very much, because [I thought] I couldn’t say anything,” Shimizu recalls.

Revisiting the past

Shimizu’s attitude changed in 2015, when he and his wife visited a traveling peace exhibit in his area. Among the relics and photographs on display were images of Unit 731 — including an old brick building at the Harbin headquarters where he had worked as a teenager.

For the first time, Shimizu found himself telling his wife about his involvement with Unit 731.

As he confronted his past, Shimizu gradually became involved in peace activism. In August, he returned to China for the first time, visiting the site of Unit 731’s headquarters.

There, in front of a black stone pagoda built as an anti-war monument and surrounded by Chinese state media cameras, he bowed deeply, expressing his “profound regret and apology” for joining Unit 731 and “becoming an aggressor.”

Local dispute

Shimizu’s visit was well-received in China, viewed as a long-overdue acknowledgment of Japanese atrocities. But the reaction was more complicated in Japan, where some uglier parts of the country’s past are still debated — and for many, quietly swept under the rug.

The tension is evident in nearby Iida City, where Shimizu and other activists have pushed for greater transparency about Unit 731 at a local museum meant to preserve the wartime experiences of area residents.

After years of deliberations, a small section of the museum acknowledges Unit 731’s biological weapons research and human experiments. However, the display also includes a disclaimer saying that “research is ongoing” and that society has “many different opinions” about the unit.

“People have lots of different views. So, we try to maintain a certain balance with this kind of exhibit,” explains Takeshi Goto, an official with the Iida City board of education, which runs the museum.

The museum has refused to display testimony from local Unit 731 members, including Shimizu, saying it was too lengthy, and in some cases, too graphic for children.

“There were many tragedies during the war, but this museum is not intended to display all of those sad events,” Goto said.

However, for local activist Hideaki Hara, who works closely with Shimizu, the real issue is the government’s reluctance to confront the uncomfortable parts of Japanese history.

“Iida and other local governments tend to align themselves with the central government,” Hara explains. “This makes them hesitant to acknowledge Japan’s role in these events.”

Historical debates

Shimizu’s effort to bring Unit 731 into the light is part of a larger battle over Japan’s wartime legacy.

In recent decades, some conservative politicians, seeking to restore Japan’s national power, have worked to downplay certain aspects of the country’s history, even rewriting school textbooks.

Many conservatives argue that Japan has been unfairly singled out and should not be restrained by its past forever — especially under a U.S.-written pacifist constitution, which they believe limits Japan’s ability to assert itself in a dangerous region.

“They want to create a more beautified, white-washed wartime past they feel would be more palatable to young Japanese and help nurture pride in the nation,” said Jeffrey Kingston, a Tokyo-based professor of history and Asian studies at Temple University Japan.

“So, when veterans like Shimizu testify about what actually happened, it’s rather awkward for the revisionists — because he was there.”

Shimizu is not alone. His testimony is part of a wave of revelations that began in the late 1980s following the death of Emperor Hirohito. Dark episodes of Japan’s history — including Unit 731 — started to emerge as veterans came forward with their stories.

“After the emperor died, suddenly the archives yielded their secrets, veterans found their diaries, and a more honest, forthright history emerged,” Kingston said.

US role

As it turns out, however, Japan wasn’t the only country that helped obscure Unit 731’s actions.

After Japan’s surrender in World War II, the United States gave immunity from prosecution to many of Unit 731’s top scientists in exchange for their research, which they wanted to keep out of Soviet hands, according to U.S. government records.

“The United States was a co-conspirator in the cover-up of Unit 731,” said Kingston. “Their experiments in biological warfare, chemical warfare, vivisection experiments — all this was considered useful and would give the United States a great advantage.”

Those given immunity included Shiro Ishii, the microbiologist and army medical officer who led Unit 731. In exchange for protection, Ishii and his colleagues provided “a great deal of information to U.S. authorities,” according to a 1998 letter sent by the U.S. Department of Justice to the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

Personal toll

Shimizu is resentful that so many of his fellow Unit 731 members thrived after the war — especially since his own career opportunities were restricted.

“My superiors became professors at universities, presidents of pharmaceutical companies and members of the Self-Defense Forces. Can you believe that?” he asked, his voice breaking.

When asked if he wants an apology from the United States, Shimizu deflected, instead shifting the conversation to Japan’s growing military ambitions, which he fears could lead the country back into war with its neighbors.

“My wish is for the future happiness of my children, nothing else,” Shimizu said. “I just want all countries to get along.”

But his decision to speak out has strained his relationship with his family. His two daughters, once close, have grown distant and rarely visit him, especially since his trip to China.

His wife, now suffering from dementia, lives in a care facility, leaving him alone in their home. The isolation, he says, has made it harder to understand why his daughters have pulled away.

Even with those challenges, Shimizu — who appears to be the last living Unit 731 member willing to speak out — is focused on making sure the truth is not forgotten.

After talking with VOA, he began preparing for an upcoming speech in a neighboring town. He’s already given more media interviews than he can count.

And though he knows the end of his life is near, he remains defiant.

“I think it’s shameful and outrageous,” he said, “to pretend that what happened didn’t happen.”

Kiho Park, Ryota Mimaki, Ken Watanabe contributed to this report.
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JAKARTA, Indonesia — A major labor group in Indonesia has called on the government to bail out troubled textile giant Sritex, after President Prabowo Subianto ordered his ministers to save the firm from bankruptcy.

Prabowo, who took office last week, has ordered his cabinet to find solutions for Sritex quickly, after a court last week accepted a petition by one of its trade partners over unpaid debt, which has put the firm, which employs about 50,000 people, on the brink of bankruptcy.

Sritex had $1.6 billion of debt as of June.

Said Iqbal, chairman of the labour party, a prominent workers’ movement and political party, said a state bailout is one solution to prevent massive layoffs that may come from Sritex’s bankruptcy.

“The government needs to provide bailout funds to settle Sritex’s debts,” he said on Sunday, adding another solution was state intervention in the legal process to annul the bankruptcy decision.

Sritex, which has produced clothes for high street brands like H&M, Rip Curl and Forever 21, as well as military uniforms for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has suffered from weak global demand and cheaper imported fashion.

It struck a deal with its creditors in 2022 to restructure more than $1.4 billion of debt but the court last week ruled to annul that agreement following the petition by its trade partner PT Indo Bharat Rayon.

Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the government was working to find the right measures to ensure Sritex’s operations and to avoid layoffs, according to state news agency Antara.

Sritex’s outstanding debt to Indo Bharat Rayon as of June was at 101.3 billion rupiah ($6.48 million) or 0.4% of its total liabilities, Sritex said in a stock exchange filing.

Indo Bharat Rayon did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Sritex has filed an appeal against bankruptcy and has asked for government’s support, the company said in its Instagram account.
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Padang, Indonesia — One of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes erupted Sunday, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and blanketing villages with debris, but no casualties were reported.

Mount Marapi, in Agam district of the province of West Sumatra, is known for sudden eruptions that are difficult to predict because they are not caused by a deep movement of magma, which sets off tremors that register on seismic monitors.

It unleashed hot ash clouds that spread for several kilometers, covering nearby villages and towns with thick volcanic residue, said Ahmad Rifandi, an official with Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center at the Marapi monitoring post. It also shot ash columns as high as 2,000 meters.

Rifandi said the nearly 2,900-meter volcano has stayed at the second highest of four alert levels since January, prohibiting climbers and villagers within 3 kilometers from the crater’s mouth because of potential lava.

Marapi erupted in December 2023, killing 24 climbers and injuring several others who were caught by its sudden weekend eruption. Two climbing routes in the mountain have been closed since then.

Sunday’s eruption came five months after monsoon rains triggered a landslide of mud and cold lava from Mount Marapi, causing rivers to breach their banks. The deluge tore through mountainside villages and swept away people and dozens of homes, killing 67 people.

“Villagers are still haunted by the flash floods of cold lava as rainy season is coming,” Rifandi said, “But they have learned an important lesson on how to avoid the danger of eruption.”

Indonesia, an archipelago of 282 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
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